Microsoft Flight Video Game Series

Games in the series Microsoft Flight Simulator present the arcana of civil aviation. Due to the high realism of the simulation, they are treated by many experts as training programs. Among others, flight instructors, aeronautics experts, pilots, and aviation fans are involved in developing it. As a result, players have the opportunity to learn the basics of piloting, navigation, as well as aviation procedures. The available aircraft models usually include popular machines of various classes - from small avionettes to long-range passenger planes and even helicopters.

One of the hallmarks of the Microsoft Flight Simulator series is a game area that covers the entire globe, with an authentic grid of airports (for instance, in Microsoft Flight Simulator X there are about 26,000 of them). Detailed topographical maps mostly cover only the United States and part of Europe, but thanks to numerous fan mods, you can fill in the gaps.

From the beginning, the series has been known for its high-quality visuals, generated on the basis of a proprietary graphics engine. A joystick is required for precise control.

The first part of the series was released in 1982 under the name Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 and was advertised with the slogan: "if flying your IBM PC got any more realistic, you'd need a license." Just 2 years later, in 1984, a sequel came out - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2.0, which developed the concept of its predecessor in every aspect, starting with graphics and ending with the realism of the controls. For the next installment, lovers of sky travels had to wait 4 years, as it appeared in 1988. Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0 in addition to many improvements, introduced new aircraft. In this part we could fly 3: Gates Learjet 25, Cessna Skylane, and Sopwith Camel. Already a year later, an improved version of the entry was released, which received the number 4.0. It was also the first installment of the series to be so comprehensively supported after its release, and in subsequent years lived to see new aircraft, the ability to create your own scenery or even entire scenarios. Given the number of additions to its predecessor, it is no surprise that for the installment numbered 5.0 fans waited until 1993. The fifth part implemented something that infuriated flying simulator fans - textures, bringing the series to a completely different graphical level. Just two years later, in 1995, a newer version of the game was released, but it didn't receive a separate number and was titled Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.1. This installment introduced further improvements, such as realistic weather effects and the ability to build your own airports (the basic version of the game had only 250 of them). It was also the first part of the series released on CD and the last one running on the DOS operating system.

In 1996 came the time for Microsoft Flight Simulator 95, which took its name from Windows 95, and was largely a port of version 5.1, but with many improvements, especially graphical. In 1997, the following hit the stores Windows Flight Simulator 98; in this installment, for the first time in the series, it was possible to switch from an airplane to a helicopter. Special attention was paid to the accurate reflection of maps: players could enjoy the view of 45 detailed cities, and 3,000 airports were made available to them. Two years later, in 1999, an installment of the series numbered 2000which introduced more than 17,000 new airports and a number of minor and major improvements, among which the destruction system is worth mentioning. This part of the series was the first to come out in two versions - "normal" and "pro" enriched with additional aircraft. Windows Flight Simulator 2000 is known for having trouble running smoothly even on the most powerful computers of its generation, so the developers had to release a patch blocking the destruction model (which was restored by modders). In 2001, another installment of simulators from Microsoft was released, this time with the number 2002. In addition to the obvious improvement in graphics, this installment also added more life in the skies in the form of accompanying other aircraft controlled by AI. The title was also better optimized than its predecessor. In 2003, a special installment of the series was released - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight - which was intended to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight. An interesting element of this game is the possibility of flying on historical machines such as the plane of the aforementioned brothers. In 2006 it was time for Microsoft Flight Simulator X. The part of the series with the number ten introduced many innovations to the world of simulators, and one of the most important changes was greater support for multiplayer play. In 2007, the game got an expansion subtitled Acceleration, which introduced, among other things, multiplayer air racing, new missions, and aircraft. The expansion in its original form was known for its numerous bugs, which for obvious reasons didn't appeal to fans of the brand. Over the next few years the series didn't live to see any major installment, until 2012, when Microsoft decided to reboot the series in the form of the game Microsoft Flight, but the project didn't appeal to players. After these failures, it seemed that the gaming world would not soon hear about another project in the series. However, Dovetail Games studio became interested in the brand - well-known developers of simulators (devs of Train Simulator). The developers decided to port Windows Flight Simulator X to Steam. This was dictated not only by pragmatics - the popularity of Valve's platform - but also by problems with the existing provider of the networked player matching system, GameSpy. Thus, in 2014, Windows Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition was developed.

In 2012, Microsoft tried to give the brand a fresh start by releasing Microsoft Flight, however, the title failed to gain recognition among fans of the series. They accused the game of no longer being a simulator, and the gameplay was heavily shallowed to attract new, less demanding audiences. In response to criticism from players, Windows later that year announced the end of development of the title.

In 2020 - after many years of hiatus - it was finally time for the next full-fledged installment of the series. Microsoft Simulator 2020 (or simply Microsoft Flight Simulator - without the number) became famous for its realistic graphics and faithfully reproduced weather effects, all thanks to the use of satellite technology. To enjoy the full capabilities of the title, unfortunately, you need to be connected to a (preferably high-speed) Internet network, as the game continuously downloads data from the cloud. For the smooth operation of the title, an artificial intelligence called Azura has been set up to oversee all processes related to data transmission. Of course, there is the possibility to play offline, but you should expect some limitations because of this.