Microsoft Flight Arcade Web Based flight simulator

Microsoft is showing off some new web-based coding and technologies with the launch of Flight Arcade during Build 2015. The free-to-play flight sim is meant to show how modern browsers, such as the upcoming Microsoft Edge, can handle high-end 3D graphics.

The first version of Flight Simulator shipped in 1980 for the Apple II and, amazingly, it was in 3D! That was a remarkable achievement. It’s even more amazing when you consider that all of the 3D was done by hand, the result of meticulous calculations and low-level pixel commands.

When Bruce Atwick tackled the early versions of Flight Simulator, not only were there no 3D frameworks, but there were no frameworks at all! Those versions of the game were mostly written in assembly, just a single step away from ones and zeroes that flow through a CPU.

To reimagine Flight Simulator for the web, Microsoft couldn’t help but think about the contrast of creating 3D then and now. Modern coding seems almost luxurious as they sculpt 3D worlds in WebGL with great frameworks like Babylon.js.

Read More about Microsoft Flight Arcade and the rendering engine and try your hand .