Interesting article from outside of the familiar simulator forum and community bubbles: https://www.protocol.com/amp/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-2646998184

Excerpt:

Quote

 

Quick, what's Microsoft's most venerable franchise?

Nope, it's not Office (1990), Windows (1985) or even Word (1983). It's actually Microsoft Flight Simulator, first released in November 1982.

Microsoft, still then an upstart in the fledgling personal computer business, commissioned and acquired Flight during Reagan's first term as a showcase to demonstrate the power of "modern" technology to everyday consumers and to the company's corporate rivals.

Thirty-eight years later, on Tuesday, Microsoft is releasing a stunning, groundbreaking new version of Flight — the first since 2006 — for exactly the same reason. Microsoft is no longer an upstart, but Flight may provide the most vivid, consumer-friendly demonstration in years of how the bleeding edge of modern technology can provide fundamentally new human experiences and (quite literally) change how we see our world. In that sense, Flight may become Microsoft's most effective marketing vehicle in years.

What makes the new Flight so revolutionary is that it's simply the most detailed and realistic model of Earth yet created. Call it a digital twin. In Flight, being released initially for powerful Windows PCs, you can go anywhere on the planet almost instantaneously, and it looks like that place on the planet (with the general exception of restricted military areas). The buildings, the hills, the vegetation, the water, the sky, the clouds — it's all there, everywhere. The degree of freedom produces an intellectual effect that is at first a bit disorienting — perhaps akin to the first time you realized you could just type a question into Google and get an answer.

 

 

Interesting take, but not sure I agree. While the tech is certainly incredible, I don’t think it scales to the magnitude of Google’s search engine.

And the fact that he says “Flight” instead of “Flight Simulator” bugs oof

15 minutes ago, FlyingInACessna said:

And the fact that he says “Flight” instead of “Flight Simulator” bugs oof

😄

Quote

"We can spin up as many virtual machines as we want," he said with no small bit of pride. "If we want to have a million-animal caribou herd where every caribou is running its own AI, we can do that. The boundary of the local machine is broken. That is no longer a barrier for us to do things. Now it really just comes down to, 'What do you want to simulate?' We dream about these things a lot. Now, the dream is no longer some vapor that goes away. It is all totally possible.

That.

Still in the middle of the article, but it’s so cool to see how the project was resurrected through a HoloLens test project with Machu Picchu!

30 minutes ago, FlyingInACessna said:

And the fact that he says “Flight” instead of “Flight Simulator” bugs oof

I cringed also..

Edited August 17, 20205 yr by reignman40

16 minutes ago, ShawnG said:

That.

What MS really created was Microsoft Earth Simulation Platform.

Flight Simulator is just the first killer app to run on it.

I guarantee MS will create new apps running on this platform and will probably license it out to other third parties. 

3 minutes ago, ANCRM114 said:

What MS really created was Microsoft Earth Simulation Platform.

Flight Simulator is just the first killer app to run on it.

I guarantee MS will create new apps running on this platform and will probably license it out to other third parties. 

Totally agree with this. They have to take this if more than one direction. Possibly a train sim or something else entirely. 

Google is not farther ahead because of a  ton of regulation but trust when i tell you because what i know and had seen google for a few years now if the restrictions were lifted in a matter of a day they can recreate a 3d world with just the streetview database thats going to scare some . 

I agree. The applications of this technology for maps (virtual tourism or any other mapping spplication), education, all kinds of terrain visualization applications.. it goes way way beyond flight simulation. This is just the start. 

21 minutes ago, rtodepart said:

Google is not farther ahead because of a  ton of regulation but trust when i tell you because what i know and had seen google for a few years now if the restrictions were lifted in a matter of a day they can recreate a 3d world with just the streetview database thats going to scare some . 

What’s holding them back exactly?

17 minutes ago, rtodepart said:

Google is not farther ahead because of a  ton of regulation but trust when i tell you because what i know and had seen google for a few years now if the restrictions were lifted in a matter of a day they can recreate a 3d world with just the streetview database thats going to scare some . 

And remember that google already flirted with flight simulation. They have a mini flight simulator inside Google Earth...

1 hour ago, FlyingInACessna said:

Interesting take, but not sure I agree. While the tech is certainly incredible, I don’t think it scales to the magnitude of Google’s search engine.

And the fact that he says “Flight” instead of “Flight Simulator” bugs oof

What does search engine have to do with mapping tech? 

3 minutes ago, Emerson67 said:

And remember that google already flirted with flight simulation. They have a mini flight simulator inside Google Earth...

Have you tried it? It's nowhere closer to a stimulator. 

Yeah, no...

 

No matter how good the sim turns out to be, I don't think anyone will be in such awe as what google brings to your fingertips...