Mamudesign, the creator who brought us the Powerlines and the Projectlifts has cooked up something good for all those of us who like to explore the world on foot or with very low and slow aircraft.

https://www.fsexplore.com/index.php

Finally a tool that can track your avatar so that you can upload GPS Tracks of hiking trails and walk them. I just tried it on the Via Alpina, which I had started last year without the help of a moving map. An endeavor that can get difficult with pathfinding at times because you don't always see where the trail is in the satellite image or the DEM.

But among other things FSExplore puts waymarked stones and signs along the trail so that you can find your way easier. It has other much cooler options which I haven't explored yet.

The tracker also records your time so that you can see how much faster than in reality you are. Especially in mountainous terrain where slopes don't slow the avatar down you gain a lot of ground. Only when it's flat you can expect to be exactly as slow as you are in real life. I just spend about 2 hours hiking a route that in real life would have taken 5.5 hours. Add to that VR and it is almost like being there.

I can attest to that because I picked an area that I have hiked in real life and picked a trail I have partly hiked in real life as well. Sometimes the vegetation is off. Mountain pine areas for example are not well represented in the sim, which is a shame. But overall it's like going on a little 2 hour vacation.

And did I mention that it marks wildlife locations on your map so that you can go on photo safari much easier?

Highly recommended for those who want to get to know the earth up close.

Edited May 29May 29 by Farlis

Wow that’s pretty cool, and a testament to how much MSFS is a complete virtual world.