How Microsoft finally landed helicopters and gliders for Flight Simulator

today is a big day Microsoft Flight Simulator Helicopters and gliders finally take to the skies in the game’s 40th anniversary edition. These two new ways to fly are a much-requested addition, but French studio Asobo has paid close attention to detail to bring helicopters and gliders to life. Microsoft Flight Simulator.

‘We didn’t do all of this ourselves,’ says Microsoft chief flight simulator Jorg Neumann said in an interview. “This 40th anniversary edition of his is a collaborative effort between Asobo and his team of 10 other creatives, and will be the perfect gift for his fans of flight simulations around the world.”

Players can get the Airbus A310 for free today, plus 2 new helicopters, 2 gliders, 7 famous historic aircraft, a classic airport, and previous versions of flight simulator.

Helicopters, in particular, were difficult to add. Microsoft Flight SimulatorThe game was developed with airplanes in mind, but there was always a desire to add more. “A really great helicopter he never had a sim,” he says Neumann. “The manufacturer says so too.”

And for good reason. Because it is difficult. The physics involved in helicopters are much more complex than propeller planes or giant airliners like the Airbus A310. Helicopters are an entirely different beast. Asobo has spent a long time scrutinizing and recreating helicopter aerodynamics. Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Helicopter airflow is primarily from top to bottom. “It comes from the rotor and pushes the helicopter down, so we had to further resolve the specific turbulence around the actual helicopter.”

Something like a translational lift has been perfected in-game, allowing helicopters to realistically move from hovering to forward flight. It may sound simple, but you need to code exactly how the rotor system reacts to the turbulence and eddies created by hovering flight.

of Microsoft Flight Simulator The team worked closely with helicopter manufacturers such as Guimbal, also based in France. “We had full access to the manufacturing team, their flight data, their tests, and he also spoke with the pilots,” says Neumann. “It makes a big difference when you’re trying to make something precise.”

Lift asymmetry is also covered in the game. This is because in rotorcraft aerodynamics, the amount of lift on opposite sides of the rotor disc is unequal. “In our case, that means you have to do something like flapping wings, which is essentially a motor with his blades hanging and hinges up and down,” Neumann says. . “These things go up and down, they bend and they tilt. All this had to be completely rewritten. A flight like this had never really existed before in his sim.”

“No one had ever flown a helicopter before, but we had to,” admits Neumann. The result of the Asobo team undergoing helicopter flight training and making his two-hour trips to the manufacturer translates into what Neumann describes as a “very accurate” representation of the helicopter. Microsoft Flight SimulatorYou can choose either the Bell 407 or the Guimbal Cabri G2, but third-party developers hope to add more offerings.

But the work between Microsoft and Asobo doesn’t end here. There are many famous heliports in the game, such as landing next to the pyramids of Egypt or the Christ of Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, but there is a desire to map them all, not just the 14 available at launch today.

“We found that there was no global database of helipads,” says Neumann. The wider aviation industry has codes for airports, all of which are well documented, but heliports can be found in police stations, hospitals, private yachts, and oil platforms. increase. “We are currently building this from scratch for the first time,” reveals Neumann.

Gliders are the second new type of aircraft available in the 40th Anniversary Update. Much like helicopters, the usual attention to detail has been taken to make these as realistic as possible.The thermal environment is important for gliders. Energy is always depleted, especially without a motor, and you have to analyze the wind around you to get on your windhis shah. When flying in an airplane, light hits forests and water and can look different, but the sun’s thermal effects play a bigger role for gliders.

“Now we really know how much water is in the ground based on when it last rained. ,” says Neumann. “It’s dynamically creating thermals.”

The real test for glider fans is flying over the Patagonian Andes. Microsoft Flight Simulator Duplicate. If you manage to get back to the airport, it’s like landing a plane. But if not, you’ll need to reset and your AI-equipped tow plane will be ready to take off again.

Asobo found about 3,000 glider clubs around the world and wrote to all of them to find out what kind of aircraft they had, what kind of winch equipment they had, and how they used towing planes. This will make gliders more accurate in-game and improve the currently available 15 glider airports. “We have won the total number of glider clubs around the world,” he says Neumann. “As a group, they never communicate together. I think we provoke it a little bit.”

In the future, we have plans to allow you to tow your friend’s glider in the game’s multiplayer mode. The developer has been eagerly awaiting the release of this 40th anniversary update for him, so it’s time to take a look at the software development kits so he can bring more third-party gliders and helicopters into the game.

“If you look at 12 planes, 10 of them aren’t made for fun,” says Neumann. “All we really need is to take the platform to a more sophisticated level so they can go crazy.”

For now, hardcore shimmers and casual players Microsoft Flight Simulator Enjoy the addition of the Airbus A310 with helicopters, gliders and thousands of pages of pilot’s handbooks. There’s always the risk that these new simulated aircraft may not be as accurate or as welcoming as regular planes, and that’s what Asobo experimented with earlier this year.

free top gun The update allowed players to learn unlimited takeoffs, high speed maneuvers and low altitude stunts. Top Gun: Maverick movie. “The quirky experiment was, can people enjoy a three-minute flight? The interesting thing about it is that everyone did it,” says Neumann. “We were sure gamers would love it, but Core Shimmer loved it. It was cool.”

like everything else Microsoft Flight Simulatorattention to detail Top Gun: Maverick The expansion is impressive and certainly a lot of work has gone into the new helicopters and gliders released today. “I think we got there.”