The technology powering Microsoft Flight Simulator is ridiculously impressive, but it does have some drawbacks. Rendering what amounts to the entire planet, Microsoft used a combination of photogrammetry for textures and its Bing search engine to create maps of landmasses. While certainly large in scale, it does create certain instances where players have found flat textures and awkward landmarks (especially the monolithic tower in Melbourne, Australia). For the game’s first update, developer Asobo Studio will be tackling the nation of Japan to flesh out its landmarks.
Revealed as part of the Tokyo Game Show, a new trailer for the game shows off six different cities from the land of the rising sun. Each is getting a major facelift with bespoke building placements, iconic landmarks, and just a massive visual touch-up. You can see things like the Tokyo Tower, the idyllic town of Hakone, and even Mount Fuji. It’s definitely a massive improvement over the procedurally generated versions currently in the game.
As well as those landmarks, certain Japanese airports will be getting a facelift. These include Hachijojima, Kerama, Kushiro, Nagasaki, Shimojishima, and Suwanosejima. Not content to simply overhaul the visual design, Asobo will also be adding three new landing challenges at these airports to keep players entertained.
The update is scheduled to touchdown in Microsoft Flight Simulator on September 29, 2020. It will be free to all owners of the game on both Steam and the Windows Store. Game Pass users will also have access to this content, which should make for a great incentive to stay subscribed (along with that Bethesda acquisition).
Titled “World Update 1,” Asobo will likely continue to flesh out different countries with more detailed landmarks in the future. I’m not exactly sure why Japan was chosen as the first update, but I’m happy to see it. I have a fondness for Japanese architecture and with the COVID lockdown keeping me inside, this is the closest I’ll get to the country for quite some time.
Now if we can get updates centered around Italy, China, and the US, I’ll have the perfect game to take a virtual tour of the world in.
Source: YouTube
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