New Microsoft Flight Simulator alpha gameplay video shows incredible next-gen graphics

DSOGaming writes: "We've already showcased how stunning Microsoft Flight Simulator looks via a number of screenshots. However, we are certain that most of you would like to see it in action."

[iplay1up2]

I am going to have to buy a Flight stick for this!

[rainslacker]

I have the TFlight HOTAS that I got for Ace Combat 7. I'm glad I can hook it up to my PC for this, because it's a pretty decent stick, although no force feedback, and its been a while since we've had a MSFS, and I've never had the opportunity to play one with a good flight stick. Think the last flight stick I had for PC still ran off the serial port.

[rlow1]

Absolutely next gen. Looks real.

[Kavorklestein]

Seriously! It literally blows my mind and eyes out of my skull.
I actually have a funny story with these gfx. I sent screen shots to my Dad and he said: "Did you travel somewhere and not tell me?"
I laughed and told him it was from Flight Simulator and he was totally shocked.
I sent the same pics to my brother and he also said something like: "Wow! Did you visit Alaska? Those clouds are so pretty!" And when I told him it was a game he said "Oh that makes more sense" and now he is following news for this game and we talk about it.

My mom thought the same thing when I showed her and she was completely shocked.

I mean, people who aren't keeping up on this game- or know of it, are Actually thinking the game looks like real life.
I applaud the developers for not only the presentation, but the sheer ambition and scope they are aiming for with this Flight Simulator.

I have never wanted to geek out with a joystick and simulate the slow and careful art of flying, but when the whole world is basically at the fingertips, I now wanna just FLY. Crack out on all the intricacies and get lost in it. I think it will be like almost like a feeling of freedom, that was previously only available to the wealthy and lucky.

Now I look forward to get a chance to fly even more than most of the next gen titles announced so far.

13/10 would fly again.
Would die and go to heaven if I could play this now and not have to wait lol.
I have high Hopes for this one, So freaking excited.

[rlow1]

Wow great story, I don't know you or your family but i could see their reactions in my head.....Lol. Yeah, i'm really excited about it as well. I'm building a pc for video editing but doubling as a game machine, so i'm looking forward to playing this. I can't wait to see it on next gen consoles as well. It's making me think about getting a real pilots license.

[SegaSaturn669]

Will it allow flight over Iranian airspace?

[shiva1]

You need to buy the game and confirm it to rest of the world.

[Sol4ris]

Looks incredible! But for the life of me, can’t see next generation consoles running the game at this graphical fidelity.

[ApocalypseShadow]

I think they can. Fast streaming of data that is only in your field of view. No worrying about slow HDDs or duplicate file discs. Capable of 8K textures and millions of polygons.

Clouds already look great in Ace Combat 7
https://youtu.be/nvoaQoSeXY...
And that's on 1.84 to 6.0 teraflops.

What do you think 10.2-12 teraflops can do? And I'd say the majority of the planes are flying at a modest clip. Not jet or rocket speed. Leaving the ability to show high detail. The internet is nice. But not really needed.

FS looks pretty good. Needs VR though for ultimate thrill.

[Fishy Fingers]

Nice. But not really needed...

"If you're wondering how your PC is going to cope with rendering the entire world, developer Asobo Studio explains that Microsoft Flight Simulator will rely on your internet connection, using something called adaptive streaming. The better your bandwidth, it says, the greater visual fidelity you'll experience."

Kinda sounds important... https://www.pcgamer.com/fly...

[ApocalypseShadow]

My PC could never run it at any settings. And FS is running on current graphics cards. Next Gen consoles can match the fidelity. It's the streaming you're worried about of all the airports.

Hmmm...consoles can STREAM from online too like a PC. Wow fishy. Pretty amazing right?

Sol has thought to himself that he can't see it being possible. I just proved they CAN. Even if they didn't use the internet, both next gen consoles could match the graphics. Making this game possible to be ported and probably will be to Series X.

You seemed to miss this part as well....

***But the developer is also keen to stress that there will be an offline mode where you can pre-cache parts of the map to fly on without being connected to the internet.***

From your own link.

[Fishy Fingers]

I didn't miss it mate, that's a well know fact (much like internet connection plays a big role), they even have a video on their official youtube showing the different online/offline, its pretty dramatic.

[rainslacker]

They're showing this game off on pretty beefy PC's. But it has a pretty clever use of LOD's to achieve what it's doing. I dunno if they've had any showings of this game running on consoles yet. The people around here seem to always assume that, or at least imply it, but I don't know if MS ever really specified. Since I think their main audience for this is going to be on PC, they'd not cater to the console crowd as much with it.

[Kavorklestein]

It simply looks amazing.

[rainslacker]

I agree. And MSFS has always been the top of its class for what it is in terms of simulation.

[whitbyfox]

Game of the year.

[rainslacker]

Except classifying this as a game is a pretty liberal use of the term in how it defines what a game is.

MSFS is what one would call a "true simulator", and the game play elements are actually extremely sparse. There isn't any forgiveness of mistakes like you'd see in a combat flight sim, and I'd wager most gamers expecting something more than just flying an airplane and looking at pretty pictures aren't going to be fulfilled by what this series has to offer.

[Bladesfist]

What combat sim? DCS World is a true flight combat simulator and that's more punishing than any Microsoft flight sim released to date. I'm pretty sure they have said they want the ability for people who aren't simmers to have the options to tune down some of those aspects and have fun flying with a gamepad. The game is about flying so it's going to come down to how much do you like aircraft just like racing sims come down to how much you like cars.

[whitbyfox]

It’s being reported on news4gamers, it will probably be on gamepass. Those 2 were easy. I’m not going into the whole dictionary examples of what games are.

[rainslacker]

@Blade

If that's the case, then they are dumbing down the simulation. MSFS has always been something that tried to be accurate based on whatever technology was available at the time of it's release. Is it 100% accurate? I dunno, because I've never actually flown a plane. But, it feels like a simulator, not a game, at least with prior versons.

If MS has made it more forgiving for non-sim players, then that's fair enough. But until I hear or see something that suggest there are game play scenarios involved with this title, I'm reluctant to classify it as a game.

I'm fine with it being a true simulator though. It's what I've always liked about MSFS. I just notice a lot of people saying it's a game, and I think a lot of them have never actually played it before to know what to expect.

@Whitby

That's fine. But if people have expecations for this title that won't be met, it's not going to be something that's going to do MS any favors.

This title is hard for me to try and set expectations for what these titles always have been, because people see it as me bashing the game, or possibly the series. But I actually really like this series, and have since it was vector graphics back on my first 386 computer. In fact, it's the first "game" that I had on the system, because its the only thing my dad ever had.

[whitbyfox]

How does a company go from making Disney movie tie-ins, then A Plague Tale and then something completely unrelated and without any prior experience and still the results look mind blowing. Talk about a meteoric rise.

[Kavorklestein]

Hell Yes, these dudes have amazed me with their Skill and advancement in design.
I am glad they are getting the chance to show the world what they can really do! Simply wow and holy hell. Can't wait to get lost and go nuts with this sim.

[whitbyfox]

Amen to that.

[King_Noctis]

MS haz no gaem.

[rainslacker]

MSFS isn't what most of us would really consider a game.

Love the series myself, but it really is just flying a plane. Take off. Fly. Land. That's about it.

[King_Noctis]

You mean there is zero gameplay involved in between taking off and landing? You aren't involved in steering, watching out for weather, sitting in the cockpit and controlling the plane by using all those fancy buttons and monitors that a real plane has? I heard there is also "seamless" multiplayer in the game, you mean MS had removed that feature?

[rainslacker]

Game play and simulation aren't the same thing. Game play is a simulation, but a simulation isn't necessarily game play. Game play tends to include a challenge beyond the normal situation....a conflict of sorts.

As far as steering, flying a plane there really isn't that much steering involved once you reach cruising altitude. There are course adjustments, but it's not like driving a car where minor corrections are ongoing. Planes tend to correct themselves for minor things.

Looking at landscapes while flying isn't game play. It's just the environment that the simulation takes place in. that's like saying stopping to admire the view in RDR2 or something is actual game play.

As far as MP. I'm not sure about that or what it entails. I wasn't aware of that, but will look into it.

It is possible MS has added in some challenge scenarios that I'm unaware of. There were mods released for older versions, some official, that did that kind of thing. I guess they could best be compared to PilotWings if you're familiar with that game, but more technical based.

Personally, I like MSFS for what it always was, and I'm not trying to bash the game in the least. Of all MS projects right now, it's probably the one I've given the most praise to. But, I think some people do have expectations that won't be delivered with the final product.

[Bruh]

Man I cannot wait to see how the Series X is gonna run this baby. Show me 10 mins of Series X gameplay for the July event

[Kavorklestein]

Idk if this is gonna come to series X, but if it does, it will save me a lot of money upgrading my pc set-up to the Tip-Top Tier just for this game lol

[Bruh]

Microsoft has already confirmed and said this will be available on Xbox One and PC. Which is easy to see that it'll come Series X optimized as well.