Re: MS Flight Sim 2024 in the news

On Mon, 1 Jul 2024 14:20:03 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
<candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 01:36 this Monday (GMT):

>
Microsoft has recently been announcing a bunch of new features for the
up-and-coming newest version of its venerable "Flight Simulator"
franchise, imaginatively named "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024".
These features include a better flight model, nicer visuals (natch)
and, most unusually, the ability to get out of the plane and walk
around.
>
(I'm reminded of the advice given in 1997's "Interstate 76" game, when
an NPC warned, 'Never get out of the car'.)
>
I was rather late coming to the 2020 edition of the franchise; I toyed
around with it a little bit in... I dunno, 2022? but didn't really
engage with the game until late last year. It's an impressive piece of
tech, even if my appreciation of the flight simulator gameplay has
diminished over the decades. But it doesn't really feel like a game
that needs replacing yet; the sim still has legs.

>
But the newest one added more legs! (since u can walk :P)

I didn't know you were a father, candy, because that was very much a
Dad joke.

Of course, Microsoft /says/ that players of the 2020 game have nothing
to worry about; not only will the services stay in operation, but they
will be dually updating both games for a while yet. And good ol' Papa
Microsoft is so incredibly trustworthy, so I'm sure it's true.

>
To be fair, I always thought they just pulled data from their Maps
service. Of course, I wouldn't put it past them to "accidentally" break
the connection on the old game to force people to upgrade.

AFAIK, the game used backend data from Bing maps but it not the same
service; you aren't pulling from the Bing Maps servers. Rather, the
maps were duplicated on MSFS2020 servers. That's why all the maps in
MSFS2020 are several years out of date, whereas the changes wrought by
time are reflected correctly on Bing Maps.

If MS were to suddenly kill Bing Maps, it shouldn't affect MSFS2020.
But just because Bing Maps is still up doesn't mean MSFS2020 will keep
running.