Key points
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Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 borrows its animals from Planet Zoo.
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Flight Sim has improved its ground simulation experience.
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Flight Sim 2024 is simulating over three trillion trees.
Microsoft Flight Simulator head Jorg Neumann has revealed that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 borrows its animals from Planet Zoo, the zoo simulation game from Frontier Developments.
Neumann talked about this in an interview with PC Gamer, describing the improvements Asobo Studio has made to the “in the field” experience of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. “I've been working with Frontier Developments for a long time,” Neumann said. “I don't know if you know those guys, they do Planet Zoo, among other things. And I called my friend, the CEO. His name is Jonny. And I said Hey Jonny, I'm working on Flight Sim, can you I have the your Planet Zoo animals? And he says yeah, why not, we took all the Planet Zoo animals and put them into our world, which is cool, you know?”
The flight simulator borrows animals from Planet Zoo
I agree, it's beautiful. Flight Sim has always been good at simulating the piloting experience, but in previous versions the landing experience wasn't something worth talking about. I mean, it's not called Walk Around The Sahara Simulator, so expectations had to be tempered. However, Asobo Studio is really improving Flight Sim's ground simulation experience.
Along with animals from Planet Zoo, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 simulates “3 trillion trees” along with rocks, pebbles, and other landscape elements. The more nuanced terrain in the game allowed Asobo to better simulate the physics of landing on different surfaces.
As Neumann says, “The reality is that if you land in a plowed field, you're going to crash your plane. It depends on the weight, but generally, if it's a light plane, you're probably going to nosedive forward. So now we have every rock , literally every little rock, and your tires will physically hit it.”
I can't wait to dive my little plane into the plowed fields of western Ireland on one of my daring dives. As I lay crumpled next to my irretrievable plane, I took comfort in the fact that the rock that finally destroyed me was rendered in beautiful detail by Asobo.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 further expands the next-generation series, adding a host of new technologies for hyper-realistic weather conditions and more. It also adds jobs for pilots to do, from moving paratroopers and cargo to organizing daring air rescues.
