Following the release of World Update 17 focusing on the UK and Ireland for Microsoft Flight Simulator yesterday, Microsoft released an interesting article about the technology behind it, and what it promises for the upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
In the article on Xbox Wire, we hear that the World Update is the biggest yet published on the simulator, which isn’t surprising considering that it weighs almost 20 GB.
We also learn that it merges recent aerial imagery, digital elevation modeling (including LiDAR coverage), TIN (triangulated irregular network) surface modeling, and hand-crafted airports, and it “lays the groundwork for what’s coming next to the franchise.”
Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann reveals that the current simulator and its successor will share the same digital twin of the world (if you’re unfamiliar with the definition of “Digital Twin,” you can read our dedicated article), cities, points of interest, elevation maps, and aerials will be the same.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will be different in the optimization of the way the data is delivered to the player, which allows the developers to do more and achieve better accuracy.
“The world, especially the Big Data world, between Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will be shared. We are not going to have two different digital twins — cities like London are going to be shared, POIs are shared, the height field (DEM) and aerials are all shared.
What’s different in MSFS 2024 is we have optimized how the data is brought to the player. So, there will be a lot more in the Cloud, which allows us to do more. Instead of 23 species of trees, we now have something like 200.
And ultimately with that it allows you to be a lot more accurate. There will still be trees in both worlds, but one will be a little bit more generic and the other more sophisticated, but the worlds will be the same.”
The technology used to create World Update 17 was not available when the first time the same regions were mapped for World Update 3. This includes improved cameras and more accurate levels of data.
The new update includes 1,800 square kilometers of photogrammetry for the Greater London area, while Microsoft and the Bing team have been flying aircraft over England for the last two years and sent more to Ireland as well to gather all the required data.
The rendition of London is four times bigger than the previous version, and the resolution is “much, much higher.” The Bing team has also developed new algorithms specifically for the roads so that they’re cleaner and flat instead of the bumpy ones we have seen previously in MSFS.
Updated policies in the European Union also provided the development team with better elevation maps closer to 2m resolution compared to the previous 20m.
“Any mountain in Wales like Snowdon looks much better. And our Scotland Highlands look rugged as the Scotland Highlands really are. We’re just at the beginning of this. The world is full of sensors and these sensors get better and better and better, and that is the transformation that we’re seeing.
There will be further technical innovations that will surprise and delight us in this area in the future, no question about that. Having unmanned flying vehicles like drones becoming more common will change how photogrammetry is done.
So, we’re mapping the world with flights and seeing the benefits from that, and we will be right there with it and make it as interactive and pretty as we possibly can.”
Interestingly, the collaboration with Bing Maps goes both way, as all the work done for the World Updates is also fed back into Microsoft’s mapping service.
Neumann brings up the example of the Cliffs of Moher (which you can see at the top of the post) in Ireland, highlighting the realism of the photogrammetry and mentioning that this is where we’re going to see the greatest impact in the future, with photogrammetry enhancing not just cities, but also the countryside.
Basically, what we see today in World Update 17 is “a glimpse of what the future holds.”
While Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is coming soon (it’ll be released on November 19, 2024), the original Microsoft Flight Simulator won’t be as technically sophisticated, but it will “live on” and will continue to benefit from the new data injected in its successor.
If you’re new to sims and want to get ready to enjoy the ever-evolving digital twin of the world that Microsoft is creating, you can check out our guide on how to get into flight simulation, which will teach you the basics and will tackle more advanced topics in further episodes down the line.
