Microsoft and the team at Asobo like to keep players in the loop about their Microsoft Flight Simulator plans. We reported earlier this month about what’s coming to the ultimate flight simulator and although we knew a major update is about to drop in January/February, there was little information about its contents.
During this month’s Developer Q&A Live session, the head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann and developers at Asobo Studio went through all the changes coming to the game in the next update and revealed the next major changes that should arrive in March.
So, the first important improvement of the year, World Update 7, will cover Australia with the latest satellite imagery, lots of POIs (point-of-interest), a new DEM (digital elevation model) and a brand-new Local Legend. The video at the end of the story contains a short teaser of the upcoming World Update 7, but a full trailer for it and the Local Legend plane will be released when the update drops next week.
The teaser shows a bunch of gorgeous POIs from Australia, including Byron Bay (New South Wales), Siding Spring Observatory (New South Wales), Paul Wild Observatory (New South Wales), Gold Coast (Queensland), Brisbane (Queensland), The Gabba (Queensland), Townsville (Queensland), Trinity Beach (Queensland), Green Island Jetty (Queensland), and Great Barrier Reef (Queensland).
A team of 60 people have worked on this specific update, Jorg Neumann revealed in the video. The studio has teamed up with an Australian company to build the new DEM. Another Australian company, OrbX built all 94 POIs included in the update.
Photo: Asobo Studio
With the help of Bing Maps, 11 Australian cities have been included in the update, such as Sidney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Cairns, Darwin, Townsvile, Bunbury, and Mackay, but more will be added throughout 2022.
Local Legend #2 gets detailed
Now let’s move one to another important part of the update, Local Legend #2, which also got a short teaser. Also known as Southern Cross, the Fokker F.VIIB/3M is the next Local Legend plane coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator. It has been used in the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air by Charles Kingsford Smith between May 31 and June 9, 1928.
The people at OrbX recreated the Fokker F.VIIB/3M and there are six different variants available in the game: two Southern Cross (one with the original cockpit and a second one with modern cockpit), one Josephine Ford (the ski variant), one Friendship (float variant), and three transport variants.
One other interesting aspect about this update is that developers have recreated the original flight missions too, which are very long. For example, Charles Kingsford Smith flew more than 80 hours in his successful attempt to cross the Pacific Ocean, so that’s how long you’ll have to fly too if plan to repeat the accomplishment using the same plane.
That’s all the info about World Update 7 Australia arriving next week, but if you want to know more about what’s coming after this update, keep reading.
Photo: Asobo Studio
Famous Flyer #1 and World Update 8 revealed
The first Famous Flyer plane is going to be released alongside Sim Update 8, which is scheduled for March 1. Although this was to be the Antonov AN-2, it looks like Microsoft had some issues in getting the licenses from the Russian company, so instead it will ship the plane that was supposed to be Famous Flyer #1 in March. This has yet to be confirmed closer to launch, but at the moment that’s the plan. That being said, the first Famous Flyer plane coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator is the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing, a very popular and beloved aircraft.
Finally, it’s common knowledge that after launching a new update for Microsoft Flight Simulator, developers announce the next one. Without further ado, World Update 8 is Iberia and it’s set for release in late March. Expect both Portugal and Spain to be included in this update, as well as Local Legend #3 – Dornier Do J “Wal,” a water plane.
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