Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will let you step out of your plane, walk down a path and watch the sunset

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Microsoft Flight Simulator already looked pretty spectacular, but my excitement level is now sky-high after developer Asobo's reveal that you'll be able to step out of your plane, walk out into the countryside (or wherever else) and watch the sunset in your favorite corner of this gorgeous recreation of the world.

Microsoft Flight Simulator boss Jorge Neumann said this during a chat with PC Gamer, after reiterating how many additional details will be present in the digital version of Earth in Flight Simulator 2024 compared to its already impressive predecessor.

For example, the team has improved the look of every airport, added glider airports, every oil rig, and every lighthouse in the world. That’s along with “hundreds of species of animals running around,” and they’re also simulating “every ship on Earth” with their transponder signals, all of which, Neumann says, you’ll be able to land on. “I think we’re in a new era of game creation that I think is going to break new ground, from a scale and complexity perspective.”

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Release Date Trailer. Watch on YouTube

And then there are the trees. Trees are a topic Neumann has spoken about before, but now he says that Microsoft Flight Simulator has the ability to present every tree on Earth. “We have a machine learning aspect [it] “up,” he explains, “and then we know what kind of tree it is, to the point where we know what the species is probably… and then we plant trees, literally trillions of trees, and this all happens in real time, so it’s pretty darn accurate.”

But what’s got me most excited is all the buzz about landing, with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 not only letting you be a digital tourist in the sky, but on the ground, too. “Now you can step out of the plane, walk into 2024,” Neumann says. “You can literally walk down your favorite mountain trail to your favorite mountain lodge. Sit on a lake. Watch the sunset. It’s really a digital twin that you can absorb.”

In fact, Neumann shares one additional detail that might just trump the whole excitement ladder thing. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, he says, won't hog hard drive space like its absolutely voracious predecessor.

“In 2020, the initial install is 130GB,” he explains. “Then we have 17 global updates. If you calculate, we’re at 500GB. And then there are 5,000 add-ons that people have created, which I think is two terabytes… [But] for Flight Simulator 2024, we changed everything. We've basically gone to a thin client architecture, and we're not done yet. We're shipping in November, but we think we'll be… I would say 50 GB or less, but with tons more data, because we're offloading more to the cloud.”

And Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has a lot to cram in. Asobo has already confirmed that it will launch with a frankly mind-boggling list of activities, including aerial firefighting, search and rescue, helicopter cargo transport, air ambulances, aerial spraying, mountain rescue, skydiving aviation, aerial construction, cargo transport, air racing, glider piloting, scientific research, low-altitude training, experimental travel, airship tours, hot air balloon rides, as well as VIP charter and executive transportation. And that’s before you get to the planes.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launches for PC and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, so there’s still some time to pack your digital suitcase and make your flight plans.

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