News video games 29 September 2022, 18:45

Hurricane Ian Attracts Microsoft Flight Simulator Players

Microsoft Flight Simulator continues to amaze with its realism. The latest trend among fans of the game is taking a close look at Hurricane Ian.

Table of Contents:

Hurricane Ian
MSFS and weather
SIM update 10

In recent days, the community gathered around Microsoft Flight Simulator has become very active. This has to do with Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Florida. It turns out that thanks to the famous flight simulator, virtual pilots have decided to take a closer look at this magnificent (but extremely dangerous) weather phenomenon.

Hurricane Ian

As noted by PC Gamer, many owners of Microsoft Flight Simulator decided to observe Hurricane Ian. It is not difficult to find on the web materials and recordings related to flights aimed at approaching this weather phenomenon.

Source: Reddit user Zoqerly.

In various screenshots it is clear that there is no shortage of fans for this kind of view. This should come as no surprise, given the fact that MSFS has a very realistic weather mapping system, thanks to which you can watch the changes taking place live.

MSFS and weather

Weather in MSFS is created through cooperation with the company Meteoblue. It divides the world into many small sectors and collects various information from them. Data from 250 million such regions are provided to the game.

Such a detailed representation of cloud cover in MSFS is only possible because Meteoblue collects data from 60 overlapping layers - from the ground to the stratosphere - in each surveyed piece of the world.

SIM update 10

It is worth noting that Microsoft Flight Simulator is still being developed and receiving updates. The last one was released on September 21, 2022. Among the many changes, innovations or fixes, it is worth mentioning, for example, additional windows allowing a wider view (ideal for players with multiple monitors) or a more realistic system of clouds close to the ground.

This update also has a separate section describing changes in the weather. We can learn that the game now simulates wind gusts in real time, and the turbulence system has also been worked on.