Flight Simulator 2020 [Review]

"Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake) 08/25/2020 at 12:30 • Filed to: None

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I now have about 20 hours of flying time in the new Flight Simulator, so I thought I’d share my thoughts. Spoilers: it’s pretty amazing.

But first, a little backstory.

I used to be pretty obsessed with flight simulator. So obsessed, in fact, that I largely attribute the degree that is currently hanging above my head to my experiences with the game. Back in 1998 I was rummaging through my dad’s study and found an unopened box with an awesome picture of a Learjet taking off on the cover. Microsoft Flight Simulator 98. As Real as it Gets, the tagline read:

I don’t really remember what my relationship was with airplanes at the time. I know that around that time, if not prior to finding this copy of the game, I loved flying to visit family or go on vacations and sitting just behind the wings and watching as the flaps and ailerons moved throughout the flight. My favorite part was always watching the spoilers deploy on landing because you could see all the wires and flap screws and actuators on display.

I installed that copy of Flight Simulator and took to the skies over Chicago and was immediately blown away. I was flying a plane! It was so cool!

I could go on for hours about how much this game changed my life. By the time FS2004 came out I found online communities, frequented forums, learned about airplanes, made liveries, and literally flew around the world multiple times. Flight sim and the community around it made me into an aircraft recognition expert, boring everyone around me as I observe from miles away the differences between a 737 and an A320.

More importantly, flight simulator made me so deeply interested in airplanes and how they fly that I decided to become an aerospace engineer. Years after taking my first flight in 1998 I went to work at one of the manufacturers whose product I’d racked up hundreds of virtual hours in.

Now a whopping 22 years later a new sim has finally come, and my goodness is this one truly living up to the tagline of the version that introduced me to aviation. As Real As it Gets.

Flight Sim 2020 is hands down, no questions asked, the most realistic looking game I have ever played. Go back and watch that trailer for ‘98 and compare. “Amazing in cabin surround views” the narrator said. I remember those views, they were neat. But amazing? This is amazing:

It’s been interesting to watch the reactions to this game. Everyone acts shocked that their home towns are so detailed, yet we know it’s generated from satellite imagery. But it’s truly stunning to be able to visit familiar places and navigate off of landmarks you know. Or to visit unfamiliar ones and see things you may never see in person

As far as gameplay goes, there’s a lot of potential even if there are some issues right now. The flight model takes some getting used to, and it feels very much as if the developers were highly focused on smaller general aviation aircraft than the larger iron. The various high wing Cessna’s and low wing Diamond’s all fly great, but as you go up in size things get a little funky. Landings feel floaty and controls feel over sensitive. The two Citations have bugged fuel burn drastically reducing their range from their real life counterparts. Systems are complex yet simplified, sometimes missing basic functionality and other times seemingly missing real functions, like true RNAV autopilot in the Longitude. Of course it is a simulator, so it’s entirely possible there’s a bit of ‘user error’ at play here.

There’s a joke going around that this is the new Crysis , the machine melting software that looks great if you can run it, while no one can. While it’s certainly a hog, I’ve been able to get a pretty solid 40 FPS on High / Ultra as long as the scenery has fully downloaded off the web. For veterans of this franchise, a smooth 40 fps is great - back in the FS2004 and FSX days I was happy to hit a locked 25 frames, and needless to say the game didn’t look anywhere near this good.

But for me, honestly, very little of that matters. This is the return of a franchise I was convinced was never coming back. A significant memory, a nostalgia trip, a moment in time. Yet here it is, and in the most surreal way it includes an aircraft that I actually worked on. An aircraft that’s so detailed I can see the actual designs I drew visible in the game.

The gaming world seems excited about this sim, and I can hardly express in words how excited that makes me. When I first fired up FS98 I didn’t know where it would take me. By the time I’d installed FSX, I was convinced I was going to change the world. Design airplanes that would inspire future generations like myself to appreciate aviation with a similar wonder and deference for what it has done and continues to do for humanity. And now I can see hundreds if not thousands of people taking to the virtual skies for the first time like I did 22 years ago, but now in a plane that I helped build.

Flight Sim 2020 is likely to go down as a masterpiece. No, it’s not the best game ever, but the ability to visit literally anywhere in the world with fairly high fidelity scenery and real weather is unmatched in the gaming world. And as it is fairly high demanding on PC’s rewarding users with high quality screenshots, it will certainly be a benchmark for future generations of hardware. If you have a decent computer give it a try, and remember to keep the blue skies up.

sony1492 > Jayhawk Jake 08/24/2020 at 23:28

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Its amazing how photo realistic this game is, At a glance alot of the photos could be mistaken as real.

Videogames definitely shaped us, idk who I’d have turned out as without G ranturismo, S mugglers run, and Need for speed Hot pursuit.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 00:10

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dammit you’re all going to make me buy it.

alps?

NYankee1927 > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 12:41

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How does the HD usage work? Does it pull texture resources from the internet locally then keep them? Or is it always streaming off the internet?

facw > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 08/25/2020 at 12:42

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As I noted with CoFL, if you just want to give it a try, it’s included Xbox Game Pass PC, which is $5/month (and I think the first month is $1). It’s definitely cool though.

VajazzleMcDildertits - read carefully, respond politely > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 12:43

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Can confirm. Crashed a 747 on overspeed into a mountain near Alaska 45 minutes in. Love it.

jminer > NYankee1927 08/25/2020 at 12:50

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It does both, a lot of it is downloaded but it also streams realtime weather and traffic info.

jminer > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 12:51

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Excellent write up.

I’ve also always been infatuated with planes and flight sims but went into Tech instead of aerospace.

The game is really very cool. I signed up for a gamepass demo to give it a try and it didn’t disappoint . I’m now going to buy the big package on Steam.

benn454 > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 12:51

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 That's awesome. Congrats on living the dream.

Jayhawk Jake > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 08/25/2020 at 12:52

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Yes, approach into Innsbruck

Jayhawk Jake > NYankee1927 08/25/2020 at 12:52

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I don’t know exactly, but it has a rolling cache on your computer. It defaults to 8GB, I set it to 16GB to see if a bigger cache could help things run smoother. It also tells you how much data you’re currently using and you can set a cap.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > facw 08/25/2020 at 12:53

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Thanks again!  It’s sitting on my hard drive now!  Can’t wait to play...stupid job.

NYankee1927 > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 12:58

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Cool thanks. I really want to get back into the sim game. My wife already shut down the full driving sim but maybe a single joystick can convince her it is a better use of space

phenotyp > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 13:09

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Goddamn, if that ain’t gorgeous.

facw > NYankee1927 08/25/2020 at 13:10

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There are two caches, a rolling cache, and a manua l cache. The rolling cache just keeps whatever area you’ve been in most recently (8GB by default). The manual cache (off by default) lets you tell it to always keep certain regions. And then it goes and gets whatever it needs from the internet if it’s not in the cache already (there are settings to limit bandwidth use if necessary)

user314 > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 13:15

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So obsessed, in fact, that I largely attribute the degree that is currently hanging above my head to my experiences with the game. 

Are you Mike Nelson? ;-D

facw > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 13:15

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For comparison, some shots of Innsbruck that were on the X-Plane 11 site:

X-Plane 11:

Google Earth:

Really no comparison. Google Earth does much better with the buildings (I’d say FS2020 is roughly comparable), but then FS2020 features better vegetation, terrain, weather, and lighting. X-Plane 11 looks 15-20 years old. I think they may be in for a rough time if X-Plane 12 is just an incremental improvement.

functionoverfashion > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 13:26

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Wow, this is amazing. I used to LOVE the old Flight Simulator games, I still have one on a floppy disk (yes, I know right where it is). I think it’s like, 4.0 or something like that. I mostly was a hooligan and crashed my plane into things, or tried to fly between the upright towers on the Sears Tower. But man, this makes me want to get the new one.

Also, what an amazing story you have with this game. That’s amazing. They should use you for their marketing... somehow.

I also got all excited because my work just gave me a brand-new high-spec macbook pro, which should in theory be able to run it at least somewhat. But, Mac. Damnit. If it was MINE I’d run bootcamp, but that’s probably frowned upon with a work machine. 

nermal > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 13:27

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Looking at it from a completely morbid   perspective - How does the crashing work? Will it let you intentionally hit buildings? A snowy mountain range? The sea? Can you land on a road, a field, somebody’s driveway, etc? Can you intentionally do a bad landing on a runway? Can you recreate famous / in famous plane crashes? 

ClassicDatsunDebate > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 13:34

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I really really really hope CFS2020 is being secretly developed....

boredalways > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 13:43

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Does FS2020 have to option to fly a Boeing 737 MAX, or was it available on an older version of FS?

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > nermal 08/25/2020 at 13:45

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T he screen just fades to black. no explosions or parts flying.

Seems like they went out of their way to make sure crashing wouldn’t be enjoyable to do, which makes sense.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 13:48

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I can’t find my damn joystick. I’m playing on a dual-analogue controller. It’s better than keyboard bit not much.

nermal > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 08/25/2020 at 14:39

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Can you try to land without crashing but still outside of an airport? Like say you wanted to try to do an “emergency” landing in a field, or a highway. Or you wan t to do a Sully and land in a river.

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 15:14

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I was never into flight sims, but the technology behind the scenery combined with the graphics are really tempting me to give it a go. I have played some more casual flight sims, like IL-2 Sturmovik way back in the day, and I handled it okay.

How easy/difficult is it for someone with no prior flying knowledge to pick up how it works? By prior knowledge I mean being farmiliar with all the levers, buttons, lift, windspeed, ailerons, flaps and .. uuuh... wings.

Could a newbie just get in the game and manage to complete a takeoff before crashing?

Brickman > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 15:16

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FS 98 was my first too! I also had kid pilot, Flight unlimited II, then FSX. Soon Microsoft Flight.

Dont know why I never went into being a pilot, probably because of my poor eyesight.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > nermal 08/25/2020 at 16:45

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No idea. I’ve only watched others play, and haven’t come across that exact scena rio. I’d assume if speed and angle were appropriate, you could. I’d be surprised if they let you do it on water though.

Jayhawk Jake > facw 08/25/2020 at 19:21

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X-Plane 11 looks completely lifeless next to FS2020. Of course so does FSX now too.

Jayhawk Jake > nermal 08/25/2020 at 19:22

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Yes you can land anywhere as long as you don’t hit something. 

Jayhawk Jake > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 08/25/2020 at 19:23

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You can land on water in a float plane, there’s one in the game (Icon A5). I don’t know if you can put a plane down for a belly landing on land or w ater, haven’t tried.

Jayhawk Jake > user314 08/25/2020 at 19:23

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100%. I can fly instrument...in FS.

Jayhawk Jake > Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' 08/25/2020 at 19:25

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If you go in blind and know nothing about airplanes it’s going to be rough. It is a simulator after all. But if you go through the lesson missions included in the game you’ll learn enough to get by.

Taking off and flying is not that difficult. Landing is hard.

Jayhawk Jake > boredalways 08/25/2020 at 19:26

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There’s no 737 in this one. There have been 737s in previous ones but not the Max, at least not as a standard included plane 

boredalways > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 19:58

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Probably a good thing for now

Bylan - Hoarder of LS400's > Jayhawk Jake 08/25/2020 at 20:04

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This makes me want to get a decent computer, and I’m not huge into airplanes but i do love simulators

Wheelerguy > Jayhawk Jake 08/27/2020 at 10:20

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The coming modders to this game will probably be good enough to be hired considering the demands not just for graphical fidelity, but simulation accuracy, too. Coupled with real ATC utilities and I wouldn’t be surprised if the bones of FS20 becomes the bones of OEM sims.

And the implications to gaming at large is equally great, too. We know both AMD and Nvidia have some drastically more powerful graphics processors coming, and with that comes the potential to both generate real Earth-like worlds or more localized worlds with higher accuracy and physical depth to the gameplay.