Microsoft Flight Simulator’s creators have released a trailer showing off its new makeover for the UK and Ireland.
The much anticipated third ‘World Update 3’ download includes recreated versions of more than 70 points of interest, along with five new “hand-crafted” airports.
It follows similar updates to the US and Japan alongside work carried out and sold by independent developers.
England’s new additions include Land’s End, the Eden Project, Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, the Spinnaker Tower, Brighton Palace Pier, the Cliffs of Dover, Canterbury Cathedral, the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Stamford Bridge, Windsor Castle, Blenheim Palace, Hampton Court, Warwick Castle, Anfield, Blackpool Tower, Jodrell Bank Observatory, the Humber Bridge, Lake District National Park, and the Angel of the North.
Scotland now includes Floors Castle, Stirling Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Forth Bridges, Loch Leven, Glenfinnan Viaduct, the National Wallace Monument, the Out Skerries, Eilean Donlan Castle, Barra Airport, and Mount Stuart House.
Finally, Wales will include Snowdonia National Park, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the Principality Stadium, while Ireland will include Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge, Blarney Castle, Killarney National Park in the latter.
In January, the sim added snow to its real-time weather generator.
The update means users opting for mirror conditions in the sim to real life will now see snow in areas of the globe deep in winter.
The game allows players access to 37,000 airports around the globe, and gives players the option to fly essentially anywhere in the world using one of up to 30 aircraft, from an A320neo to a Cessna 152 and Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental.
All planes feature accurate cockpits with realistic controls and instrumentation.
The entire simulated world is hyper-realistic – apart from a number of notable flaws that players have already pointed out – thanks to the use of Microsoft’s Bing Maps, which was utilised to re-create every corner of the earth in as much detail as the developers could achieve.
As time goes on, external developers now have the capability of designing add-ons to improve the geography of certain cities or regions, meaning the possibilities are endless.
Additional reporting by Hannah Dowling.
