The Best Flight Simulator Programs.
FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2020
The flight simulator genre has exploded the last few years but the biggest player currently by far is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 with its 2020 release. This all new flight simulator has amazing graphics, Virtual reality for that immersive realism and a lot more!
Is this the only flight simulator to consider thought? In the flight sim community there will be many cries from all the camps to the crown of the best current flight simulator on the market. The truth is that MSFS 2020 has certainly taken center stage but there are still lots to consider. Lets take a look at the current choices!
The Best Current GA Simulators
The most popular flight simulators currently are Microsoft Flight Simulator with X Plane 11 by Laminar Research and Prepar3d by Lockheed Martin somewhat wallowing behind as we enter 2021.
Osobo who is responsible for creating the mind blowing graphics we now see in this newest of flight simulators has done an amazing job. The graphics and ground scenery generated by artificial intelligence techniques is truly amazing.
There are stunning water effects, clouds that are the most realistic anywhere and accurate maps created by BING that the program uses to add representative buildings from the ground image.
Does the above make it the only flight simulator you should consider? Well not necessarily so lets take a deeper dive into MSFS 2020, X Plane and DCS plus more and answer the question for you!
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is the latest addition to the flight simulator genre. This has come with a plethora of modern technologies including AI which handles the amazing scenery images we see giving us accurate representations of the buildings below us by just looking at the shape of the ground image and knowing basically what the region has in buildings.
Created by Microsoft Flight Simulator and developed by OSOBO Studio and released by XBox Game Studios build to be played on X BOX or PC platforms so you can buy a game pass and play the game/Simulator or you can buy a number of versions from essentially basic to Deluxe.
The difference is additional aircraft and additional hand crafted airports in the release. I would say unless you really want the airports or aircraft in a more expensive release you could just save money as the world is continually being updated your probably not missing out on much at the top end.
The simulator used real world traffic as well as a quality air traffic control system and has been released in DX11 which delivers good performance even on a mid tear PC. Don’t think your going to run this well on a low end system though. This like all flight simulators requires a top end system to get all the best features as you see them in the release videos by Microsoft.
Virtual reality was included in an update in December of 2020 and runs on mixed reality as well as other VR headsets like the Oculus Rift S, Reverb G2 as well as Oculus Quest with the link cable which has recently been added. I see a lot of people talking about his, some good some not. There are certainly a lot more VR goggles out there so I recommend looking because once you have flown VR I doubt many will go back to a Monitor and 2D.
Virtual reality was included in an update in December of 2020 and runs on mixed reality as well as other VR headsets like the Oculus Rift S, Reverb G2 as well as Oculus Quest 2 with the link cable which has recently been added. I see a lot of people talking about his, some good some not. There are certainly a lot more VR goggles out there so I recommend looking because once you have flown VR I doubt many will go back to a Monitor and 2D.
The game engine is able to deliver truly amazing atmospheric effects with 3D realistic volumetric clouds and real world live weather included as well as live aircraft traffic. So if your flying out of a nearby airt you should see all the real world aircraft in the simulator.
The sim is easily played online with friends and does not need a dedicate server as other sims do. You can simply login the game and start a flight, invite friends or allow people to join you as many online streaming flight sim youtubers have been doing.
The Sim has been released in a Standard – Deluxe and Premium with additional aircraft and hand made airports being included as the packages increase in cost. There has been a number of massive updates to the sim since release in November 2020 with updates to Japan, the united Stares and soon a further UK update is reported.
X Plane 11 has been an important player in the flight simulator genre for many years. Staring back in the 90s the first X Plane was created by Austin Meyers who heads the platform passionately even today.
It has remained a great flight simulator regardless of the release of MSFS 2020 recently.
If your looking for realism in flight dynamics and flight physics then X plane 11 by Laminar Research is your sim. Yes its graphics are not not to the newest standard but you can add ORBX scenery and other 3rd party scenery to certainly get an immersive and realistic pilots view of the world.
Where X Plane 11 is different from all the other simulators is its ability to model every square inch of the aircraft including even the probes and wiglets on aircraft. This is the real strength of this sim where the others model only a limited number over the aircraft. I believe even MSFS 2020 models around 100 points.
X Plane 11 is in my opinion unmatched in this flight physics or flight model region. If your a real world pilot or want real world flight models then as I do this sim is the one for me.
Your going to appreciate every crosswind and turbulent landing you can practice in X Plane 11. Add Virtual Reality and you really can very quickly be forget your sitting in your chair at home and not in that 737 or Cessna 172 your making a final approach at Miami International in. Its that good!
X Plane 11’s is very easy to configure with an easy GUI to utilize. It does not take long to configure great graphics settings for great results.
X Plane 11 is both running on the latest VULCAN API bringing a much better and more stutter free experience for most users than others.
The Vulcan API better manages the sims tasks allowing more cores and better use of your GPU giving a much better experience for flight simmers.
Prepar3D V5 – Lockheed Martin
Prepar3D can be used for a wide range of learning scenarios including vehicle procedures training, cockpit familiarization, flight planning, air traffic controller training and emergency response preparation. As a commercial-off-the-shelf product, Prepar3D provides a cost effective training platform that evolves with technology. Take your training to the next level with Prepar3D!
Prepar3D can be used for a wide range of learning scenarios including vehicle procedures training, cockpit familiarization, flight planning, air traffic controller training and emergency response preparation. As a commercial-off-the-shelf product, Prepar3D provides a cost effective training platform that evolves with technology. Take your training to the next level with Prepar3D! (Lockheed Martin Website)
Prepar3d simulates water, traffic as well as animals within the sim and offers seasonal effects as well as day and night training.
This simulator although promoted as a training platform has still proven popular with the wealth of FSX flight sim fans out there with Lockheed Martin doing their best to allow a lot of old addons to be included in the new sim.
DCS World is a truly amazing flight simulator which is solely focused on combat. This simulator can be downloaded by following the graphic and downloading the FREE module.
Once downloaded you get the Caucasus map ans the venerable Su-25 ground attack aircraft and the P-51 Civilian unarmed aircraft. There are also many modules and maps as well as missions plus a lot of FREE Mods which are community made aircraft and much more to be discovered. The one area this sets it self apart is the ease of online gaming.There are a huge number of multiplayer servers available at at the click of a mouse.
FALCON BMS – 4.34
This is purely a community project. It is an amazing community.
https://www.benchmarksims.org
You Need to make an account –
Its Free and this is a real resource.
Falcon BMS is an amazing an FREE flight simulator. You don’t need to pay anything but you need a copy of the old Falcon 4.0. This can be purchased very inexpensively or something found on other places on the internet. The program looks for the falcon.exe file I believe but it has to be installed for the BMS to get installed.
There are many free maps and a hugely strong community making add-on aircraft as well as more maps to go fight over. The level and quality of the sim is very very good for a team of volunteers so don’t be put off because its free. I love it and it hard.
It is one of the only programs to have a dynamic campaign available. I do not think any other simulator can boast this feature. A dynamic campaign changes depending on your successes and failures as both pilot and commander in each mission. This simulator is probably the only one with a true dynamic campaign. Many have tried and failed to implement this feature.
The depth of this program is amazing but it lacks the extra yard in the latest graphics and is still 32 bit. Regardless of its flaws its very worth a genuine look if your serious about combat. You wont get the campaigns like BMS has anywhere else. Get it, Fly it and Love it.
Aerofly FS2 Flight Simulator
Aerofly Fs2 is a great flight sim especially for mobile devises. Its requirements are not particularly high so it runs on everything. Aerofly Fs 2 requires a 2.4ghz processor and a graphics card with 1 gig of Vram. It is ready for virtual reality and will happily work with many expansion panels and home cockpit interfaces.
On a budget this may work out great for a pilot on the move with a lower spec computer.
The simulator has a great selection of aircraft including the venerable Cessna 172 as well as A320, 747 as well as F15 and F18 Jet fighters. There is something for everyone here. Check out the video and see if this one is for you.
IL-2 Sturmovic – CLIFFS OF DOVER
IL-2 Sturmovik” is a WWII combat flight simulator. If you are looking for a combat flight simulator, look no further. This game has awesome features.
There is an excellent mission builder, multiplayer features that include up to 32 players in dogfight mode and stunning graphics. The combat takes place in the air, and from the air to the ground. Anyone interested in war and flight will enjoy this one.
There are quite a few individual releases with different maps. There is a lot to discover with Cliffs of Dover and many more.
Lock On: Modern Air Combat
Take over the helm of eight jets from America or Russia in combat action. “Lock On: Modern Air Combat” comes with training and quick-start missions. If single player missions are not your thing, you can play with up to 32 players via LAN or six through the internet.
As an AMAZON affiliate I may earn commission from qualifying purchases.