First Official New Flight Simulator X Add-On Announced
Approach with caution
You can keep yer HoloLenses; the best thing Microsoft have done for PC gaming recently is let simulation developer Dovetail Games take over maintenance and further development on Flight Simulator X. The game has been well served by its community and third-party developers, but Dovetail taking an official role has let the game be sold through Steam and prompted the creation of official add-ons, the first of which has now been announced. It's called "Dangerous Approaches", and it's not about sneaking up on Adam while he's sleeping.
That guy can hear a pin drop. Here's what you actually do in it:
Can you land a Boeing 747 in a major thunderstorm over Hong Kong? Do you have the skills to collect intrepid mountaineers from the Everest base camp? Can you fly through the majestic Sierra Nevada range or transport medical supplies through a snowstorm in the icy wastes of Greenland? Can you navigate your way across the blustery Orkney Islands as rain lashes your cockpit? If that is too cold for you then turn up the heat and fly the notorious Caribbean beach approach in to St Maarten.
Golly, what an awful lot of questions to which my answer is, "No, I suck." But still, this is great, given that this is almost the exact way I play Flight Sim X rival X-Plane. That game lets you set percentage chances or time frames for certain parts of your plane to fail within. I like to fly over Switzerland, knowing that at any moment bird strike is going to happen, and then seeing if I can glide to the nearest runway and land safely without my engine. The answer to which is almost always: "No, I suck."
The Flight Sim X add-on has been developed by Jane Whittaker and offers twenty challenges in all, which can be tackled in whatever plane you please and which comes with a "pilot's guide" offering hints and tips for people like me (who sucks). Here's some more screenshots - click to embiggen:
