Microsoft Flight has added snow and VR support
'Tis the season for real-time snowy weather - don't forget your (VR) goggles!
A white Christmas would be a lovely way to end a bit of a rubbish year, alas, I live in southern England, so it's unlikley I'll even get a peek at some real-life snow. I can, however, look at some lovely virtual snow in Microsoft Flight Simulator today. Asobo's open air fly 'em up adds the white stuff in today's free update, along with a smattering of ice and VR support.
You can catch a glimpse of Flight Sim's snow in Microsoft's holiday advert below. It also features a couple of very good dogs having a nice time in Minecraft before blowing up Halo's Master Chief. Festive.
So, Microsoft Flight Sim has added "real-time" snow and ice to the entire (uh, in-game) planet. They use live weather data to adjust what's happening in Flight Sim, so if it's snowing somewhere in real-life, then you might see it in-game as well.
Asobo have popped some festive lights around 12 "iconic" landmarks around the world for you to find too, which will hopefully add a nice Christmassy vibe. (They don't say where these locations are though, it's a scavenger hunt! Go find 'em.)
You'll be able to explore Earth's freshly snow-capped mountains as you usually would, or with some VR goggles firmly planted on your head. The shiny red and yellow planes those pups are using to zoom around in that trailer will be available to take for a spin too. Ask nicely though, lest you end up with a grenade at your feet like the poor Mr. Chief.
Microsoft said last week that they're planning three more big updates for the sim next year, as well as four to five extra World Updates. From the looks of this roadmap, we can expect a one of these to arrive on January 28th, and another on February 25th.
Today's patch comes with a whole host of tweaks and fixes on top of all the newness, so check out the patch notes for all the details.