#oneaday Day 589: "Flying the Aeroplane"

My Dad isn't a gamer, although he was the one who brought a lot of the Atari computers and their games into our household. One piece of software — which he insists "isn't a game" — that he was always very attached to, though, was Flight Simulator, originally in the form of subLOGIC's Flight Simulator II for Atari 8-bit and Atari ST, then later through various incarnations of Microsoft Flight Simulator from version 4.0 onwards on DOS and Windows PCs.

I wouldn't say I got super into Flight Simulator as a kid, but my Dad did take the time to teach me how to fly the virtual Cessna and Learjet in the Atari ST version. As a result, I grew up with actually a rather solid understanding of how a real plane handles, even if I couldn't tell you a lot about the actual science behind it.

"Flying the aeroplane", as my Dad referred to settling down for an evening of taking on some real-time flights in various version of Flight Simulator, was thus something I became very accustomed to as a kid. My Dad clearly enjoyed it both as an opportunity to sit down, relax and do something he liked, but it's also an educational experience, since the whole thing is not only built on a realistic flight model, it also incorporates realistic navigation aids, instrument flight rules and all manner of other good stuff.

I've been following the development of the upcoming brand new version of Microsoft Flight Simulator on and off for a little while. This is actually the first new Flight Simulator release since 2006 — although that previous installment, Flight Simulator X, did get a major overhaul to release on Steam back in 2014 — and it looks like it has the potential to be pretty spectacular.

It's also noteworthy because the market for flight sims on PC is nowhere near as visible as it used to be — back in the late '90s and early '00s, flight sims were the de facto showcase pieces for a new PC, whereas now it tends to be first-person shooters and open-world games. That said, enthusiasts have been quietly continuing to do their thing away from the eyes of the general public for a while, and besides Flight Simulator X, there are also numerous other titles such as Prepar3D and X-Plane out there doing something similar.

The other day, I caught the tail end of the Steam sale, and happened to see the Steam version of Flight Simulator X for a fiver. I haven't bought a PC game for ages, as you all know I'm much more of a fan of collecting, so tend to favour console games. But Flight Simulator X is a uniquely PC experience — even if the new version is also eventually coming to Xbox One — so I let that "unwritten rule" slide this time, especially for a fiver.

I haven't spent a lot of time with Flight Simulator X as yet, but the little time I have spent with it has brought back some fond memories of spending time with my Dad in front of the Atari ST and later, our MS-DOS and Windows 95/98 PCs, learning to "fly". And besides that, it turns out that yes, indeed, he was right; it is an excellent way to just sit down, chill out, relax and leave your worries behind for a little while. (Until you crash. But if you're doing it right that doesn't happen.)

I preordered the 10-disc physical version of the new Flight Simulator yesterday. While I don't have any fancy joysticks, throttle controllers and all that gubbins, I can see myself enjoying an occasional flit through the skies when I just fancy a bit of quiet time to myself — and to be honest, since I grew up using the numeric keypad controls on the Atari ST version of Flight Simulator II, controlling the experience with the keyboard is absolutely the most nostalgic way to play for me!

In the meantime, I'll be occasionally enjoying Flight Simulator X for the odd flight here and there. And I look forward to showing my Dad the new version when my parents are next able to come visit me amid the chaos of the world today!