The passion for flight has always been a cornerstone of my personality and when Microsoft released Flight Simulator 2020 with it’s satellite imagery and photogrammetry I finally felt like hobby/home simulation had reach a point where it no longer felt like a game. Once the software was combined with VR and a custom rig designed for both racing and flight I was set for many happy hours in the cockpit.
Simulator(s):
These are two very different beasts with MSFS2020 focusing on general and commercial aviation and DCS focusing on military combat aviation. I have played may hours in both but always seem to com back to MSFS2020.
The ongoing appeal of DCS is obvious to see, it takes a long time to master each aircraft, it’s systems, weapons and tactics. You keep coming back to do more and more complex missions with some to learn from each one.
MSFS2020 on the surface has less repeatability, once you have flown a few of your favourite aircraft, visited a few landmarks and flew over your house it very much feels like you’re done. However this is not true, there are many other things you can do, it just takes a little more imagination than selecting the next combat mission.
In my case after I had done all the basics I discovered NeoFly 4 (still in beta that the time) which is an airline/career management addon for MSFS and gives you the goals, progression and community that you find in other games. I used this to generate my flights and gate access to aircraft behind experience and licenses for a while, but I wanted something more.
Eventually I found someone had posted a guide to a World Tour that you could fly. I made a few alterations to it because the guide was designed for longer flights than the aircraft I wanted to use was capable of. I flew this for a couple of months. I also chose to run each flight within the NeoFly application, so, where ever possible, I would select a paying job that also started and ended in the same places as the tour leg. Using this approach I could progress in both pursuits.
Once the World Tour was completed I needed a break and went back to racing for a while, at least until I discovered the virtual airline Virtual Flight Online. This gave me a new ladder to climb and a new reason to fly. In this case I ran their UK tour.
At the current time I’m working through a pilot career using the OnAir application since this is one of the most active and friendly communities I have come across. Once I reach a stable point I plan to open my PXAC Airline up for other pilots. It should be noted that OnAir is not the cheapest offering around (for example Virtual Flight Online is free) but I found the subscription model to be very fair for what is being offered and the development team are constantly working to expand this platform. For example, a recent introduction of an industrial feature allows you to place small airfields within MSFS where you can have factories and production facilities. These are persistent and can be flow to by ANY other OnAir pilot.
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