Flight Simulator: The Difference 25 Years Makes
October 2, 2008
Ever since I first booted up subLOGIC's Flight Simulator II on my Apple //c back in 1984, I've been a flight simulation fan. No mission or point other than to just fly.
Of course, it was a somewhat crude affair back then. Flight Simulator II came on a 140K floppy disk and ran in 64K on the Apple II's 8-bit 1.02MHz 65C02 processor. With 6 on-screen colors in high-res mode. It wasn't what you'd call "photorealistic," but it was fun.
I recently reviewed X-Plane 9 for the iPhone, and this made me realize it had been a while since I spent any real time with a desktop flight simulator. So I went out and picked up Microsoft's Flight Simulator X for my relatively meager (by current standards) XP box: a Shuttle XPC with a 3.2GHz P4, GeForce 6600 GT, and 1GB of RAM. It comes on two double-layer DVDs and is a 14GB install--the complete app is about 105,000 times larger than the Apple II version.
Flight Simulator X runs very smoothly on the box.
Flight Simulator X is an amazing application. I've had great fun flying about since picking it up and it occurred to me that the difference in realism and complexity between Flight Simulator X and Flight Simulator II really illustrates just how far computing technology has come in the last 25 years.
I thought a little comparison video would convey what I'm speaking of to those who've never spent any time with Bruce Artwick's 1983 classic.
Posted by blakespot at October 2, 2008 7:17 AM
Yeah, I always loved Flight Simulator - it was one of my favorite games. I had it on my IBM PC, not on an Apple II, but it looked the same.
What fun days those were.
Posted by: Daniel at October 7, 2008 2:11 PMGreat comparison, Blake. What an absolutely mind-blowing improvement in real-time consumer computer graphics technology.
You've also made me want to buy Flight Simulator X. :)
Posted by: Benj Edwards at October 13, 2008 1:12 PMHi Blake,
I love your blog, but a slight constructive criticism: I wish you updated it more often!
Cheers
Posted by: Nahuel at November 7, 2008 8:19 PM@Nahuel: I work a day job, run TouchArcade.com with Arnold Kim and run iPodHacks.com. I also have a 2yo daughter. This is my only "for fun" site -- no profit. I do wish I could update it more, tho.
Posted by: blakespot at November 9, 2008 6:00 PMI understand of course, keep up the good work
Posted by: Nahuel at November 10, 2008 6:01 AMIs that Lake Powell you're flying over in the modern simulator program?
Posted by: RichTex at December 26, 2008 4:40 PMIt is interesting and informative article. Thank you.
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by Gordon Laing
