Popular flyover destinations in Microsoft: Flight Simulator aren't always true-to-life recreations. This week, Reddit user AlexanderTheGreatly pointed out that Buckingham Palace in the game looks "a little off."
Now that virtual pilots know how to fly to any destination in Microsoft: Flight Simulator, players are noticing that the game's realism does not extend everywhere. The stark difference between certain world-famous tourist attractions, particularly national landmarks like Buckingham Palace can be attributed to three things: storage limitations, legal red tape, and national security.
First, the technological limitations of Microsoft: Flight Simulator. The Earth is big, about 510 million square kilometers (197 million square miles), so Microsoft must have had to cut some corners to make it fit onto 10 DVDs for the physical release. At altitude, simulating what is on the horizon accurately in real time takes a lot of computing power, and virtual pilots already need beefy computers to fly. Super realism simply isn't feasible on this scale, so Microsoft most likely uses generic assets to build terrain such as buildings.
Second, Microsoft may have needed to jump through a lot of hoops just to get permission to use images of, say, the Victoria Memorial just outside of Buckingham Palace. Some people don't know that a Property Release is required when a photographer wishes to use images shot on private property commercially, and for game developers that extends to 3D recreations of national monuments. Video game developers can and have been sued for copying historical spaces, such as Red Dead 2 getting sued for its use of Pinkerton Company images.
Third, and most intriguing, is that certain spaces throughout the world may take issue with the idea that anyone in the world could simply boot up Flight Simulator and see the exact layout of secure buildings and restricted grounds. National security is a frequently brought up concern on the national scale, so some places like Buckingham Palace, The White House, and other high-profile residences are tightly protected for the sake of keeping national secrets hidden and officials' private lives private. Concern over map accuracy could be one of the reasons that currently, Microsoft Flight Simulator is not approved for sale in China.
Luckily for pilots, Microsoft makes regular updates to its flight simulator data, so the devs may take this opportunity to make a few visual tweaks to their favorite destinations. Game designers could get creative with what 3D assets are already loaded into the game and give certain areas a personal touch. That might already be the plan.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available now for PC, with an Xbox One version in development.
Source: Reddit