Ten years after the Wright Brothers outwitted gravity at Kitty Hawk, the revolution they started went into overdrive when European militaries realised flying machines were useful for more than just reconnaissance. Microsoft Flight Simulator experienced a similar growth spurt a decade after its birth, but happily, in its case all-out war wasn’t the spur.
Flight Simulator 4.0 inadvertently turned a franchise into a hobby by throwing open the hangar doors to all and sundry. The 1989 release came with a simple tool that allowed users to tinker with airframes and flight characteristics. More significantly, it was designed with the kind of porous edges and friendly file formats that helped people to build tools for it.
Soon meddlers had access to a pair of powerful aircraft and scenery editors. Within a few months the sim’s high-detail landscape areas were multiplying furiously and being shadowed by all kinds of exotic cloud cleavers. There were bat-shaped Horten flying wings buzzing the tower at Meigs Field; low-flying supersonic SR-71 Blackbirds spooking invisible motorists on the Golden Gate Bridge; X-wing fighters barrelling down Broadway.
This story is from the May 2020 edition of PC Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2020 edition of PC Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
JET SET RADIO
A vibrant Tokyo-like city with an anti-establishment attitude.
BLUE DAWN
INTEL graphics cards have become a genuine contender. How, and why?
WIRELESS GAMING MICE
I challenge you to spot the difference between these wireless rodents and their wired counterparts.
FOILED AGAIN
EN GARDE! is a brief yet riotous piece of swashbuckling nostalgia
PURE MAGIC
BALDUR'S GATE III is a dream RPG that was worth the 23-year wait
THE BEST MECH GAMES ON PC
From anime mecha to rusty 100-ton war machines, the best mech games for giant robot lovers
MECH MY DAY
MECHWARRIOR 5: CLANS is bringing a narrative focus and intricate, handcrafted missions back to the storied series.
HOMEWORLD 3
The space RTS aims to please with its War Games mode
LORDS OF THE FALLEN
World-hopping glow-up
WARHAMMER 40K: SPACE MARINE 2
Chaos is winning right now, I fear