Jorg Neumann has revealed on Microsoft Flight Simulator’s latest Developer Stream that World Update 13 will cover the remainder of the continent of Oceania, which includes 13 pacific islands spread out over 8 million square kilometres.
The 13 countries being covered by Asobo and Orbx, who are working on the update together in a partnership, are Micronesia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Additionally, the Cook Islands, Guam, Easter Island, the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, and more will benefit from the update, along with the entire continent of Antarctica. These areas will take advantage of orthographic data gathered from the latest satellite imagery. Jorg said on stream he was also seeking to get a hold of photogrammetry data all of these areas, especially Hawaii although at this stage it is proving difficult simply because the data either doesn’t exist or Microsoft are having a hard time getting hold of it.
The update is intending to ship with 14 bespoke airports and airstrips, more than 140 points of interest (POIs), 3 landing challenges, 3 bush trips, 4 discovery flights and a to be determined number of photogrammetry cities. Interestingly for this update, the feature list also includes 3 ‘research stations’, with Jorg showing off two images of McMurdo Station. The other two being included in the update are yet to be confirmed, but should make for some interesting flights over the southern ocean to the pole.
The addition of Antarctica prompted Jorg to mention on stream that flying directly over the poles would now be possible. For those that have never tried to do this in MSFS until now, apparently you would be greeted with a “weird experience” and only see grey areas where there should be ground. Now, says Jorg, there will be visible terrain beneath you for a smooth and continuous flying experience.
World Update 13 will be free to all users of Microsoft Flight Simulator and is currently scheduled for release in April, with a specific release date TBC.
