Microsoft Flight Simulator Fans Can Sign Up To Test The Game In VR
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You may have already heard of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the PC game that lets you do something that’s not so easy to do anymore: fly around the world.
As UNILAD reported back in February, the 2020 edition lets you fly to and from every airport on Earth in real-time, feeding in weather data for an authentic experience like no other. The game was released last month, just as our cravings to escape lockdown reality reached fever pitch. Now there’s a version you can try in VR, which will probably be even more amazing.
Microsoft has opened applications for a closed beta to test upcoming VR builds, but don’t start jetting off your runway yet, though, as you may need more than a VR headset to get flying.
First up, you’ll need to actually own the game. Secondly, you’ll also require a Windows Mixed Reality headset. This seems to include any kind of Windows device, anything from a HoloLens to a Lenovo Explorer, and not just the HP Reverb G2, which Microsoft had previously said the simulator would be exclusive to.
Beta testers will also have to register as an Insider and sign a non-disclosure agreement; you don’t have to have been a previous tester for Microsoft, however. Hefty specs are also essential: we’re talking 8GB of VRAM, double that for RAM, and 150 GB HDD.
You can prove your PC specs by submitting a DxDiag inventory of your system; we didn’t know what that was either, but it includes a record of recent crashes. With a monster like this, there could be plenty of those without the right provisions, and users have already been reporting glitches with the PC version.
Developer Asobo Studio has said the VR roll-out is due either later this month or early November, coinciding with a free VR update that had been promised for this autumn. A second beta will also come at an unspecified date for other headset brands.
The investment in VR makes sense for Microsoft. With airports around the world offering customers ‘fake check-ins’ and even sightseeing ‘flights to nowhere’, it seems plenty of us have been missing that up-in-the-air feeling during the pandemic. Flying from the safety of your own home for hours on end makes for an ideal virtual reality experience, even if the medium isn’t quite up to scratch just yet.
Sign up and fly with the Microsoft Flight Simulator VR beta here.
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Topics: Technology, Gaming, Microsoft, Now
