Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 August 1

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August 1

Flight simulation

What influence (if any) did the Flight Unlimited franchise have on the development of Microsoft Flight Simulator? 24.5.122.13 (talk) 02:20, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Just looking at those two articles for the first time, I'd say none, unless the Flight Unlimited guys flew through a wormhole and back in time. Or unless you have a specific release of Flight Simulator in mind. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:16, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

I have in mind the two most recent versions, FS2004 and FSX (as well as the FS Flight Ventures expansion for both). Because on casual comparison, quite a few of the newer features (the mission system, ATC, and a few others) in these versions/expansions seem to be inspired by the Flight Unlimited franchise. 24.5.122.13 (talk) 00:16, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

Can't say. Only tried the MS one once, in the mid-'90s. If ATC means air traffic control, it seems a fair guess that both are just simulating actual standards, instead of each other. I tried giving it a Google, didn't find an answer. But I found a lot of forums of people comparing a lot of simulators. I'm nowhere near wise enough to point you to the right one, but that's a general direction, if you want to take it.

Or just hold tight, and an expert will possibly be with you shortly. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:18, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

Well, I'm not trying to compare -- I'm perfectly satisfied with the Microsoft one, and in any case I don't think Flight Unlimited will even run on Windows 8 because it's so old. My question was strictly about the development history of the products, and to what extent they might have influenced each other. 24.5.122.13 (talk) 04:10, 2 August 2014 (UTC)