microsoft flight simulator hurricane laura


Microsoft's new Flight Simulator is turning out to be one of the most casually realistic games of all time, but for a pretty mundane reason.


The game streams map and topographic data from Bing (maybe the first good thing to come from that godawful website) and combines it with input from a weather service called Meteoblue to let you experience the entire Earth in real-time.



That includes severe weather cases and natural disasters, as well as any new building construction or demolition.



So as Hurricane Laura bashed through Louisiana, players scurried over to the storm and ended up finding some surprisingly beautiful scenery (mostly because the game does not show the debris and destruction down below).



Blue skies are replaced with craggily clouds to tunnel through.


microsoft flight simulator hurricane laura


When the sun hits, everything turns orangey golden like the cheesy crust on a Domino's pizza.


microsoft flight simulator hurricane laura


Even the storm's wind pillars become an intriguing landscape worth exploring rather than avoiding.


microsoft flight simulator hurricane laura



Of course, the reality of a hurricane is not a fluffy rainbow. But we're not here to judge the game for letting people experience this.


If anything, maybe one day the wannabe pilots will band together to apply their digital observation skills into something that will help keep people safe, like the way scientists tried gamifying a cure for cancer.



I also flew the camera drone several thousand feet above any planes maximum elevation to look at the edge of the storm.


Just kidding. Everyone's just gonna keep flying to Jeffrey Epstein's island in hopes of finding Chillary's email servers.