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FSX McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle, of the 492nd Fighter Squadron (Mad Hatters), 48th Fighter Wing (Liberty Wing), USAFE, RAF, Lakenheath. Features bombs that drop, animated ailerons, all moving tail, rudder, flaps, engine intakes, airbrake, gear with compression, canopy and emergency tailhook. Panel and sound.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator X (known in the Flight Simulator community also as simply FSX, of which the X is pronounced ten, as in the Roman numeral) is the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator after Flight Simulator 2004. It includes a graphics engine upgrade as well as compatibility with Windows Vista, having been hailed by Microsoft as the most important technological milestone in the series to date. It is the first version in the flight simulator series to be released on DVD-ROM.

Flight Simulator X marks the tenth version of the popular line of simulators. It was officially released to the US market on October 17, 2006. According to Microsoft's Web site for the game, a standard edition features everything from navaids to GPS and airways. It also includes 18 planes, 28 detailed cities, and 40 highly detailed airports. The deluxe version features 24 types of aircraft, 38 highly detailed cities, and 45 highly detailed airports.

Flight Simulator X was officially unveiled at the 2006 international Consumer Electronics Show as a gaming showcase for Microsoft Windows Vista. Microsoft released screenshots as well as a list of frequently asked questions as a press release on Microsoft Flight Simulator Insider, as well as numerous flight simulator communities. This also included mission-based gameplay with mission specific aircraft as well as an upgraded rendering engine capable of increased detail.

Following the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2006, Microsoft published new screenshots, videos and an official trailer. The overall reaction by the community was quite positive, and the graphical quality of the simulator has greatly increased.

Standard vs. Deluxe Edition
Flight Simulator X was released in two editions, Standard and Deluxe. Deluxe edition incorporates some additional features, including an on-disc Software Development Kit (SDK), three airplanes with the Garmin G1000 Flight Deck, and player Air Traffic Control.

In addition, the Deluxe Edition features 24 aircraft compared to 18 in the Standard Edition, 45 high-detail airports compared to 40, 38 high-detail cities compared to 28, and 50+ structured missions compared to 30+.

New features
The presently known new features in Flight Simulator X include:

Improved graphics including enhanced texture resolution, new Earth model facilitating polar flights, true road data, region-specific textures, 3D animals, star constellations, etc. Also, the scenery textures now line up with the automatically generated (Autogen) buildings. Maximum rendering-engine-supported scenery resolution of 7cm/pixel (not available with default scenery).

Improved default airport functionality — appropriate dynamic vehicles, jetways etc. Now featured by default where they exist in reality.
The built-in GPS support has been upgraded to include Garmin G1000 integrated glass cockpit, (select aircraft in the Deluxe version only).
Improved ATC featuring certain non-FAA procedures where appropriate (for example, altimeter/QNH scale in European units) and numerous minor updates such as an improved progressive-taxi feature.

Improved and new default aircraft including, for example, an Airbus A321. Default aircraft systems modeling is rather extensively improved, featuring, for example, APU, fire protection, passenger advisory sign switches etc. Improved weather system, including better visibility modeling.
Revamped multiplayer functionality featuring Shared Skies, a feature allowing multiple users to share the same cockpit.
Tower Controller, a feature in the Deluxe version allowing users to simulate local control at many airports worldwide during multiplayer gaming.
Revamped sound system with support for 5.1 surround sound.

Proprietary SimConnectAPI to allow FSUIPC-like access to Flight Simulator functions and variables.
Mission engine allowing creation of dynamic missions with developer control of many simulation variables, sound file playback, AI aircraft traffic etc. in relation to what the user is doing — essentially an evolution over the APL and ABL adventure programming languages featured in previous versions of the software. Dozens of missions ship with the product, and a mission level editor is expected to be released on-line shortly after release of the main product.
Most of the vintage aircraft that were a key theme in the previous version have been dropped, with the exception of the DC-3 and Piper J-3. Both aircraft are featured in the default missions that ship with the product.

The maximum altitude in the game has been increased to 100,000,000 feet (30,000,000 m), as opposed to FS2004's 99,999 feet (30,480 m). FSX's maximum altitude is therefore approximately 2.39 times the diameter of the Earth at the equator.
Camera shake in the virtual cockpit as the aircraft banks, accelerates, brakes, flies through turbulence etc.
Realistic flexible wings in some commercial airplanes, the wings flex when the aircraft is going through turbulence, increasing rate of ascent or descending, major plane movements, flaps being fully extended, general vibrations to the plane, etc. An example of an aircraft with this wing movement is the Boeing 747-400.
New water effect which has 3D waves with curled up object reflection according to the wave movements and with sunshine reflection.
Aircraft can cast shadows on themselves.

Aircraft
Aircraft Deluxe Edition Standard Edition
Airbus A321
Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight
Beechcraft Baron 58
Beechcraft Baron 58 G1000
Beechcraft King Air 350
Bell 206B JetRanger
Boeing 737-800
Boeing 747-400
Bombardier CRJ-700
Bombardier Learjet LJ-45
Cessna 208-B Grand Caravan
Cessna 172S SkyhawkSP
Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP G1000
de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane
de Havilland DHC-Dash 8-100
DG-808-S Competition Sailplane
Douglas DC-3
Extra EA-300-S
Grumman G-21-A Goose
Maule Orion M-7-260-C Super Rocket on skis
Maule Orion M-7-260-C Super Rocket
McDonnell Douglas MD-83
Mooney M-20-M Bravo
Mooney M-20-M Bravo G1000
Piper PA-28 Cherokee 180
Piper J-3C-65 Cub
Robinson R-22 Beta II

In some missions, extra AI aircraft are included but aren't really included in Free Flight. These aircraft include:

TBM Avenger ghost planes of Flight 19 - from Lost in the Triangle
Boeing 787-9 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Ekranoplan - from Aleutian Cargo Run & Tokyo Executive Transport
Airbus A380-800 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Boeing 747-8 - from Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Antonov AN-225 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde - from Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Two variations of UFOs - flying saucer and black triangular UFO on skids - both from Secret Shuttle
Parked space shuttle - in Free Flight at Edwards Air Force Base
Variations of military jets and helicopters - different types from Tutorial 1: First Take-off, Tutorial 11: Helicopter Maneuvers 1, Flour Power, Loopy Larry, Jet Truck Drag Race, Civil Air Patrol Search, Africa Relief and Catalina Day Spa
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - from Tutorial 1: First Take-off
Boeing B-52H Stratofortress - from Tutorial 1: First Take-off

Missions and rewards
The inclusion of Missions adds a new facet to the simulation, adding task oriented goals, and encouraging users to fly worldwide, rather than just from their home field. Although a similar concept was available in previous versions, the new implementation of multipath & event oriented situations substantially extends the potential for user interaction.

Pilots earn Rewards for completing various missions, and reaching specific accomplishments throughout the game, (in 'Free Flight'). Some of the rewards exist as hidden "easter eggs" to be discovered by pilots. Some missions have multiple and hidden rewards, receipt being dependent on performing additional actions.

Some hidden rewards include:

Earning a postcard for spotting an item of interest.
Earning a badge for landing at a special airport i.e., highest, most remote, lowest.
Earning a reward for completing a challenge not associated with a mission.
Earning a trophy for landing a number of times or the number of airports landed at.
In each mission description, a map is included with it. It notes that they are for entertainment purposes. The maps and charts are supplied by Jeppesen

Microsoft released their first expansion pack for Flight Simulator in years, called Flight Simulator X: Acceleration, to the US market on Oct 23, 2007 rated E+10, and released to the Australian market on Nov 1, 2007 rated G. Acceleration introduces new features, including multiplayer air racing, new missions, and three all-new aircraft, the F/A-18A Hornet, EH-101 helicopter and the P-51 Mustang. Unfortunately, in many product reviews, users complained of multiple bugs in the initial release of the pack. One of the bugs, which occurs only in the Standard Edition of Flight Simulator X, is that the Maule Air Orion aircraft used in the mission has missing gauges and other problems, as it is a Deluxe Version-only aircraft.

The new scenery enhancements cover Berlin, Istanbul, Cape Canaveral and the Edwards Air Force Base, providing high accuracy both in the underlying photo texture (1m/pix) and in the detail given to the 3D objects.

Flight Simulator X: Acceleration takes advantage of Windows Vista as well as DirectX 10

Downloadable content
There are many downloads that both versions of Flight Simulator X can use, ranging from free aircraft and paint jobs to commercial, high-resolution scenery. They may change many aspects of the simulator, such as adjusting the visuals, gameplay, adding new features or content such as scenery objects and modifications. Numerous free downloads are available from community websites and the downloads include, but are not limited to:
Civil jets
Prop planes
Vintage planes
Ultralights and gliders
Military aircraft
New paint jobs for default aircraft
Concept (proposed future) aircraft
Add-on scenery
Miscellaneous items