Disclaimer: This post will likely enlighten some and frustrate/anger others. To be clear, this is not a request for the developers to shift their focus, or change what they are doing with MSFS 2020, or anything of the sort. And I am quite satisfied with the current version of MSFS 2020, and excited to be part of the journey that it will hopefully take for many years to come.
BUT, there is huge potential here (like, multi-billion dollar potential).
I am predicting that the MSFS 2020 synthetic dynamic earth will (and/or DEFINITELY SHOULD) become a much broader platform for simulators, games, as well as other applications. Everybody has been so focused on the flight simulator element (because that IS what it is currently), and all of the performance issues, bugs, messy initial-launch stuff, etc., that I think the real revelation here has been completely missed. After watching the video/documentary about how the game came together (link below), it all became clear to me. The Planet Earth that they have created, and are constantly improving, can, should, and I predict, WILL, become a stand alone entity that Sims, Games, and other Applications will be able to access via an API (or proprietary interface). I would like to clarify that there are no expectations of this to happen overnight, but boy did MS take one GIGANTIC first stride with MSFS 2020. It is only logical to operate the Planet Earth as it’s own simulation, MSES (MicroSoft Earth Sim), and let other Sims (like MSFS 2020), Games, and other Applications interact with it. Flight Sims, Train Sims, Boat Sims, Racing Games (on-road and off-road) skiing, snow sports, water sports, Golf Sim, Sports Games, FPS Games, etc… …how about architects, engineers, artists, etc.??? Movies too could probably find a use for a 4K photorealistic Planet Earth, instead of custom rendering CGI for every movie. Why not just access the MSES, select your location/weather/date/time, add fog, modify or repaint buildings/signs/landmarks, and use it in a film as either a background or as the basis for CGI. Here is a kicker, the Planet Earth can start to develop a HISTORY. What do I mean? Well, Roads, Bridges, Buildings, Landmarks, and even the planet itself are ever-changing, so why not link those changes to the time/date. If I select 11/30/2020 I will see today’s earth; but in 5 years, it will look different, so in 5 years, I could select 11/30/2020, and I would be accessing the earth as it looked today rather than how it will look in 5 years. The possibility also would then exist for 3rd parties to create historical renderings - rebuild ancient ruins, create different era roads (i.e. Route 66), or even fly out of historical airports, like the original SFO (San Francisco Airport). The possibilities for MSES are endless.
Photographic updates to the Earth could be streaming in through an AI platform, from cell phones around the world via an MSES app that lets you earn credits towards a Universal Marketplace by uploading photos with location data and/or point clouds from iPhones/iPads and other devices. Land-based photos can be stitched in with, or used to correct and enhance, the existing photogrammetry.
Okay, I know I am going to extremes here, but the genius is there, and I believe that this will be, or could be the future for many computer and entertainment platforms. MS seems to have charged way out in front with this, but we’ll see if they see the same potential for it as I do.
Microsoft, if you are reading, I am available to help you take my idea to fruition; but if you don’t need my help, then a 0.1% royalty for perpetuity will do fine. Call it MSES (MicroSoft Earth Sim), call it PASS (Planet As A Service), call it whatever you want, just do it - you will not regret this MS. Microsoft, MSFS 2020 is an amazing accomplishment, and it is a flight sim that will only get better with time; but don’t miss the real treasure here. The earth simulation that came out of this is the biggest accomplishment, and opportunity here, but in ways that you haven’t imagined yet.
How Microsoft Flight Simulator Recreated Our Entire Planet
I now invite the likers to like and the nay-sayers to nay-say.
Cheers!