Usually, when the Earth is represented in a video game, it’s to scale. After all, the world is a pretty big place. If you’ve played a ton of open-world games, you may wonder what the map size is in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. After all, it has to be impossible that the planet is available to fly over, right?
Does Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 have the whole world as its map?
Believe it or not, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 does allow you to fly over the whole planet. We’re not talking to scale either. The map size in Flight Simulator 2020 is the exact same as the of the Earth.
How big is the map in Flight Simulator 2020?
By the numbers, the map size of this game is:
- Surface Area: 510,072,000 km2 (196,940,000 sq mi)
- Land: 148,940,000 km2 (57,510,000 sq mi)
- Water: 361,132,000 km2 (139,434,000 sq mi)
Here are a few other game maps compared to this:
- The Crew: 1,900 sq mi
- Final Fantasy XV: 700 sq mi
- Ghost Recon Wildlands: 170.2 sq mi
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: 90.7 sq mi
- Fallout 4: 43 sq mi
- Grand Theft Auto V: 31 sq mi
- Red Dead Redemption 2: 29 sq mi
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 28.9 sq mi
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: 16 sq mi
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: 15 sq mi
How is Flight Simulator 2020‘s map so big?
Microsoft used a variety of methods to create the Earth in Flight Simulator 2020. Most of it is auto-generated from GPS and satellite imaging data. This technology did a fantastic job rendering the world, and it looks great when you’re flying above it. However, when you get down low, you can see that each building isn’t a 1:1 representation of the real thing.
For some locations, including some major airports, everything was hand-modeled and placed. You’ll see the difference between the auto-generated and handmade content by visiting places like JFK and LAX and comparing them to the surrounding area. However, the procedurally-created land and cities are awe-inspiring; even with their flaws, they do a great job of creating the illusion that you’re actually flying above a 1:1 recreation of our planet.
