Flight Simulator: City Update 15 brings graphics boost and iconic airport

With City Update 15, Microsoft is adding highly detailed US metropolises to Flight Simulator. In addition to Chicago, a legendary airport is also celebrating its comeback, which in reality was violently destroyed two decades ago.

Details about the new City Update 15

Just in time for the FSExpo flight simulation trade fair currently taking place in St. Paul, Minnesota, Microsoft has released a new extension for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. City Update 15 focuses on the Midwest of the USA and is now available to download for free for all owners of the base game. The update focuses on selected metropolitan areas in the states of Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The developers use high-resolution TIN surface textures for the display. The abbreviation stands for Triangulated Irregular Network, a process that converts geographical data into an irregular triangular network and thus creates particularly realistic 3D landscapes.
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Return of a classic

The expansion fulfills a long-held wish of the users: an accurate implementation of the metropolis of Chicago with well-known skyscrapers such as the Willis Tower. Meigs Field is also included. The legendary airfield served as the standard starting point in early versions of the simulator for decades. Although the then mayor of Chicago had the real runway destroyed with excavators in a controversial night-and-dagger operation in 2003, the historic airport now lives on digitally as a playable nostalgia bonus in Microsoft Flight Simulator. A disadvantage of such regional packages is that, in contrast to the large world updates, they do not upgrade the entire landmass, but only cover isolated metropolitan areas. Nevertheless, the expansion offers a lot of variety. In Minnesota, the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the port city of Duluth on Lake Superior were modeled in detail. With its lift bridge, Duluth is well suited for low-level flights.

Many sights have been graphically enhanced

The state of Wisconsin also benefits from the new geodata. Here, virtual pilots can fly over the largest city, Milwaukee, which is historically characterized by its brewing industry. You can also explore the capital, Madison, whose architecture was heavily influenced by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The update covers the following core areas:

The package now offers visual flyers the opportunity to fly detailed routes along the coast of Lake Michigan. The extension can be accessed directly via the simulator’s integrated marketplace and takes up around three gigabytes of storage space. The prerequisite for smooth installation is the latest version of the base game. Which of the new cities will you fly to first in the simulator? Let us know in the comments how you like the implementation of the US cities.