Expand your horizons

It’s easy to understand why simulation games – those that imitate real life – are so popular. After all, how else would most of us get the chance to fly over Area 51 in a light aeroplane, or attempt to break the steam train speed record held by the 4468 Mallard? On the other hand, simulators do have a few disadvantages, most important of which is that, unlike life itself, they are limited.

Most include several vehicles and areas to explore, but there are only so many times you can fly a circuit around Chicago’s now-derelict Meigs Field airport before you’ll want to stretch your wings a little further afield. Fortunately, help is at hand as many simulators can be expanded using extra software known as expansion packs. Some can be found in the shops, while others are available for free on the internet.

Packs can contain new aircraft (or trains, or ships), new areas to explore or new missions and challenges. In this issue we’ll look at a few of the best, and how to get and use them.

Extra special
Expansion packs add new vehicles, environments or missions to a simulator game. They don’t work on their own – in every case, you’ll need a copy of the original simulator to use them. Some expansion packs are created by the companies that made the original simulator - after all, this is a good way to keep people interested in their product, and to get some extra money.

Quite often, though, expansion packs are written by other companies, or even by amateur programmers. The type of content included in expansion packs varies: some might include a new vehicle to pilot, for example, while many others include new terrain to fly or drive over. Some include both, and others might even add new missions or features to a game.

The Just Flight website is a great place to start when looking for professionally produced expansion packs, although you may find some in high-street shops such as Game and PC World, too. The website contains a wide selection of add-ons for all the popular flight simulators, including the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, Combat Flight Simulator and IL2 Sturmovik.

There are extra aircraft such as the Avro Vulcan or Spitfire, scenery and even add-ons to simulate running a complete airline with Airliner Pilot. More information on this add-on can be found on its website, and there’s even a list showing how long the most avid pilots have spent jetting around – some have clocked up over a thousand flight hours.

Just Flight also sells scenery packs for flight simulator software. The VFR Real Scenery packs use satellite imagery to improve the appearance of Microsoft Flight Simulator. We tried it out, and found that it was possible to fly across London and to a member of staff’s house, simply by following visual clues on the ground.

First Class Simulations also publishes a number of add-ons for flight simulator fans. Examples include the World War 1 Fighters pack for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which contains five aircraft and costs £20. Some products even come with a ‘fly before you buy’ option, so they can be used for up to seven days for free while you decide whether to buy or not.

One important thing to check when buying expansion packs for Microsoft Flight simulator is the versions that they support. One major change made by Microsoft to the latest version of its Flight Simulator software, Flight Simulator X, was that the folder containing aircraft and scenery was moved.

This means that some expansion packs won’t work with Flight Simulator X, and others will only work with this latest version. To make sure expansion packs will work with your software, check the specifications listed online carefully and if in doubt ask the manufacturer.

Train to win
Although there are many great expansion packs for flight simulator software, this doesn’t mean those of us who prefer to keep our feet on the ground need be left out. The popular train simulations Microsoft Train Simulator and Trainz can both use expansion packs, whether bought in a box or simply downloaded.
Just Flight has a sister site for train simulators called, unsurprisingly, Just Trains.

First Class Simulations also has a comprehensive list of train simulator add-ons that supplement your software with new trains, scenery and activities. There are also some good community websites, the linked site has a collection of add-ons for Microsoft Train Simulator and Trainz. These are free, although you need to register for an account at the website in order to access the download page.

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!