Microsoft Flight Sim's new update makes Matterhorn even more daunting

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The hills are alive with the sound of terrain caching.

The new Microsoft Flight Simulator update is available, and the latest regions to receive a major cosmetic touch-up are Germany, Austria, and the Swiss Alps. Check out the trailer above for a look at more Germanic castles, cathedrals, and football stadiums than you can shake a flight stick at.

The free update improves height maps and aerial imagery for several cities throughout Germany, including Frankfurt and Wupertal, Basel in Switzerland, and Graz and Vienna in Austria. Plus there's numerous visual updates for landmarks like the Berlin Television Tower, the lakeside Mortizburg Castle, the Cologne Cathedral, and a whole lot more. Probably the "biggest" landmark to get an update is the Matterhorn, the massive Swiss mountain that's claimed the lives of more than 500 climbers.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator
(Image credit: Microsoft Flight Simulator)

The update has also added hand-crafted versions of more than 100 airports throughout the region, including Stuttgart, Lubeck, Klagenfurt, and St. Gallen. If you want to test your mettle landing on minor or major hubs, new landing challenges have been added alongside new discovery tours and bush trips.

Microsoft Flight Simulator's new "offscreen terrain pre caching" will be of interest to players hoping to maximize their framerate. You can set it to low, medium, high, or ultra, and it will cache all the terrain you're not currently looking at so when you turn to glance out your cockpit the stutter and pop-in won't be as bad as you gawk at your 40th Germanic castle. Maximum photogrammetry draw distance has also been increased, which means you'll be able to see further into dense cities like Frankfurt from further away.

You can check out Flight Simulator's full patch notes here, or check out how Flight Simulator has updated Nordic regions, Japan, the UK, and more. You'll want to get familiar with the best routes if you want to complete in Flight Simulator's competitive multiplayer mode later this year. 

Joseph Knoop
Joseph Knoop

Joseph Knoop is a freelance writer specializing in all things Fortnite at PC Gamer. Master of Creative Codes and Fortnite's weekly missions, Joe's always ready with a scoop on Boba Fett or John Wick or whoever the hell is coming to Fortnite this week. It's with a mix of relief and disappointment that he hasn't yet become a Fortnite skin himself. There's always next season...