Microsoft Flight Simulator has been out for long enough now that modders are breaking through with some truly creative ideas, exemplified by this new mod that brings audio tours to landmarks and points of interest around the world to the DICE award-winning game.
Microsoft Flight Simulator has received some official updates too, bringing VR and more planes into the game like the Top Rudder Solo 103, Microsoft Flight Simulator’s first paid DLC. But modders have been able to implement things that fans wouldn’t necessarily expect, like a pilot-able helicopter that looks and functions just like the real thing from another game developer called FlyInside. This new mod could potentially add dozens of hours of gameplay for some fans.
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A new mod called Bushtalk Radio adds fully-voiced audio tours to nearly 9,000 points of interest inside of Microsoft Flight Simulator, including places from the recent World Update 4. The voice is AI-generated, but sounds surprisingly like a calm, professional tour guide. Users can create scripts for new locations and submit them to Bushtalk Radio, which will generate the audio and add it to the mod. The audio tours are accessible from within the cockpit toolbar and utilize real-time tracking of the player’s flight so that the audio tour will organically start playing when the player nears the POI.
Bushtalk Radio is updated each month with new audio tours, covering everything from the Chrysler Building in New York City to the Galapagos Islands with an impressive level of detail. The website for Bushtalk Radio features a full map where people can view and sample any of the audio tours, and Bushtalk Radio has a tool for users to crib notes from Wikipedia to help flesh out scripts. Many of the tours are highly-informative and span several minutes, perfect for pilots who want a nice relaxing cruise over the POI in question.
Thankfully, this mod streams the audio from Bushtalk Radio’s website, so this mod won’t add too much to Microsoft Flight Simulator’s already massive install size. All players have to do to install the mod is make an account, take files that are just Kilobytes in size, and drop them into the Community Folder. The mod is free for now, but Bushtalk Radio does have a Patreon, as the group of modders utilizes a paid service for generating the AI voiceover and the server costs for hosting all of this must cost a pretty penny too.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available now on PC and is planned for release on Xbox Series X|S in 2021, and an Xbox One version is rumored.
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