How Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 uses machine learning AI, and how much of your data it might need

An interview with the project head for release day

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Image credit:Microsoft

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launches on Steam and the Microsoft Store today. Developed once again by Asobo - otherwise celebrated for their stinking rat hordes - it builds upon the 2020 game by “[taking] advantage of the latest technologies in simulation, cloud, machine learning, graphics and gaming”, in the words of the launch announcement release.

We’ve got a review in the works, but code has landed late, so our write-up might take a while. In the shorter term, I thought you might like to know how, exactly, MFS 2024 makes use of “machine learning” technologies, taking into account the energy cost of such wacky gadgetry and the creeping relationship between increased reliance on automated tools and laying people off . More immediately, you might like to know how much of your internet package it’ll devour as you play.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 shares many of its moving parts with the 2020 game, which made use of tech from Blackshark.ai, Microsoft’s Azure tools and Bing Maps to analyse satellite and aerial imagery and generate terrain maps and objects such as buildings . While a lot of this is delivered by the initial download, some of it is streamed to you on demand.

The major change with MFS 2024 is that it streams a lot more, while simultaneously trying to offer a lot more visual opulence. “We did surveys and asked people, how can we do this - what can we improve?” MFS head Jorg Neumann told me in an interview earlier this month. “And one of the areas that was very consistent was well, it would be nice if the ground would look a little bit better. Because in MFS 2020 we had the whole world and it looked good from a certain altitude, but once you landed, it didn’t look super-detailed.”

MFS 2024 tries to address this by way of a new online machine learning platform that generates terrain detail on demand, based on rules given by the developers. “So we looked at the textures, basically, and the way it works is we had a team that marked up 28,000 tiles,” Neumann explained. “So we picked some tiles that were representative of Earth - some of them were forest, some of them were desert, some of them were rivers, those types of things, and then we mark them up and say, ’this is gravel, this is low grass, this is bush’.

“And then you feed that into a machine learning system, and you say ’this type of colour and this type of pattern is this’ - you feed it in, and you get everything back, you look at the results, and then you have human intervention again. You basically say: ‘Oh OK, got this wrong.’ And then you retrain it. We did that in four different stages.”

What does that process of human intervention look like in practice, I asked? What’s the trick to avoiding the kind of uncanny distortion we often see in today’s prompt-based generated art , to say nothing of the previous game’s cosmically horrible terrain deformations ?

“It’s just picture analysis, really,” Neumann said. “It’s just a lookup table and you say, is this sand? We defined, I think, 26 different surface types - red sand or brown sand to asphalts, those types of things. And I don’t know about distortion but you know, you basically say, ‘oh this one is this, and this one is this’, and it got some stuff wrong sometimes, you know - it understood gravel to be sand. And then you have to retrain it a little bit.”

Once generated in response to one player’s movements, MFS 2024’s terrain data is then available to other pilots - it’s streamed into their games when they’re close by. This makes the system more efficient, and gives rise to the peculiar thought that when you fly over a remote area in the game you are bringing that location to life for everybody else.

One inevitable fear I had, on hearing about this system, is whether the expanded role of machine learning has come at the cost of jobs. While it varies by the tool, discipline and company, there’s a link between today’s AI tools and corporate cost-cutting, with larger video game publishers such as Microsoft dismissing tens of thousands of people even as they spend billions on software that theoretically automates aspects of game development, such as the creation of art assets for buildings and vehicles.

According to Neumann, however, MFS 2024’s expanded usage of machine learning has had “no impact” on the workforce. “The only thing we’ve done is grow,” he went on. “Flight Simulator 2020, it was a team of 100. Flight Simulator 2024 is 200 people at Asobo, a total of 800 people [at supporting studios].” It would not have been possible to mark up the game’s map for the generator ‘by hand’, Neumann insisted. “We would have spent our entire lives and then some just marking up terrain, which is not really the core of the thing. So it’s just a tool that helps us.”

The more immediate concern is that the reliance on streaming will require the beefiest of broadband connections. A few months ago, there was a report that MFS 2024 would require you to stream as much as 81GB an hour. Neumann told me that this was a calculation based on an unoptimised build running on the most demanding settings, and that the average data use would be “way, way less than that” - not least because most players will spend the bulk of their time high up, coasting through already-loaded “aerial data” that doesn’t have to be streamed. Asked to give a rough average figure for a player’s data use, he suggested a relatively modest 5GB an hour.

While 5GB an hour is still quite a chunk, Neumann feels the expanded streaming system is more efficient from the player’s perspective, because it means the initial download can be a lot smaller - around 50GB. It also means you won’t have to download massive expansions over the next few years - instead, the game’s representation of Earth can be overhauled and expanded remotely, with the new bits being streamed to each player as required.

“Flight Simulator 2020 was around 120 gig, and then we added all these world updates, and each world update hovers between 10 gigs and 30 gigs, so we’re now at hundreds of gigs,” he said. “And we’re going to keep going. So just imagine world update 38 in 2028, or something. A terabyte download - it just doesn’t scale.”

In practice, Nuemann noted, many MFS 2020 players didn’t feel inclined to visit the vast majority of its simulated Earth. “An airport is two gigabytes, and we have a ton of airports, right,” he said. “Under the old scheme, you had to download every airport, even though you had no intention of ever visiting this place. I know a lot of people that just fly from their local hometown to where they grew up in college. And they don’t want to explore the entire planet. They just want to hang out in the area that they know.

“Their data consumption [in MFS 2024] is going to be tiny. So we actually think we’ve saved a bunch, and that’s actually much better. The brute force huge client thing - I don’t think this really scales. Just imagine if our texture resolution goes up again.”

While Neumann’s arguments about efficiency sound reasonable to me in the abstract, it’s obviously unclear right now how players will play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and how they might use or abuse its dependence on streaming generated terrain. One, more whimsical scenario that occurs to me is that disreputable pilots might decide to troll the developers by carrying out low-altitude flights en masse, increasing the burdens on the machine learning and streaming systems.

That open-endedness is worrisome because generative AI at large has a mounting energy and emissions cost, and Microsoft especially are trying to walk the line between adhering to relatively ambitious carbon negative plans while also plunging inordinate sums into technologies such as OpenAI’s various roided-up chatbots and Microsoft’s flagship Copilot app.

The most prominent generative AI tools soak up a lot of power , both in the course of “training” them on datasets with human oversight, and when actually running them on data centres. For all their rhetoric, Microsoft’s greenhouse gas emissions were actually 30 per cent higher in fiscal year 2023 than the previous year.

While Neumann didn’t share any estimates about overall energy usage in our chat, I doubt that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024’s new machine learning and streaming systems will have an emissions footprint on par with, say, giving your keyboard a Copilot button . But it’s all part of the picture. Look out for more on the subject in a piece later this month, in which Neumann and I discuss the philosophy of flight simulation, future community-driven features, and the sheer weirdness of generating an entire planet in real time.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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