Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.0

FS5 is the first version of the series to use textures. This allowed FS5 to achieve a much higher degree of realism than the previous flat-shaded simulators. This also made all add-on scenery and aircraft for the previous versions obsolete, as they would look out of place.

The bundled scenery was expanded (now including parts of Europe). Improvements were made to the included aircraft models, the weather system's realism and artificial intelligence. The coordinate system introduced in FS1 was revamped, and the scenery format was migrated from the old SCN/SC1 to the new and more complex BGL format.

More noticeable improvements included the use of digital audio for sound effects, custom cockpits for each aircraft (previous versions had one cockpit that was slightly modified to fit various aircraft), and better graphics.

It took about a year for add-on developers to get to grips with the new engine, but when they did they were not only able to release scenery but also tools like Flightshop that made it feasible for users to design new objects.