Bruce Artwick - Flight Simulator

Flight Simulator

In his thesis of May 1975, called “A versatile computer generated dynamic light display” he displayed a model of the flight of an aircraft on a computer screen. With this, Artwick proved that it was possible to use the 6800 processor which was the first available microcomputer to handle the graphics and calculations of the specifications needed to produce real-time flight simulation. After creating the SubLogic Company, Artwick took his thesis one step further by developing the first flight simulator program for the Apple II which was based on the 6502 processor. Shortly after, he followed up his product with a Radio Shack TRS-80 version that each was coded in their own machine language. By the year 1981, Flight Simulator became so popular that it was reportedly the best-selling title for Apple.

Shortly after, the newly created Microsoft Company decided to enter the fray to obtain a license for Flight Simulator. Microsoft obtained a joint license and by November 1982, Microsoft’s version of Flight Simulator hit the stores as a PC entertainment program. As years passed, computer graphics continued to improve and Flight Simulator software also changed along with it.