Visiting Looking Glass Studios

Facing the Looking Glass building from the parking lot.

It all came about when we got our first look at Flight Unlimited III. We couldn't believe our eyes. It was even better than the screen shots Looking Glass had posted earlier. Gray misting clouds moved through the sky revealing spots of sunshine leaking through them. They cast shadows on the ground as they moved. A storm front had just moved through the area and drops of rain still hit the windshield. Once in flight I could not believe my eyes. This is something you can't imagine from a still shot. It was clear that the Looking Glass team had gone beyond photorealistic scenery, they made it all dynamic in real time. For the first time in my flightsim experience I flew over real terrain, lakes, and mountains. The weather system and clouds all looked and moved like the real thing. The cities, buildings, lighting, aircraft and panels where designed to a whole new level of realism. I heard sounds more accurate than ever before and many more of them. It was clear that Looking Glass was out for blood in the FlightSim market. They just seem to have set a whole new standard for FlightSim Excellence.

My excitement grew as we approached the front doors.

After an entire weekend of flying, I decided that we just had to meet the team that was responsible for this product. You may be asking the same questions we did. How many people does it take to do a project like this? How old are they and what did they do before this? How long have they been working on it and where do they work? Want to take a look in their offices? Well follow us, we're going to visit Looking Glass Studios!

Looking Glass Studios are located in Cambridge Massachusetts at 100 Cambridge Park Drive. Nels Anderson accompanied me on the trip, so I drove and he navigated. Once we entered the parking lot and got a good look at the building, we realized just how serious making flightsim products can be. As we approached the front set of glass doors I have to say I started to get extremely excited.

Entering the offices at Looking Glass Studios.

As I expected the entrance to the main lobby area was very professional. Once inside we could see a large glass case full of awards and plaques which indicated to me the huge success that Looking Glass Studios has had in the industry. No one was around, the place was quiet. We looked at the trophy case for a while then began to wander around. Some boxes were stacked in the corner indicating that new PC systems had just arrived.

Minutes later Michael Malizola (VP of Marketing) came through the door. He introduced himself and seemed really excited the FlightSim.Com guys had arrived. After a few initial introductions Mike had us following him to go find Peter James - Lead Designer.