If you really want to be realistic, just fly
I have a pilot’s license. Flight simulator is fun games, but that’s it. It’s supposed to be mainly beautiful and give you the illusion that you are flying, but reality is actually a completely different experience.
Before getting my license, I had been playing flight simulator for many years. On the one hand, this is an excellent preparation as you already know the basic tools and principles. On the other hand, you also learn a lot of the wrong things, including that you basically look at your machines instead of looking outside (to avoid bumping into someone else!). As you train, you basically learn to pilot your plane without tools: everything can break and you still need to be able to land safely. The position of the nose in relation to the horizon along with the distance at which you press the throttle is actually all you need to be able to fly safely. All tools are rewards and make life easier, but none of them is necessary.
In addition, engine management is very important, as are all kinds of checklists. Not for fun, but to prevent fatal bugs, reposting is very difficult in real life 
Exactly that element of danger, the feeling of engine vibration, the wind, the tremendous engine noise, the blind faith in mechanics (you control everything by pulling in very thin steel cables that put a piece of steel sheet into a different shape. Posture, pure muscle strength), actually navigating By looking outward (X min with velocity Y on track Z, corrected for rated wind), landing and taking off from a grassy field as they collide in all directions, G forces during bends and storms of winds, subsidence, incomprehensible radio communications, and intense 3D airspace Complexity (especially in southern NL) is completely divided into regions, each with its own rules, etc …
This flight simulator may simulate 5% of the reality, and above all it gives a great impression of what flying looks like, but the real flying experience is a completely different experience. You only need to take a sightseeing trip to Cessna, as there are a lot of places around the Netherlands where it is possible. Then you look completely differently at such a trip. As a passenger, you may experience half of what this pilot does and takes into account
