Thank you for the replies everyone. You're correct when you say I'm not likely to step into a class D sim. anytime soon; this is fascination and
interest more than anything...not to mention I'm a tech. geek!

I know these simulators use powerful computers to handle the motion
platform, animated displays, and instrument functions as well as the
training scenarios.

From what I've read, there are interface cards for computers which communicate
on the data bus using the ARINC protocol. If I'm not mistaken, the
entire instrument set outputs on the same bus for data capture.

Now the tricky quesitons:

Is every known input to the cockpit displays and Flight Management
Computer (FMC) emulated, or do certain measurements get omitted?

For instance, Angle of Attack is normally handled by air flowing over
the AoA sensor. Is this sensor programmed with respect to the angle
of the hydraulic platform, or does the computer calculate AoA based
on empirical data?

Likewise for Pressure altitude, and air speed, etc.: Does the pitot-static
system exist on the flight sim.? Is there some sort of pneumatic device manipulating the pressure in the static port and pitot tube, or does the
simulator software produce the altitude on the guage(s) using digital to
analog conversion?