Making the Switch

[ZachLW 37]

I'm thinking about blowing the dust off of my X-plane box I bought at Airventure last year... This coming from a guy that's used MFS since '95. I've literally grown up with Microsoft's sim. Of course I'm keeping Flight Sim on the hardrive, and using it primarily...The real question is this. Are there QUALITY heavies for X-plane (systems/flight model) in the likes of Level-D and Fly the Maddog-- I know I've missed a bunch. Besides well simulated heavy metal, I've been eye balling the X-Scenery Marquise. That's always been an interesting plane to me.I'm also worried about setting up the X-52/Pro flight Yoke.The last go I had at XP I was a little turned off by the dramatically different (sensitive) flight dynamics and somewhat cartoony graphics. Sorry if that last statement offends anyone.

[Geofa 108]

I'm thinking about blowing the dust off of my X-plane box I bought at Airventure last year... This coming from a guy that's used MFS since '95. I've literally grown up with Microsoft's sim. Of course I'm keeping Flight Sim on the hardrive, and using it primarily...The real question is this. Are there QUALITY heavies for X-plane (systems/flight model) in the likes of Level-D and Fly the Maddog-- I know I've missed a bunch. Besides well simulated heavy metal, I've been eye balling the X-Scenery Marquise. That's always been an interesting plane to me.I'm also worried about setting up the X-52/Pro flight Yoke.The last go I had at XP I was a little turned off by the dramatically different (sensitive) flight dynamics and somewhat cartoony graphics. Sorry if that last statement offends anyone.

Zach-I've tried to make the switch-tried to keep an open mind-but it never quite makes it..I am hoping it does at some point...

[Peter Clemenko 0]

I'm thinking of the XP Jets one when released, however other than that, can't think of much. The main issue is just the lack of payware devs for it.

[Guest BionicCrab]

zach: You'll have to wait for XP11. Not quiet sure which aircraft as that's a secret but it's suppose to have all the systems/fmc ;) also you'll need to adjust the sensitivities depending on what joystick you have. Not a big deal. But the x737 is a great heavy, I've done quite a bit flying with that one and it gets the job done. But as far as i'm concerned the flight dynamics are much better, and really the best thing XP10 is good for is flying patterns. If you take it from that angle you won't be disappointed. The planes have correct turning rates, the throttle controls altitude, the pitch controls speeds... the flaps do their jobs.. :) great sim.

[ZachLW 37]

Thanks guys. It's been a few hours playing around with it. A little cartoony.On the other hand, IMC conditions are very believable. Approaches in the soup are much more realistic and rewarding.

[Guest BionicCrab]

Don't worry soon you'll get over the graphics... sure it's no FS.. but the frame rates give it that "full motion" feel you can only get in FS9..

[Geofa 108]

Don't worry soon you'll get over the graphics... sure it's no FS.. but the frame rates give it that "full motion" feel you can only get in FS9..

Actually on my old machine (dual core) I just replaced, I got a warning all the time that I had too much enabled in xplane-turning down autogen completely and a few other options that made xplane look very poor was the only way to get acceptable fps, and that xplane smoothness-and of course I got the mandated fog. I am sure if fs users limited their sim in the same way (how about the maximum visibility of 20 miles that xplane has, turning off ai traffic for starts) they might find the same if not better smoothness from these limitations.When comparing apples to apples, I found I actually got better performance from fsx if I limited it with similar limits as xplane.With my new machine-I rarely ever see below 30fps in fsx and that is with just about everything maxed so the smoothness isn't an issue on either sim now.

[ryanbatc 12,820]

Don't worry soon you'll get over the graphics... sure it's no FS.. but the frame rates give it that "full motion" feel you can only get in FS9..

Yeah because XP increases the "haze" levels to a sometimes unrealistic amount.... to compensate for lower end PC's *sigh*

[Guest BionicCrab]

Yeah I was getting 30-40 on the quad core.. but on the i7 upwards of 70... kind of pointless though since my monitor is locked for 60 :)

[tkyler 88]

...You'll have to wait for XP11. Not quiet sure which aircraft as that's a secret but it's suppose to have all the systems/fmc

XP11 is probably 3-3.5 years away.....where did you hear that rumor?I will say you might start looking for more airliner sims in 2011. In early 2010 (if not this year), I expect the CRJ-200 to get done..but I know there's only a few with the knowledge and resources to tackle an airliner..and even then, the bigger they are, they more complicated they are. That being said though..there are LOTS of important features and tools in x-plane that have appeared in the last 4-6 mos to make the process much "doable". From my perspective as a developer, I can say that there is a "baseline" or "minimum of features" that need to be in place before an airliner can be successfully simulated and that, for the most part, is now in place. I will be finishing up a few projects in 2010 and then will look to an airliner of some type...and I suspect others will too.

[Murmur 3,941]

I'm thinking about blowing the dust off of my X-plane box I bought at Airventure last year... This coming from a guy that's used MFS since '95. I've literally grown up with Microsoft's sim. Of course I'm keeping Flight Sim on the hardrive, and using it primarily...The real question is this. Are there QUALITY heavies for X-plane (systems/flight model) in the likes of Level-D and Fly the Maddog-- I know I've missed a bunch. Besides well simulated heavy metal, I've been eye balling the X-Scenery Marquise. That's always been an interesting plane to me.I'm also worried about setting up the X-52/Pro flight Yoke.The last go I had at XP I was a little turned off by the dramatically different (sensitive) flight dynamics and somewhat cartoony graphics. Sorry if that last statement offends anyone.

Hi Zach,well no need to "make the switch" :( You can use both.X-Plane is still not as polished as FSX, but version 9 with its updates has done some advances.Regarding your questions:1) A lot of people find X-Plane controls too much sensitive. What can you do to mitigate this?.Go to the "Joystick & Equipment", "Center" tab, set all six sliders to full right;.certain add-on aircrafts have a less sensitive and more enjoyable flight model. Among them:.xpfreeware B757 (beta versione for v9, need to register to download it): http://forums.xplanefreeware.net/topic/5505-v9-pre-release/.twinpropflyer B350 ( http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?autoco...p;showfile=5641 ) and B1900D ( http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=do...p;showfile=6420 ).modified C172s ( http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=do...p;showfile=5130 & http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=do...p;showfile=6142 ).The Marquise you mentioned (payware).Another option, is to manually modify specific aircrafts with Plane-Maker. If you increase their Radii of inertia and/or flight controls delay, you can obtain aircrafts more damped and less sensitive. It's actually quite easy to do.Regarding cartoony graphics, that's strange since I find FSX graphics more cartoony than X-Plane (but each of the two has plus and minuses).If you have a powerful PC, you can basically max out all the options in the "rendering settings" screen EXCEPT "world detail distance" (keep it at minimum), but also "forest density", "number of objects" and "number of roads" are very intensive. On some videocards, "pixel shaders", "volumetric fog" and "water reflection level" can be very taxing as well.At the moment, there aren't aircrafts as complex as PMDG, Level-D, etc. due to lack of developers. Two of the most complex airliners for X-Plane are the XPFreeware B757 I already mentioned (with 3D cockpit) and Benedikt stratmann B737 (no VC, but some systems simulated): http://www.eadt.eu/index.php?aircraft-for-x-plane-9There's also a payware A340, I don't know how complex it is but probably not much: http://petersuv.vs120062.hl-users.com/As I said, X-Plane is not as complete and polished especially compared to FSX, so while not 100% ready as THE main sim for most people, if you'll take time and experiment with it, I can assure you'll slowly find _A LOT_ of little and not-so-little details usually absent in most other flight sims, and probably enjoy it :) Try for example helicopters ( http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=do...p;showfile=8994 ) or gyrocopters ( http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=do...p;showfile=6544 ), or seaplanes... :)Here are six of the best Youtube videos of X-Plane, they show what it's really capable of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9tM6k8dusk

Marco

[spilok 1,132]

I, too, bought X Plane and tried it. I gave it a real chance....but alas....it just didn't cut it! FSX rules and that's that. I really wanted to have an alternative sim, but I have no interest in it. Rise of Flight was another. I used it for about a week or two, but haven't used it in quite a while. Too bad, because it was expensive, and it took me "forever" to download it (after multiple tries). Nothing, I repeat "nothing" seems to compete with FSX and all the phenomenal addons that are available to the siimmer. The weather, the airports, the planes, and the eye candy are beyond anything that has been produced so far IMHO.I wish it were different....but for me, it is NOT!Stan

[Guest BionicCrab]

XP11 is probably 3-3.5 years away.....where did you hear that rumor?

That "rumour" came from the Horses Mouth during an interview on FSBreak :) Austin said that Sergio is working on two new planes with all the details you'd expect to see in a high end FSX product. Who knows when it will be released since in the same interview he said the only reason to do that is if there was a need to replace the 6 DVD's. :) Maybe they'll just be released as an update if no real scenery advancements have been made. I suspect something sooner than 3-4 years considering the vast amounts of information available from the US government since the release of XP10.

[LAdamson 240]

zach: You'll have to wait for XP11. Not quiet sure which aircraft as that's a secret but it's suppose to have all the systems/fmc ;) also you'll need to adjust the sensitivities depending on what joystick you have. Not a big deal. But the x737 is a great heavy, I've done quite a bit flying with that one and it gets the job done. But as far as i'm concerned the flight dynamics are much better, and really the best thing XP10 is good for is flying patterns. If you take it from that angle you won't be disappointed. The planes have correct turning rates, the throttle controls altitude, the pitch controls speeds... the flaps do their jobs.. :) great sim.

Aren't we still on X-Plane 9 now, and 10 is suppose to have the additions they're working on? Other than that, as far as "overall" flight dynamics are concerned, I still prefer my FSX . Yep ---- in FSX the throttle will control speed, and the pitch will control altitude. And yes, throttle can also control altitude and pitch will control speed. One of my favorite arguments. In the end, I win by saying it's both. Boeing and the FAA side with me... :( But that's a whole other subject in which we get into pages and pages of debate.L.Adamson

[tkyler 88]

That "rumour" came from the Horses Mouth during an interview on FSBreak :) Austin said that Sergio is working on two new planes with all the details you'd expect to see in a high end FSX product. Who knows when it will be released since in the same interview he said the only reason to do that is if there was a need to replace the 6 DVD's. :) Maybe they'll just be released as an update if no real scenery advancements have been made. I suspect something sooner than 3-4 years considering the vast amounts of information available from the US government since the release of XP10.

I think you have your versions off. Those two aircraft that Austin mentioned are being developed for the release of V10...upcoming some time in the first half of 2010 hopefully. I know this first-hand because I'm now working on one of those two aircraft...and while I don't yet know how far we'll get simulating everything, it will be quite far along no doubt...certainly more than any airliner that's yet available for x-plane....but for the "super in-depth" simulations of specific aircraft...that'll have to be for the add-on crowd to develop.