XPAX from HifiSim a good choice in soon to be 2012...?

[WebMaximus 372]

XPAX is a product that has been available for many years now and I'm wondering if people using it could tell me if it's still a good addon despite its age or are there better alternatives available by now that does the same thing? Has XPAX been frequently updated since its release? And also, is it possible to run it on a networked PC the same way I do with AS 2012 for instance or do I have to have it installed on my FSX PC?What I'm looking for primarily is a way to make my flights a little bit more "alive" with cabin crew making security briefings, letting me know when the cabin is secured for take off/landing etc etc. If I also get the chance to be evaluated after my flight and how good/bad it was from a PAX perspective that of course is a plus.At the moment I'm doing all my flying in PMDG's NGX and I only fly to airports where I have the real airport scenery installed in combination with Aerosoft's AES so the addon I'm looking for (XPAX or any other similar addon you might suggest) need to work in a good way side-by-side with AES.Thanks in advance for your input guys!

[dighost 25]

I suggest checking out FSPassenger. You can download the free demo at fspassengers.com. Some swear it's the best at providing a "live" feel, and I agree.

[fsxenthusiast 1]

I believe the only competitor to XPAX is fspassengers and the new ultimate airline crew..I haven't really tried fspassengers, just the demo for a short couple minutes. I think what you're wanting is to be able to just have it for the sake of the cabin announcements and landing information? Xpax will give you a general score, not sure if it gives much more, as I've never really looked. Xpax has the most realistic voices, they aren't computer generated, or at least you can't really tell, so that puts xpax on top for me.Unfortunately HiFi discontinued Xpax a couple years ago, so there have not been any updates, but it's still imo the best out there still.I don't know if Xpax will work with AES, I'll let someone else answer that.

[Elington 0]

Hi Maximus,You might want to consider "fscaptain" too. I own the three add-ons mentioned in this thread (xpax, fspx and fscaptain) and each of them has its own style. The learning curve for fscaptain might be a bit steep initially but this goes with a very rich and rewarding interaction. It is working like a charm with AS2012 and the NGX (dedicated interface with seat belts, cabin pressure and temp readings) and the developer has been very active since the first release (last major update 12/11).Happy flying,David

[WebMaximus 372]

I suggest checking out FSPassenger. You can download the free demo at fspassengers.com. Some swear it's the best at providing a "live" feel, and I agree.

I used FSP a lot in FS9 but haven't in FSX although I bought the FSX version. Maybe I should give it a try and see what it's like but as I remember it was a little bit more complex than what I'm looking for at this time where I mainly want a program that as I said above will make the flying a little bit more "alive". Both FSP and FSCaptain are great products I'm sure but not exactly what I'm looking for at the moment I think.Thanks for your tip though!

[dburne 2]

I purchased XPAX about a week or so ago - I wanted it for the same reason, to make my flights a little more alive and add a little more immersion to the sim, without getting into something complex with a learning curve.It is very easy to use, with some nice options in the configuration. You can choose voices, choose sensitivity level of the passengers that affects how severely they may grade you after the flight, the amount of time it takes for them to board your flight, etc...When I first started using it, the videos were kind of cool, but I tired of them fairly quickly and ended up turning them off in the configuration - besides I run in full screen, and to view I would have to change to windowed mode to be able to see it, then back to full screen. The voices were what I was really after anyways.When you start out your flight at the gate with XPAX running, set the parking brake, the jetway attaches to your aircraft, and boarding starts. You then get pretty much general announcements, when boarding is finished and cabin secured, cleared for takeoff, climbing out - reaching cruise altitude, beverage cart, beginning descent...After the flight is finished and passengers have deplaned, you can access the report in XPAX to view your overall score , you can also save each report - it also keeps a running total of your points accumulated.I cannot answer your questions on how it would run with AES, etc.I think for the money, it is a pretty good value, and gave me just what I was looking for to add a little to my sim experience.Hope this helps,

[WebMaximus 372]

I purchased XPAX about a week or so ago - I wanted it for the same reason, to make my flights a little more alive and add a little more immersion to the sim, without getting into something complex with a learning curve.It is very easy to use, with some nice options in the configuration. You can choose voices, choose sensitivity level of the passengers that affects how severely they may grade you after the flight, the amount of time it takes for them to board your flight, etc...When I first started using it, the videos were kind of cool, but I tired of them fairly quickly and ended up turning them off in the configuration - besides I run in full screen, and to view I would have to change to windowed mode to be able to see it, then back to full screen. The voices were what I was really after anyways.When you start out your flight at the gate with XPAX running, set the parking brake, the jetway attaches to your aircraft, and boarding starts. You then get pretty much general announcements, when boarding is finished and cabin secured, cleared for takeoff, climbing out - reaching cruise altitude, beverage cart, beginning descent...After the flight is finished and passengers have deplaned, you can access the report in XPAX to view your overall score , you can also save each report - it also keeps a running total of your points accumulated.I cannot answer your questions on how it would run with AES, etc.I think for the money, it is a pretty good value, and gave me just what I was looking for to add a little to my sim experience.Hope this helps,

Many thanks for your mini review, it helped me a lot and considering XPAX is rather cheap I'll give it a try :(

[dburne 2]

You are very welcome, have fun and let us know how you like it.

[WebMaximus 372]

Bought and installed XPax on my second PC where I also have AS 2012 and EFB running but for some reason XPax can't connect to my main FSX PC and says it's a problem with my SimConnect installation and that I should uninstall and reinstall FSX SP1 which I'm of course not very tempted to do since both AS 2012 and EFB work just fine with my current SimConnect installation/configuration.Have posted about this problem in HiFi's forum and hope there's an easy fix because I'm excited to try XPax out :(

[dburne 2]

I have to date never tried to network another computer for FSX, although the more I get into it the more I am tempted to pick up a laptop - may do that at some point...Hopefully they will get you sorted out - but in the meantime, why not just install to the main system to see how you like the program first? Or would the same problem still exist?

[Paul J 349]

Bought and installed XPax on my second PC where I also have AS 2012 and EFB running but for some reason XPax can't connect to my main FSX PC and says it's a problem with my SimConnect installation and that I should uninstall and reinstall FSX SP1 which I'm of course not very tempted to do since both AS 2012 and EFB work just fine with my current SimConnect installation/configuration.Have posted about this problem in HiFi's forum and hope there's an easy fix because I'm excited to try XPax out :(

Hey WM! Congrats - I'm jealous over the AS 2012 - but just pop over to the HiFi site and ask Jim, he never fails to help. I wouldn't redo the Service Packs, either. Simconnect uses a couple of ports, and he will know how to fix it for sure.

[WebMaximus 372]

Of course I could install it directly on my main FSX computer and maybe I'll try that while waiting for help to solve my problem but I really would like to run all extra programs on my second PC and keep my main PC as "clean" as possible with nothing much but FSX running on it.There are a couple of reasons I went for this kind of setup, one that I like to run FSX in fullscreen mode to get rid of the annoying title bar at the top of the window when running in windowed mode but also and mainly because I've experienced mush less problems with CTDs etc etc in FSX when I don't have anything but FSX running on my main PC. I do all my flying online on IVAO and before I went to a network setup I constantly had problems with IvAp (the IVAO pilot client software) hanging and causing FSX to freeze and now when I have IvAp installed on the second PC I haven't seen that happen one single time. So...if you have a second PC and use lots of extra addons like AS, EFB etc etc I can't recommend enough to run in a networked environment !!

[dburne 2]

Well you know, I have my wife's computer I built for her, not too far from where I am sitting, and it is already at least connected through my router for internet... She does get on it a good bit when she is home though.Btw, with XPax, you don't have to run in windowed mode, unless you just want to see the videos or have access to the program. I only run in full screen as well, what I do is start FSX and load up my flight plan, then just before clicking on the fly button, I launch XPax , then minimize it to task bar. Then I click fly now, set the parking brake, XPax connects and away it goes... I can understand wanted to keep it on another pc to keep your main puter clean for flying though.

[WebMaximus 372]

Hey WM! Congrats - I'm jealous over the AS 2012 - but just pop over to the HiFi site and ask Jim, he never fails to help. I wouldn't redo the Service Packs, either. Simconnect uses a couple of ports, and he will know how to fix it for sure.

Thanks :smile:I already dropped a post in the HiFi forums haven't heard anything yet but I'm sure I will because I'm a long time HiFi customer and I know how great those guys always have been and still is !!Speaking about HiFi...yes...AS 2012 is very good and I'm happy I bought it although I already had ASE-REX but I don't regret picking AS 2012 up one second and I'm sure the product will be even further improved in future updates and fixes as always with HiFi :(

[WebMaximus 372]

Well you know, I have my wife's computer I built for her, not too far from where I am sitting, and it is already at least connected through my router for internet... She does get on it a good bit when she is home though.Btw, with XPax, you don't have to run in windowed mode, unless you just want to see the videos or have access to the program. I only run in full screen as well, what I do is start FSX and load up my flight plan, then just before clicking on the fly button, I launch XPax , then minimize it to task bar. Then I click fly now, set the parking brake, XPax connects and away it goes... I can understand wanted to keep it on another pc to keep your main puter clean for flying though.

Yes, I understood I can just minimize it and use FSX in fullscreen mode but since I haven't yet used XPax I'm a little bit excited about the videos so I would like to see them but I guess after watching them for a couple of times you get tired of them but I'm not just there yet :wink:Also like you say I'm not that tempted to mess with my FSX computer with other programs if not absolutely necessary so I hope I will hear from the HiFi guys soon how to fix my issue, can't be that hard I think since I already have other programs that work fine with my SimConnect installation. Will try to Google a bit myself and see if someone else had the same problem and already has the solution.