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Comparing the night sky in X-Plane 10!

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On a whim I was comparing the night sky in X-Plane 10 to a sky map (Aciqra2,2,1), and was really amazed at the accuracy of the night sky in the sim. I'm in Oklahoma City, the time 0451GMT and I could pick out the constellation Capricorn. For deep space objects I could easily pick out M7 to the west and the star Fomalhaut, Alnair, to the south east of me. Back to the west,, I could pick out the Corona Australis and in Sagittarius, the Star Nunki. The only thing missing is the moon, which should have been above and just to the east of Nunki. Most of the star field was easily picked out. Too bad the moon isn't in, I suppose it moves so fast, the calculations to have it correct is probably a bit daunting for the sim.

 

I would say, Good Job LR!!

Donald E. Donovan

Flying is the 2nd greatest thrill known to man

The 1st is landing.

Now if we can only get the day scenery a little closer we will have something!

Geofa

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE-the best Flight Sim!

I want the Moon phases :-) They were never the strongest feature in X-Plane's night sky :-)

 

 

I suppose it moves so fast, the calculations to have it correct is probably a bit daunting for the sim.

 

I don't think it should be that complex :-) MSFS allways did it perfectly, and ELITE too ;-)

 

Better daylight effects would also be welcomed... Here in Lisbon it is now around 6:35 LT (5:35 UTC), and it's pitch dark in the sim, while out there I see daylight already even if the Sun didn't rise yet...

Flying gliders since 1980

Flightsimming since 1992

AMD Ryzen 5600x, 32GB RAM, GPU Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB, 1 TB and 500 GB nvme2 SSD drives, HP 27" 60Hz LED monitor @ 1920x1080, T16000, Hotas from old X52 Pro, Saitek Combat Rudder Pro (2010 model)

Well,

 

twilight is way off reality in X-Plane. As an example I attach here two screens of ELITE v8, taken from LPMT (Montijo Airbase, not far from Lisbon), and showing very close to real (to what I see from my house) the light at 05:35 and 06:15 ZULU... For comparison I also post, after each ELITE screenshot the corresponding X-Plane10 situation.

 

You will notice that the problem is apparently not related to the position of the Sun (it looks similar on both ELITE and X-Plane10 at 06:15 ZULU soon after rising, although a little bit higher in ELITE, just as I see in RL...) but rather the twilight effect...

 

Ah. and of course, the same applies in the afternoon, where after the Sun has set I still have a lot of twilight, and so does ELITE (and MSFS...) but X-Plane is already well into a pitch black sky...

 

ELITE FLIGHT SIMULATOR - 05:35 ZULU @ LPMT facing East:

===========================

 

 

The same in X-Plane10:

===================

 

 

ELITE FLIGHT SIMULATOR - 06:15 ZULU @ LPMT facing East

 

 

 

The same in X-Plane10:

===================

 

Flying gliders since 1980

Flightsimming since 1992

AMD Ryzen 5600x, 32GB RAM, GPU Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB, 1 TB and 500 GB nvme2 SSD drives, HP 27" 60Hz LED monitor @ 1920x1080, T16000, Hotas from old X52 Pro, Saitek Combat Rudder Pro (2010 model)

Do you notice the obvious difference comparing the 2 xplanex screens? I wonder why that happens. Also, I can overlook the time flaws but that dash just gets my fashions senses tingling. ;)

Rob Otto

Now if we can only get the day scenery a little closer we will have something!

 

My morning laugh...thanks Geof.

Gigabyte z590 UD - i5 11600k 4.9 GHz - 64gb 3600 MHz ram - RTX 3070 ti - multiple ssd - 34" 3440x1440 100 Hz Curved - Saitek Yoke Pedals Throttle Quadrant x2 - TM T16000m x2 Throttle - Win 11 Pro

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