From 1-10, How would you rate this Sim?

[uwespeed 497]

Well ... that's kinda funny. Why? Because some urban legends seem to live forever.

"Poor landclass"
Some people say landclass is poor. Others say it's fantastic - based on satellite imagery? And the latter is (almost) true. See here, here and here.

"UI is complictated". "Operation isn't user friendly". "It took me very long to do/configure this and that, I had to google it. In FSX it's done within seconds."
Uhm ... well ... we all know that the Apple Mac is extremely user unfriendly compared to Windows. Everything is different, and I have to google how this and that works. Same with X-Plane and the other sim. Some examples?

We all know that in FSX the command for "up" is "SHIFT + ENTER". Pretty easy, isn't it? In XP it's more complicated: "up" is ... "up".
"Down" - FSX: "SHIFT + BACK" (pretty straightforward) - XP: "down" (what the h...?)
But with "left" FSX finally shows its maturity - it's miles ahead. XP: "left" (boo, complicated) - FSX "CTRL + SHIFT + BACK" (yahooooo, eeeaaasy)
"Right" - XP: "right" (damned) - FSX: "CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER" (hooray)
There are many more ...

 

Some time ago, I did a research about this item. I compared the amount of clicks you have to do, to assign controller buttons, controller axis, keys or to choose an aircraft - each with best and worst case. See below.

Same with keyboard shortcuts: easier/more logical = green, more complicated/more illogical = red. And if the one sim has a keyboard shortcut, but the other not, is also green and vice versa (blue=equal). See below.

 

You might think, "Wow ... this guy has way too much time to find out such things". Well, you know ... simple reason ... the X-Plane UI saved me so much time that I could do this research.

 

 

[steve310002 1,198]

I am really enjoying X-plane 10 but agree with some here that it still needs work in key areas to make it what it deserves to be.

 

At this moment in time, I plan on sticking with X-plane 10 as my sim of choice and it will be where I will be investing my money in terms of add-ons from now on. I see no point in buying new addons for other sims at this point.

 

I think X-plane 10 has crossed the boundaries it needed to cross to get the community's attention. Now, to close the deal it needs to go the extra mile like Geofa outlined. 7/10 for me at the moment thanks to the great payware aircraft that have been recently made available.

[jcomm 5,939]

I sold it, but I may well invest again on it later this year.

I am primarily trying not to do what I did in the past, when I restarted using flight simulators starting with MS FLIGHT. That sim caused such an amazing effect on me, and the disappointment with it's unsuccess was so huge that I desperately tried to find a substitute. That was the beginning of a very unwise walk that ended with my settling with DSC World, and somehow with LM Prepar3d as well...

I consider that if I sum every plus and minus items for both X-Plane10 and LM Prepar3d, they'll come up with pretty much the same score for me, because if X-Plane has promissing aspects, like it's underlying BET method of calculating the flight dynamics, it lacks lot of details on that approach, etc...

Yet, if LM P3d v2 brings a new flight dynamics core, or at least an updated one from the ESP platform it inherited, this can be rather promissing. I really don't care if it continues to be 32 bit for now...

Then, I have to be honest and cruel (maybe) because IMO (MSFS, X-Plane, P3D) are toys compared to what DCS World physics model and overall active environment can offer right now. None comes even close to what you get flying any of the DCS modules, with the two helis and the p51d being simply AMAZING. It's - believe me - very difficult for me to accept the limitations, inconsistencies in the other platforms. Buying a good airliner (like any of Peter's Aircraft collection) or a good Carenado GA for X-Plane, or any of the excellent LES add-ons, a PMDG or Aerosoft's AXE, or even the A2A b377 (since the p51d while being great, offers a rather limited experience when I have it in DCS the way it is modelled there...) can make me still start P3D and XP10 and enjoy those models for a while... but I allways come running back to a session in DCS...

I believe having moved to 64 bit during version 10 was a tough decision for LR. They might have concentrated on ironing the many problems XP10 has and people have been complaining about since it's release, This way I'm affraid a good deal of it will be left out, probably until the next version. The flight dynamics core is something really requiring intervention by Austin (I assume he's the only one dealing with that component...). Giving XP10 a better score than the 6.5 (updated to 7) I gave it on this thread is really the best I can do :-/

[Jessica Bannister-Pearce 120]

I'd rate XPX at 6.5 to 7. It has great potential, but its not there yet.

 

Things I like.

 

default mesh. Excellent, great for those flights in mountainous areas like Columbia.

UI. It's not difficult to learn, just different. Joystick calibration is simple and easy.

Night lighting. In a class of its own.

 

Things that need work.

Atc. It's poor by anyone's standards.

Seasonal textures. Needs fixing. It's one thing to have a snow effect blowing across runways, but without snow on the ground, its pointless

Weather and clouds. Hit and miss with even a slight wind causing aircraft to drift on the runway. Clouds are performance hogs and need improvement.

 

 

Things that are neither good nor bad.

FM. Dependant on aircraft. So difficult to critise without real life experience.

Sound. Probably needs an upgrade, but ok for now.

 

There's lots to like about XPX, lots to hope for improvement. The ui is fine but just needs rewording in some places. Half of the issue is it reads more technical than perhaps it could.

 

I'll rerate it at say 10.40 and see.

 

Best wishes,

Jess B

[skipph 82]

I am with coa1117 on this one and with jcomm on the DCS one.   Skip

[deetee 164]

I see a lot of opinions on the fence and there is much hope for improvement upon the future road map of XP10. However if said as-yet-unpublished road map looks something like this:

 

XP 10.3x = Recoding landing gear compression algorithms

XP 10.4x = Tweaking colour of flaps lever in the Baron

XP 10.5x = Slight ground texture improvement in Antarctica

XP 10.6x = Flight model tweaking with regards to body rivets

XP 10.7x = More tweaking of stuff that already works just fine for 99% of users

 

Then I think it will be time to uninstall the darn thing and go back to FSX!  :wink2:

[hangar 661]

I see a lot of opinions on the fence and there is much hope for improvement upon the future road map of XP10. However if said as-yet-unpublished road map looks something like this:

 

XP 10.3x = Recoding landing gear compression algorithms

XP 10.4x = Tweaking colour of flaps lever in the Baron

XP 10.5x = Slight ground texture improvement in Antarctica

XP 10.6x = Flight model tweaking with regards to body rivets

XP 10.7x = More tweaking of stuff that already works just fine for 99% of users

 

Then I think it will be time to uninstall the darn thing and go back to FSX!  :wink2:

heh, interesting...this has sort of been their problem from day 1...the progress moves along at a snails pace and many times the improvements are not really where you'd expect to see them. It's hard to believe that X-Plane has been around now for 20 years (since '93 on Mac '96 on Windows). Taking that into account it really has not changed nearly as much as one might expect after 2 decades.

[LeeL 272]

Am I allowed to answer having just tried the demo?

[airlinejets 709]

Am I allowed to answer having just tried the demo?

Sure, why not? Everybody else from the dark side has... :lol:

 

...even though, some couldn't get past the user interface... :wink:

[steve310002 1,198]

The bottom line is that if you are willing to pay for expensive add-ons for other sims then it's crazy not to buy X-plane 10. It is not much more expensive than most high quality add-ons and there is so much good freeware available that there really is no reason not to purchase it and at least try it out. That's what I did and was using it alongside FSX and DCS. I then went back to FSX for a while but since X-plane 10.20 was released together with a couple of great payware and freeware add-ons, I haven't touched FSX since two months and use X-plane 10 nearly every day as my preferred sim of choice.

 

When you calculate the time spent enjoying the many parts of the sim that are already highly impressive, I think most will find it more worthwhile than the money spent on a couple of airports in another sim. A simple 'cost/benefit' analysis really.

[gheeD 62]

Exactly what Steve said. I've gotten a lot more enjoyment out of Xplane so far than some of my FSX addons, and xplane is its on platform for addons and will become the sim to use in year or two. With that in mind the investment is well worth it which is why I did buy XPX when it was released. I've been trying out many addons and familiarizing myself with the platform for future use. + seeing the development of every patch is fun.

 

 

When it comes to perhaps one of the most popular complaints about X-plane; ui and settings, I do not understand what it is about. It's different, but also much more effective and terms used are simpler for the average person. When starting with fsx for a long time i pondered what exactly scenery complexity means, for example. Xplane its just simple options of trees, buildings and roads. And then setting up keybinds and joystick.. When you start up xplane for first time, it says it has detected uncalibrated controllers, do you want to calibrate now? And then you just wiggle them all around their axis and you are pretty much set. Further customization of joystick calibration isnt any harder, open the equipment settings and all the tabs are quite well stated and every setting tells you what it does...

 

 

In my opinion X-plane as a sim is 7. Basic flight stuff works great, but really do need and want regionalized textures and seasons. I don't care too much for ATC and ai since if i need any i fly online.

[LeeL 272]

 

 

 

 

 

Am I allowed to answer having just tried the demo?

 

 

Sure, why not? Everybody else from the dark side has... :lol:

 

...even though, some couldn't get past the user interface... :wink:

 

Lol ok. Here goes and I'm not looking for a fight.

 

I think if REX did an XP10 addon like their 9 addon it would help me to like it. I find the cloud textures hideous and unrealistic in XP10.

 

Seasonal Textures- by now there is no reason for this not to be in.

 

Airports- Again by now there is no excuse for not having default generic buildings

 

No landmarks and region specific textures aren't great.

 

Lack of 3PD airports- not xplanes fault I know

 

I've read on here that Truescenery is like ORBX, but I need scenery that covers a more vast area. Like GEX, FTX or photoscenery stuff etc.

 

ATC/AI I don't care about because of Vatsim

 

XP needs a weather addon like OPUS or AS. Maybe this is where REX could come in again, jack of all trades.

 

I don't know what it is but XP10 just doesn't feel...I don't know the words, it feels more gamey maybe idk. I think it's the textures just something that doesn't look right.

 

 

There must be a reason for the lack of high quality payware. FSX has so many utilities, OPUS, Multi Crew Experience, FS2Crew etc. XP will not move ahead until there is more stuff like that. Laminar needs to get their priorities straight.

 

I don't know why comparing it to a 7 year old fsx is a bad thing, in fact if there still is an argument going on about that I think that tells you where XP is. It should be light years ahead, or 7 years ahead at least.

 

Speaking of OOM using Prepar3d no OOM's stable 30 FPS everywhere and it looks way better then XP IMO.

 

5.5/10

 

It will take more to get me into XP

 

I will try the 64-bit demo again soon though

 

Just what I feel

 

Lee

 

Does anyone have any solutions to my concerns? If I can get good weather and textures I would be able to use XP10 and P3d together. P3d more but XP would be there. I like the look of the JRollon JS32

 

Tell me how to make XP look like this

and I will be there.

 

 

Five-By-Five you still giving away a copy for an FSXer to try?

[LAdamson 240]

Comparing to a seven year old sim isn't bad. It's always good to know what's out there, even if you're lead to believe it's dead. Of course, I have made a "Village" comment a time or five, on a few XP forums. That's the movie where the residents still think it's the pilgram era. Planes are not allowed to fly over, as it's labeled an animal reserve.

[Alan_A 1,650]

I don't know what it is but XP10 just doesn't feel...I don't know the words, it feels more gamey maybe idk. I think it's the textures just something that doesn't look right.

 

Am not sure if I'm reacting to the same thing but I've had the thought recently that when I'm using XP10, it feels like I'm manipulating a simulator - for some reason the artificiality comes through. Whereas with FSX, in spite of all the clunkiness and the need to tweak, I'm more likely to forget that it's a sim and lose myself in the experience.

 

That might be the result of my greater familiarity with FSX - XP10 does things differently enough that I have to think about it, whereas FSX is more automatic and transparent to me. But I think it's also the result of a more uniform set of good add-ons (aircraft and scenery and weather and AI operating and the same level of quality) in FSX.

 

In XP10 the quality is much more variable (I remember taking off from KDCA in the wonderful ND Art and Technology BK117, and watching an AI 747 (!) roll off the end of the runway and wallow around in the Potomac for 10 minutes trying to take off - it eventually went overland and wound up on its back in Rock Creek Park). The bad stuff - like that AI or the lack of seasons or landmarks - really takes you out of the experience and reminds you that you're sitting at a computer pretending to fly.

 

At night the positions are reversed - XP10 gives me a "you are there" feeling beyond anything that the MSFS franchise has ever produced.

 

But until I can get the same level of immersion during the day, I won't be fully bought in. Again, a shame, because at its best XP10 can be so good..

[carrotroot 77]

 

 

Airports- Again by now there is no excuse for not having default generic buildings

No landmarks and region specific textures aren't great.

Lack of 3PD airports- not xplanes fault I know

 

With regards to airports, to be fair this is being addressed. You can download their scenery editor WED 1.2 beta 3, quickly add some generic buildings to airports and upload them to a central database which gets shared with community each time Laminar Research releases an update to the sim.

 

Also there is quite a lot of 3rd party airports, and most Flight Simulator scenery can be converted using a tool called FS2XPlane