I really do hope that Prepar3D 2.0 will be a great flight simulator.  I think Flight shows us what can be done with scenery, but it was a terrible failure because it tried to appeal to the gamers as opposed to true simmers.  Yes, it was interesting and fun at times, but their cockpitless aircraft soon belied the fact that they weren't serious and they got the boot.  I tried P3D and it is prettier in some places, but was not as intuitive as FSX.  If Prepar3D shows the proper improvements, is compatible with previous paid add-ons (if needed),  and they keep their cost low (which I doubt), they may have a winner.  Until then, my attention and efforts are in X-Plane 10.22>.  Also, I have never had to overclock to achieve descent results in either FSX, P3D, or X-Plane 10 - 38 through 50 fps in X-Plane with an Intel I-5 processor, 8 GB RAM, and a GTX 560 nVidia card.

 

John

It would be really great if P3D comes in 64-bit, fully multi-threading capable, better lighting model (at night), non flat runways, cloud shadows, etc. I would buy it! But I have no hope. Sorry. :cray:

I haven't seen cloud shadows since X-Plane 9; anyone know if they'll be coming back one day?

 

 

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It would be really great if P3D comes in 64-bit, fully multi-threading capable, better lighting model (at night), non flat runways, cloud shadows, etc. I would buy it! But I have no hope. Sorry. :cray:

Non flat runways were considered a long time ago, for FSX. The capability was there. All of the elevation data points needed for accurate world-wide runways were not. They decided to keep it flat. Elevation data (the capability of storing it) has improved. But while it works resonably well for quite a number of X-Plane runways, it's worse than terrible in many others.

This thread is so much like the debate between one religion versus another.  Simply put:  any  simulator  you  enjoy  flying  is  a  great  choice.

 

FSX has a huge array of 3PD (third party developer) add ons available, and some of them are simply breathtaking-  ORBX,  FSDreamteam Ground Services X,  PMDG 737NGX, just to name a few.  

 

But like the OP, I got pulled across the aisle into X-Plane 10, and so much so, I elected to 'take the hit' and uninstall FSX and P3D completely, and sold away my add-on hardware by VRInsight (who decided for whatever reason to ignore the X-Plane 10 community, and also ignore emails from a guy who wrote glowing reviews about their products!)

 

I will say that X-Plane 10 has pluses and minuses, just like FSX does.  Some folks find FSX to be the overall more enjoyable experience, others side with X-Plane, and some fly both and alternate back and forth.

 

Our hobby is one that can be a lot of things - entertainment, a learning experience, a training tool, and yes, a source of migraine headaches and financial problems too!  

 

So if you are thinking of X-Plane, I encourage you to purchase the global edition, though you may fly one area more so than others.

I HIGHLY recommend PilotEdge ATC service, for an annual cost of $15 a month paid by the year ($179), you have 15 hours a day  (8am to 11pm PST) seven days a week of professional-grade ATC.  The controllers on PilotEdge can handle both VFR and IFR flights and all the complex procedures you could ever ask for.  They are helpful without being rude or overbearing, and recognize that after a long day at the office, you may occasionally forget to switch frequencies when directed.  Think of PilotEdge as Vatsim on steroids.  One thing that is a HUGE plus- they are "ONLINE" when they are supposed to be, they never abruptly shut down on a whim and without warning - and the bad news is a smaller service area than Vatsim and of course, it's not 'free'.

 

I'd pay money all day long to have ATC when I'm flying.  Vatsim can be pleasant and enjoyable, or it can also be a royal PITA, with the child pilots, desktop mics instead of headsets, and people who step all over each other's transmissions and/or leave their mic key "on" when they're not trying to speak (effectively blocking the channel).

 

PilotEdge ATC is crystal-clear, and a joy.  You can fly free for 14 days if I remember right, no credit card needed.

 

X-Plane has a LOT of freeware stuff, ranging from x737 airplanes to many airports and other scenery packs.  THe payware stuff is growing and the planes by Flight Factor (Ramzzess/Philipp) and some other planes can grab your attention in a huge way.

 

I use Garmin Electronic Flight Bag in X-Plane 10, along with a utility that converts your aircraft's datapoints to be able to be broadcast to a separate tablet device (iPad or Android), which is killer for flight planning, and has "SAFE TAXI" for dialing into the airport taxi diagrams with a moving map showing your location on the field.  Really helps avoid taking a wrong turn when heading to/from the runways.  Garmin EFB is pricey, but is a RW app as well as a simulator app.  30 day free trial as well, but the Safe Taxi is not part of the free trial.

 

I'm an X-Plane fan, but welcome all pilots regardless of which sim platform they choose.

Well here is a little insight into both and very brief........

 

FSX is on life support at its ripe old age and needs 3rd party developers (breathing tube, respirator...etc) to keep it alive, pull the plug it dies, however we all know with age comes experience.... and stubbornness.

 

x-plane 10 is like a young child that has a lot of room to grow and develop, like a young child, at times can be the most rewarding thing ever. But the best part about X-plane 10 (the young child) is its constant growth and development which means a long life with rewarding experiences if raised correctly and nurtured with the right add-ons haha....

 

It's all in what you want to deal with..... An old man, or a young child..... Both cause major headaches.....

A search through this Robert McDonald's posts on this forum should give you plenty of ideas about what to download. The good thing about XP 10 is a lot of downloads which make a big difference are free. It's certainly a good punt to take while we wait and see what P3D 2 holds.

 

We really should make a sticky about what to download for newcomers...

ADEX for FSX is quite simple and not too different than WED for XP.

 

I tried to get into XP but have not been able to get over the annoying click spots. I haven't touched XP in weeks. Maybe once my Carenado A36 works in 64 I'll go back.

ADEX for FSX is quite simple and not too different than WED for XP.

 

I tried to get into XP but have not been able to get over the annoying click spots. I haven't touched XP in weeks. Maybe once my Carenado A36 works in 64 I'll go back.

 

Do you have SASL 2.0 installed ?

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=148591

 

It seems to be working with the Centurion !

Reason why im not holding my breath when it comes to P3D 2.0 is that what they are doing is essentially polishing up a already 20 year-old game engine which should have been totally revamped for say, FS2004 or even FSX. Microsoft has just been patching the game engine to work for the next gen and that has caused very very poor performance, and I don't see P3D helping that in a big way, but i'll be happy to be wrong.

 

 

I'd say if you want to fly in USA, scenery wise FSX might be better. FTX and many other terrain addons make it just a lot more pleasant visually, atleast for now. (photoscenery for USA would be great to change that!) But for europe, OSM + photoscenery is just amazing stuff and i can't fly without it. The immersion factor with photoscenery and OSM is great and nothing can really beat that.

Reason why im not holding my breath when it comes to P3D 2.0 is that what they are doing is essentially polishing up a already 20 year-old game engine which should have been totally revamped for say, FS2004 or even FSX. Microsoft has just been patching the game engine to work for the next gen and that has caused very very poor performance, and I don't see P3D helping that in a big way, but i'll be happy to be wrong.

 

 

I'd say if you want to fly in USA, scenery wise FSX might be better. FTX and many other terrain addons make it just a lot more pleasant visually, atleast for now. (photoscenery for USA would be great to change that!) But for europe, OSM + photoscenery is just amazing stuff and i can't fly without it. The immersion factor with photoscenery and OSM is great and nothing can really beat that.

 

Do you have any idea how much code has to be rewritten just for the DX9 to DX11 conversion? Not to mention the other upgrades and rewrites of other graphical aspects that can now take advantage of DirectX 11. Starting from scratch on a simulator platform is almost unrealistic. It takes years to build a complex platform such as MSFS. Why would Lockheed Martin have any interest in it if they could just rewrite their own platform from scratch.? They are taking a chunky platform with some obvious issues and perfecting it. Nothing wrong with that at all.

 

Take your time with X-plane and download lots of Freeware add-on airports and stuff from AVSIM, X-pilot.com, X-Plane.org and Simheaven. Don't forget Aipilotx's mesh. All of this will take X-plane X to a new level. You can also recycle some of your FSX stuff using FS2XP although only some stuff converts well.

 

Rob 

 

 

Thought I'd test this out and did a search for my home airport (KMSP).  I found nothing.  If a decent rendition of a major airport like KMSP isn't available that says allot about XPlane.  In contrast FS9 has every major airport in the world rendered the only exception being Auckland Intl.  FSX runs a close second.  X-Plane has along way to go with areas of the world depicted correctly not to mention fixing that weird looking horizon.

 

 

 In contrast FS9 has every major airport in the world rendered the only exception being Auckland Intl.

 

So what are you advocating? That FSX and XP10 users go back to the past with FS9? I'm sorry but that is not going to happen,  FS9 users should be the ones upgrading ... not the other way around. 

 

If you like your FS9 scenery you can convert most of it with Marginal's FS2XP scenery converter. 

I think XPX is the future of flight simulation, it will just take a lot of time. I still have P3D and will revisit it from time to time however it might be hard considering the fact i'm an "FPS freak".

So what are you advocating? That FSX and XP10 users go back to the past with FS9? I'm sorry but that is not going to happen, FS9 users should be the ones upgrading ... not the other way around.

 

If you like your FS9 scenery you can convert most of it with Marginal's FS2XP scenery converter.

 

FS9, FSX, X-Plane are all viable options at this point seeing FS is no longer in development at MS. To suggest anyone move away from any of these is crazy. FS9 properly setup looks 80% on the level of FSX and performs the best out of all options. FS9 has the most content both payware and freeware, FSX looks the best and has about 50% of the content FS9 has. X-Plane is somewhere in the middle.

 

 

There's no end all solution for FS like there once was even Flight has something to offer for some. I actually think Flight has the best FDE engine out of most of our options (haven't tried X-Plane). FS9 will be around like everything else until either MS get's back into the game or XP improves allot more. You say dump the option that has the best performance and most content in favor of either a

OOM/performance hog or a evolving sim that's not quite where the others are and has spotty add-on options in comparison. Sorry all options are on the table at this point...

Good luck with that!

 

See you back in the FSX section, after the novelty has worn off, and the frustration kicks in!

For me, I actually think the novelty of FSX has worn off. Thousands of dollars in add-ons later and FSX just seems....blah now.

 

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