Considering X-Plane 10... A Few Questions

[Dragonmount 5]

The only thing that has been holding me back from trying out X-plane is that I'd be starting out from scratch again as far as scenery and aircraft and whatnot.  Are the default aircraft any better than the default aircraft from FSX? I've read that the default ATC is pretty bad and was wondering if there was an ATC substitute out there? Also I'd like to know if there are any AI traffic possibilities?

[marty2756 65]

I would say default aircraft is on par with FSX , more or less same level.

Yes ATC is not good right now,, Pilot2ATC seems to be a great ATC addon, (didn't try myself yet)

Ragarding AI .... "World of Traffic" is the way to go.... altough it requires work .. the final result can be as FSX AI traffic addons... (shame 64bit version still crashes to some users,, developer is working on it)

[ryanbatc 12,803]

Try the demo....  most default planes are junk....

 

A few like the C90 are pretty good....

 

For ATC I just fly online vatsim or Pilot Edge

[CarlosF 1,234]

Default panes are not junk, but decent enough to try out with the demo. Make sure you give enough time to configure your joystick or yoke, doing so will make a big difference.

[Westcoastpilot 0]

All but the C90 are junk and most payware addons are also.

To me, that is a huge insult to the developers who put a lot of time and effort into their aircraft.

 

I have both FSX and X-Plane 10 and I can tell you that if it weren't for FSX's superior payware addons, I would stick with XP10. FSX has too many bugs, issues, crashes, etc... In FSX, flying for 10 hours and then getting some sort of .dll error when you're on final drives me insane. Bottom line is, X-Plane makes much better use of your system than FSX does, and NEVER crashes if you have everything installed properly.

 

XP10 is coded with the idea of using multiple cores from your processor, unlike FSX, which boosts your FPS significantly, even in a city. 

 

One of the advantages of X-Plane 10 is the HDR rendering. The default night lighting is AMAZING. Makes a city look so much more realistic. At an airport, the light from the lamps accurately illuminates the ground and your aircraft as you taxi by. Again, very realistic, and very nice to look at.

 

Yes, the ATC is garbage, and so are most of the default planes. However, X-Plane just released a new default GNS430 that actually has full functionality, and replicates most of the real G430's features. It's 100x better than FSX's default GPS. You can actually create a flight plan inside the unit.

 

For AI: World of Traffic.

 

Payware aircraft might not live up to the standards of some FSX payware aircraft, but they are CERTAINLY not junk. I find that X-Plane's payware 777 rivals the PMDG 777.

 

I'm sticking with FSX simply because of addons like REX and ActiveSky Next, which make the simulator experience amazing. X-Plane's weather system is garbage.

 

If you're a die hard simmer and have a higher-end system, then I would stick with FSX. If you have a lower-end system, then I would go with X-Plane.

[yidahoo 365]

All but the C90 are junk and most payware addons are also. IMO, the FSx default planes are overall much better. that default C130 in X-plane is a joke at best! I own the FlyJSim 727 and 737, there decent but maybe 1/2 of what the Milzv, CaptainSim are in terms of visual quality. Their Q400 compared to ther FSX Magestic Dash 8 is, well cant compare. Of course , my opinion and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

 You will have to spend most your life downloading airport Objects as all that is included is the taxi and runways. At least 99% of the Airports I fly to anyway.

I am still trying to decide whether you are deliberately trolling for an angry response, because I am pretty sure you are going to get one

[nathanpinard 0]

XPlane is probably going to be a big choice in the future, especially if PDMG are going to support it. But it'll take a while, maybe a few years. In the mean time it's getting quite a bit of sales on Steam.

 

There are a lot of impressive videos out there. Some which use addons that are mostly free that add a lot. Such as FlywithLUA, which kind of baffled me on the result people can get with it. http://i58.tinypic.com/219xi7a.png

 

There are also some weather addons out there, but I'm not sure how they match with AS or OPUS.

 

Carenado planes look a LOT better on XPlane (looking at videos). No idea of how they function though. They sell the XP version seperately from the FSX/P3D version. Which, in this case makes sense.

 

We just have to wait for devs to follow suit.

 

Also the fact they are adding a GNS430 that works properly? To get that in FSX you need to spend $50+.

[User72 28]

If you're a die hard simmer and have a higher-end system, then I would stick with FSX. If you have a lower-end system, then I would go with X-Plane.

 

Totally disagree here! X-Plane eats high end systems and comes back looking for more. The higher end the better when it comes to XP10. FSX takes a significantly lower spec system to run it well. It's the whole 64 vs 32 bit thing.

 

You'll not be blown away by the default aircraft as is the norm really. There are a lot of excellent quality payware though and the good news is you'll need to spend a lot less on payware stuff in general to get X-Plane to a really high level for any 'die hard simmer', I got a chuckle out of that particular comment.

[Zikous82 5]

I'm also thinking about X-plane instead of FSX. I spent huge amout of cash on addons (just like others) so it's big decision. PMDG is one reason why I'm staying with FSX. But when they'll release something on X-plane it will be also good reason for other developers to start supporting X-plane. I found some article on web, that Hifi is also preparing something to X-plane. Active Sky Next? Maybe.

Another question is Flight license ... 

[SouthPawPaul 11]

I'd say default X-Plane aircraft are on a par with default FSX aircraft. For me, what makes X-Plane shine is the community support - it's epic, it's beyond epic it's (in the words of Froogle)........PHENOMENAL!

 

My X-Plane is running on a very old i5 750 (not O/C’d) and a new GTX 770 4Gb. X-Plane loves a good video card with lots of memory (I was running a GTX 460v2 prior to this also with not bad results)

 

These screens are taken using

 

Carenado B58  - $27.95

Simheaven ZL17 photo scenery - $0 (Donationware)

AlpilotX v2 terrain mesh - $0 (Donationware)

World2XPlane - $0 (Donationware)

FlyWithLua real terra haze - $0

 

 

 

[makdrive 9]

I have Xplane 10 and I would urge you to reconsider your decision before spending 100 bucks.

FSX is far far superior.

Don't be fooled by pics from Europe and North America.

check Asia, South Asia, Middle east in Xplane 10. ZERO !

[SouthPawPaul 11]

Yup, don't be fooled. because Asia and the Middle east is well covered by FSX. Also, according to 99% of the screenshots on AVSIM most folks are flying these areas.........no........hold on..........my mistake.........no............no they're not.

 

I personally fly both P3Dv2.2 and X-Plane and like them both, but you simply can't beat what you can achieve in X-Plane for free (Donationware!).

 

I urge you to download and fly the heck out the demo. Get used to X-Plane's quirky interface and get used to the cockpit controls. The only limitation in the X-Plane demo is time and location (KSEA and large surrounding area). You can even install aircraft and plugins into the demo to test them out. See how your hardware copes with the demo and you'll get a good feel of how it will work with the whole product.

[deetee 164]

I have Xplane 10 and I would urge you to reconsider your decision before spending 100 bucks.

FSX is far far superior.

Don't be fooled by pics from Europe and North America.

check Asia, South Asia, Middle east in Xplane 10. ZERO !

 

Sorry I have to disagree strongly with your statement; I fly FSX, P3Dv2, and XP10 and the first 2 are also pretty rough outside US/EU. Only by surrendering your credit card to Orbx do things get a little better. As for other parts being "far far superior" I think that is provocative on your part as most people who hang out in this particular subforum are obviously going think the exact opposite for most aspects of X-Plane (except for stuff like ATC and AI which admittedly does need improving).

 

Take care.

[ryanbatc 12,803]

If you're comparing the default XP to FSX older default like from fs9 era (such as mooney king air 350) then yes, the default look the same. But the newer stock FSX Cessna looks pretty good far better than stock Cessna in XP - and FSX flies more realistically too. XP Cessna is a twitchy little nightmare.

 

I like the XP king air better than FSX as well as the 747 in XP. But most of the others are just a joke typically armed with a 2d cockpit with a poor VC.

 

Gotta remember than prior XP 10 XP was mainly a 2D cockpit type of sim. This is the first version that's really starting to look excellent. Scenery, addons etc can look quite amazing, some on par or better than FSX.

 

Plus who flies default anyway? Whatever sim you chose you'll be customizing and adding addons.

[greggerm 312]

 

 

I'm also thinking about X-plane instead of FSX. I spent huge amount of cash on addons (just like others) so it's big decision.

 

First off, as you probably know, X-Plane is completely independent of FSX - there's nothing that says you can't use both. If you choose to purchase X-Plane, you don't need to remove MSFS from your computer. That said, I understand that if you make an investment in X-Plane, you'd like to feel that it can provide enough reasons to be used exclusively. I tried that, but couldn't make it work. But read on...

 

It is a tall order for X-Plane to fill if you're an FSX user with a heavy investment in the traditional, high-quality "must-haves" on MSFS.  It's not that such quality is impossible to find on XP, but there are far fewer examples of it due simply to the smaller number of X-Plane developers.

 

If you're a flight simulator hobbyist, an X-Plane purchase can be justified simply to take a deeper dive into the world of X-Plane. Even though I hardly ever use X-Plane 10, I can't say I regret my purchase. There are addons in my FSX library which I absolutely never use anymore, and the financial total of those purchases far exceeds the cost of X-Plane. It's all just part of the hobby we enjoy.

 

If you can set your X-Plane expectations to being "exploratory" instead of being an all-in make-it-or-break-it buy, you might find your experience to be much more palatable.

 

-Greg