Hi there!

With the release of the fantastic v2.3 patch for P3D, and the updates for SkyMAXX Pro to v2.0 and the new beta patch for X-Plane 10.30, I thought, I´d do a little comparison flight.

I took a flight from KSNA to KCNO in the outstanding A2A Cherokee in P3D, and after that, I flew Carenado´s superb XPX release, the new Stationair, on the same route in X-Plane 10.

I tried to set the weather parameters more or less equally in both sims. The date and time of day had been set to the exact same figures as well. (August, 13th, 9:45 am local time)

The other following addons were used in the sims:

P3D: Orbx FTX Global, REX4 Texture Direct HD

XPX: OSM North America, HD Mesh v2, Treelines and Farms v2, MaxxFX, UrbanMAXX 3D, Dataref Editor

 

I haven´t tried to take the exact same pictures in both sims, but I flew the same GPS route on both flights at the same altitude.

I really enjoyed both flights very much, here you can see the results:

 

P3D:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XPX:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Michael for the great post . Personally P3D is clearly the winner , the clouds and their shadows look sooo beautiful 

Hi Michael,

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Excellent shots!

 

I definitely prefer the look of Prepar3D here. The REX textures you chose are sure looking nice  :o

 

Cheers!

The problem I have with P3D is the gamma, I had the same problem with FSX outside on a sunny day it looks like photo 3 of the xplane set... I fly all 3 sims, got rid of P3d because of the performance

Terrain textures look great for P3D. That's something I really notice the lack of in XPX.

 

Clouds from Rex always look nice in screenshots, but in flight their 2Dness always breaks the immersion for me.

 

Atmosphere and lighting look much better in XPX. Having the background slightly bluer than the foreground is a small, but hugely important change to the realism of the environment.

Which textures are more representative for that area?  They both look great, but their texture colors are vastly different, much more lush for p3d/ftx and much more arid/desert for xp10

Which textures are more representative for that area?  They both look great, but their texture colors are vastly different, much more lush for p3d/ftx and much more arid/desert for xp10

Neither is 100% accurate. I guess XP10 is a bit more realistic... that area is more similar to a desert than a lush, green area. That's my opinion, considering I've driven around that area before. 

 

 

Clouds from Rex always look nice in screenshots, but in flight their 2Dness always breaks the immersion for me.

 

Have you tried ASN?  It helps in this regard by dropping visibility as you enter clouds and increasing it as you leave them making them come darned close to feeling volumetric.  No, they're really not, but the effect works remarkably well.

 

Scott

thanks for all your responses so far.

I have to say, that the weather looks way better in both sims when a weather engine is injecting it (in my case FSGRW for P3D and EFASS for XPX).

But I wanted to see how they compare if one sets the weather values to comparable figures.

Concerning the ground textures in that area, I think that XPX looks more like what you find in reality. Although they could be a little sharper when you fly low (FTX Global still looks pretty sharp at 1.000ft AGL) and there should be a wider variety of different textures.

As I said, I really enjoyed both flights. The results show the strengths and weaker points of both sims. I couldn't pick a "winner" here, especially considering the fact that the whole thing feels completely different again if you see it in motion.

The next comparison will be a flight over the Alps in Europe, probably at late afternoon.

Looks impressive in both sims. As far as the clouds and sky go prepar3d looks by far the best.

Sorry Mik75, but this test is not realistic.  ^_^

 

 

Why used MaxxFX with XP10? :huh:  

MaxxFX is absolutely the worst addon that exists for XP10. 

This addon does not improve the graphic realism of XP10. 

This addon does not do a real environment. 

 

 

This "XP10 cartoon style" is real?
Is good?     

 

 

 

The best XP10 graphic is obtained with "Real Terra Haze" (freeware), "FlyWithLua" (freeware), and Simheaven scenery (freeware).

Not MaxxFX (payware). 

 

This is the true power of graphics XP10 (without MaxxFX).

This is the real XP10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:rolleyes:

Great shots Efis. Are you using Real Terra Haze? If so could you share your settings?

Please excuse my english (i use google translator).  :blush:

 

Answer the question: Nope, I do not use XP10. :(  

I use FS2004 only. 

 

XP10 interests me because I want to replicate the "Real Earth Haze" effect in my FS2004!

Impossible?

Yes and no.

Using a special combination of new Sky Textures, and SweetFX utility, I have create a "Lua horizon" similar (only similar) to the XP10.

 

 

This is my FS2004 with "Real Terra Haze". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am an XPX guy and even I think the ground in P3D looks miles better.  I don't like the default XPX textures(which is why I make my own photoscenery).

 

I never much cared for that MaxxFx plugin myself(his other work is very, very good), since it makes things look much less realistic.

 

My problem with P3D is blurries, when I fly around it starts off great but then the textures start to blur out badly, not a problem with x-plane(which is why I made the switch in the first place).

 

Sorry Mik75, but this test is not realistic.  ^_^

 

 

Why used MaxxFX with XP10? :huh:  

MaxxFX is absolutely the worst addon that exists for XP10. 

This addon does not improve the graphic realism of XP10. 

This addon does not do a real environment. 

 

 

This "XP10 cartoon style" is real?

Is good?     

 

 

 

The best XP10 graphic is obtained with "Real Terra Haze" (freeware), "FlyWithLua" (freeware), and Simheaven scenery (freeware).

Not MaxxFX (payware). 

 

This is the true power of graphics XP10 (without MaxxFX).

This is the real XP10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

WHOA those are awsome!!! Now I want X-plane thanks for making my wallet cry lol

I am an XPX guy and even I think the ground in P3D looks miles better.  I don't like the default XPX textures(which is why I make my own photoscenery).

 

I never much cared for that MaxxFx plugin myself(his other work is very, very good), since it makes things look much less realistic.

 

My problem with P3D is blurries, when I fly around it starts off great but then the textures start to blur out badly, not a problem with x-plane(which is why I made the switch in the first place).

I know its a hassle but once you start P3d open the task manager and find the p3d process and right click and select set affinity, make it use all of your CPU cores and I promise your blurries will be  a thing of the past!