Hi all, I'm a few years into simming using FSX and I've decided to get X-Plane as a second simulator.  The demo was enough for me to decide I can get used to it, but I really want to try the European photo scenery and OSM data combination and hence I'm taking the plunge.  I'm thinking of getting it through Steam, but I have a few questions about the Steam version I'm hoping someone could help me with.

 

First is if there are any discernible differences in the installation structure, i.e. can the root folder be put in a place of choice or is it in a specific folder for all Steam games, and can all addons for the disk version be installed as normal?  Will the structure of the X-Plane folder be essentially the same when bought from Steam, allowing for non-installer freeware to be added the same way?

 

Second, from what I've seen the Steam software has to run to use steam games.  Is this the case with X-Plane and if so, is there any performance hit from the Steam software - my computer can't even get 20 FPS on the demo with everything turned down so I don't want anything hungry running in the background.

 

Finally, can you run open betas like the the recent 10.3 betas with the Steam edition?  I'm away from my sim a couple of months at a time while at uni and I don't really want to be waiting around for final versions of future updates to appear only to have to go off again just as they're released.

 

I expect much of this information can be found by searching here or Googling but my incompetence in this matter means they yielded no results for me.

 

Thanks

 

 

Finally, can you run open betas like the the recent 10.3 betas with the Steam edition?

 

Hello Finlay,

 

No, you don't  have access to beta runs with the steam version.

Thanks Carlos, I'll go for disks then.  It does seem to be cheaper that way as well.