[Updated 02/28/16] DFS/P3D/Flight/FSX Comparison Screenshots

[Pastaiolo 1,688]

I would take one from Outerra, but i have a purple terrain texture bug so it would be pretty funny either way

[Slayer 190]

On the flight school rendering engine is there haze or are they in the process of implementing some kind of atmospheric scattering? While the shots seem to be of the same time and perspective there seems to be some other effects happening. Hard to say.

[Heimi 91]

And, for a comparison with another product different from the FSX series, a screenshot from a competing flight simulator:

 

 

 

Which one is that?

[Murmur 3,941]

Which one is that?

 

X-Plane.

[tonywob 4,769]

 

 

a screenshot from a competing flight simulator:

 

I may be biased, but a clear winner for me

[TheFlightSimGuy 514]

What would also be helpful, is to know what addons are being shown in each one of these sims shots. That doesnt look like default X-Plane. 

[Murmur 3,941]

What would also be helpful, is to know what addons are being shown in each one of these sims shots. That doesnt look like default X-Plane. 

 

I don't have default scenery installed, so I used freeware HD mesh and a freeware LOWI scenery. However I considered that these screenshots are mainly to show the differences in lighting/visuals than the scenery per se.

[barrel_owl 304]

I may be biased, but a clear winner for me

 

It's not bias. It's pure observation!

[stonelance 136]

 

 

However I considered that these screenshots are mainly to show the differences in lighting/visuals than the scenery per se.

 

If that is the case, you probably need to turn down the visibility for your screenshot  Comparing addons to no addons still not quite fair though when comparing the engine capabilities.  Although to be fair, DTG Flight School is only going to look as good as it does when they ship, whereas the others all have the ability to have addons to some extent (a little less so for Flight).

[Murmur 3,941]

If that is the case, you probably need to turn down the visibility for your screenshot

 

I thought about decreasing visibility, but then I noticed that the DTG screenshot lighting is weird, in that it's apparently very hazy, but actually you can see the silhouette of the far away mountains. If I turn down the visibility to make the lighting appear similar to the DTG screenshots, the far away mountains become invisible.

 

The actual max visibility in the two screenshots is actually pretty similar, judging from the distant mountains. It's just that the DTG screenshot is weirdly super-hazy and washed out.

[tf51d 284]

Comparing to the Google Earth photo, None look like what is really there, the closest would be the FSX shot, since it has the least trees. As for the sky, DFSL (Flight School), P3D, and FSX all appear to be set to the same time of day and have different tones though similar in brightness. MS Flight shot however appears to either have different weather set (Cloudy or foggy) or it is the  darkest most unrealistic clear daylight shot I've seen in a sim.

[angeli662 43]

Comparing to the Google Earth photo, None look like what is really there, the closest would be the FSX shot, since it has the least trees. As for the sky, DFSL (Flight School), P3D, and FSX all appear to be set to the same time of day and have different tones though similar in brightness. MS Flight shot however appears to either have different weather set (Cloudy or foggy) or it is the  darkest most unrealistic clear daylight shot I've seen in a sim.

I double that, FSX and FSX-SE looks to me the best of all, with exception the real one :smile:

[Celis 24]

Outerra.. Not a flight sim yet, but hopefully some day..

X-plane with a few freeware addons, do the job real good..

 

[bonchie 2,305]

I'm not sure what is going on with DTG's landclass. They've clearly changed it or are working on it. Things should be much more built up like the P3D/Flight/XP10 shots. Instead it's just sparse trees over grass and a few static buildings in the background. 

[tf51d 284]

I'm not sure what is going on with DTG's landclass. They've clearly changed it or are working on it. Things should be much more built up like the P3D/Flight/XP10 shots. Instead it's just sparse trees over grass and a few static buildings in the background. 

I think the issue is more the ground lighting is a bit too dark in the DFSL shot, but this is only a promo shot, so it's hard to determine if that's how it really looks in sim. Remember the famous FSX promo shot?