So this thread went off the rails a bit.   There is a lot of great information though.  Unfortunately I didn't get to hop back in XP last night but I will this weekend.  

 

Sorry about your thread, OP. Unfortunately happens with a title like that. Do let us know if you've tried again this weekend and need any other pointers.

I've left my settings where they are. Sensitivities are full left (realism) The three settings in the right column are at 30% linear response.  Null is at 10%.  I do believe I read where a manual suggests certain settings, but then I seldom read the full manuals.  As to looking at animated yoke or stick

travels, I've never cared. I just do what it takes to make the plane do what I want..............if the flight model is capable of it.   Take the Van's RV6 I owned for example.  I hardly ever moved the stick (for ailerons) through full travel. I'd have to move my leg to do so. Even a quick climb wouldn't use near the rearward travel, that a flare will. In fact, for almost anything, the stick travel was small.  I flew a Stearman with a much longer stick, compared to the RV, and maneuvering used a lot more stick movement. Sims are a compromise, when it comes to displaying the amount of yoke/stick  travel, versus actual airspeeds, and how they effect movement, and the feel of inertia, weight, and all of that.   

 

But.....................since the title of this thread is "First Impressions of X-Plane, not that Great"...................................... I'm actually going to say, that a real weather flight through passes and over parts of the Rocky Mtn. range, was truely awesome!  It was in the Airfoil Lab C-172SP.  The weather sucked. Rain, lightning, no visibility 3/4ths of the time, up drafts, down drafts, and a sense of terror!  You see in real life, I'd wouldn't have tried that ever!  Almost all of my real life flight time was around these mountains. Anytime a Cessna 172 lifted off the runway and flew over my house (under the pattern), it would remind me of the animated train cartoon, where the locomotive is saying "I think I can, I think I can".  In other words, a 172 isn't a real climber by any means. The RV6 had three times a 172's climb performance, and density altitude was never a real issue. 

 

However, thanks to this new 172, and Cherokee 140, I'm really getting into X-Plane again...........even though I've used it on & off, since the mid 90's. I'm not even a real life fan of these slower planes.  These models  just have believable single engine flight modeling, as well as panel graphics, and when combined with X-Plane 10's superior mountain rendering, it makes it all work!  Note: There are many sim flights, in which I enjoy those Orbx mountain scenarios for FSX too.  I beta tested three versions of MSFS, as well as testing 3rd party flight models over the years.  I made numerous complaints about X-Plane at the same time. Today, the scale is actually tipping into X-Planes favor. Just took a long, long while, and some good riddance to engine torque.   

 

 

Today, the scale is actually tipping into X-Planes favor

 

Have you seen the light !?!?  It can look pretty amazing under the right conditions ! Especially mountain flying ! Lets hope the new autogen is going to make the city flying even better ! Now go shoot some instrument approaches in that new 172 ! Are you using the terra haze plugin ?

 

 

Are we looking at new city textures here ? Zoom into the first picture right under the the left engine and the nose, now look at the second picture. Notice how it looks from the distance ?

 

 

 

 

I love how Xplane looks on the horizon !

I have become really fond of X-Plane but there's one thing in particular which I find very annoying - 

 

When cruising at say FL360, the ground tiles (coordinates) in front of you does not load up until you almost approach that area. Therefore, it seems as I am flying towards the infamous biblical cliff. I have set the world distance detail - option to very high but it does not seem to influence the outcome. Also, I know I have all Europe tiles (+W2XP) so it seems strange that X-Plane is so slow in loading them in....

Sorry about your thread, OP. Unfortunately happens with a title like that. Do let us know if you've tried again this weekend and need any other pointers.

 

No worries.  I got some good information.  I was able to adjust the view in rendering options and move the seat back.  That helped a ton.  I still need to adjust the yoke sensitivity a bit, but at least i can see a bit more.  I no longer feel like I'm looking through a tin can.  Made it much more flyable with just those adjustments alone.  

I have become really fond of X-Plane but there's one thing in particular which I find very annoying - 

 

When cruising at say FL360, the ground tiles (coordinates) in front of you does not load up until you almost approach that area. Therefore, it seems as I am flying towards the infamous biblical cliff. I have set the world distance detail - option to very high but it does not seem to influence the outcome. Also, I know I have all Europe tiles (+W2XP) so it seems strange that X-Plane is so slow in loading them in....

 

Switch on Extended DFS in Rendering Settings it loads the tiles around the one you are flying in for a seamless view out to the horizon

1. Get X-Camera. You can use it free or make a donation to get the full version. Free will give you everything you could possibly need to make the ideal pilot view. But I suggest donating to the guy as it's far superior to EZCA. 

https://www.stickandrudderstudios.com/x-camera/

 

2. Default planes suck almost, but not quite, to the degree of FSX default planes. There are plenty of suggestions here on this thread, but I advise caution in what you choose to purchase. Carenado are flooding the market with their gorgeous model / dreadful flight dynamics addons, but there's a company called SimCoders bringing some of these planes up to A2A standards. (http://www.simcoders.com/reality-expansion-pack/overview). 

 

thanks for the tip for x-camera...  

Ok, I'd like to discuss this a bit.  I too, flew many planes in real life, and built/owned a Van's RV6.  I do feel that that "lively" feeling, mentioned by a lot of X-Plane pilots is too lively, and sometimes un-realistic. Some simmers think that air is constantly moving a real airplane around. Side to side, yaw, up & down, etc.  When there is mild turbulence, we'll see the yoke or stick, constantly moving. However, it's actually  flight surfaces are moving, due to the turbulence, which are connected to the yoke/stick. The ailerons move, the yoke rotates, and the pilots hand moves, because it's holding on to the yoke. We, as pilots are not constantly fighting this turbulence. We just ride it out. Of course, if a wing does a good drop, then bring it back up.

 

I'll often see X-Planes yawing the nose, side to side. When I see that on the screen, I instinctively push both feet on the rudder pedal, because it's like dutch roll. In real life, the passengers in seats farther back, would really be hating this yawing action, which can be nauseating.  A plane such as this, would just be unstable, and needs a design correction, or yaw damper. 

 

Then of course, there was the torque issue, which is being corrected. This would give the simmer the impression, the us pilots rotate off the runway, holding an aileron correction, so the left wing tip doesn't skid along the runway.  Torque does have it's place.  We can actually feel the left wing pushing down towards the runway. But by rotation time, the wings lift have overcome the torque. Unless, it's a case of high power, low air speeds, and a roll over on the back, like a P-51 Mustang could do. 

 

Something else, I don't really enjoy, is a constant roll motion, which dips the wing right, then left, then right again, etc. I want to keep fighting it with the joystick. It's a pain!  Real life planes, even a touchy one like my RV, or the Pitts, isn't that hard to keep more stable. We can actually feel the air loads on the flight surfaces through the yoke/stick.  With a sim, the screen is just constantly moving, with no real sense of feel, except for the want to keep counteracting the roll.  I prefer my sim planes, too just fly smoother, unless I'm simulating a good storm. 

 

And as I've often said, when someone brings up the slogan of "flying on rails"................. because FSX/P3D is smoother by default, it's not bad at all. There are many times, in which even a small plane, will fly so smooth, that there will actually be a lack of moving, feeling wise. We often flew the RV around 200 mph, and the ground just slowly moved underneath. Calm as can be. This could even occur, when there was surface winds for the takeoff.

 

At the end of the day, I do like X-Plane. I do like FSX. I don't have P3D. I use some of the better known flight models for both sims.  The new Airfoil Labs 172 Cessna for X-Plane is a good model. I really like the A2A Cherokee for FSX (lots of Cherokee hours in the Warrior, Archer & retractable Arrow), as well as the RealAir Lancair Legacy (FSX). It reminds me more of the RV, than any sim model I've used. It's a comfortable & enjoyable sim model.

 

 

 

 

I've had the same impression the few times I have flown X plane, after hundreds of hours flying Cessna's and Pipers in real life, the flight model in X plane seems unstable compared to a real aircraft. Constant rolling motion is not what a normal aircraft does, in fact I would fear something was wrong with the handling of a real aircraft it behaved that way.  I know passengers would hate it. 

I sometimes wonder if having a demo is something of a downfall for XP. Obviously its nice to try something before buying it, but with a free demo there is no financial commitment and therefore no incentive to persevere if you don't like it at first, and lets face it XP is not the easiest of sims to jump into. Today, after several hours mucking about with the demo I removed it, and this is maybe the 6^th time I've done so over the past three years or so. I see some amazing screens and watch some vids, get inspired, install the demo, feel disappointed and remove it.

 

I hated FSX and P3D when I first bought them, but having spent the cash on them I had little choice but to keep going at it, and now I love them (well P3Dv3 anyway). I'm sure if I had more of a commitment to XP I would invest the time to get used to it and customize it in the same way I have done so with the other platforms.

 

For me the main turn offs are the VC camera, which seems to distort everything with small viewpint changes, and the clouds, which not only look terrible, but cripple performance. The generic terrain and autogen is also a turn off, as is the fact its not a very intuitive piece of software; my fifteen minutes are often up before I've even taken off, as I'm trying to configure the thing, so I give up in frustration.

 

I'll try again one day. Maybe even buy it.

 

 

The 15 minutes they give someone to try the demo is ridiculous. 

 

 

The 15 minutes they give someone to try the demo is ridiculous. 

 

Just out of curiosity, how long is the demo time on Lockheed Martin´s Prepar3d Demo? I am sure it must exceed the 15 minutes that you deem ridiculous?

 

Thanks, Jan

The 15 minutes they give someone to try the demo is ridiculous. 

 

True, it should be more than 15 minutes, but it's worth noting that:

 

1) The demo does not expire, i.e. you can have it installed and play it for as long as you like;

 

2) The elapsed time stops when the sim is paused or when you're in a menu screen;

 

3) In the demo you can install most add-ons (and in X-Plane there are a lot of good freeware add-ons to try).

 

Few other demos have all these 3 features at once.

 

I think that after the initial setting up, the 15 minutes may be a little cumbersome, but enough to try the simulator or any other add-on, be it scenery, aircrafts, etc. After all in 15 minutes you can do some free flight around the airport, or explore an hundred of miles of scenery in a fast aircraft.

Just out of curiosity, how long is the demo time on Lockheed Martin´s Prepar3d Demo? I am sure it must exceed the 15 minutes that you deem ridiculous?

 

Thanks, Jan

Actually lockheed martin gives you 30 days to try it out and if you don't like it you get your money back...

 

Edit: make that 60 days...

 

http://www.prepar3d.com/support/refundpolicy/

Actually lockheed martin gives you 30 days to try it out and if you don't like it you get your money back...

 

Edit: make that 60 days...

 

http://www.prepar3d.com/support/refundpolicy/

 

That is pretty decent!

 

Jan

Just out of curiosity, how long is the demo time on Lockheed Martin´s Prepar3d Demo? I am sure it must exceed the 15 minutes that you deem ridiculous?

 

Thanks, Jan

 

60 Days, and if you don't like it you can get a refund. A bit longer than 15 minutes, isn't it?    :wink:

Now Now,  Lets not drag this into "whos better" Thread   :Shame On You:   :smile:

I too, was finding it hard to get involved seriously with X-Plane and found it quite a let down with weather, AI traffic and scenery, which were all disappointing, particularly after using my realistic setup I have with Prepar3d v3. (I have also owned every release of FSX) UNTIL I bought the Carenado B1900 which began to make flights more appealing. THEN I bought the IXEG 737 - a game changer, not quite up there with the PMDG 737NGX but a real addition to realism - an aircraft that can be  as realistic as you want.

 

I now  do a daily flight in the NGX in Prepar3D, then do the same flight in the IXEG 737, not only for comparison but a means of finding which addons I can get to make X-Plane more realistic, this way I'm slowly building up my X-Plane addons and getting 'hands on' experience with X-Plane.

 

One BIG plus with X-Plane is the 64 bit architecture which really utilises my system, that has to be tweaked extensively for Prepar3D.

 

I can see the benefits(and detractions) in both platforms, but in the absence  of flying real world aircraft to real world locations, I find they BOTH are a great means of achieving this, without leaving home.

You have way more than 60 days with X-Plane, since the demo has no expiration limits.

 

If 15 minutes are really not enough to try some particular feature, you can always save the situation, close X-Plane and reload the saved situation.