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Adam T Lutley

X plane 11 ruminations from long time FSX user

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As I eagerly await the full roll-out of X-plane 11, I have some general thoughts and questions. After years of simming with all the various versions of MS flight sim and having thought seriously about investing in P3D, I've come to the following question. Is X-plane 11 finally the stand-alone relatively bug-free platform that will allow me to actually do more flying than tweaking, configuring, forum mining, computer building, and hair pulling? I have built several FS dedicated rigs going all the way back to the heady AMD Athlon days. I know X-plane is said to be far better for night flying visually and better at flight modeling. I'm tired of trying to work within a 32 bit architecture and investing money in it. I fly the PMDG 737NG predominately as I am run taxi certified on the type and am very familiar with the real-life version of the aircraft. How does the default x-plane version compare? I miss flying the 757. Is there a viable X-plane version?

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Is X-plane 11 finally the stand-alone relatively bug-free platform that will allow me to actually do more flying than tweaking, configuring, forum mining, computer building, and hair pulling?

 

It *will* be. At the moment, it's in beta status, and releases have been coming weekly. Some releases fix things, some break other things, all part of the beta process. I can, with certainty, tell you however that XP10 has been incredibly easy to maintain and fly compared to FSX and / or P3D, and I see no reason why XP11 won't be the same. XP11 is already my use-daily platform, as none of the current bugs in the XP11 beta keep me from flying or enjoying it.

 

In my experience, having came over from P3D and FSX both (and still being obligated to keep both of them around, and in the case of P3D, relatively up-to-date), things are much easier in the X-Plane ecosystem.

 

Now, about the computer building... X-Plane does require a strong computer to get the most out of it, and there's no denying that.

 

I can't answer your questions regarding the bigger iron, since I tend to fly GA only (with some exceptions, the IXEG 737 being one of those exceptions).


Jim Stewart

Milviz Person.

 

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As I eagerly await the full roll-out of X-plane 11, I have some general thoughts and questions. After years of simming with all the various versions of MS flight sim and having thought seriously about investing in P3D, I've come to the following question. Is X-plane 11 finally the stand-alone relatively bug-free platform that will allow me to actually do more flying than tweaking, configuring, forum mining, computer building, and hair pulling? I have built several FS dedicated rigs going all the way back to the heady AMD Athlon days. I know X-plane is said to be far better for night flying visually and better at flight modeling. I'm tired of trying to work within a 32 bit architecture and investing money in it. I fly the PMDG 737NG predominately as I am run taxi certified on the type and am very familiar with the real-life version of the aircraft. How does the default x-plane version compare? I miss flying the 757. Is there a viable X-plane version?

With all due respect to you Adam, the best answer anyone can give you right now is to search these vast threads for the answers you seek.  To rehash this discussion so often can get on some people's nerves, and while I do understand your intentions, the best way to get the facts is to search and read.  Many new "converts" come here (I'm one of them) to get the same information you are, and AVSIM has a boatload of info on the subjects, as well as other forums on the internet.  I can tell you, right off the bat, that there is already a rather recent discussion ongoing about payware aircraft vs. freeware aircraft in x-plane, which is a great place for you to start.  As for more specific questions, those too can be found here in the XP Forum.


Engage, research, inform and make your posts count! -Jim Morvay

Origin EON-17SLX - Under the hood: Intel Core i7 7700K at 4.2GHz (Base) 4.6GHz (overclock), nVidia GeForce GTX-1080 Pascal w/8gb vram, 32gb (2x16) Crucial 2400mhz RAM, 3840 x 2160 17.3" IPS w/G-SYNC, Samsung 950 EVO 256GB PCIe m.2 SSD (Primary), Samsung 850 EVO 500gb M.2 (Sim Drive), MS Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit

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I fly the PMDG 737NG predominately as I am run taxi certified on the type and am very familiar with the real-life version of the aircraft. How does the default x-plane version compare? I miss flying the 757. Is there a viable X-plane version?

The default 737, while ok for a default aircraft, does not compare at all in terms of systems depth to the NGX. However, the IXEG 737 Classic is superb. The systems modeling is fairly deep, and the visual and sound fidelity blows the NGX out of the water. There is a 757, the FlightFactor 757-200, and it is regarded as one of the best airliners for XP. It isn't quite as deeply modeled as the NGX or PMDG 777, but it's still fairly complex and bug-free. 

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Now, about the computer building... X-Plane does require a strong computer to get the most out of it, and there's no denying that

 

Thanks, Yeah I've read that. I'm probably going to max out the RAM on my aging 3770K Z 77 based platform and drop in a 1080 TI.

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Thanks, Yeah I've read that. I'm probably going to max out the RAM on my aging 3770K Z 77 based platform and drop in a 1080 TI.

Might I recommend waiting until XP11 is out of beta, and the reason behind that is for starters, the textures have yet to be optimized, which is putting a greater load on the system.  That, coupled with various other fixes, bugs and enhancements are expected.  Once XP11 is done and released, you can run your own benchmarks to see if that aging machine still needs and upgrade.


Engage, research, inform and make your posts count! -Jim Morvay

Origin EON-17SLX - Under the hood: Intel Core i7 7700K at 4.2GHz (Base) 4.6GHz (overclock), nVidia GeForce GTX-1080 Pascal w/8gb vram, 32gb (2x16) Crucial 2400mhz RAM, 3840 x 2160 17.3" IPS w/G-SYNC, Samsung 950 EVO 256GB PCIe m.2 SSD (Primary), Samsung 850 EVO 500gb M.2 (Sim Drive), MS Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit

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The default 737, while ok for a default aircraft, does not compare at all in terms of systems depth to the NGX. However, the IXEG 737 Classic is superb. The systems modeling is fairly deep, and the visual and sound fidelity blows the NGX out of the water. There is a 757, the FlightFactor 757-200, and it is regarded as one of the best airliners for XP. It isn't quite as deeply modeled as the NGX or PMDG 777, but it's still fairly complex and bug-free. 

Thank you.

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Hi Adam,

 

Most of us here are former FSX/P3D users. X-Plane will probably have you flying more than tweaking but X-Plane 11 is still in beta and a ways off being a stable platform. A release candidate is expected in February, you might want to wait for that.

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As I eagerly await the full roll-out of X-plane 11, I have some general thoughts and questions. After years of simming with all the various versions of MS flight sim and having thought seriously about investing in P3D, I've come to the following question. Is X-plane 11 finally the stand-alone relatively bug-free platform that will allow me to actually do more flying than tweaking, configuring, forum mining, computer building, and hair pulling? I have built several FS dedicated rigs going all the way back to the heady AMD Athlon days. I know X-plane is said to be far better for night flying visually and better at flight modeling. I'm tired of trying to work within a 32 bit architecture and investing money in it. I fly the PMDG 737NG predominately as I am run taxi certified on the type and am very familiar with the real-life version of the aircraft. How does the default x-plane version compare? I miss flying the 757. Is there a viable X-plane version?

 

I just purchased XP 11 about a month ago, coming from P3D for the past few years (and FSX before that). For starters, the default P3D "out of the box" install is stable and does not need tweaking/configuring like FSX did. However, most people (myself included) start throwing a ton of add-ons at it, and that's where problems can crop up...and uninstalling and reinstalling everything can be massively time consuming.

 

I can say that using XP 11 for the past month...almost exclusively... has really blown me away. Keeping in mind it is still in beta testing, I find it stable and perfectly flyable "out of the box." It really does have a different "feel" and look to it which I find incredibly realistic, if not just greatly entertaining. If you've only used FSX/P3D, then I'd say there is a little bit of a learning curve with XP 11, albeit, mostly simple stuff. It's not that XP needs "tweaking," its just that you will inevitably read forums and ask questions about the methodology of the XP architecture, which differs in a number of respects from FSX/P3D. Also, there are a ton of free add-ons that you'll eventually start experimenting with.

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The only thing I can recommend to people considering a switch to X-Plane 11 is to download the demo and spend some time with it, at least long enough to get past the "It's different, so it sucks" phase.

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I can, with certainty, tell you however that XP10 has been incredibly easy to maintain and fly compared to FSX and / or P3D, and I see no reason why XP11 won't be the same.

 

+1

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