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bosflo

Is X-plane right for me?

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I actually fly both, but I've been spending less and less time in P3D.

In fact, my last purchase was the PMDG 747 QOTSII because I think they did an outstanding job with it, but I don't plan to invest much more in P3D as long as it remains a 32bit platform (and believe me, I have spent a LOT of money in FSX/P3D addons over the years).

The only exception is add-on scenery that can be converted 100% to X-Plane.

Do I miss ActiveSky in X-Plane? Sure do. ATC? Not so much. AI? Don't have it enabled due to VAS and FPS issues. Try Aerosoft Heathrow with 20-30% AI in an overcast situation at dusk with an aircraft add-on such as Aerosoft Airbus or PMDG 747 and your FPS will drop to 15fps if you're lucky - and this is from someone with an Intel 6700K processor and a GTX 1080Ti.

 

I enjoy the fluidity of XP11 and the graphics are second to none. Just yesterday I bought the Carenado Baron and the REP add-on and while it's not as immersive as A2A's aircraft (yet), it comes VERY close to the A2A experience and it's certainly fun and challenging. Same for flying FF 767 for example, really fun aircraft and systems-level it is very deep.

In my case, an excellent combination is coupling XP11 and Aerowinx PSX, which is a 747-400 study simulator (also used as a professional training tool). You get the best of both worlds.

 

cheers

-E

 

 


Enrique Vaamonde

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On 4/28/2017 at 9:37 PM, bosflo said:

Ok guys, I am a longtime user of FSX and now P3D. I have spent tons of money on scenery, utilities, weather engines you name it. I don't ever fly, instead I spot planes and follow them from airport to airport with the my most important add on called super traffic board. With it I can sit back and watch a plane leave from the gate and fly across the world and land at another airport. I love seeing all the planes moving around the airport with ground vehicles and traffic. I know super traffic board does not exist for x-plane but is there something similar that x-plane has that will more or less do the same thing. It's very important to have the right planes at the right airports and the most current liveries for them. Also, is there a list of the detailed airports that are in the release version. I am not against the idea of buying scenery but I am not sure how many I would have to buy to get the level I have now with P3D. I would appreciate any advice because I am pretty sure I am not the only one thinking of switching. Thank you so much.

I'm going to have to echo what Hamoody stated in the second response.  X-Plane is a whole lot more about flying your own aircraft, concentrating on the flight model itself, and everything that goes with self-flight simulation.  Yes, while the environment that surrounds you in XP is much better than the others, you would need good weather generation, which XP11 is improving on, but as far as AI goes, i think many would agree that default AI still isn't up to par.  I have X-life free edition right now, and it works...not the greatest, unless I opted for the paid version, but for your needs, I doubt that the paid version would be to the level of your expectations.

Honestly, if you have built up your existing sims to the level you are used to, then why switch?  I have to say, this is an interesting hobby you have there by just planespotting.  I do it often, before or after a flight, but I still use the sim as it was intended.  Again, as Hamoody mentioned, download the demo of XP11 and give it a try.  It can't hurt to try it out and if you don't care for it, the only thing you lost was time.  I personally believe that only you can answer the question you posed here because everyone has their own opinions, experiences, expertise, etc.


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On 4/29/2017 at 5:57 AM, twister1853 said:

I have used only FSX for years, and almost always with Photo' Scenery.  Would X-Plane be an improvement for me at this stage (for example, would I need to purchase again all my Photo' Scenery) or would I get others things not available on FSX?

You will have to purchase NOTHING if you are a Photo flyer.   This is one of the selling points for XP11 for me.    All you need is hard drive space and a month or two worth of time and you can have the entire United States or Europe in ZL16+ quality for free using Ortho4XP.   Not only that, but you get to keep the autogen on top of that and since the autogen follows OSM street data, all your houses and buildings will semi-match what you see in the photo realm textures.   :)   It is just breath taking stunning to build Photo scenery and HIGH levels of Autogen working together for the most immersive experience I've ever had in a simulator.

As far as traffic goes, WT3 will go a long way I think to solve XP's woes in that category.    Tell you what I do like about WT2 though... that AI almost has ZERO hit on my FPS with traffic at the airport because of the way it handles it.  X-Life is BRUTAL on frame rates so i deleted that PDQ.   With BlueBell planes loaded and other's provided by the like's of MIsterX I get some enjoyable plan spotting in XP11 with WT2.   The problem is, as others stated above, airport DEVS *CANNOT* skip adding ATC networks into their airport files now nor should they ignore airport operation flows either.    Any airport that is missing these two items should be rejected from acceptance at the X-Plane Gateway.    I would even go so far as to not allow scenery that is missing gate assignment information but that's because I am a cruel and heartless airport design task master that demands as much accuracy in my airports as possible.    Laminar has given us the tools.  I suggest everyone start using them properly.  The better the airports the more people you can entice to give XP11 a whirl and get their money.   More money flow makes other payware devs perk up their eyebrows and start taking the platform seriously as a place to sell their products.   This is a win win for the sim universe.   Now the ball gets hit back into P3D's court and the two can go at it.  Competition is always good for innovation.

 

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On Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 0:04 AM, ryanbatcund said:

Is this for real?  Why spend tons of money to sit and watch virtual AI traffic?  

Stick with P3D 

I think he meant that he wants the airport environment around him accurately simulated, as I do.  I was looking at xp11 but maybe not until the ai and atc are fixed, if they ever are.  My own impression as a long time xp9 and XPX owner is that neither issue is a priority for Austin.


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