X plane 11 why should i change

[Bjoern 1,157]

Thought I'd never leave FSXSE because it did run quite well, but after having tried the XP11 demo, first out of the box, then with add-ons, I couldn't resist but to buy it (the currency exchange rate helped a bit). Despite the drawbacks like horrendous disk space consumption with add-on terrain and libraries installed, long loading times, (still) no MSFS-equivalent AI and ATC implementation (regardless of add-ons used) and lack of seasonal textures (needs an add-on), it provides so much out of the box and as freeware that it makes up for it.

While FSX felt like nothing but a giant construction site for me lately (so many unfinished projects), XP11 is a real breath of fresh air. It has switch sounds out of the box, a FMC out of the box, weapons out of the box, better scenery out of the box, better lighting out of the box, a centralized airport scenery repository out of the box, better framerates out of the box, weather radar functionality out of the box, TCAS out of the box, cloud shadows out of the box, better controller mapping options out of the box, WAY better default aircraft out of the box, way better file and folder handling (no registry paths!), multiplatform support out of the box (ever tried running MSFS/P3D on Linux?) and certainly more that I forgot to mention.

The only other investments I had to make were AI traffic (World Traffic) and white noise for ATC (X-ATC-Chatter). Other than that, there's not as much freeware as for MSFS, but a lot is payware quality (HD Mesh, X-Europe, VFR Objects, Zibo 737, L-410, An-2, DR400, Lancair Legacy, X-RAAS, Terrain Radar, 124th ATC or EasyATC) to keep you busy long enough.

So all in all, I got farther with $100 in XP11 than I could have in P3Dv4 with the same amount.

Granted, a comparison is a bit unfair since X-Plane has been in continuous development while MSFS' platform was dead for quite a while before having been picked up again by LM. But still, the list of improvements compared to MSFS, even after subtracting the advances made by P3Dv4, is nothing to be scoffed at!

So far, I'm quite happy about having given X-Plane a try.

 

 

P.S:

Unlike common opinion, you can even run X-plane x64 with less than 8 GB RAM if you make the page file large enough (~20 GB) and have it on a fast hard drive or SSD. However, scenery load times will be really long (even more so with terrain add-ons and VFR objects) and there might be stutters when loading a new tile, but it's totally doable.

My next upgrade step is an external 512 GB USB 3 SSD for running X-Plane from and maximum portability between my desktop and laptop PC. This is something you just can't do with MSFS/P3D.

Edited June 18, 2018 by Bjoern

[shafs67 3]

how do you get other controllers to work it doesn't pick up my trim wheel

[Bjoern 1,157]

Can't help you as I only have a TM16000M and an XBox 360 pad.

[hypercide 97]

I've recently come over to X-plane.  There's a good deal to enjoy, but except for the airports, I do find the default scenery definitely "down market." I'm tremendously happy to hear that X-plane finally has ORBX's attention; as compelling as the videos I've seen on youtube may be, I've neither the time nor the patience to knit the world together with Ortho4XP.

[shafs67 3]

well been flying the full version now and added the kodiak payware aircraft. likes it seems to be more realistic flying. trying to sort my rudder peddles out is painful the touchy on T/O and landing.

[zmak 331]

On Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 9:11 PM, hypercide said:

I've recently come over to X-plane.  There's a good deal to enjoy, but except for the airports, I do find the default scenery definitely "down market." I'm tremendously happy to hear that X-plane finally has ORBX's attention; as compelling as the videos I've seen on youtube may be, I've neither the time nor the patience to knit the world together with Ortho4XP.

you dont need to. A kind poster on the xplane forums has provided links to the whole world Ortho.just click and download and have massive storage