What are the big missing features in XP11.x v P3D 4.x now?

[Noel 4,499]

My P3D install is v 3.4, and it's in a box that is based on SB-E and original GTX Titan and is now 5y/o+ but still works well at 4.42Ghz.  I'm wondering now what major features are missing in XP10.x now and if it's worth leaving P3D which is my intention at some point, presumably when I do a new build which won't happen until this build dies.  The massive 3rd party content is the main reason I'm still using P3D.   When this box finally gives up the ghost I will need to decide between P3D v4.x or v5, versus XP11.x.  

1. Is there native ATC in XP11, and if so how does it compare to P3D/FSX's ATC?
2. Is there weather apps such as ActiveSky for XP11?  If so, how does it compare?
3. Any apps that track your pilot skills, such as FSCaptain?
4. How about apps such as GSX to add dynamic realism?
5. What does XP11 do better than P3D 4.x?

Thanks in advance!

 

Edited November 18, 2018 by Noel

[anden145 2,285]

A lot of stuff... but the more important ones are (in my opinion):

For X-Plane:
A decent weather engine

For P3D 4.X
Cloud depiction and lighting engine.

At least, that's my view...

Edited November 18, 2018 by Anders Bermann

[John_Cillis 2,406]

For P3D 4.X - Flight recording is abysmal, FSRecorder for FSX was never updated for P3D.  Going in and out of clouds is not realistic, no sloped runway options.

For Xplane11 - Cumulus clouds have no substance, too thin unless one layers them, cloud shadows not as good as P3D 4.x.  GPS should allow for hand input to select a destination, instead one has to scroll, it is tedious, except in the Aerobask Eclipse.  The new particle system hits fps in Xplane11, I will not upgrade beyond version 11.26 unless an option is added in 11.3 and beyond to disable it.  It is also not realistic, wingtips do not create contrails at cruise, the engines do, and the contrails are still black on add-on aircraft.  Last, torque effects are a bit too strong in Xplane11, there should be a realism slider to tune them for all aircraft.

There cannot be a perfect sim, but these sims have had glaring issues, uncorrected, for years.

John

[pracines 823]

It would certainly take a 33,000 page book to describe all that is missing in both sims. When it comes down to it, when one "big" thing is added, another "big" thing is needed.

Not worth the effort to calculate/discuss/debate this for at least another 50 years, we all know what is lacking. Maybe in 50 years we can all be satisfied with all the "big" things that we have, maybe not.

 

Edited November 18, 2018 by pracines

[strider1 575]

11 minutes ago, Cactus521 said:

For P3D 4.X - Flight recording is abysmal, FSRecorder for FSX was never updated for P3D.  Going in and out of clouds is not realistic, no sloped runway options.

For Xplane11 - Cumulus clouds have no substance, too thin unless one layers them, cloud shadows not as good as P3D 4.x.  GPS should allow for hand input to select a destination, instead one has to scroll, it is tedious, except in the Aerobask Eclipse.  The new particle system hits fps in Xplane11, I will not upgrade beyond version 11.26 unless an option is added in 11.3 and beyond to disable it.  It is also not realistic, wingtips do not create contrails at cruise, the engines do, and the contrails are still black on add-on aircraft.  Last, torque effects are a bit too strong in Xplane11, there should be a realism slider to tune them for all aircraft.

There cannot be a perfect sim, but these sims have had glaring issues, uncorrected, for years.

John

What do you mean by hand input? You can manually enter a fix or airport in the GPS. My frame rate went up in 11.30 by 10-20 FPS by enabling threaded optimization, I was loosing frames with that option in 11.26. Clouds look better in 11.30! No towering cumulus clouds yet 😞 Its up to the add-on Dev to update their AC to take advantage of the new particle system, thats why you are seeing black contrails. I am not seeing contrails from wingtips?

[John_Cillis 2,406]

5 minutes ago, strider1 said:

What do you mean by hand input? You can manually enter a fix or airport in the GPS. My frame rate went up in 11.30 by 10-20 FPS by enabling threaded optimization, I was loosing frames with that option in 11.26. Clouds look better in 11.30! No towering cumulus clouds yet 😞 Its up to the add-on Dev to update their AC to take advantage of the new particle system, thats why you are seeing black contrails. I am not seeing contrails from wingtips?

Where do I enable threaded optimization?  I do not see that option in my Xplane11 graphics settings.

John

[FDEdev 955]

29 minutes ago, Cactus521 said:

 torque effects are a bit too strong in Xplane11,

Add the still unrealistic and unsatisfactory aerodynamics simulation during crosswind ops. 

IRL the rather lightweight ATR42 has a 45kts crosswind limit….in x-plane 11.30b3 not even the 747 can handle that!

Since the still buggy crosswind and turbulence simulation makes even remotely acceptable xnd takeoffs and landings impossible, I'm not even thinking about switching.

Edited November 18, 2018 by FDEdev

[Pastaiolo 1,688]

I don't see much of a need for a comparison. I am sure you can start by buying a copy to start looking at things yourself. XP is its own simulator with its own history and development, and doesn't deserve to be seen as a "my potential P3D substitute in the future"

A huge marketplace also doesn't matter much if the quality of such addons isn't great. In general i prefere quality over quantity, and even in this case on P3D i can count quality addons with two hands more or less.

Edited November 18, 2018 by france89

[FDEdev 955]

You don't even need to buy xp.  Simply download the demo which is identical with the full version.

[RonF 2]

John,

Threaded optimization setting  is in your Nvidia control panel

                                                Ron

[John_Cillis 2,406]

1 hour ago, RonF said:

John,

Threaded optimization setting  is in your Nvidia control panel

                                                Ron

Thanks, mine is currently off, so turning it on would hurt 11.26's performance?  I wonder its impact on P3DV4?

John

Edit: In regards to Xplane11.26, I enabled it and saw a much better impact on smoothness, makes me surprised Nvidia does not enable it by default.  My fps now match or exceed P3DV4, or at least the smoothness aspect.  So I will have to retry the beta with this feature enabled.

John

Edited November 18, 2018 by Cactus521

[strider1 575]

26 minutes ago, Cactus521 said:

Thanks, mine is currently off, so turning it on would hurt 11.26's performance?  I wonder its impact on P3DV4?

John

Your mileage will very, if at all. Depends on your system specs and your settings.  I did not see any performance in 11.26 but seen a great performance boost in 11.30. 

[Greggy_D 935]

Are we expecting too much perfection from either product?

[John_Cillis 2,406]

1 hour ago, strider1 said:

Your mileage will very, if at all. Depends on your system specs and your settings.  I did not see any performance in 11.26 but seen a great performance boost in 11.30. 

I am retrying the beta now since enabling the feature certainly did not have a negative impact on Xplane11.  My system has run both sims well, all the sims I have run on it run well, Wings of Prey, Trainsim 2019, and No Limits Coaster Sim 2.  Only other entertainment titles I have on my system are Hoyle Card Games and Microsoft's Chess Titan's, Hearts and their legacy games from previous versions of Windows which can be installed into Windows ten.  I even have my old Solitaire and Minesweeper and Mahjong.  I have my system for two main reasons, flight simming and the web, as even in my retirement I stay connected with my former colleagues on LinkedIn and write referrals for them in the Information Tech industry.  I have seen almost all my former peers rise to the level of IT Managers or CIO's, most in India, over the years, I could tag any colleague I worked with as a future success story, just as I have seen members in these forums flourish over the years.  It all started with Phil Collins and the band Genesis, LOL.  When I heard him take over for Peter Gabriel and heard his drumming and his voice, I said to myself and my close friends that his career would soar.  They said, "Phil Who?"....  His career did soar, I saw him in concert in the 90's.  I felt the same way about Xplane when it came out, when Microsoft pulled out of flight simming.  The Mouse that Roared, that is what Xplane is, literally the savior of simulation by keeping competition alive.  I know diehard MSFS/P3D fans sometimes knock it but it has the bona fides of any professional sim out there, IMHO.

John

 

Retried the beta with threaded optimization enabled and my add-on Eclipse is a slide show with the particle system, I'd say less than 20 fps whereas in 11.26 it exceeds 40 fps.  So I am reverting back to 11.26 and there I will stay, unless an option is added to disable the particle system. Cumulus clouds especially are a disappointment, you can see them moving in a stuttery fashion whereas in 11.26 they move smoothly.  All I wanted in 11.30 were white contrails for the jets, not sure why a new particle system had to be created to change dark contrails to white.  As for crosswind handling did not matter much to me, I fly with variable winds of 3-7 knots and in variable directions and takeoff and land with no issues, it is the torque in the Cessna that is a bit overboard.  I know those things can be tweaked but I am not a tweaker, not knowing what to tweak or how to tweak it.

John

Edited November 19, 2018 by Cactus521

[NorwegianAviator 60]

Missing in XP:

• Seasons
• Performance
• Weather engine
• Improved ground textures (and autogen trees)

Missing in P3D:

• ground handling
• aerodynamics
• countless bugs regarding the simulation of aerodynamics, engine dynamics, ground friction bug, turboprop engines, piston engines etc.
• pbr and other graphical improvements