6 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

I was reading up on using Map Enhancment in XP, if my understanding is correct, once you get close to the ground, you just get them map with no details on it  of the scenery like you get in MSFS, buildings, trees, roads, lights, etc.  Is that true?

Nope just add sim heaven. It uses Microsoft data for building heights etc…. I’d say honestly xp12 took me around 2-3 hours to get setup how I like it. So if people are prepared to spend 2 days setting up controls in msfs, then what’s a few hours In xp? 
 

I am not trying to say one sim is better than the other here. It’s all a matter of opinion, and use what you like. What I am saying is that, people are prepared to download and purchase a myriad of options in to msfs, so, 10% of that effort in XP12 gets you a really good sim. Without the issues plaguing msfs. It isn’t all about rocks and pebbles and photogen. 
 

@RobJCsummed it up better in his post. The point is, dedicate a couple of hours to setting up XP and it’s great. It’s no different to spending hours in the msfs controls setup… 

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by Ianrivaldosmith

3 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

If a large number of people say a feature is garbage, guess what? It is probably garbage. 😉

I struggled with it assuming it would largely be the same as 2020, which was a bad assumption.  There are just a few fairly simple things to know which are not intuitive.  Once I stumbled on to a particular video it wasn't long before I was setup.   I will try to find the video and post it in case it might be useful.  So the key is do not try to figure it out yourself unless you just want a challenge!  The interface designer seemed to make it much more complex than it needed to be, but there may be reasons beyond my needs which are addressed in it.  Underneath the interface it's the same set of controls in large part that 2020 users are familiar with.

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by Noel

24 minutes ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

I agree. Those that want a trouble free install,  reinstall or join/leave a beta of MSFS choose Steam.

Believe it or not, both my MSFS licenses are via Steam 😎. AND it was exactly for the reasons you describe 👍

However, the only other titles I have thru Steam are those that aren't available otherwise. Eg, Falcon 4.0 and FSX.

To be clear, I'm NOT anti-Steam, it's just that I recognize that it is it's own very special demographic. And this is hardly news...

53 minutes ago, fsiscool said:

It is very capable and that comes with some complexity. But if we are pretending to master immensely complex machines (aircraft) spending 20 minutes to hack in some control settings should not hold as back from a sim. It is like an entry test for flying. If configuring the controls proves too demanding for you, chances are you will have a hard time flying complex aircraft in the sim.

Strongly disagree here. I should not be trying to study to figure out how to simply bind my controller buttons to get them to work when obviously there are much easier user interfaces and procedures in getting the same task done. Complexity for complexity's sake is not something to strive for at least for me personally. I'm glad that my settings stuck and have been working because i have absolutely zero interest in going through controller configuration and binding process again for MSFS2024. It took literally two days and was next level unpleasant for me. They really screwed that aspect of the platform.

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by Maxis

21 minutes ago, Maxis said:

i have absolutely zero interest in going through controller configuration and binding process again for MSFS2024.

I have been nicely surprised how easy it has been to join and leave betas, uninstall and re-install while testing - with every single control assignment still there after each change.  Controls just sync nicely from the cloud.

4 minutes ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

I have been nicely surprised how easy it has been to join and leave betas, uninstall and re-install while testing - with every single control assignment still there after each change.  Controls just sync nicely from the cloud.

It does the same for 2020 ... nothing novel that i can observe in regards to the retention of the user data.

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by Maxis

2 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

An awesome release patch just came out

It certainly did - a great upgrade for XP12!

This video shows you what I mean when I say XP12 just seems more alive.

 

12 minutes ago, RobJC said:

This video shows you what I mean when I say XP12 just seems more alive.

 

What scenery is that?

7 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

What scenery is that?

Video comments state no mods. Landing in PWM Portland Maine. 

1 hour ago, Ianrivaldosmith said:

XP12 atmosphere is better than both 2020 and 2024, as are the clouds most, but not all, of the time. However this is my opinion, so yours may differ. 
 

pic from over xp forum 

https://postimg.cc/8J5RzZhk

No you won’t and no you don’t. Each can easily be fixed in a matter of seconds.  
 

PS autoortho isn’t as good as map enhancement. Map enhancement has higher res imagery. 

Point me in the right direction for the night lighting.  I know there’s a mod to extend lights out a distance, but I’m talking about the night lighting textures that extend to the horizon, similar to the MSFS “sepia” lights.  Your pic is also IRL, not x plane, although it can look almost as good (there are no god rays like that in xp).

47 minutes ago, RobJC said:

This video shows you what I mean when I say XP12 just seems more alive.

Well sure when you land at night in a metro area with lots of road and AI air traffic but that is happening in 2024 as well.  I turned of road traffic in 2020 as the perf cost was over budget and it was much worse than in 2024 for not only performance.  And when I took off a little while ago in Kalowna British Columbia a freakin' moose scooted across the runway in front of me during my TO!

35 minutes ago, Gilandred said:

there are no god rays like that in xp.

How do you know? Have you watched all available XP 12.2 pictures? See this post, second picture (I have seen some more, however I would have to search). As underpinning from the release notes:

Scattering shadowing – Clouds now cast visible shadows on the atmosphere, just like in real life.

One more:

 

Apart from that: Clouds now cast shadows on each other and between layers.

 

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by flying_carpet

Just found this video, interesting, if this is default scenery. 

 

 

7 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

Just found this video, interesting, if this is default scenery. 

That video was before the 12.2 beta which improves the sky and clouds even more.  It also shows the default scenery.  There are plans to completely revamp the scenery but no timeline announced.