27 minutes ago, Franz007 said:

I assume he was refering to this one:
https://forums.x-plane.org/files/file/31097-3jfps-control-keep-good-fps-by-automatic-adaption-of-view-distance-cloud-quality/

Thank you Franz.
But I read on the site that it is a plugin for XP11, maybe it is not the script that Bjoern is using in 12.2 beta. 🤔

13 minutes ago, efis007 said:

so the comparison you made between XP and MSFS (in which we see Xplane display houses at telescope distances) is meaningless for evaluating the greater or lesser realism of a flight simulator.

I don’t think that was the point he was trying to make. 

13 minutes ago, efis007 said:

so the comparison you made between XP and MSFS (in which we see Xplane display houses at telescope distances) is meaningless for evaluating the greater or lesser realism of a flight simulator.

I don’t think that was the point he was trying to make. 

Then perhaps I misunderstood.
What was the point?

35 minutes ago, efis007 said:

@flying_carpet Sir, I don't want to be a party pooper, but a flight simulator is not the "Hubble Space Telescope Simulator".
In reality, pilots' eyes will never be able to see houses tens of miles away.

It's not so simple, the fact is that the other simulator has an excellent scenery system which allows it to "get away" with a much reduced drawing distance. Thanks to it, the user does not realize that in the other sim the drawing distance is so low, and the end result looks good.

On the other hand, the synthetic scenery system of X-Plane is more sensitive to the drawing distance of 3D objects. So if X-Plane had the same drawing distance of the other simulator, it would be more noticeable where the drawing is cut-off.

24 minutes ago, efis007 said:

Then perhaps I misunderstood.
What was the point?

Performance. Not realism. 

40 minutes ago, efis007 said:

Thank you Franz.
But I read on the site that it is a plugin for XP11, maybe it is not the script that Bjoern is using in 12.2 beta. 🤔

If I am not mistaken, it works flawelessly with XP12. I used it 7-8 months ago (if I don’t mix it up with another one).

How much storage do you need to get some decent scenery in XP12 in the USA area. and the cost? 

2 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

How much storage do you need to get some decent scenery in XP12 in the USA area. and the cost? 

Autoortho or Map enhancement are free. You will need around 20GB on your Harddisk for the base-mesh and the orthos will get streamed during flying. Simheaven improves the Autogen and is also free. It will also take some GB, but nothing to worry about.

5 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

How much storage do you need to get some decent scenery in XP12 in the USA area. and the cost? 

Now there’s a name I was never expecting in these forums asking about X-Plane. 
And it isn’t just decent. Zoom levels in auto ortho can be increased for more superior and detailed scenery. 

Edited May 1, 20251 yr by GoranM

3 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

How much storage do you need to get some decent scenery in XP12 in the USA area. and the cost? 

Orbx TrueEarth for the West Coast US is just under 1TB, and about US$90.

Florida is about $30 and another 150gb.

Seems like more and more people are using one of two streaming Ortho services, too. Not sure on cost or available disk space.

There are also freeware downloadable ortho images for the other states.

I'm too lazy to fiddle with those, so I just stick to TrueEarth 😆

The cost to have USA ranges from free with AiutoOrtho on the free version of Map Enhacement to whatever you want to spend on map enhacement pro or storage for offline orthos whith ortho4xp depending on your level of demand.

I have Orbx UK and most of Western Europeva ZL16 (for me that level is enough) on a 2 TB removable hard disk. Storage these days is pretty cheap.

You also have to take into account that streaming has a cost of wear and tear on SSDs.

Edited May 1, 20251 yr by Aglos77

I also really don't want to mess around with the streaming ortho services, unless it's implemented from Laminar. I have said this for years, but I really hope Orbx makes more True Earth that covers the whole US in the future. 

16 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

How much storage do you need to get some decent scenery in XP12 in the USA area. and the cost? 

Hey Bob! 

I use SimHeaven XWorld v3 and sometimes I also enable "Map Enhancement Pro" with the Apple Maps, which have great resolution, surely for the USA, and nice mesh too.

For me it's enough, but I am sure Orbx will do it's own magic, just as it does for P3D....

You can always test the demonstration version to check if you like it and how it performs in your system.

One thing is for sure !  Weather depiction and effects, lighting and colours look a lot more realistic to me in Xp12 than in MSFS 2024. I honestly no longer recall how it looked in MSFS 2020...

I also think that overall the "feel of flight" is there in a much greater sense than in MSFS, any aircraft / type I have tried so far.

Yes, I can miss the level of photogrammetry detail, to the point of having the facade of the building I live in IRL depicted, but heck, that's not what I look after when using a FLIGHT simulator 🙂

 

Edited May 1, 20251 yr by jcomm

I was a diehard pmdg 737ngxu flyer on P3Dv5.4, and never thought much about XPlane until one day I read a post here on avsim.  That changed everything, as I decided to try the free trial of XP12.  That is all it took.  I now have an XP-12 v1.4 and XP-12 v2.1beta installed on my old flight sim pc.  The performance is much smoother and better frame rates than P3D with mostly max or high settings.  The SimHeaven X-World America autogen freeware is excellent, and there are lots of payware & freeware airports available.  I am even able to use some of the airports designed for XP11 without issue.  I have been learning and flying the Toliss Airbus family of aircraft and really like them, to the point where Boeing a/c are in the hangar.

One thing I think XPlane 12 has over P3Dv5.4 is the ease in which addons are added and can be removed just as easy if needed, without issue.  Also, I am able to manage my custom scenery where only the necessary airports for my flight are active, by manually making the changes.  It's just as easy to add/remove airplanes, scenery and plugins. There is an app similar to Lorby's Addon Organizer that I tried, but prefer to manually make changes.  It's so easy to troubleshoot if you have any crashes or errors.  Easy to remove aircraft, scenery, plugins until the culprit is identified.

I guess the best way to put it is this, Laminar Research has given the end user ease of access to making changes (adding/removing) addons to X-Plane 12.  I don't feel that way about MS/Lockheed Martin.  

Another tidbit - LR is constantly updating XP12, and the current beta is showing a lot of promise as improvements are continuing to appear.  I personally do not regret making the move from P3Dv5.4 with all my accumulated addons, to X-Plane 12 and reinvesting for my enjoyment of flight simulation.  

Lastly, something I notice/feel each time I fly in XP12, is the smoothness of the whole flying environment it provides. Perhaps that is just me, but I hope every user experiences the same.

Give the free demo a try.  I think you may find it worth the change.  Please keep in mind, there is a learning curve when converting from P3D to XP, but lots of info available to help with familiarization.  Also, people here on the forum are a great help.  Best wishes & clear skies!