Are a lot of X-Planers using xOrganizer? Is this a must have?  With my scenery upgrades sometimes they conflict and I have huge high-rise trees right at the start of the runway. WTH????

https://store.x-plane.org/xOrganizer-v3-XP12_p_1636.html

 

Everyone uses X-Plane differently - I personally have no third-party scenery whatsoever.

But I think that if you need a program to organize your third-party scenery...you are possibly using too much of it.

Sometimes less is more and it´s not true that the one with the most add-ons wins 😆.

It is a good tool to have - does not run within XPlane so no overhead or interference but does more than scenery - will also check models, plug-ins etc to ensure there are no errors and that XPlane is organised as it is intended. 

I have minimal addons in terms of scenery (only places that are a step up or more detailed for out of the way places that the Gateway Scenery has either not done or not caught up with - that is maybe 300 or so out of 30.000 default airports) Organiser is indispensible in checking that files and libraries are correct and sequenced properly and keeping the scenery ini file correct and my sim trouble free because I stuffed up the order for something or missed a library or file for something else that an otherwise well intentioned developer has forgotten or missed. 

For the price it is great value!

1 hour ago, alanw2005 said:

Are a lot of X-Planers using xOrganizer? Is this a must have?  With my scenery upgrades sometimes they conflict and I have huge high-rise trees right at the start of the runway. WTH????

https://store.x-plane.org/xOrganizer-v3-XP12_p_1636.html

 

Ironically, I was just recently going to write a post extolling the virtues of xOrganizer!

I have a bunch of scenery (because XP really needs it, especially these days).

in short, it does exactly as promised on the tin. 

where I find it particularly valuable is in keeping scenery automatically organized so that your scenery_packs.ini is (almost) always properly stacked, and it’s done automagically. 

Yet you retain the ability to easily customize that order if and when necessary. 

It also helpfully identifies just what kind of scenery file you’re working with (assuming the developer made it correctly - not always the case).

and it will identify scenery conflicts, and generally be helpful noodling out the esoteric issues that arise with scenery, particularly if you’re working with scenery layers from multiple different sources. 

I think it cost $15, and has saved me hours upon hours of “fiddling” time, and I use it frequently. 

I would 100% buy again. 👍

FWIW, after the good experience with xO, I went ahead and bought xToolbox. 

quite helpful if you have multiple storage drives for all that scenery, and again, has saved quite a bit of time - way more than the &15 it cost. 

I been using xOrganizer since release, definitely a must have it will save you hrs  

1 hour ago, Litjan said:

But I think that if you need a program to organize your third-party scenery...you are possibly using too much of it.

I don't have much add on scenery, but xOrganiser allows me to easily switch between 3 main profiles.

1.  Sim Heaven/TrueEarth autogen with Orbx TrueEarth Ortho.
2. Sim Heaven/TrueEarth autogen with Map Enhancement Ortho.
3. Sim Heaven/TrueEarth autogen Ortho4XP Ortho.

I am a user who absolutely must have ortho for my VFR flying, and xOrganizer allows an easy setup depending where I'm flying.

58 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

I have a bunch of scenery (because XP really needs it, especially these days).

Yeah, it definitely does — just depends on how much realism you’re after with your flying. The default scenery’s fine for basic stuff, but it doesn’t have the level of detail I like for VFR flying. xOrganizer makes it super easy to switch between different profiles depending on where I’m flying. Not strictly required, but it makes keeping everything organised a breeze.

1 hour ago, coastaldriver said:

It is a good tool to have - does not run within XPlane so no overhead or interference but does more than scenery - will also check models, plug-ins etc to ensure there are no errors and that XPlane is organised as it is intended. 

I have minimal addons in terms of scenery (only places that are a step up or more detailed for out of the way places that the Gateway Scenery has either not done or not caught up with - that is maybe 300 or so out of 30.000 default airports) Organiser is indispensible in checking that files and libraries are correct and sequenced properly and keeping the scenery ini file correct and my sim trouble free because I stuffed up the order for something or missed a library or file for something else that an otherwise well intentioned developer has forgotten or missed. 

For the price it is great value!

Sold!! And thank you!!

1 hour ago, Litjan said:

Everyone uses X-Plane differently - I personally have no third-party scenery whatsoever.

But I think that if you need a program to organize your third-party scenery...you are possibly using too much of it.

Sometimes less is more and it´s not true that the one with the most add-ons wins 😆.

Even before MSFS came along, I’ve always felt that using XP with no scenery enhancements is like using XP with only Default aircraft. 

Actually, that does a disservice to the Defaults because they’re actually pretty good in XP 12. 

I can’t fly IRL any longer, so when I look out the virtual window, I want to see a reasonable facsimile of what I know is there IRL. 

XPs atmospheric scenery has become excellent. The ground is better than ever, but the ground textures are lacking more than ever. 

It’s all as discussed many times before, and LR obviously recognize it as a need, otherwise they wouldn’t be putting as much work into “eye candy” as they are. 

Where it’s at for me, a plain vanilla XP install is only enjoyable as a procedures trainer, or flying as a freight dog at night. 🤙

6 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Even before MSFS came along, I’ve always felt that using XP with no scenery enhancements is like using XP with only Default aircraft. 

Actually, that does a disservice to the Defaults because they’re actually pretty good in XP 12. 

I can’t fly IRL any longer, so when I look out the virtual window, I want to see a reasonable facsimile of what I know is there IRL. 

XPs atmospheric scenery has become excellent. The ground is better than ever, but the ground textures are lacking more than ever. 

It’s all as discussed many times before, and LR obviously recognize it as a need, otherwise they wouldn’t be putting as much work into “eye candy” as they are. 

Where it’s at for me, a plain vanilla XP install is only enjoyable as a procedures trainer, or flying as a freight dog at night. 🤙

Exactly!! Well said. XP scenery out of the box is very lacking. With enhancements it is spectacular!!! Spending money on scenery enhancements only to get large high rise trees at the foot of the runway is disappointing. 

11 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Where it’s at for me, a plain vanilla XP install

I think you misunderstood me - I (and LR) fully realize that enhancing your XP scenery these days is a conditio sine qua non for many users (just for me and a few others forming a minority it´s not).

I was just saying that if you have so much scenery that you are loosing track and need a program to help you keep everything in check, you may get into territory of diminishing returns and inexplicable conflicts...that is when people start complaining about trees that should not be there, crashes that happen "in the same area always" and so on.

The organizer is most likely a solid tool - but don´t feel invulnerable as to having too much/conflicting/outdated scenery issues just because you have it. Scenery collecting for the sake of scenery collecting is an urge that is worth fighting against, you know if you are the one I am talking about 😉.

I have it but haven't use it for a long while

The main reason I want it is to setup different profile for VR and Flat, but it turns out not able to save/load XP's own setting easily. And as VR performance get better, now I only need to turn FSR down for VR anyway.

As plugin and scenery, I would keep them all running anyway, unlike old FSX days too many scenery on the route would crash you.

11 hours ago, Litjan said:

I think you misunderstood me - I (and LR) fully realize that enhancing your XP scenery these days is a conditio sine qua non for many users (just for me and a few others forming a minority it´s not).

I was just saying that if you have so much scenery that you are loosing track and need a program to help you keep everything in check, you may get into territory of diminishing returns and inexplicable conflicts...that is when people start complaining about trees that should not be there, crashes that happen "in the same area always" and so on.

The organizer is most likely a solid tool - but don´t feel invulnerable as to having too much/conflicting/outdated scenery issues just because you have it. Scenery collecting for the sake of scenery collecting is an urge that is worth fighting against, you know if you are the one I am talking about 😉.

 Well, your clarification is a reasonable counterpoint 🤙

however, your perspective is also somewhat overbalanced towards the Luddite end of the scale. 

this is a hobby, and hobbyists tend to accessorize in search of an enhanced experience. 

As I said previously, why fly the Default 737 or SR22 when the Zibo or TorqueSim are available?

After all,the Defaults run very well, and are decently representative, right?

after running XP for nearly a decade now, I have collected quite a few addons that I rarely, if ever, fly or fly to, but genuinely enjoyed when I bought them, and will still drag them out of the hangar occasionally just to appreciate one aspect or another  

the same goes for scenery. E.g., I rarely fly in Oregon, but grabbing Orbx True Earth on sale made it worthwhile to explore yet another stunningly beautiful corner of the planet. But a place I’d never fly in Default X-Plane  

XP, while being amazingly open to 3rd Party enhancements, has a frankly Stone Age method of managing them. Editing and sorting cryptic and non-standard path names…by hand…in a TEXT file…?

What is this, the 1980’s? 😂

And, when some conflict or another inevitable arises, what’s the absolute first piece e of advice received?

yeah: disable your addons

so, taking all that into account:

xO, if nothing else, helps by simply loading only what is needed for a flight, rather than every aircraft, plugin, and scenery addon one might have installed. 

and it makes it incredibly easy to do so, using a pretty dang good UI considering the breadth of  features it offers. 
 

Laminar Research would do well to emulate at least some of that functionality, as it would benefit all users sooner or later, if not on every flight. 
 

🤙

Edited October 26, 2025Oct 26 by UrgentSiesta