Absolute Newbie. Installation question

[martinlest2 58]

Hi. I have been looking at X-Plane (with fascination) for literally no more than an hour (downloading the v.9 demo as I write this), so really could not be more of a newbie to it.Before I go any further (and judging from some great screenshots I have seen so far, I may very well do so) I have a few questions re. installation etc. I have a fairly 'mature' installation of FS9, which with all my addon scenery, a/c etc. takes up some 80GBs of space (inc. a full set, some 25GBs, of FSGenesis mesh). I can perhaps spare another 70-80GBs on my hard drive for X-Plane. Will that amount of space be enough - I mean 'future proof' enough, for stuff I will want to add on after installing from the DVD, or is 80GBs max going to limit me?If the DVD installs some 60 GBs of files, how many DVDs does one get when buying the programme then? How come it's such a big install compared to MSFS?What about terrain mesh in X-plane? Does that come as part of the initial installation?And last (for now!) but not least, I've been quite a 'serious' MSFS simmer for some years now, creating/editing sceneries etc., and feel pretty comfortable with 'hacking' files to my heart's content. To what extent am I going to start right at the bottom of a steep learning curve with X-Plane in this regard? For instance - repainting a/c or making 'AFCADs', or whatever their X-Plane equivalent might be?Many thanks,Martin

[Murmur 3,941]

>I have a fairly 'mature' installation of FS9, which with all>my addon scenery, a/c etc. takes up some 80GBs of space (inc.>a full set, some 25GBs, of FSGenesis mesh). I can perhaps>spare another 70-80GBs on my hard drive for X-Plane. Will that>amount of space be enough - I mean 'future proof' enough, for>stuff I will want to add on after installing from the DVD, or>is 80GBs max going to limit me?Mmm, I think X-Plane 9 takes about 70 GBs, 80 GBs could be a limit in the future if you decide to download a lot of stuff, custom scenery etc.Keep in mind though that currently there are not "big-sized" add-ons for X-Plane (e.g. no custom mesh).>If the DVD installs some 60 GBs of files, how many DVDs does>one get when buying the programme then? How come it's such a>big install compared to MSFS?X-Plane 9 is 9 DVD's I think. Meshes data makes up for most of the space. Don't know why it's so big, maybe FSX is better compressed?>What about terrain mesh in X-plane? Does that come as part of>the initial installation?Yes, the global scenery includes SRTM (+ other sources) mesh data.>And last (for now!) but not least, I've been quite a 'serious'>MSFS simmer for some years now, creating/editing sceneries>etc., and feel pretty comfortable with 'hacking' files to my>heart's content. To what extent am I going to start right at>the bottom of a steep learning curve with X-Plane in this>regard? For instance - repainting a/c or making 'AFCADs', or>whatever their X-Plane equivalent might be?I think learning curve is not so steep if you have already experience in MSFS, especially e.g. for repaints, basic scenery etc. I'm not a developer though.www.x-plane.org is the "official" X-Plane community.Marco

[martinlest2 58]

Thanks. Need to get it running first (as in other post)!

[Guest thx1137]

>I have a fairly 'mature' installation of FS9, which with all>my addon scenery, a/c etc. takes up some 80GBs of space (inc.>a full set, some 25GBs, of FSGenesis mesh). I can perhapsThe amount of space used depends on the number of scenery DVDs you use. I only installed the Australia/Asia pack so my installation is around 13GB. If you want the whole world then 70-80 might just make it.The mesh is very high res compared to FS9 AND FSX and the textures are a bit better than FS9 quality, I think (though maybe not as well postprocessed 'ie:clean'). Certainly not up to FSX standards. The add-on planes and scenery take a lot less space than the FS counterparts. My 20 or so add-on aircraft wouldn't take more than 300mb and they all of 3d cockpits (many freeware planes don't). An add-on aircraft costs from US$7 to US$12 and sometimes includes more than one variant.>What about terrain mesh in X-plane? Does that come as part of>the initial installation?It's fantastic and yes. The mountains (hills :-)) in Adelaide Australia actually look realistic in X-Plane.>heart's content. To what extent am I going to start right at>the bottom of a steep learning curve with X-Plane in thisJust starting to look here myself, it is completely different as far as I can tell but it looks like it may be simpler, in the end. Using blender for 3d objects means there is a free high quality modeler for creating the 3d models though I think AC3d is supposed to be the 'bees knees'.I can't decide which I like more, X-Plane or FSX. Both run well on my system with lots of detail, FSX looks cleaner and has better default airports but X-Plane has the air of realism in flight modeling and terrain even if it isn't as detailed as FSX.I think X-Plane NEEDS scenery designers. Especially for non-US areas. Steven.

[LAdamson 240]

>I can't decide which I like more, X-Plane or FSX. Both run>well on my system with lots of detail, FSX looks cleaner and>has better default airports but X-Plane has the air of realism>in flight modeling and terrain even if it isn't as detailed as>FSX.>I still prefer the "ultimate" flight modeling in FSX, with 3rd party software; but like a lot of the southwest desert terrain that comes with the X-Plane global disks. I just don't find X-Plane models with the handling qualities that I get from my RealAir SF260 and Spitfire.I do own version 8, and will probably get "9" for the terrain.X-Plane over Lake Powellhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183979.jpgL.Adamson

[martinlest2 58]

Finally got the demo to run by finding different graphics drivers. I am currently testing on a low-spec PC, as I am waiting for a replacement for my usual FS machine (which gave up the ghost - fortunately just within the warranty period) from Dell.I quite like what I see in X-Plane, but will probably wait until I can see it running on the new setup (delivery a week or two away - then it'll take me a few days to set the thing up as I want it, FS and all) before I decide whether to spend $79 on it or not. Thanks for the comments,M.