I must say I'm impressed...

[bnic 0]

Hi people it has been a while since I've posted but I still read and enjoy this forum everyday...I hope my topic is not written in the wrong area and I trust it will be properly moved if I'm in error writing it here... I just wanted to share something pretty cool that I happened on to...I have always loved FS going way back like many of us have, and I still very much enjoy FSX going all the way back to it's release, along with all the joys and problems we all experienced with it, SP1, SP2, Blurries, etc...I've also created commercial Scenery software in the past with friends and several thousand copies were sold and downloaded for several airports before we made our software freeware so I have a good background in FS...I just wanted to share a few low-res screen-grabs I took in a new program I just got... The pics were captured right within the program with a dedicated hotkey command provided within the FS itself... I wish I could set a higher screen capture res but I'm not sure one can so please bear with the low quality... You will still get the point I hope...For a long time I have heard such great things about X-Plane and yes with both it's strengths and weaknesses, and just for the fun of it I grabbed a copy at Bestb-y a couple days ago for $39 and I simply wanted to say that am I very impressed... FSX is still my favorite but I have to say the guys that created X-Plane really have a fine package they have created and one with great potential as many see it... It has it's obvious strengths and weaknesses...It's weather blows FSX out of the water... The snow and rain look incredibly real in the way it falls and blows as well as in the amount that it is falling whether very light or heavy... It's weather is downloaded in real-time every one minute as I have it set for... The weather transitions are totally transparent without notice and heavy weather makes no FPS impact like it does in FSX as far as I can see... The other night while flying to Seattle's KSEA, I was in and out of snow and rain within clouds sometimes 1/4 mile from each other and the rain turned to snow and back depending on what was being downloaded... I'm really impressed with it... I know there are great weather programs that will hopefully soon be released for FSX but these guys have it as well as atmosphere haze and great fog effects... They make it clear that this software is very often used for training pilots as the flight models are very realistic to real flight as are the cockpits and instruments... It lacks a nice graphical GPS like FSX has but it's GPS is programmable...First thing I noticed with X-Plane that I didn't care for was that all airports were just runways with no buildings and that was a major turn off but only initially because great FS scenery can be imported as I just proved in the pics I'm attaching... Their Mesh terrain was a bit lower res than FSX's as others have written in Avsim forum... Rivers and lakes were sometimes jagged and didn't have the realism and smoothness of custom FSX scenery packages but on the whole the view is very impressive... Flocks of birds can crash through the windshield or knock out an engine without warning...In reading the various X-Plane forums people have long been posting free scenery and high quality aircraft that are as nice I think as many FSX's add-on sceneries and planes... Their cockpits are super realistic and I guess this is where X-Plane exceeds from what I'm reading... Their ATC sucks and sounds like those old first generation text readers we used to hear when they first came out but their ATC options are much more extensive...Now the cool part... I read about a small free shareware program called, FS2XPLANE.exe that converts Microsoft Flight Sim scenery to X-Plane and I tried it the night I installed X-Plane... I pointed to my beloved KPDX Portland scenery directory and this crazy little scenery converter compiled a perfect replica of KPDX and my eyes about popped when I saw it... Now I have my fabulous Portland scenery in X-Plane and I'm telling you the FPS are fantastic compared to FSX no matter how heavy the weather is... I then converted my other local airport sceneries I've created, Oregon's, Salem KSLE, Troutdale KTTD, and Seattle KSEA, and they look perfect in X-Plane... The little utility has never made an error yet...I have to say flying in X-Planes very real weather right now in the stormy rainy snowy windy Northwest with this new scenery loaded is a huge leap up from FSX realism... We all know that realism in any image helps trick our eyes into believing something is real or close to real... Lack of detail immediately blows an images cover as a fake but with this level of weather realism combined with excellent airport scenery packages this little $39 package becomes a world heavyweight FS contender...Now realistically one would unfortunately have to convert scenery packages for all the cities they want to fly to to make X-Plane in any way similar to FSX but if one thinks about the default Airports that shipped with FSX does any of our local Airports even come close to what they looked like...?Anyhow I just wanted to share this ability to use FS scenery in X-Plane with you guys... My KPDX now looks every bit as good as it did in FSX with none of the FSX problems... Peace to allbnick

[Geofa 108]

Xplane is impressive in many areas.Just a question-"It's weather is downloaded in real-time every one minute as I have it set for... "The real world data that pilots rely on is updated once an hour-usually about 5 minutes before the hour, and a possible special observation if one occurs.What is the advantage of updating it every minute since the real world data updates only once an hour-again usually at 5 minutes or so before the hour? Does Xplane now get better weather data than real pilots have access to?Does it still default the visiblity at 20 miles? Fsx runs a lot better at that setting also.I have found the weather in fsx extremely realistic-especially with add ins like fex,asx:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...d=276597&page=2I do check in on xplane every once in a while and usually purchase it every couple years though.:-)GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[rightseater 0]

It's a little difficult for me to make out those screenshots, but as far as I can tell that "little" program is working wonders. I have been curious about X-Plane for awhile now, but everytime I think about purchasing it I hear how much better FSX is. Maybe now would be a good time to set the forum opinions aside and try it for myself. I saw a Skycatcher model for X-Plane on a website a few months ago and it looked better than anything I have ever seen for FSX.

[Geofa 108]

Hey Jeremy-What happened with your plane situation?I deserted the fs series in the late 90's for xplane (designed some scenery and my at the time Beech Debonair for it) but became frustrated with the much touted fm's and some other things like lack of rw instruments. I bought it two years ago and its collecting dust but am downloading the present demo to check out.Be interested to see your opinion-I haven't found a plane that I have flown that flew like I expected -but perhaps it is different now.I am always ready to desert a sim for a better one....GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[rightseater 0]

Hi Geof,It's funny you should mention the Baron because I was just thinking about updating my experience in the Hangar Chat forums a few minutes ago. I have decided to go ahead with the purchase, especially now that I have verified that it is indeed just a really good deal from a friend and not hiding any skeletons. I will be making the official transaction this Friday afternoon when I go back up to Elkins to pick up my 206. My only debate now is what I am going to do with ole' reliable. If financially capable, I am thinking about holding on to it to give to my son as he will be starting his flight training soon.....sure would make a great birthday gift. On the other hand, selling it off would go a long way towards paying down the Baron.Anyway, the Baron is a beautiful machine that performs even better than I had imagined. The fuel burn is a big difference from the 206, but I do like the capacity. Everyone is raving about the added leg room, and I just feel a little better having that second engine purring, especially here in Florida with some of the black bays and lakes I get to fly over in the moonlight. I will post an update in the Hangar Chat forum sometime soon.

[Palebushman 0]

>Xplane is impressive in many areas.>>Just a question->"It's weather is downloaded in real-time every one minute as I>have it set for... ">>The real world data that pilots rely on is updated once an>hour-usually about 5 minutes before the hour, and a possible>special observation if one occurs.>>What is the advantage of updating it every minute since the>real world data updates only once an hour-again usually at 5>minutes or so before the hour? Does Xplane now get better>weather data than real pilots have access to?>>Does it still default the visiblity at 20 miles? Fsx runs a>lot better at that setting also.>>I have found the weather in fsx extremely realistic-especially>with add ins like fex,asx:>http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...d=276597&page=2>>I do check in on xplane every once in a while and usually>purchase it every couple years though.:-)>>>>>>>>Geofa>My blog:>http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/Hi Geoff,Reading through this reply of yours, I spotted a possible 'Tweak' that I would like to copy from you, if you could tell me please how it is done. I am aware of the 'Cloud Draw Distance' one, but not this visiblity setting :- >Does it still default the visiblity at 20 miles? Fsx runs a>lot better at that setting also.Can't seem to find it in the fsx-CFG file or in the UI panels :-hmmmYour guidance, as always, would be much appreciated.

[Guest Mower]

I, too, have XPlane and agree about its strengths, but until commercial add-ons like the PMDG series are available (if ever) for it, it shall remian on my shelf.

[Geofa 108]

Hi-I am not at my flight sim computer-but if I recall correctly-go to weather, then click the advanced tab. There you can set all kinds of parameters including visibility.GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[JMR 2]

Arrrggg the demo has a 10 minute limit on joystick input. Seriously, only ten minutes?! EDIT: I hear X-plane has a really large hard drive footprint due to the scenery. Can you select which scenery areas you want installed or do you have to install all of them by default?Also, how does X-plane handle high res scenery textures and high speed flight? Is it like the FS9/X where the blurries kick in if your speed is too high? I guess for 39 bucks I might as well pick up a copy and find out myself. Always been curious about Xplane.

[ryanbatc 12,846]

Could you enlarge the pics please?

[tvl 0]

I have the whole x-plane installed and it is about 70gb without any other addons. You can select what scenery you want when you install. I think the whole package when it came was 8 double sided dvds. One with the main program and 7 with scenery. Airports are basic, mostly only runways that are in the correct location. There are some more decorated airports and there is a lot to be found on the internet if you wish.TonyIntel E6600 Core2Duo, ASUS P5B Deluxe, 4GB OCZ Platinum PC6400, NVIDIA 8800GT, 2 Seagate 320GB SATAII, Creative Audigy2 Value, Dell 22 WFP, Saitek X45

[LAdamson 240]

>Be interested to see your opinion-I haven't found a plane that>I have flown that flew like I expected -but perhaps it is>different now.>I have X-Plane 8 & 9 with global scenery. I STILL haven't found a X-plane that I really enjoy flying. I'm usually annoyed after five minutes, no matter how many I download. I prefer the "RealAir" models for FS9/FSX hands down........as they come so much closer to replicating real flight & associated senses of "feel", that I expect.L.Adamson

[vcarlo 529]

>Hi people it has been a while since I've posted but I still>read and enjoy this forum everyday...>>I hope my topic is not written in the wrong area and I trust>it will be properly moved if I'm in error writing it here... >I just wanted to share something pretty cool that I happened>on to...>>I have always loved FS going way back like many of us have,>and I still very much enjoy FSX going all the way back to it's>release, along with all the joys and problems we all>experienced with it, SP1, SP2, Blurries, etc...Firstly I would like to thank the OP (bnic) for an excellent post and for convincing me to demo and then purchase XPlane 9. I am currently on the learning curve BUT I am also VERY impressed with my first exposure to a beautiful smooth flying sim.Secondly, I want to voice my displeasure over moving this thread from the FSX forum to the XPlane forum. Had I not read this BEFORE the move I would have never seen it.Was this thread moved from the FSX forum to XPlane to protect the sanctity of Microsoft?? This is a post comparing FSX and XPlane. WHY does it NOT belong where the masses can be informed and make their own choices??Thank you.http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii73/ja...b0d1b70a6a3.jpg

[LAdamson 240]

>Was this thread moved from the FSX forum to XPlane to protect>the sanctity of Microsoft?? This is a post comparing FSX and>XPlane. WHY does it NOT belong where the masses can be>informed and make their own choices??>I must admit that I feel more comfortable "trashing (I mean critiquing)" X-Plane on the FSX forums! :)Seriously, it does have it's good points, but the highly acclaimed flight model isn't one of them. I sim "flew" X-plane 9.21 for about a half hour this morning, to check out some topography in southern Utah. I used a downloaded aircraft rather than the defaults. As it's a high powered single engine------------ it seemed to be missing the requirement of right rudder, as it meandered to the right to begin with. And as usual, the up and down movement of the nose is very linear with stick inputs. No sense of dampening whatsoever. I've even played with the settings for this. The function of real constant speed props don't seem to apply at all, but then most MSFS (if not all), don't do well here either. I'd like to get the constant speed prop's advantage as a brake for landing, but never do.And yes, I do own a plane with a constant speed prop for reference.It even requires lot's of right rudder on the takeoff roll and climb. The required "force" is constant right pedal down the runway and intial climb.L.Adamson

[boshar 6]

Yea I recently used a downloaded aircraft in FS-X an guess what. It was absolutly cr*p....As real as it gets.... eeeh nopeBut seriously opinons on the flightmodeling in both sims differ a lot with pilots on both sides of the argument we can argue till we are blue in the face but in the end it comes down to an undecided / depends on personal preference.Personaly I can be perfectly happy in both sims provided I use a good payware or freeware aircraft and I take the time to get my joystick settings right for the sim du jour.