coastaldriver

The past couple of days had an interesting problem develop with the last beta update. I had used the sim with no issues and then decided to go back to another airport or location, this produced a message about missing def files for the scenery area (They were given to look up) basically the land tiles went missing and I was underwater! Did an update check and usual installer verifer/update. That fixed one area. Went to another area or location, same problem again missing def files but now in a completely different area, tried another location which I had been using for the Mach Loop runs - again same issue missing def files and water everywhere. So again checked and did the repair update, I actually deleted the relevant offending areas - the expectation was that the installer/update would pick up these missing areas - the installer did not fix it or repair at all and left the sim in the same condition. Note that no scenery mods had been made or other major changes to the sim by me at all - yet the problem persisted. Bug report and a report and check at the forum for XP12 bugs provided no useful information other than what I knew already!. Something had gone astray but why would those scenery areas now show no data when you checked the files? Outcome was the nuke option. Saved the key stuff I use or wanted (Aircraft custom scenery etc) and then to download and install the whole sim again. I cleaned out the installer and downloaded a fresh copy and proceeded to do a new download and installation - curiously despite having been on version 12.07 it reverted back to the based XP12 version and then I had to go through the whole update process again. This with internet issues wasted a whole day! Sim is up and running again now - still considering the Custom Scenery addons (bit more selective I guess) but what annoyed me was the fact the so called repair installer process failed repeatedly to pick up the missing or damaged files and thus I had to resort to a full clean reinstallation. Despite having used XP12 since release and basically trouble free this set of problems had me perplexed to say the least and it pointed to the fallability of the so called update/repair function of XP12. Curious whether others had ever experienced this type of issue - files damaged or missing with no known cause and the update/repair installation function failing to identify the problem. FWIW I guess - I am suspecting though it may have been a hiccup with the SSD on the PC and a there were few very hot days when this happened and no it was not finger problems.

BostonJeremy I have just completed a fresh reinstallation of XP12 (12.07 beta) (For other reasons related to some scenery issues - files went missing) and checked how TJVQ appeared on my installation. It looked fine no unusual bumps or dips. Seems it may be another issue.

Being honest 3 runs so far - 3 prangs. 1. Failed to monitor airspeed on arrival back at EGOV - mushed in short. Ouch 2 Misjudged tree height on one valley face - clipped trees into the deck! The Mach loop is not the place for selfies or screenshots in a hurry! 3. Not sure how I managed the last one but again turning inbound to start the loop run - flew into the estuary! Splash! The Dragonfly is a little sensitive in pitch and has a lot of weight and momentum - you can throw it around all right but those big slab wings make for some effort rolling about! Will get behind the drag curve quickly. Need a decent map reader display like little NavMap in the cockpit. GPS is to hard to read and really want a visual map display not representative. The Avitab is ok to a point but you cannot display your flight plan on it. - Any thoughts?

Reprise on the Mach Loop. JCS X-Aerodynamics recently released an XP12 version of their Cessna A-37 Dragonfly. A really nicely done model, not perfect but very authentic. So what else now but to head off to do the Mach Loop for the sheer fun of it now I have an aeroplane suitable and comfortable. Rolling at dawn RAF Valley Round the loop we go Made it and back to EGOV for a 250kt overhead rejoin.

On the receiving end of heavy rain showers and thunderstorm activity. Sound of rain on canopy varied with intensity as did sound of thunder in close proximity to a CB. Overall cloud depiction was spot on and precipitation varied as did light with passing of cloud masses. No issues from my perspective. The jet is the Cessna A-37 by JCS and X-Aeroplanes for XP12 - couple blemishes but nice to get this quality and class of jet in the sim.

Find current beta - stable and graphically almost perfect (If there is any such thing) nothing does not work for me and the uplift in graphics and performance is fine (I get 60-87 fps routinely) and no CTD's at all load times are fast.. Weather depiction cloud and precipitation depiction now at a level I did not think was possible. Though the NOAA or WMO connection thing still can be intermittent. LR have still not found a solution to the depiction of rain above FL200 (no it does not) and the current graphics give you a starwars warp speed view if you push through cloud sometimes - just weird. Low levels fine as far as can tell in fact excellent! Now I was going to do an off hand flight, real time. real weather from Athens Greece in a Dash 8. Bit of cumulus about and possible light rain. There were light spots on the windscreen and I shifted to outside view and at first could not discern any rain but then I noticed it was but it was drizzle - light fine precipitation - never seen that before in the sim. Second thing was that over a short period of time well the pavement apron area changed colour and took on the appearance of wet or damp concrete - no puddles just the change in colourisation. The screenshot alas just does not capture that light drizzle but you can see the colour change in the pavement. Overall that entire depiction of aircraft and airport is well almost photographic.

Me n Xplane 200923 The amazing Fiesler Storch now for XP12 - Brilliant rendition of a very interesting airplane indeed - DHopgood and a team made this one possible. Behaves like a Fiesler. Great fun so far floating around Northern Libya. Strictly VFR this one.

Actually this was August but hey - 01082022 - Fancy some early heavy iron the Boeing 707 in this case the 720B (ala the 138). Superb effort by Japanese modeller Shensee - All the goodies, PBR, Model selection, and a host of liveries about for it. Does the dutch roll slowly and almost imperceptibly in the cruise - that is an accurate model. The view leaving Sydney

Well had a surprise on arrival at YSSY in a mid level turboprop behind an Airbus A320 - ran smack into wake turbulence from the departing Airbus - sudden rolling and ptiching just like the real world. Never encountered that before. Checking the undercarriage to see nothing is soiled.

Me n XPlane 19092023 This is the Manky Dash 8 100 version 1.7.3. This is an enthusiastic rebuild of an early Riviere Dash. Fully XP12 compliant now. Lots of versions as it has been worked on by enthusiastic self taught developer Manky - started as a project to give his son a Dash in the sim. Nice collection of liveries for it and it has got better and better. A lot of under the hood stuff with systems, electrics, nav systems and instrument displays. Not completely 100% but very close to real thing. I flew the Dash 8 for real and so can lets say it now is very realistic indeed and a nice steady turboprop to enjoy. Manky also looks after the Dash 8 300 and the Dash 8 400 or Q400 all which have got the same treament. Some work to come re FMODs and texture tidy up but hey its also free so how can one complain. A very nice simulator model indeed! Drivers seat view Flight was early morning from Narrabri to Sydney via Dubbo, XP12 SimHeaven and Real Weather. Nothing else.

Good one. Nice shots - interesting weather.

Me n XPlane 18092022 Alicala Sim C170B now XP12 Freeware.

Given the screenshots went to the General Screenshots (Way they do things here at AVSIM I guess). Decided to do this and just add posts with no more than 2 pics with the title on the reply "Me n XPlane dd/mm/yy" That will do I think nothing onerous.

Yep, buried with MSFS screenshots that seem to be about 95%. Well tried.

This is at the gate at Sydney. Laminar or XP12 airport. A view so many people see and remember.

Good idea have this Thread. The General Screenshots forum here at AVSIM gets a bit messy.

Mixed outcome alas with b07. Functionality fine. Some of this seems a bit regressive - that is introduced some issues not fixed them. In some places the terminal lights are exploding light balls at the moment completely out of perspective and scale. Thought the rain issue was fixed at FL's - seems not. Some weird visuals - like this at F290 and it is streaming rain - looks like something out of StarWars: Then from the ridiculous to the sublime: Guess we shall see. Had a couple of CTD's with attempt to save using the XP12 menu tab. Still very very good flight simulation. No issues with aircraft or model functionality.

I have delayed going to the Felis B747 in XP for a number of reasons none to do with Felis. I will come to that shortly. At now XP12 Beta 6, there have been other things to digest. SimHeavens data elevation smoothing has also been revolutionary. At this version of the program and as a flight simulation I can only say XP has become the reality of decades of wishful thinking about a pc based flight simulation. As a facsimile of the world it works seamlessly to produce a highly realistic but not photogramatic world view objects, landscape, geography, buildings roads traffic (maritime, rail and road) brilliant lighting control and well some amazing representations of real world look a like airports - all with moving traffic independent object lighting and dynamic arrays. Cloud representation is now of a very high quality and coupled with real time weather translation - credible and a great experience as well. So that is a subjective view from an older bloke who has had every version of simulator there has been going back to the era of 64 bit Commodores. Their light management and display is highly accomplished and shifting focus from in to out is not unpleasant but realistic experience now. You can always put the sunnies on if too bright! As a simulator it does the job pretty well of reproducing the performance realistically of the real aeroplane - so that is the only test - Does this fly like the real aeroplane does? We can debate the means of PC control - mouse and VR and the degree of desirable complexity of the programming to reproduce all mechanisms and controls and indicators - accurately and visually correct! XP12 achieves this but only in so far as any product producer, developer or private is able to capably program this model and its graphics and its motion or rotation of parts. Jump into the C172 or the Piper Cub - both are high quality simulations and fly just like their real world bretheren in terms of what you see and touch and what it does! High end of the scale in terms of complexity becomes fraught because your limited by the programming dexterity of who made the simulation. So now the Felis B747-200. This is a stunning achievement. This is the most faithful and complete simulator model I have had the pleasure of getting to operate in the sim. Yes it is an analoque era aeroplane but what a package from the check lists to the AVITAB subsystems and controls. Functional and realistic INS. Interior well looked pretty good to me but up front is where its at. Oh and outside it looks just like I expect a Boeing 747 to look like. Big Aeroplane! Good documentation to help you work it out or get to know the 747 or lets call her model number correctly the B742. Honestly I did not think it was possible to produce such a high quality simulation - you could do a type rating on it! Never would have happened without Laminar and XP12. An Ahievement for me! And that is it I think!

I have the X-Hangar Piper Aerostar 700P. Very nicely done and fits the bill of a speedy twin with analoque instruments. Textures could do with a little lift but a pleasure to fly in the sim. Then off course there is the Laminar Beech BE58 - its quite ok! I also have a Carenado XP11 Piper PA23 Aztec. It had turbocharged engines and went pretty good. Needed some mods done which make it eminently flyable in XP12 now - the mods are over at XPlane,org. Can't suggest anything else not for XP12 anyways. How about a big older twin - say the AWX C-47 - freeware and tops for fidelity and systems! Mid range speed wise I guess!

Seems good, like the concept better than the inapp updater which had a habit of bringing it all to a halt with updates sometimes.

Indeed - XP12 has got it right, Lighting and detail - the next two screenshots are at Darwin (YPDN), The lighting is amazing, first shot was taken from the shadows terminal side Then this one on the apron I noted that the reflections in the underside aluminium of the aircraft are the objects in view not a facsimile. That is very impressive as well.

NWWW - Tontouta. XP12 +SimHeavens Oceania. Nothing else added there by me so it is the XP12 Gateway airport.

The dynamics and scale of the whole sim is well brilliant! The light control is excellent over the entire light range and shading correct, No dark cockpit experiences. Sky cloud and layers is well very competently accomplished (Shows they are mastering the math behind this graphical display). Scenery well once they resolve the roads issue it will be an entirely plausible facsimile of the real world but always scalable due to the datapoint graphics display. The attention to dynamic and independent motion of objects is amazing. Trees sway in the wind and the wind sock points in the right direction along with the trees. Rain drops ripple out on tarmac puddles and the sea-land junction has believable opaqueness, Little things - building cranes that rotate, clock towers that keep time on the faces. Airport traffic wide and various - and all of it appropriately lit with fixed and rotating lights. Ground and airport environment lighting is well stunningly done. Again light management gives very impressive results at night. Runway slope and undulations duly visible and correct. The night star map appears correct along with some planets location - no milky way but more than passable. I am seeing 80 FPS regularly and it only drops to about 45 FPS with a very dense airport or scenic environment and graphically demanding aircraft model, to see a computer based flight simulation program this good for the price and multi-platform functionality is well also amazing, Attention to detail - it is all there see here:

Well overall the cloud management display, type layering and movement is in relative terms very good and appears to be a quite reasonable model of the atmosphere. I make no comparison to any other sim - I have none but my reference is the real sky - the one outside the window. Cloud is not always crisply outllned in real skies either - have a good look can be as indistinct and raggedy as it can be puffed and billowing, On that basis I would also concede that the cloud reproduction is not perfect - I think it is a case of too many data points not less, Nicely rounded cumulus (hence its name cumulus) is a summer sky cloud as well - at the moment I see good distant anvil heads of CB;s, I see towering and raggedy cumuluform cloud I also see good stratus cloud and well the cirrus is very passable now, So I guess my view remains for a flight simulation program - Laminar's current cloud and weather depiction is more than just good it is a significant advance in graphical programming and processing,

Well been about testing and getting to know the Shinmaywa US-1 as these updates arrived. Location has been the Iwakuni area in Japan and real time weather. No issues whatsoever with sim operation or display - silky smooth all the time. The US-1 has meant time on water and on land - the weather has been well awful, low cloud, rain and thunderstorms. Cloud rendition to my mind is now the best I have ever seen in a flight simulation program. Looks pretty good to me: