Latest X Plane Experiences ?

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cstorey
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Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by cstorey »

I have read all of the 34 page thread which sets out Nigel HJ's experiences, but it ends in Feb 2019. What are the latest views on XP ? Is it still very good for most people or has 11.3 spoilt it?

alemaobaiano
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by alemaobaiano »

I haven't noticed much change with the evolving versions, I think mine updated to 11.40 yesterday with no significant difference in performance. There was, very briefly, an issue after the particle system was changed, some aircraft got very smoky, but that didn't last long.

It remains my only sim, but my flying has changed dramatically since the MS days. I have a number of airliners that rarely see the light of day, yet my GA fleet is in constant use. I was flying at dusk yesterday around Biggin Hill in the Avia Aerostar 601 and the immersion is amazing. It seems to me that the aircraft handle more realistically in XP, and even gliding is quite fun.

I haven't even thought about using a different sim since I installed XP, for my latest style of flying it does everything I want.

It seems that with age I'm getting lower and slower in the sim, just like in life :cheers:
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this. – Terry Pratchett

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Nigel H-J
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by Nigel H-J »

I have read all of the 34 page thread which sets out Nigel HJ's experiences, but it ends in Feb 2019. What are the latest views on XP ? Is it still very good for most people or has 11.3 spoilt it?
Hi Chris, (hope that is your name) :lol: I felt that I had written enough of my X-Plane experience and did not want to continue and bore the pants off other members who fly other sims such as FS9, FSX and P3d.

X-Plane 11 was a big leap for me in flight simulation as all my previous flying was done in FS5 FS9 and then to FSX, all I wanted to do was put my experiences down so that others could at least get some idea of how I was finding this simulation and while I could have continued, felt that I had contributed enough for others to make up their own minds and try the demo or buy it.

The question you raised has 11.3 spoilt it? The answer is no, in fact X-Plane 11 is now on 11.40 and I still get great satisfaction flying whether it is light aircraft or tube-liners, one reviewer who has actually flown the upcoming MS 2020 had said that the flight physics between X-Plane and MS 2020 are very, very close to each other and I think that says quite a lot for X-Plane 11.

I now fly with Pilot2ATC which will work in FSX and P3d as well, I do not know of any other ATC programme that can do this unless of course you pay out extra such as Multi-Crew Experience which has one for FSX and P3d and another programme for X-Plane 11.

I have also purchased X-Chatter for Pilot2ATC which means that I can listen to thousands of recorded transmissions whilst flying and that stops as soon as I or the controllers call. If any-one wants a good ATC then I would highly recommend it as it has really transformed my flying experience and if help is required, Dave who is the programmer and author of Pilot2ATC gives a first class customer service from his forum at Avsim. Yesterday I flew the F50 from Heathrow to Manchester in real weather and Pilot2ATC that when I landed I really felt quite chuffed as had not made any mistakes in replying or requesting clearances.

Also there are many free add-ons that make X-Plane 11 so immersive such as Better Pushback, X Camera, Headshake plus many more too numerous to mention. Hope this has helped/answered your question.

Regards
Nigel.
I used to be an optimist but with age I am now a grumpy old pessimist.

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Charlie Bravo
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by Charlie Bravo »

I started flying back in the days of FS5.1 and then quickly upgraded to FS98. I then had each version up to FSX SE but gradually became increasingly disillusioned with Microsoft's efforts.
Eventually I just gave up with it, sold my PC, got a laptop and stopped using it altogether.

After a few years, I wanted to pick it up again so purchased a gaming laptop and reinstalled FSX SE. I purchased a number of expensive ORBX titles and a few new aircraft but quickly the frustration returned. I had lots of new hardware and yet it still performed terribly.

I then downloaded the X-Plane 11 demo and whilst I was impressed, everything I was so used to from FSX was now totally different and it lacked the huge catalogue of add-ons available for FSX and P3D.
I really liked the look of the sim though and so after looking again and again at the demo, I decided to abandon everything I'd ever purchased for FSX and go down the X-Plane route.
That was shortly followed with building a new PC and the purchase of several X-Plane add-ons.

Fast forward to present day and I love X-Plane. Each update improves the sim that little bit more and having purchased the ORBX UK scenery, I now only fly within the UK, regardless of aircraft type.
I understand why many stick with FSX and P3D but there comes a time when something just looks so dated that it is time to move on.

I'm yet to get excited over the new Microsoft offering as I feel they couldn't get the basics right in previous versions but we'll see.

I've posted many screenshots from X-Plane on the forum but here are a few more from tonight to tempt you across...

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cstorey
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by cstorey »

Thanks to you all. It is a pretty convincing thumbs up, so i think I shall give it a try - my only doubt was that the trial version seems very sparse in the scenery department

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Nigel H-J
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by Nigel H-J »

Thanks to you all. It is a pretty convincing thumbs up, so i think I shall give it a try - my only doubt was that the trial version seems very sparse in the scenery department
That was my initial thought when I first tried X-Plane 11 demo but that demo is in the States and some areas are sparse, after flying with True Earth Scenery I did a flight across to Paris and as soon as I was over France noticed the scenery was well..........very sparse!! Have you tried increasing the scenery levels up in the demo?

If you do buy X-Plane then you will certainly need TE Scenery for the UK. It has made a huge difference to my flying and with-out meaning to knock P3d or even Orbx for that matter as every sim has its good and bad points but every time I see TE UK in P3d it looks to me to be no better than the older version of EU England. Could be due to the fact that P3d still retains some visuals left over from FSX days I don't know! :dunno: but certainly don't want this to be seen as a criticism of P3d or Orbx but TE UK just does not seem to be as good as it is in X-Plane 11 for some reason

Regards
Nigel.
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cstorey
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by cstorey »

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement : now downloaded along with Europe and Scandinavian scenery , and it really is as good as suggested ( except for the slowness of the server ) . I am particularly impressed with how realistic the Baron is as an instrument platform, and the night lighting is exceptionally good. It will keep me out of mischief for months!

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Nigel H-J
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by Nigel H-J »

I am particularly impressed with how realistic the Baron is as an instrument platform, and the night lighting is exceptionally good. It will keep me out of mischief for months!
Great to hear that and hope your enjoyment with X-Plane will be further enhanced with these must have free add-ons.

To install just place the folder into the Plugins Folder which can be found in Resources then Plugins.

FlyWithLua: https://www.x-plained.com/flywithlua-for-x-plane-11/

Headshake: https://www.simcoders.com/headshake/headshake/

X Camera, just scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can register it for a price and it then gives you more options but I just use the free version.
https://www.stickandrudderstudios.com/x-camera/

BetterPushBack: Works for large and small aircraft, this is a must!
https://github.com/skiselkov/BetterPushbackC/releases

xpuipc, just drop the folder into the Plugins Folder, may be needed for some add-ons.
http://www.schiratti.com/xpuipc.html

This is also a must until you decide to purchase X Vision. I am currently using this and have to say it is much much better than the default visual sky and clouds as well as visibilty. Read the install instructions but very simple.

https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/f ... vivid-sky/

Brilliant aircraft: https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/f ... 1-cdi-155/

There are plenty more add-ons but too many for me to post as have other things to attend to but hope this little lot helps.

Regards
Nigel.
I used to be an optimist but with age I am now a grumpy old pessimist.

cstorey
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by cstorey »

Nigel, thank you very much for those links . I will download them when I have finished rectifying my very stupid error : having downloaded Europe and Scandinavia, I went on to add Greenland etc, and when the map also lit up Europe and Scandi I " crossed them off " because I did not want to load them twice ! AAARGH - I did not realise that this deleted them :'( :((

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Nigel H-J
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Re: Latest X Plane Experiences ?

Post by Nigel H-J »

Nigel, thank you very much for those links . I will download them when I have finished rectifying my very stupid error : having downloaded Europe and Scandinavia, I went on to add Greenland etc, and when the map also lit up Europe and Scandi I " crossed them off " because I did not want to load them twice ! AAARGH - I did not realise that this deleted them :'( :((
:doh: It happens!! :lol: :lol: Hope it does not take you too long to reinstall, though you could do it overnight then in the morning it will be as though you never unintentionally uninstalled them. 8)

Let me know how you get on with those add-ons, if you need any help then let us know.

Regards
Nigel.
I used to be an optimist but with age I am now a grumpy old pessimist.

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