My first and likely last impressions about XPlane

[Maurice]

This blurb below is simply based on my very limited experience with it as well as how it compared to my initial expectations. These are my personal views based on what I have experienced so far. I'm sure all current XPlane users will strongly disagree with me but that will not change my first impressions.

First, I truly did not like the default XPlane scenery.  I really don't care about seeing a 'plausible' world when I fly low & slow. At high altitudes, a plausible world may be good enough but not with the mostly visual flying I want to do now.

To my eyes, XPlane scenery out of the box looks very artificial compared to FSX or P3d, even with most scenery sliders maxed. Nighttime is much better of course since XPlane does a great job with night lighting when the rest of the scenery is no longer a factor.

I was also under the impression that flight dynamics are much superior to FSX. So, on my first flight, I chose the Cessna 172 as I trained on that airplane. When I first applied the power, the plane took a sharp 90 degree turn to the left which is not at all what happens in a real Cessna.

You have to apply right rudder to offset the torque but the real plane does not make a 90 degree left turn when you have barely started moving. I had to apply full right rudder to get back on the runway centerline and I had a hard time staying there even with no wind at all.

Compare that to the Cessna from A2A simulations which really reminded me what it was to fly a Cessna and there is simply no comparison in my opinion, at least with the Cessna. I did not bother trying other planes after that.

But the real XP killer for me is the absolutely lousy frame rates I got on my high end system unless I turned most of the sliders way down and made it look even more like a cartoon. Apparently the 64 bits did nothing to improve the performance on my system and I have no idea why I could not even get a semi decent performance with just a lowly Cessna on a clear day.

So, for me, I'll put up with the occasional crashes and quirks of p3d or even go back to FSX if LM drops the ball. I had a great time flying in the Rockies with the great ORBX scenery and even if I could resolve the low XP frame rates, I really do not see a need at this time.

Anyway, as I said in a different post, different strokes for different folks. But I have to say I did love the sloping runways in XPlane. I think Lukla has a sloping runway in FSX but that may well be the only one so far.

Maurice

[XOrionFE]

I felt the same way you did when I first tried it Maurice.   As far as the flight dynamics, you have to adjust your control curves and sensitivities for your joysticks.    The flight dynamics in x-plane are as close as it gets.   Ask Mike Leavy...

As for performane, yes, if you turn all up you will kill it.  There is a balance.  It is way more then outpr hardware can handle and if you run 1 computer with more than 1920x1080 your in trouble so yes, if you want to do one computer and 3 monitors at 5760 by 1080 you will be toast.   That is why I run 5 computers for 5 displays.  But when you run 1920x1080 on a good pc with a good graphics card (2gig or better) it looks fantastic out of the box.  Now upgrade to 10.25 and add some cheap or free scenery (see x-plane scenery posts) and you will start seeing the light.

Dont give up so easily 

Scott

[Maurice]

I did play with the joystick sensitivity through the whole range as well as calibration and no matter what I did, the plane sharply veered to the left every single time. I am using Saitek yoke and it may be over sensitive but I have no such problem with P3d. Something is not right here somehow.

But more importantly Scott, you confirmed that XP is not the right platform for me. As you have seen when you were here, I am running three 32" TVs with a total resolution of 5760x1080 on one PC and there is no way I want to go back to one screen when I know FSX or P3d work quite well with 3 screens.

I could learn to not dislike the XP scenery if I could get decent performance, but you confirmed that one PC running 3 screens will not be enough, so it looks like I am pretty much stuck with P3d or FSX since adding more PCs is not in my future or I might have kept my full scale sim

Maurice

[XOrionFE]

Well, you can have the best of all worlds.   Fly the VC on P3D at home, then travel down here and visit me for a ride in X-plane on 5 Led tvs in all its glory, then go for a blast from the past and fly your old steed at CPs house with FSX and a wraparound projection setup.    Yep...best of all worlds!

I will even toss in a nice dinner at Portillos!

:-)
scott

[Kennair]

I must confess to having the same issues with my X-plane experience so far Maurice.  Flight controls are terribly twitchy and I too have fiddled with axis curves and null zones etc to no apparent avail.  Scott's advice gives me hope however and I'm sure its just a novice issue.  Need to also add more custom airports as I'm also not too impressed with stock scenery.  Cloud and night lighting is top notch however.  Performance not too impressive but not much different to either FSX or P3D and I too am trying to drive 3 x HD TV's.  Hey its great to have platform options though, almost spoilt for choice.

Ken.

[Nat Crea]

I love your honesty Mau!

(but I thought selling you 737 was about being tinker free?  )

Nat

[XOrionFE]

In case you want to mess around with your joystick settings here are mine from the 737.  Aircraft is the x737.

Scott

[Maurice]

I love your honesty Mau!

(but I thought selling you 737 was about being tinker free?  )

Nat

It absolutely was about being tinker free, and this flight sim business is really, really pissing me off again these days. I am truly beginning to lose any hope of ever being able to go down to the basement and enjoy one nice flight where everything works perfectly or at least works ok.

Up to now, my wife has always tried to dissuade me from giving up altogether mostly because she does not want to see me mopping around her during the day. But a couple of days ago, she actually told me I should give up and find some other form of entertainment as she is tired of hearing my constant bitching about something or other not working right.

It never ever ends!!!! And based on the thousands of posts in various forums about performance problems, tweaks or service packs to fix this or that, advice about type of hardware needed to run simulators or games, this madness will never end.

My wife finally got a new phone to replace her aging Nokia. She must have spent several hours figuring out what she needed to do to get her phone to ring like a regular phone instead of these obnoxious default ring tones. Why can't anything be simple any more? Why can't I buy a flight simulator and just fly it? Why am I still talking about this after more than 10 years fiddling around with simulators?

Come on world ending Comet! Please deliver me from this bondage. 

Rant over. Back to the basement to try that latest miracle performance enhancing tweak. I wish I could just take a p ill for that. Oh wait... 

Maurice
ps. Why is it I cannot type p ill without the space between p and ill without the word becoming cookie instead of p ill? Yes, I know about spam; nothing is ever simple anymore 

[Maurice]

In case you want to mess around with your joystick settings here are mine from the 737.  Aircraft is the x737.

Scott

I was getting less than 20 fps with the Cessna with moderate slider settings and often dipping to the low teens. I can't fly that way so joystick settings are not the primary factor here.

In anticipation of XPlane, I had ordered an additional 12 GB of memory since I only have 6 GB at the moment. But the memory is back ordered and when I finally receive it, I'll give XP another try in case the additional memory helps with performance. I doubt it, but who knows?

Thanks,
Maurice

[iwik]

Maurice,
I see selling the Sim didn't fix sim syndrome. Why don't you take some
medicine for this disease like the rest of us " Second PC".
I don't run a 737 sweet but on my setup which consists of a
I7 920 and 9800 for visuals(3 22" Dells and Th2go) as client via Wideview and a P4 2gig running
GA software suite, Force feedback software, motion Platform software
Opencockpits hardware, XP Reality Gns530(Emuteq type hardware)
FSX as the Server .
I just hopp in fire up both pc's and do at least a 2-3hr trip with no crashes on either pc.
Maybe you just are expecting to much from one pc.
Basket making may just be the answer for you. Seriously, I would hate to see chuck it all in for the sake one stupid extra pc.
Just try a second pc, it doesn't have to be the greatest.
I just retired and am hoping I don't fall into the hole you are in.
I do like a guy who never gives up and maybe you will surrender to
our way of thinking.
Les

[Maurice]

Just try a second pc, it doesn't have to be the greatest.

Les

A second PC for what? I am only running P3d now with no addons.  I do have a second PC running AS2012 but I did not even try to use Active Sky yet. If I went for Wideview, it would have to be 2 more high end pcs...not something I will ever contemplate.

Maurice