X-Plane 9 vs FSX

[Major_Spittle]

I was wandering through Wal-Mart today and noticed a copy of X-Plane 9. From reading the box it appears it is comparable to FSX with a few twists to it.

It has over 60gigs of content that installs and looked more detailed than FSX (detailed but not geographically accurated for landmarks). Carrier landings and launches on pitching rolling decks, space shuttle entry and landings, volumetric fog effects, REALISTIC FLIGHT MODEL (could this be true).

any who, the game was $40 or $50 which looks like a good deal for what you get. Seems newer and better supported and updated than MS flight sims from what I read.

My question is to anyone that has X-PLANE 9 (not 8,7,6...)

Is the flight model better than FSX and is there damage modeling? This is all I really care about. Stalls, spins, turbulence, launchavocs(sp), crosswinds.....

[MudMarine]

Save you money on X9!!!!! As much as I don't like FSX, X9 is much worse!!

[LTCSZ]

I have both FSX and X-Plane 9...FSX is by far the easier to master...(Disclaimer; these are my personal opinions!)...X-Plane seems to be more technically oriented...Lots more aircraft parameters to adjust, etc...You can tinker with the aircraft in almost any way...The issue of flight dynamic realism is hotly debated...Not being a real world pilot, I can't really say which program is better...I do know that flight schools use both programs...It's a good product, but I find myself going back to FSX...X-Plane does come with all world terrain, but there are no airport sceneries, just runways...I will say that the developers of X-Plane support their product with frequent updates and fixes, unlike MS...All in all, I think, if you have FSX and are enjoying it, I would save your money or buy a couple of high quality addons for FSX...Good luck...

Steve in Kansas

[IanP]

X-Plane is nowhere near as polished as FSX - but that's because it's basically a one man operation, where ACES have rather more.

I tried the demo of the latest version again not too long ago and uninstalled it. The flight models are different - I hesitate to say better, regardless of what Austin says in his blurb, because you can still do impossible things in it and helicopters in particular feel even more dumbed down than they are in MSFS.

I've tried to like X-Plane, I really have. I've paid for two versions and tried the demo of every major build and a number of minor ones. I still come back to MS FS versions every time and X-Plane ends up uninstalled.

Ian P.

[Major_Spittle]

Wow, thanks for the quick responses. Sounds like X-Plane has a ways to go still. I will be rooting for them but probably save my money.

Hopefully someone will start using the Mulicore CPUs and Physics cards to actually model the physics of flight. Looks like I will continue to wait. :ernae:

[Bjoern]

If Xplane had
- more accurate terrain
- real AI traffic
- more virtual cockpits
I'd be so gone from FSX!

[Lionheart]

If Xplane had
- more accurate terrain
- real AI traffic
- more virtual cockpits
I'd be so gone from FSX!

I would be right behind you Bjoern. Mainly because I am disqusuted with vista and MS. (I would / could switch to Apple OS then... No more crashes to desktop. Power....! ).

If the VC was adjustable back so your nose didnt rub on the instrument panel,
If the textures werent limited to 4 Bitmaps
If I could match about 'all' of the controls from FS9 to the X-Plane console/keyboard/joystick..


I like the trains in X-Plane. You can chase them, lol... Car AI traffic too. And I like how it has 'utterly crazy' AutoGen settings, lol....


Bill

[ColoKent]

...available in a Mac-compatible version. I know you can load a Windows or Vista OS as well on Macs and use Boot Camp, but I like to fly in the background when I do other work on my computer...I'd be an Apple user if that would ever happen-- their products are well thought out, the OS is stable-- not the clumsy, buggy "computer geek" kluges every MS OS has ever been.

K.

[Bjoern]

I would be right behind you Bjoern. Mainly because I am disqusuted with vista and MS.

Vista ain't that bad. All tuned up it runs just as well as XP32.


I like the trains in X-Plane. You can chase them, lol... Car AI traffic too. And I like how it has 'utterly crazy' AutoGen settings, lol....

Trains?!?
Tell me more!
Could make for an interesting race...ICE from Cologne to Frankfurt versus an equivalent GA aircaft.

Speaking of this, I also recall an old Deutsche Bahn commercial.
Older guy sitting in an ICE, staring out of the window. He spots a yellow Piper Cub flying above and next to the railroad tracks. Inner monologue from the off, something like "Ah, a Piper Cub. How many hours must I've logged in one of those, soaring through the skies, feeling like I was the fastest guy in the world." Piper Cub slowly falls behind, because it can't keep up with the train. The old man turns his head away from the window and stares emptily into the ICE's cabin, thinking "Good old times...". Fadeout. Deutsche Bahn logo.


I tried to find it online, but to no avail.



...available in a Mac-compatible version. I know you can load a Windows or Vista OS as well on Macs and use Boot Camp, but I like to fly in the background when I do other work on my computer...I'd be an Apple user if that would ever happen-- their products are well thought out, the OS is stable-- not the clumsy, buggy "computer geek" kluges every MS OS has ever been.

MSFS with native Mac support is never going to happen. Ever. Same with Linux and MSFS.

Windows 7 looks very promising though, maybe it's going to be the ultimate flight sim platform.

[hinch]

...available in a Mac-compatible version. I know you can load a Windows or Vista OS as well on Macs and use Boot Camp, but I like to fly in the background when I do other work on my computer...I'd be an Apple user if that would ever happen-- their products are well thought out, the OS is stable-- not the clumsy, buggy "computer geek" kluges every MS OS has ever been.

K.

As a man who uses an Apple iMac (3 months old) every day and with a girlfriend who refuses to use anything else (Macbook) I still don't support these arguments. Though the operating system may be stable the software that runs on it is invariably irritating and Apple's insistence on being different (ctrl + click, delete doesn't delete you have to cut everything etc etc) is just frustrating. At least they finally put a hash key on their new products! The build quality is also considerably less than it used to be and charging £90 for a 1GB stick of bog standard Kingston RAM and invalidating your warranty if you don't buy it from them is a joke.

Rant over!

The latest version of X-plane has some real potential, they're implementation of the Avidyne and neat little virtual cockpits is really nice. Graphically it is sort of between FS9 and FSX though the planes are quite FS2002. The interface is a little annoying also and their aren't many 'simulations' of aircraft available, just many little fun aircraft often built from default parts which is fun but not to everyone's taste.

In a few years I'm sure X-plane may be a really good alternative to those becoming more frustrated with MS and and the 'gamer' feel of FSX.


Windows 7 looks very promising though, maybe it's going to be the ultimate flight sim platform.

It's Vista with bug fixes and the multi touch interface which sounds pretty good to me. In the promotional video they compare it to a well known fruity phone but before any more Apple vs. Windows (they're both PC's why say PC vs. Apple?!) arguments please refer to Jeff Han who became very famous for his multi touch demonstrations a few years earlier and he was working independently =)

This is my longest post ever!