I capitulated and bought X-Plane

[Navy Chief]

I never planned on buying X-Plane, but had a weak moment a couple nights ago and bought it. I haven't spent much time with it, but my initial impression is it a beautiful sim. I cannot afford to start buying add-ons for it because I've spent hundreds on FSX/DCS. So I am researching for info on what freeware is most highly rated.

And, of course, carrier ops is my number one interest! NC

[Daube]

My knowledge about addons for XPlane is a bit limited.
However, I can already tell you that the amount of good military jets is close to nothing, unfortunately. It seems military jets are not a popular category in the XPlane world...

That being said, the default Phantom is not too bad, and you get random carriers here and there, placed automatically by the sim whenever you launch a new flight.
They appear on the map too.

Concerning the recommended freewares, there are a few good models out there.... but I suppose it depends what "good" means for you.
For me, a "good" model has a nice exterior model, and a nice looking virtual cockpit with good instruments and a lot of clickable stuff.
And unfortunately, there are not much models like that for XPlane...
There ARE some, but not much.
Best examples I have in mind right now are the DC-3 and the Robin DR400.
Just go to the download area of the x-plane.org website, go to the xplane 11 pros sections and browse.

[Daube]

Just one additional remark: please take all the time you need for configuring the sim settings and your controls.
Things in XPlane (controls and such) are quite different than in FSX/P3D, and it take a little while to get used to it.
Also the graphical settings need to be set carefully, because their impact on the FPS don't always follow the same logic as in FSX/P3D. You'll have to experiment a bit.

But I guarantee you it's really worth the effort.
From the start, I recommend you to play around, once you're in the cockpit, with the keys K and L, which *slowly* adjust the time of day, without need to pause or reload.
You get a much faster adjustment if you press SHIFT+K or SHIFT+L.
XPlane as dusk/dawn can be really impressive ;)

[b52bob]

I also recommend that that you look for reviews and comments at x-plane.org at the end of file descriptions. The star rating system is not completely accurate.

Q8Pilot has a lot of good reviews, just google him. Also, look for any sceneries done by Mr. X and get them immediately, quality payware design for free on x-plane.org.

have fun with it. I hardly ever go back to P3D.

Bob

[scotth6]

Yes, definitely get any and all freeware by Mister X6. Most freeware for XP11 can be found at https://www.x-plane.org/

He also has a freeware package called Airports HD. Basically search for anything by Mister X6, it is all great. You may need to sign up to see the following link, which you will want to do anyway, as "The Org" as it is known is the primary source for all things X Plane.

https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/profile/125097-misterx6/content/&type=downloads_file

To see what good free addons there are I would suggest having a look at youtube. There are a number of really good videos previewing some nice planes, scenery and utilities. Just search for something like: Best freeware X Plane 11 (or similar). One airliner that is highly recommended is the freeware Zibo mod for the default 737. This mod turns the 737 in to a version which is almost on par with PMDG quality.

https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/138974-b737-800x-zibo-mod-info-installation-download-links/

Another nice plane just recently released is the Nord 1101 from Restauravia:

http://www.restauravia.fr/html/x-plane.html

[grunau_baby]

Some further X-Plane resources are:

http://simheaven.com/
(http://simheaven.com/)Some great scenery enhancement over there.

XPFR hangars
(http://xpfr.org/?body=aero_hangars&av=-1)offering some great freeware aircraft (the Stampe and the robin are a blast)

AlpilotX.net
(http://www.alpilotx.net/downloads/x-plane-11-hd-mesh-scenery-v4/)at this place you find some great HD mesh for X-Plane

BTW, welcome to the dark side:redfire:

Regards
Alex

[greenie]

I too am a recent adopter of Xplane , bought in a fit of curiosity !...so glad I did.

One piece of freeware which is an absolute must. Orbx True Earth demo . I have a large sample area of Southern England . It may not include fighters but it does cover a part of the country which has a strong naval history . Beautiful sim and great scenery

[PilatusTurbo]

I've been on X-Plane since July, and won't be going back to FSX again. I didn't initially Nuke FSX, but it didn't take long.

I, too, held off and was very hesitant, due to having invested so much into FSX. I bought two Megascenery states, two weeks before I tried X-Plane the second time, and gave it the chance. I was a bit saddened by that, but I've now bought a few XP addons, and most of them are remarkable.

I say the chance, as Daube put it. It's got a bit of a learning curve. However, once you figure out how to arrange the scenery.ini, adding scenery is SO SIMPLE. You just drop a scenery folder in there, and it's loaded in. MisterX6 is a must, some beautiful freeware sceneries, and this is where X-Plane truly dominates. There is a large, large community that creates some beautiful free scenery.

I've included this valuable link: https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/90776-master-list-of-libraries/
Don't be intimidated. At first, I was like HOLY HELL You gotta go through this much work to install a freeware scenery? I stuck with it, and you don't need every single library there; most sceneries will indicate in their documentation what libs or Libraries you need.

Ortho4XP, ALSO FREE, will (Again, once you've learned how to utilize it) create Photoreal scenery, with its own realistic lanclass (Yep, photo real scenery with halfway decent autogen), and its own terrain mesh which is far better than stock. I've gotten halfway decent with O4XP, and have tons of tiles, so PM me once you start and have questions. You can even adjust the Zoom/Detail level of this free photoreal scenery; it just depends on how much hard drive space you want to use up. :)

I'm shutting up now. I'm just excited to see another one thinking of coming over. You were and are challenged by the same issues I, and many others of us XP converts are initially faced with. Stick with it, if you're dedicated and know how to Google issues and find Youtube tutorials, you'll be not looking back in less than a week or two. :)

[b52bob]

Yes, downloading libraries are a pita but you only have to do it once.

something else I forgot on x-plane.org that in the download section, there is a list of top rated file for the month and for the year. Gives a good guide what everyone is doing.

Don’t forget payware. There is some good stuff out there for not a lot of money, especially during sales.

[txnetcop]

Welcome to the DarkSide Navy Chief! Pilatus stole my thunder but he is absolutely right as well. These guys are good and have learned well!
Enjoy,
Ted

[Bjoern]

This brand new handbook costs oney, but might be very useful for beginners:

https://store.x-plane.org/Flying-Low-The-X-Plane-11-Handbook_p_1058.html

[b52bob]

This brand new handbook costs oney, but might be very useful for beginners:

https://store.x-plane.org/Flying-Low-The-X-Plane-11-Handbook_p_1058.html
Looks like a great resource. The info is organized well and the book is colorful and easy to read. Kudos to the author.