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CaptBmckay I totally understand what you mean. Clear Skies, Brandon Mckay. You will start cold and dark if you pick parking spot in an airport. Tuskin38 3, Posted August 19, edited. MFS doesnt have or at least I wasnt able to find "Cold startup".
Bilal At the end of the day we're just sitting in our comfy chairs in front of a PC screen. Well, first of all, there is the aircraft themselves. FSX comes with 30 available aircraft ranging from the standard commercial airliners to single-engine airplanes and helicopters. By comparison, X-Plane 11 has eight less, boasting a still respectable 22 different aviation vehicles , but still around a quarter less than its competitor. Cessna in flight.
And when we consider that the graphics on Flight Simulator X are not exactly terrible, that perhaps shows how detailed and improved such graphics actually are on the XP11 program. It is probably accurate to say that many FSX users have since replaced their original 30 aircraft with add-ons, which as we will see, particularly for this package, opens a door to an abundance of extra aircraft and scenarios.
Indeed, while the platform is over a decade old, which in itself is a further testament as to just how strong the program is to still be a major player in the virtual flight world, some of the sounds and feel of the aircraft appear slightly dated to the more up to date, slicker, and overall slightly more realistic options on offer courtesy of XP It would appear, at least at the moment, that opinion is quite split regarding the aircraft available for P3D.
While some users very much state their belief that the quality and quantity of planes is better on P3D, at least an equal amount, if not more, appear to favor XP11 or FSX. And a large part of the reason is the amount of money required to be spent in order to achieve a realistic feel, with P3D seeming to come down on the expensive side of the line more often than not.
And in terms of functionality and the overall dynamics of the basic aircraft on offer, XP would appear to triumph with quality over quantity. We have written and explored many of the scenery add-ons available for FSX previously. So, with that in mind, it is not particularly a knock on FSX to state that the basic scenery available for the XP program, while in itself not mind-blowing, is of a higher standard.
Their use of high-tech street mapping and 3D graphics appear to make the city streets and roads burst into life more than the Microsoft package. Indeed, at the time Microsoft's Flight Simulator X burst onto the scene a decade or so ago, such graphics appeared top notch. Now, however, especially with such a platform as the latest version of X-Plane showcasing more up to date and overall stronger graphics and scenery textures, the older Microsoft platform is beginning to appear a little dated.
Mesh scenery add-on example in X-Plane Their use of 3-D graphics and realistic mapping would appear to continue to set it apart. As the hour approaches evening on your virtual flight missions, the ground below will begin to glow an orange color to reflect the lights of the cities below. It appears the scenery of Prepar3D, while certainly authentic, still lags behind XP11 for intricate detail, particularly, as one user complained, around the airport scenery.
Furthermore, it would appear that cost is a big issue with users when deciding whether to make the switch. A great many of the scenery add-ons come at an extra price, meaning that to set up an authentic flight plan with airports and scenery could become a very expensive business.
In terms of night lighting and night flying, however, P3D, boast some of the best night-time lights and graphics available. In fact, this might be one area where P3D has the edge on the other two flight simulation programs. And while that might not be enough to swing the deal for prospective buyers, for more veteran virtual pilots who are at a stage where they are looking for such finer details, it might be something worth bearing in mind.
Example of a Boeing cockpit at night. While these types of aspects of virtual flight perhaps appear trivial to some, especially newcomers to the world of flight simulation, it is such small details that separate a good flight platform from a great one.
It would appear to be much easier to move from FSX to X-Plane 11 and appreciate the improvement in such details than to use X-Plane 11 and then revert back to FSX, which would suddenly make the overall experience far less realistic.
However, another user fell on the other side of the argument. But if you are looking for overall aviation detail — such things as the difference in weather, the difference in terrain, even difference in seasons and when such seasons occur when at various points around the planet, then FSX, albeit achieved through add-ons, is by far a better option. Prepar3D very much contains some of the best graphics available, of that there is little doubt.
However, many of them remain locked behind additional purchases. This means that you might end up spending a considerable amount of money to achieve the realism you want, whereas that realism could have been reached for a lot less with our other two programs featured here, in particular, FSX.
As stated at the beginning of this section, though, this really does come down to personal preference, and to no lesser degree, personal budget. Martin - a less sterile world? Of course, how the program works and runs on our respective systems is also of paramount importance. And it is here once again where X-Plane 11 would appear to pip FSX, with the latter seeming to have a reputation among users if the forum comments and complaints are to be believed of crashing on more than one occasion.
This would appear to be due to the program loading all of the memory onto the CPU, bypassing the GPU and, on occasion, simply overloading the processor and so crashing the program. Indeed, it is an issue that FSX will need to address in the immediate future and possibly address with a fix or a free add-on.
Cessna 3D virtual cockpit. On the other hand, X-Plane 11 distributes this memory usage between CPU and GPU, which in turn allows for a much smoother flight and running of the program. While there are still instances of this newer program crashing, it would seem it is much more fluid and easier to run across most platforms than the FSX version. Although there might be a need to repurchase some addons again, in terms of how well Prepar3D runs this should not be a concern to anyone looking to purchase the software as a new pilot or make the switch from their current one.
You may be interested in reading our article about boosting FSX performance here. As we mentioned at the beginning, for the most part, it is only fair, and sensible, to compare the programs on their basic, out of the box, settings. And, the fact that the user gets more aircraft to fly courtesy of FSX than they would with the other platform aside, it would seem that X-Plane 11 is the better purchase. However, another area where this older platform dominates over X-Plane 11 is the number of add-ons that are available for it.
And while some of these of paid-for extras, many are completely free and truly do go towards making the experience of flying with the Microsoft developed platform both genuine and authentic, as well as offering an absolute plethora of options in everything from aircraft, airports, scenery, and textures. LATAM add-on - one of the mods you can download for free.
Indeed, perhaps as big a plus as the running of the program was for X-Plane, the same can be said for the number of add-ons for Flight Simulator X.
As we will look at shortly, many virtual flying veterans prefer FSX over the newer flight sim packages. Essentially, if you have a lot of time and a considerable money pot, it is indeed possible to transform the older platform to be a much better model than XP11, or indeed any other flight simulators. The fact that there is such an array of extras available does perhaps give the dated FSX more flexibility and longevity in terms of regular use.
Aside from the obvious extra aircraft, the extra scenery, airports, and even missions, at least as things stand in , dwarf what is available for X-Plane, as improved as it is. As we have mentioned throughout our article, the add-ons for P3D, while being great in terms of detail and realism, are some of the priciest on the virtual market.
In short, if you are likely to require lots of add-ons to achieve the overall feel you desire — and most virtual pilots do - then a sizeable wallet — digital or otherwise — will be a necessity. It would appear that for FSX, their vast depth in terms of extra features, some of which are remarkably detail orientated, is the great equalizer against the seemingly stronger newer platforms such as XP We have over 24, files in our library - you can view our FSX mod library here and our X-Plane 11 mod library here.
Perhaps the most important aspect of flight sim is just how realistic the flights are, particularly from the cockpit. On a basic level, many of the cockpit graphics are much more detail orientated in X-Plane However, when add-ons are taken into account, it is relatively easy to increase this detail. The P3D cockpits also boast some of the most realistic on offer. Everything from the feel of the cockpits, to the flight navigations equipment and the overall authenticity, is realistic to the max.
And this replication is the same during night and day and in all weather conditions. However, in terms of overall authenticity and realism of flight, the P3D cockpit software is some of the most authentic available and certainly holds its own against XP11 and FSX. Piper Malibu cockpit. OK, so before we summarize the two programs, we should perhaps look at where the two flight simulation software companies are right now.
While X-Plane, and certainly version 11, are newer to the market, Flight Simulator X has been around for some time, and consequently, already have a steady audience of veteran virtual pilots as well as more amateur flyers and those with a passing interest.
Microsoft Flight Simulator X logo. However, given the lack of active development, it would appear that X-Plane 11 certainly has a bright future ahead of it. And while it would perhaps be a little early to say that it is ready to push FSX aside and take over as the premier simmin' software, it would certainly appear destined to force other platforms to share the market more evenly.
Perhaps what is often overlooked when considering such programs is not only how popular, how much technical support, and what add-ons may or may not be available, is the respective communities that develop around such software. For example, whether it is in chat rooms, closed social media groups, or specialized Internet forums for FSX or X-Plane users , when you purchase and begin developing and exploring your software, you are also, should you choose, opening a door to world full of other like-minded individuals, looking, in this case, to take to the skies from the comfort of their own PC chairs.
And while Prepar3D most certainly has its own loyal fan base, it would appear from those same Internet forums that it lacks that of the other two, at least in terms of numbers. While the community is indeed just as loyal for P3D, it is decisively smaller. And it might be one better suited to experienced pilots who have made the conscious decision to try a different software as opposed to newcomers to the world of flight simulation although there is certainly no reason for such rookies to opt for P3D.
Laminar Research's X-Plane 11 logo. We should note, that both products have strong communities, meaning whichever package you opt for, whether it is official assistance or advice from other users, there will be an abundance of people to offer support, hints, and tips on how to get the most out of virtual flying software.
With all that in mind, then, you might think that the obvious choice would be to snap up the latest and greatest platform like XP If you a newcomer to the world of the virtual flying, then that very well might be the best option for you. And, in time, it would appear that many other virtual pilots will be joining you.
My opinion so far is, you get more bang for your buck with FS at initial purchase. While with X-Plane you will be forever buying addons. I'm not picky at all, so I'm running with both. Last edited by Big Ram ; 15 Sep, pm. Of course as was said, both cater to different types of users, FS targeting the broader audience.
Fact, strange but true. Ive accepted FS over XP It simply takes too much to make XP11 look good. FS looks outstanding right out of the box with years to mature behind a behemoth publisher.
So I've uninstalled XP11 for the near future. Got tired of bland scenery and iffy trackIR support. And DCS world scratches the combat flight sim itch for me. So my two basis are covered. I've decided to go that way. Just trying to decide whether to buy std version or go all out with deluxe or premium bundle. Havent done the sums but I suppose it works out more expensive to add those in later. Microsoft Scenery Simulator was released still in a Beta phase.
I have the Premium Deluxe version and advise anyone wanting to get the Sim to get the Regular version only. The hand built airports are not that great and the Jet Airliners are not worth paying additional money for at this point. The Jet Airliners are certainly not study level aircraft so many buttons inoperable.
You would be better saving your money to buy a 3rd party study level aircraft when they come out - eg PMDG Thankfully a free A addon is being worked on by the Flight Sim Community to make it more realistic.
However, Bing Maps needs a major update! Some of the maps are out of date 5 or more years. X-Plane 11 is still leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to flying jet airliners - specifically because we have the 3rd party pay aircraft e.
I still see MSFS needing another 6 to 12 months to mature The 2nd update patch was 16GB addressing issues raised by the flight sim community. Last edited by BigKangaroo3 ; 20 Sep, am. I agree entirely.
This is one of the most popular simmer planes. I have three flight simulators, P3D V4. Aside from some airport elevation issues in P3D it is my go to flight simulator for the following reasons. I use ORBX scenery and that has seasons. Active Sky P3D is used for weather and is excellent. The aircraft modeling is very good but the modeling is X Plane 11 is better. X Plane 11 has great flight modeling and I really enjoy flying the aircraft I have in that simulator.
The scenery in X Plane 11 is a nightmare if you want to have seasons since X Plane 11 neglected to support seasons throughout it's development. So if you want to fly with green scenery all year round and that doesn't bother you, then I guess X Plane 11 is OK.
Personally I want snow on the ground in Winter and that is impossible under all circumstances. Some people may disagree so I will explain. Initially when I purchased X Plane 11 two years ago I wanted seasons. TerraMaxx came out and that provided a good solution for the default ground textures. Then I started to use Ortho scenery. OK the winterizer plugin came along that created Winter textures for the Ortho scenery.
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