X-Plane 10 (XPX)

[v4moose]

Just to add to the multitude of quality simulators available on the market (or being close to available) I stumbled upon this video via the avsim forums.



X-plane 9 has for many years been the 'alternative' flight simulator to FSX, appealing much more to the HK crowd, who were interested in real flight dynamics over graphics quality.

In my opinion, while technically superior to FSX in many ways, X-plane 9 suffered from a lack of 3rd party addons. With the new release of XPX, Austin Meyer and the Laminer Research team have taken a number of steps in the aim of increasing the simulators appeal to 3rd party developers.

The 'Linux' of flight simulators is looking hot and is sure to be a contender as FSX enters end game mode.

For more info check out the website http://www.x-plane.com or an interview with Austin via the Avsim Town Hall meeting at http://www.fsbreak.net/podcast/2012/5/2 ... eting.html

Happy flying

[v4moose]

A demo is available for Windows, Mac & Linux via

http://www.x-plane.com/downloads/x-plane_10_demo/

The demo has recently been updated, and I strongly encourage anyone who was underwhelmed by previous versions to give this new one a try. I personally found version 10.05 much better for multicore support and rendering which almost doubled my FPS.

Note: The demo starts you out in a 747, but this can be changed in the aircraft menu by hovering your mouse around the top of the screen. If you've flown the cessna 172 in FSX, try it out here. IMO the flight dynamics are well and truly a league ahead. This is thanks to the use of Blade Element Simulation, essentially a virtual wind tunnel which simulates forces on the individual components of the plane.

http://wiki.x-plane.com/Appendix_A:_How_X-Plane_Works

The demo is time and area limited and will ignore joystick inputs after 10 minutes.

I will post some screenshots of the demo soon.

[cyclobs]

i've tried the demos before but.. i don't know it just didn't click with me and i ended up going back to fsx.. might give it another a bit later on

[brimlad]

Tried the cessna for about 6 flights this morning and I'm starting to dig this sim, it looks and flies so sweetly, ground traffic is great to see and radio coms are so much better.
The menu structure is very different from fsx but that is soon learnt; the depth of this sim is very appealing and I think a few more flights and I'll be buying.
will have a closer look at the forums and see what online/mp options this sim has

cheers

[Hydra]

I've been playing XP9 on and off, it's a huge huge HUGE install if you install all of the scenery. Something like 73GB.

Sooo tempted to get XPX, it looks fantastic

[brimlad]

yes x10 is hugh 8 dvd's apparently so probably why they don't do a digital d/l version.
and virtual air traffic server looks a great mp setup and it's free and supports both x10 and 9
http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?s=8 ... 10792&st=0

just did a quick flight in the cessna cut the power and did an emergency landing on a road and almost ran into a car haha.
I'll do some more test flying tomorrow but I'm pretty certain I'll buy this; the hard part will be waiting for it to arrive in the mail, and not spending the 750usd for the pro version which supports cylindrical and spherical projection which would be amazing.

just had a look at shipping costs 14.65usd 2- 6 weeks wait or 69.32usd and it's here in a week; sad thing is I'll be in London in 7 weeks.

cheers

[Hydra]

Ahhh bugger on the shipping, I think I went with the slow option for XP9 back when I bought that.

Just can't justify the high shipping cost for a few DVDs! If it's anything like XP9 it'll come as a rubber-banded bundle of DVDs in paper sleeves. Class.

[Ash_Williams]

XP10 actually comes properly packaged in one of those continuously folding cardboard case thingo's, its a 57.1GB'ish installation. I'm pretty sure I installed all the scenery.

[brimlad]

thanks for the info Ash.
and yes Hydra quick shipping cost for a few dvd's is somewhat excessive; I'll see if the local sim shops have/can get this product at a reasonable price before I order os; the demo is very seductive.

cheers

[v4moose]

local sim shops

??????????????

[brimlad]

http://www.pcaviator.com.au/store/
100aud I'll give them a call later today and see how much stock they have and delivery times.
lol 10 dvd's might need a new ssd also

cheers

[v4moose]

ah excellent thanks for that link.

Thrustmaster HOTAS WARTHOG.... must... resist...

[Cas Bitton]

Spotted it here, great price!

http://www.ozgameshop.com/pc-games/x-pl ... pc-and-mac

[brimlad]

thanks Cas, definitely a good price; European version though, where are these folks based ? couldn't seem to find any location details on the site and if they aren't in Australia why the oz ?
pcaviator still haven't replied to my phone message or email and I won't commit till they do.

and v4moose you'll find the warthog cheaper at pccg and techbuy; while it looks and feels a great stick it's designed for a-10c and having quite a heavy resistance it's probably not the best for long flights. At that price point the saitek x65 is possibly a better general aviation hotas though I'm yet to try one or the force sensing tech. try before you buy if you can at that pp.

cheers

[Cas Bitton]

thanks Cas, definitely a good price; European version though, where are these folks based ? couldn't seem to find any location details on the site and if they aren't in Australia why the oz ?
pcaviator still haven't replied to my phone message or email and I won't commit till they do.

They are based in the UK but have a "local" online store to service their australian customers, I've purchased a few games from them in the past without issue.

Free postage is always nice, along with the typical pricing of 50% off retail/steam for most platforms and not having to worry about any money conversions or fees as it's in AUD