X-Plane 10

[DarrenL]

From the website

When you get your X-Plane DVDs, download and run the appropriate DVD installer below. Do not use the installer that comes on the Disc 1 DVD.

Grab the latest installer appropriate to your platform below.
Insert the DVD Disc 1 into your drive.
Run the installer that you downloaded. Do NOT run the installer found on the DVD.


Confidence ebbing.

[DaveB]

I agree Darren. It does make you wonder what else can go wrong.

ATB
DaveB

[guym-p]

I've never been impressed with x-plane, because in the past I've found those who used it, who i tried to get help from, arrogant and rude.

Well, there are pleasant and helpful X-Plane chaps as well. You might even find one or two right here!

I just got an email from JustFlight advertising XP10 and I didn't realise it was so expensive.. rrp of £59.99 with JF offering it at £49.99

Or £53 ordered directly from Laminar at full RRP, including shipping. But it's always expensive when it's brand new. X-Plane 9 dropped in price fairly quickly and has been $29 (£19) for more than 2 years.

As for the current state of X-Plane 10, I would have preferred to wait for a more reliable product, but it's here now. I dip into it from time to time to see how it's improved, but otherwise continue to use 9.70, expecting (and looking forward) to switching over in the Summer.

[TSR2]

Hi Guy, thanks for popping in. If i go down the X Plane 9.7 route is it possible to port models between versions? Also, in the current version are there any AI aircraft? I might dip my toe in again. Part of the problem I had last time was trying to relate some of the terms I was familiar with in FS into the equivalent in X Plane speak.

[guym-p]

From a commercial point of view, most developers promise that stuff bought now will include a free upgrade to X-Plane 10. From a practical point of view, the differences between aircraft in X-Plane 9 and 10 are additive: new features, new options, new possibilities for lighting the 3D model. As a generalisation, an aircraft designed for X-Plane 9 will work in X-Plane 10 but not the other way round. However, although simple aircraft crossover without trouble, the more developers have added, tweaked, bent to their wishes or otherwise cheated X-Plane 9 to achieve their aim, the more work they will need to do to convert them to 10.

For example, my Comet looks good in 10 and flies reasonably well. That is to say it feels the same after a few circuits and bumps, without accurately measuring the stall speeds, rate of climb, descent and so on. I immediately noticed four faults: the wheel brakes didn't work at all, gauges for the right hand hydraulic and electrical systems showed zero, despite the system being fully functional, and the external lights showed through into the passenger cabin as if the cabin walls were transparent.

X-Plane aircraft are not compiled; only the plug-ins. Therefore anyone can open an aircraft in Plane Maker and read or alter a wide range of settings and parameters. I launched Plane Maker 10 and noticed changes to the hydraulic and electrical systems. It is now necessary to tick a box to define how the wheel brakes work; similarly, there are more options for pumps, batteries, and generators. My aircraft appeared to have defaulted to a single pump, single generator type until I set those things up for X-Plane 10. In other words, three out of four faults were trivial to fix. The lighting issue also affected aircraft that come with X-Plane, so I put this down to a bug.

Regarding porting stuff between Microsoft FS/FSX and X-Plane, aircraft are difficult, scenery less so. If you are the original developer, with access to all the original source files, it would be possible to convert the 3D geometry. Since that's 75% of the work these days (or more) it's a huge saving. However the animation and flight model would have to be completely re-done.

Airport conversions are, by and large, successful, because a greater proportion of them are simple, static, 3D objects. Texture mapping seems to convert nicely, too, at least in my experience. There is a freeware script that does the whole thing with the click of a button, including the whole file-structure. As with aircraft, animations do not convert, which can be surprising: automatic gates or radar equipment is found lying on the ground in pieces, as if left there by some building contractors but not yet installed.

Seldom a week goes by without half a dozen announcements of converted scenery. I think some of it is by children with absolutely no idea of the legal ramifications, but I am pleased to see others making it very clear that they have obtained full permission, sometimes even active involvement, of the original creator.

As for your second question, regrettably, I have little experience with A.I. aircraft. X-Plane 9 has them, up to 20 of them, and there are some scenarios for in-flight refuelling or formation flying. I think even the staunchest X-Plane enthusiast regards them as wooden and inadequate. X-Plane 10 includes a total overhaul of A.I. and A.T.C. It was very buggy to start with, with some hysterical YouTube films of confused aircraft rolling about on the airfield like elephants taking a bath, but I am told it is better now.

I'll be happy to answer any more questions, if I know the answer ...

[TSR2]

Cheers Guy, thanks for taking the time to explain these things. I'll download the xplane 10 demo and give it a go in the first instance

[TSR2]

Just had a look at some of the promo screen shots and I see shipping and Aircraft Carriers So I'll give it a try, downloading the demo now

[guym-p]

The default settings (settings/rendering options) give very low FPS unless you have a new-ish computer and pretty serious graphics card. Previous versions were the opposite which I always found sensible. I suppose they wanted to show off the new toys. If you find the graphics slow or stuttering, find the rendering options, press the "minimise all" button (bottom right), then build up the features you like according to your own priorities. Same with the weather. Same with A.I. aircraft.

[TSR2]

Hi Guy,

We'' I've had a quick "play" with the default united 747. I think the first thing MSFSers will struggle with is the key assignments, so I've change a few of the basic ones to be someithing I'm more familiar with. One thing has me stumped though. In MSFS there is the ability to cycle through the views and I can't find something similar. Also my joystick "HAT" which I would normally use to pan arround the cockpit doesn't seem to function in that way, it simply seems to be detected as buttons. Even when assigning these buttons to views, there doesn't seem to be a way to use it to pan arround, this seems to be reserved for the mouse. Have I missed something, or do you have any pointers?

Otherwise, the environment seems pretty good. The quality of textures on the 747 is a little average. The AI models are incredibly basic, but this is just a demo. One thing folk should note, is that in trhe aircraft selection menus, there is nothing that I could see to differenciate AI models from standard ones, as a result, selecting the BA 777 will leave you looking at a very disapointing beast as its a very low detail AI model, but this IS a demo I'm refering to.

Would I be right in saying the 747 is the most detailed model in the demo Guy?

[guym-p]

It's not just MSFSers who struggle with key assignments, it's X-Planers too because they've changed in X-Plane 10. Panning was always [Q] and [E]. That hasn't changed. Panning using the HAT works for me in 9. Did you configure the buttons with the commands "general/rot_left" and "general/rot_right" or something else?

I agree with your comments about the 747. Quality is a bit rough. The sheer scale of the interior is impressive, but the outer skin is crudely textured with coarse seams and rivets. Its designer, Javier Rollon, has taken more care with his own product, a CRJ-200, see the screen shots on this link: http://www.x-aviation.com/catalog/produ ... ucts_id=68. Of all the aircraft that come with X-Plane 10, I prefer the ones in the General Aviation folder.

Laminar research would do themselves a big favour by dropping all the old models from the aircraft folder and providing very few, but very high quality, inspiring models. The BA 777 dates back to X-Plane 8 and should have been binned long ago.

It may be a demo, but the only limitation is the time limit on flights and the scale of the scenery. Everything else is exactly the same as the paid version. But if previous versions are anything to go by, it will be an altogether better, more settled and mature product in 6 months time.