Customer Reviews

X-Plane v 9.0

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I have purchased every Microsoft Flight Simulator since FS '98, and have found each one to have it's own unique quality. So when Flight Simulator X came out, I was eager to see it's contribution to my ever increasing world of flight simulation. While I enjoyed it, it was not as promised. The DX10 feature was the biggest let down, as even on max settings it looked nothing like what we were promised. Oh, it looked okay as flight sims go, but it lacked the real punch I expected from a Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The flight physics are still adequate, set to maximum realism it can be fun, even. However, I still felt something was lacking. So, in a fit of boredom, I purchased X Plane 9. $[...]? "Well", I thought, "we'll see what we can get out of a flight sim that costs a third less than FSX standard."

I installed the program on my PC. It took about 30 minutes to install the primary program, and about 10 minutes to install the North America/Europe scenery disc. That's right, scenery on separate DVDs, and it's all worth it.

I started up the program and configured my graphics settings. Just for a hoot, I set them all to maximum settings. 4X Anti-aliasing, Ansitropic filtering, 1680x1050x32 resolution, turned on the rain and weather effects, and started it up. It loaded in about 20 seconds, which was 3x faster than FSX, and the opening shot was enough to catch my breath. It was superb. I'm not talking just nice resolution, the realism was astounding. Everything looked and moved like I was actually flying through a real world environment. So I flew around for a while, and the handling feels better. It responds more like an aircraft would whether it be rainy, sunny, windy, what have you, the plane behaved accordingly. FSX had done this also, but it was only mediocre compared to the flight physics this program was employing.

I wasn't won over yet. I wanted to see if I set FSX to the exact same specs, how it would respond.

Firstly, FSX doesn't have the same detailed customization as X-Plane 9. You have about half those settings. However, what I came to see was whether FSX could produce a visually stunning image as X-Plane 9. I set everything up, maxed out, as best as I could. There weren't as many visual options either for FSX as there were for X-Plane.

After I mimicked the settings for FSX as I had for X-Plane, I started up the simulation.

I was disappointed. FSX didn't do too bad, but when I tried to take off, I was rewarded with frame skips and stuttering. FSX couldn't reproduce the visuals and physics without cutting it's own performance. This was supposed to be the power of DirectX 10? Pfft. At max settings in X-Plane, I had seamless flying, with rain and thunder, lightning, drops splattering the windshield and shearing up the side, off the wings, too. Unlike FSX where you just see gray colored lines and a reflective runway as if it were wet.

I will state one thing, however: If you like using your keyboard, you can in X-Plane, it's just a little tougher to use. X-Plane does mouseflight (which is neat once you get the hang of it) and Joystick control, which I highly recommend. You will find a more satisfying experience that way.

I am now an X-Plane fan, and unless Microsoft can give me their performance, physics and detail, I'm not sure if I'll even be interested in their next release. Who knows. In the meantime, I'll be flying X air. ;)

~Pastor J

X-Plane 9 is not really a game in the classic sense. But it is, without question, the most realistic flight sim you can get for entertainment. It is even used as part of an FAA certified trainer. It has more options and customization than you can imagine. It even allows you to create your own aircraft. I found the program solid and much more efficient (both CPU and graphics) than FSX. This is no "flight-arcade" game. If you really want realism, X-Plane this is only way to go.

I purchased both X plane and Microsoft's Flight Sim X for the purpose of using them for some home flight training. As a simulator X plane 9 knocks the socks off Flight Sim X. Flight Sim X was simply too easy and the controls a tad unrealistic. Simple things really bothered me like the fact that the turn coordinator is there simply for show (it doesnt work) Flight Sim X is also a real system hog (see reviews on amazon for numerous complaints). I have numerous other complaints related to its realism that I wont waste time on here. X Plane 9 is everything flight sim x wants to be. I found the simulation much more challenging and the weather manipulation far superior to Flight sim X. The aircraft models and graphics to me looked roughly the same. In addition to the benefits as a simulator, X plane also allows you to do some really amazing things that Flight Sim X doesnt. Want to fly on Mars? Pilot the space shuttle back to earth from orbit? Take the X-15 from under the wing of a B52 into orbit? Design your own airframe? If your trying to decide between X plane and Flight Sim X I would get X plane.

As a former Microsoft Flight Sim pilot, I would like to second the opinions expressed so well by John Allen in his review dated October 15, 2008. There is a growing community of ex-MFS pilots who have made the switch to X-Plane, and there is a reason for this.

There's a reason why Precision Flight Controls, Inc. uses X-Plane as the software platform for its FAA-approved flight simulation systems.

There's a reason why the Cirrus Corporation used X-Plane to help design and test its newest private jet.

There's a reason why many airline pilots, while on layover, will use X-Plane (loaded on their laptops) to simulate the next day's flight and approaches.

There's a reason why the National Test Pilot School uses X-Plane as a part of its training program.

The reason is actually found in the first few sentences of the X-Plane manual: "X-Plane is the world's most comprehensive and powerful flight simulator for personal computers.... X-Plane is not a game, but an engineering tool that can be used to predict the flying qualities of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.... Since X-Plane predicts the performance and handling qualities of almost any aircraft, it is a great tool for pilots to keep up their currency in a simulator that flies like the real plane, for engineers to predict how some new airplane will fly, and for aviation enthusiasts to explore the world of aircraft flight dynamics."

Regarding ATP Jim's comments from August 10, 2008, where he stated that he was not able to get a Cessna 172 off the ground: Every day, thousands of X-Plane pilots happily get their Cessna 172s, Bell 206s, Boeing 777s, etc off the ground. Just as most mishaps in the physical world are not the fault of the aircraft, most mishaps in the X-Plane virtual world are not the fault of the software. In both environments, the problem usually results from pilot error, and that certainly seems to be the case in this situation.

Regarding J. Boggs' comments from November 10, 2008, where he dared anyone to find a customer service phone number anywhere in their literature or website: May I suggest he go to the X-Plane website (conveniently named X-Plane.com) and click on "Contact and Support." There he will find four different phone numbers including one specifically dedicated to tech support. I have personally called that number on two occasions and each time the phone was answered by a real person who was both extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

In conclusion, while X-Plane may not be a game, those who love aviation will find that it is one of the most interesting, challenging, and immersive experiences you can have using your personal computer.

Addendum dated February 17, 2009:

Regarding W. Sisson's comment from January 21, 2009, where he refers to the words "Home-Use Version" on the X-Plane start-up screen: I can certainly understand how this could lead to confusion concerning the capabilities of the X-Plane software purchased through Amazon. It may surprise people to learn that the retail version (the "Home-Use Version") is identical to the FAA-Certified version in almost every respect. In fact, they are the exact same discs! The only difference is that the FAA-Certified version does frame-rate and flight control checks on start-up (a requirement for certification). A specially-purchased USB key plugged into the computer is all that is required to unlock those start-up checks. Everything else is the same. In other words, aircraft will perform exactly the same in the "Home-Use" version running on your desktop PC as they will in the "FAA-Certified" version running in a professional full-motion simulated cockpit. Why? Because it is the exact same software.

Danielle Townsend's review is incorrect. She apparently left realism mode on "easy". The only reason the turn coordinator wouldn't work is if she left "auto-rudder" turned on, which will result in turns always being coordinated and the coordinator always centered. Also on easy mode, single prop planes won't pull left, etc., making it less realistic. However, I have realism mode set to hard, and I don't really notice any difference between the flight models of FSX vs. XP9.

Anyway, more to the point, I'm not a pilot, just someone who wishes they were. So, I bought Flight Simulator X Deluxe Addition and the Acceleration expansion...and I bought X-Plane 9 since it seemed like the only competition out there. So, I figured I'd write a review since I could make comparisons.

If all you care about if flying from point A to point B and want a large variety of differing aircraft, then you may very well want to get X-Plane 9. If you want to get an idea of what it's like landing the space shuttle or flying on Mars (I was bored after 5 minutes), then get X-Plane 9. If you want to install 60 GB of data onto your hard-drive only to find that the Seattle and San Francisco skylines are GENERIC buildings instead of real models, then X-Plane 9 probably won't disappoint you. You CAN download mods (additional GB) to get more, accurate scenery, and there ARE a lot of cool planes on X-Plane 9...I love the Cirrus "The Jet" default plane...however,

For all other people, definitely get Flight Simulator X. Flight Simulator X installs more easily. It takes up less space on the hard-drive (only 2 DVDs instead of 6 or 7). Has a wealth of information on learning to fly. Has "Flying Lessons" with, granted, a guy who has the corniest sense of humor I've ever heard...but humor aside...still really cool and as far as I (a non pilot) can tell, seems like the tests are fairly realistic with the exception that you "can" bypass startup, mixture, rudders, etc., so that it's less realistic if you choose to. FSX also has a wealth of missions that give you more things to do than just fly from point A to point B. You can take off from the San Francisco airport, see models of real buildings in the city, and fly under the Golden Gate Bridge in great detail...you can fly over Seattle and see Qwest field, Safeco field, the Columbia Tower, Space Needle...etc. If you get the Acceleration pack you can also fly a military jet and try your hand at landing on an aircraft carrier (X-Plane 9 does aircraft carrier landing too, btw).

X-Plane 9 has "situations"...where (for example) someone flew to an aircraft carrier and saved the game on approach so that you wouldn't have to do the "flying to" part. However, this doesn't really compare to FSX's Flight Lessons and Missions. Overall, XP9 simply lacks the polish and "little details" that are in FSX, which makes FSX much more interesting for people like me who want to be given flight lessons and missions...and want to see real scenery.

You'll be coming to X-Plane for one of two reasons: You're a dedicated Microsoft FS pilot and you want to try something new, or you're a Mac owner and you have no other choice.

Let me see if I can cut to the chase right away: I've flown thousands of successful missions with Flight Simulator, but I've never completed even ONE mission with X-Plane, and I've been flying both for a decade.

X-Plane advertises itself as the "most realistic flight simulation" and as having "realistic flight dynamics." Here's a word from a private pilot: The Flight Simulator team simplifies the flight model a TINY bit in order to attract more users (and also gives you the option of making it perfectly realistic), but X-Plane's "realistic" flight model is far more slippery than real life, and you have no choice but to deal with it. It's harder to control an aircraft in X-Plane than it is in the real atmosphere. And that frustrates the hell out of users. Think about it this way: With a PC simulation, your control abilities are severely limited by simplicity of the inputs, the small screen (with no peripheral vision), no meaningful feedback, and just the pure inability to turn around. Is a flight model that claims to be "most realistic" really appropriate given these ergonomic limitations?

Flight Simulator is developed by a large team of pilots and programmers who make sure that the final product will please both beginners and advanced pilots. X-Plane is owned, designed, coded, and supported by one man - Austin Meyer - who makes the simulation function as he damn well pleases. If you don't like it, go back to Flight Simulator. That's the attitude.

If you like to endlessly tinker with hundreds of parameters in order to set up your aircraft, environment, traffic, scenery, and weather EVERY TIME you fly, by all means, buy this software and plug in numbers forever. If you want to jump in, fire up, and fly, in order to get your clients to their next destination post haste (which is what one type of real-world mission is like), stick with Flight Simulator. And the third-party options for Flight Simulator are abundant. Not so for X-Plane.

X-Plane fascinates with its flexibility, but not its enjoyment. It's a chore.

X-Plane is a simulator and not a game. It is not "plug-n-play" nor is it very user friendly. I have been flying X-Plane for years and still don't have it all figured out. It is rather detailed-expect to have to take some time to learn how the program works. That said there are many many pilots, aviation companies and people who just fly sims that think it is great.

The dvds from Laminar Research, the X-Plane parent company, support Windows, Mac and Linux. Some licensed or repackaged dvds from other companies may not support all three platforms and some may not have all the scenery disks. Be sure you know what you are buying. You do not have to download all 80G of scenery (or however big it is). You can select what places you want scenery for when installing. If installing the whole thing, expect to spend a few hours, even with a fast machine. A fairly up to date manual to get set up and fly can be found at the official website: [...] under the support heading.

To start out, you need to be sure that any necessary drivers are installed, the manual mentioned above can help with this. Then you will need to manually configure your graphics and Joystick, yoke, mouse or other input devices. The graphics settings can be found in the Settings>Rendering Options menu. Start with low graphics settings and then work up. If the processor(s) are being taxed by graphics set too high, and the flight model is suffering, XPlane always tries to keep the flight model realistic first. Too high graphics settings may cause lots of fog, even on clear days, or worse. Most major changes to graphics only change upon restarting X-Plane. To configure input devices (it will support a dozen or so simultaneously) go to Settings>Joystick & Equipment. You will need to calibrate your hardware and select which axis and slider control what. You will then need to center your Joystick/Yoke & pedals and select the amount of realism, deadspace and such. Then you will need to tell XPlane what you wish buttons to do. After setting your graphics and configuring your control devices you should be able to fly.

Updates and bug fixes can be found under the downloads heading at [...]. A warning about updating: Almost always updating X-Plane does ugly things to the preferences. The preference files can be found in the X-Plane folder under Resources>Preferences. It is best to delete or save them safely somewhere else if updating. Sometimes 3rd-party plugins (found in X-Plane 9>Resources>plugins) that worked before an update will no longer work correctly after an update. You may have to remove them. Be sure to not delete the plugins that installed with X-Plane. If you have room on your harddrive, you may wish to keep your pre-update version of X-Plane until you are sure you like what has been updated. X-Plane is always a work in progress. It is getting better and better, but some of the steps are a little rough.

Generally, unless you are experiencing a problem with something Austin Meyer, the author of X-Plane, is currently working on, he won't be very helpful with bugs and problems. If you chance to find a bug in something he is currently working on, expect a quick reply. He has a small staff which keeps costs low but also limits what he can do by way of product support. So what can be done to troubleshoot problems? The central meeting place of X-Plane users worldwide is [...]. With a little looking around the site and asking questions, bug fixes and solutions to nearly any X-Plane problem can be found.

The default planes that come with X-Plane are an odd group. Some are very nice and others are a bit crude. All were chosen and included to showcase various aspects of the program. At [...] a few thousand planes are available for free. Some of the free planes are very well done while others are half-finished projects or rejects. Download them and try them. Some of the half-finished planes just need a few tweaks in the included Plane-Maker program. A fun and well made plane designed in Plane-Maker that was nearly produced as a real-world plane is the free Evenblade twin turboprop by Sean Tabor. Benedikt Stratmann's free Boeing 737s are also excellent, but a bit daunting if you are not used to the complexity of flying an airliner. There are also links to many websites selling planes at [...]. Many of the payware sites have free planes also. Most of the planes have 2-D cockpits, but more and more are offering 3-D cockpits or both.

X-Plane can be a pretty hard program to set up and use. Get the manual from [...]. Download a few planes and some detailed scenery packages you really like at [...]. Once you get the hang of it, it is a great program.

Despite it advertising better modeling than MS Flight Simulator, it doesn't feel like it. Controls are twitchy and overly sensitive (even after hours of fiddling) and planes that should be dead-on in "feel" are nowhere near it. Why, for example, does the 172 get pushed and turned around on the runway by a 10 knot quartering head wind without the brakes on? It is absurd. Such a thing does not happen in FSX and it doesn't happen in real life.

The feel and rate of controls (trims etc.) between different planes are too varied to be able to consistently expect anything and everything is always a surprise. The biggest problem is that even a plane like a Beech 1900D feels like a kite in the simulator, and it's no fun hand-flying anything smaller than a 737 in IMC. This simulator may be good for the lower-end commercial simulation market, but it needs tons and tons of work for it to be anywhere near as useful as FSX was on the desktop.

No problems found so far, got everything I hoped for and more.

I was a bit annoyed to learn that you dont need a full 80 gigs to install the program (My system is dual boot and had to move things around to get 80gig). You can select what scenery you want to install from as little as a few gigs to the full 80, I did just North America for about 20gigs.

Have only flown a few aircraft so far, mainly the Cessna 172 and it flys like a real airplane (have not stalled though). I bought the sim to get some on ground practice time while earning my privet pilots license, I figure that if the sim saves me 1hr of flight time it paid for itself including joystick, so far am sure it will. Mostly I have used it for repetition of basic maneuvers, cockpit management and scanning instruments.

Set up was fairly simple, remapped some buttons how I wanted, no problems here, joystick calibration was simple. There are many sub-menus that I am sure will take time to learn but I was up and flying very shortly after finishing the install.

X-Plane 9 is the best flight sim I have ever played. I have every MS flight sim developed. The thing that ruins Microsoft's product is they all run like a dog (even on the best systems). I purchased X-Plane 9 for 29.99. I had never heard of it. After installing disk one and setting the global setting to extreme the excitement began. I was so impressed at how super smooth the frame rate was. Even better, the graphics are photo realistic. I can not believe that MS Flight SIM still "Stutters" after all these years in developmet. The graphics on MS Flight Sim X are no where near the quality as X-Plane. How in the world can this be (X-Plane having better graphics,real physics AND A BETTER FRAME RATE???)

One reason could be that X-Plane does not write to the Windows registry. You have to kind of treat it like an old DOS program..."explore" for the X-Plane folder from the Start menu then click on the executable file. Also there is no an uninstal program. You just delete the folder to remove the progam from your hard drive. This is because X-Plane does not waste resources within the windows operating system.

I do have one complaint. X-Plane 9 does not run in wide screen. You have to use a square 4:3 monitior, otherwise there will be minor distortion (Stretching so to say)if you try to play the game at full screen using a wide screen monitor. X-Planes developers recomend running the game at 1024x768 resolution. That setting looks like crap. I run mine at 1600x1200 and set the desk top to this resolution so the game fills the screen. The image is slighty horizontaly elongated but I do no notice and it looks so much better then playing in a square window, (1024x768), on a wide screen monitor.

Some people argue that landmarks are missing from X-Plane. MS Flight sims are really not any better. The reason being MS places a generic landmark (not photorealistic) in an area where most of the surrounding buildings and streets do not exist in real life. Here is where X-plane shines "for Me". I turn the "Street" setting from within the games "options" menu to insane. All the streets that are within the game really exist. It is so cool to fly a route and follow the streets that you normally drive on. The buildings are generic in a sense that they do not exist but at least they are renedered like a photograh and the cities appear overhead as the do on Google Earth...even if the buildings are fake...their boundaries are real and that's what matters to me!

This is how I compared the realism of the street placement. X-plane has a satelite view that contains many options. I would go back and forth between this satelite view (from within the X-plane program) as well as from with the plane while in flight...I would then compare this to the real world satelite view in Google Earth. It is a dead match.

I have a high end computer. Quad core overclocked liquid cooled CPU, Dual Nvidia 8800 GT video cards, 2 gigs of overclocked ram and Microsoft Flight Sim X still runs like a dog. Even with most settings disabled or set to sparse.

With X-Plane's graphic quality set to Extreme and the street level set to insane the game still runs like a Nascar racing game...just watch the runway whiz by during take off. MS flight Sim X feels like like your moving in slow motion (when it is not stuttering)regardless of speed...50 mph feels the same as 300 mph. The only thing that changes is the speedometer on the dash board. Whats up with that? Why even bother having a throttle? This all said I believe X-plane 9 will run exceptionaly better then Flight Simulator ever could using a lesser system. This game FLYS...

Wayne