Venture into clouds or storms and you can enter a world of hurt. The aircraft shakes, the airframe creaks and icing can obscure your vision and build up on your wings. MSFS becomes an interactive lesson in the dangers of scud-running. Even in clear conditions, fly too close to mountains and updrafts and downdrafts can catch you - and the developers have now modelled the air mass reacting with mountains, terrain and even buildings.
There are also subtle visual cues on the strength of wind. Waves and whitecaps at sea give an indication on speed and direction, while wind turbines also give a clue to strength.
For hands-on, seat of the pants flying in a small aircraft, windy and stormy conditions constitute a real challenge. Some users, predictably, have already used the 'live weather' setting to go 'virtual hurricane chasing' flying into real world storms to capture some incredible screenshots and video that the weather engine generates.
You can of course, set whatever weather you like, and part of the fun of of this for many is playing 'weather God' and creating the perfect conditions for screenshots. One or two minor points remain. Ground fog or CATIII conditions seems difficult to achieve in the custom settings — a visibility slider to set the exact distance would be welcome, although low visibility seems to work fine when using live weather. Oddly, despite the amazing cloudscapes, high-level cirrus clouds seem to be missing.
An oversight that hopefully will be rectified in a future patch. Individual surfaces are now modelled allowing for spins, flat spins and realistic stall behaviour. Previous legacy editions of the sim featured look-up tables that meant that as long at the virtual pilot kept within the centre of the flight envelope, a convincing recreation of aircraft climb, top speed and published performance figures could be simulated.
However this started to break down where stalls, spins and unusual attitudes at the edge or even beyond the envelope occurred. It was left for third party developers to improve and produce more aerobatic aircraft.
In MSFS, this has now been rectified and aircraft are now split up into surfaces - each reacting with airflow, air pressure and temperature separately. This approach of 'blade element theory' allows wings to stall and rudders to be blanked.
The result is that aircraft now demonstrate convincing highly dynamic and fluid manoeuvres in a much wider envelope. Stalls and spins are now possible and aerobatics a Pitts Special and Extra a joy to fly and experience. On larger aircraft such as the business jets and airliners, however, this is more of a work in progress. Some seem overpowered and have a disinclination to lose speed, even with the throttle in idle. The glass cockpits, autopilot and FMS systems that are included in many of the aircraft are extremely useful, but do not have the deep systems modelling of some payware add-ons — and some functions seem to be missing.
In short, the heavier iron, which relies on autopilot and FMS needs some more work to be fully usable, but the GA aircraft FM's are far improved and a real delight. Word also needs to be made of the fantastic and external and internal graphics modelling of all the included default aircraft - which are in some cases indistinguishable from the real thing.
Photogrammetry of Portsmouth - more cities are likely to get this treatment as Bing maps and data sources get updates. Another way in this differs from previous versions is that it is a living, evolving product Unlike previous boxed versions of the sim, the 'always on' broadband world we now live in means that MSFS can be constantly upgraded with regular updates, patches and improvements.
In fact it is designed this way. The navigation data from NavBlue for example, will be updated in line with real-world flight data every 28 days. The satellite and aerial photography too via Bing maps will only get more accurate and higher resolution over time.
Some of these may not be apparent, even to the developers, unless you are flying over a remote part of the world that has had new more recent satellite imagery added. The developers meanwhile say they plan to enhance and support MSFS in the future focusing on certain regions and perhaps even types of aviation, filling them out with additional landmarks and so forth. The massive and highly talented flightsim community too, is also expected to also fill out missing landmarks, bridges, castles, extra aircraft, and indeed this has already started.
In short, we can look forward to years of support and this simulation only getting even better. The in-game marketplace streamlines hunting for new add-ons and means keeping these up to date will be easy.
For third-party developers too, MSFS represents the next level and a massive opportunity to put your airport, aircraft or utility in front of many more customers with an in-game marketplace. Previously the huge ecosystem of thousands of add-ons that MSFS required either the consumer to buy hard copies in the form of CDs or DVDs to install, or more recently digital downloads.
However installation could be tricky, and keeping it up-to-date was often a chore. While more experienced users can still download and install from third parties, there is now an inbuilt marketplace that allows new simmers to quickly and easily browse and buy add-on content. Spotted your favourite airport or aircraft in the in-game shop? Almost One click and you can add it to your base game and never have to worry about extra add-on codes, passwords or keeping it up to date.
Need an upgrade to hardware to be able to run XP11, but being semi-retired and limited budget, not going to happen near term so I am running FSX Steam for now. Originally Posted by GridNorth. This will fix your saitek proplems. It is a registry issue with Windows I struggled with this also.
Download this and run it and it will fix the problems with displays on your saitek panels. You could use Spad. Also, X-Plane does support Saitek panels with the plugin from the Logitech site. I'll attempt to address all the points made. Thank you by the way. I was impressed with what it offers so I have been delving deeper.
I have managed to get my Saitek panels to work with far less trouble than with FXS. I agree it brings it up to a reasonable offering. That's part of the problem though, I feel as though all of this is contributing to the complexity, especially for setting up. I would like a system that you click on the icon and away you go. I do not like having to fiddle with systems settings as a work around and delving into scripts to solve issues.
After playing with the demo version I have concluded that X-Plane is the far superior product and you get much, much more in the base build. Even the FMC in the works. The scenery, all though not perfect is far better and the airports even have moving vehicles, jetways etc. I don't know if these latter work.
Setting up is a breeze compared to FSX and the whole package just feels more robust. If I was starting from scratch I would have no hesitation about buying X-Plane. I'm only hesitant for the moment because of the time, money and effort I have invested in FSX but I am seriously considering changing. Page 1 of 2 1 2 Last Jump to page:. And, in time, it would appear that many other virtual pilots will be joining you. While FSX has more add-ons and choice, it would appear to be only a matter of time before that choice of extras is equaled by X-Plane and other programs.
With all that being said, though, FSX still have a huge audience and share of the virtual flying market, many of whom are loyal customers on the one hand, and also flyers who have spent, in some cases, thousands of dollars or pounds in extras in order to create a unique virtual flying experience tailored just for them. Prepar3D is perhaps in an even more difficult position. And while it is likely that the audience it has is a very loyal one, those virtual pilots who have earned their stripes on the other simulators will likely be hard-pressed to convert to P3D.
So, the decision is ultimately yours, and each program has its own pros and cons. There are, though, some other factors to keep in mind for both rookie and experienced virtual pilots.
Particularly when we consider the future of flight simulation. Lufthansa A add-on. There is certainly plenty on offer for loyal users of the older Microsoft platform. And, as we mentioned above, in terms of a well-rounded overall authentic flight, FSX certainly delivers. Indeed, many who have used both programs state their preference for the older model.
And if it is quantity you are looking for then this more-established program is for you. However, if you are looking for the finer details of virtual flight, whether it is authentic conditions from the cockpit as you struggle against the elements and other factors designed to make for a more realistic flight, X-Plane 11 might be something you wish to opt for.
Especially when we consider in another decade or so, in all likeliness, X-Plane 11 will have overtaken FSX in terms of market share, available and actively developed add-ons, and accessibility.
With that in mind, particularly for newer virtual flyers, it might be best to get on board now. Before you continue reading, perhaps you'd like to compare the official trailer videos of each sim. Perhaps one word of warning, however, while this will likely change in time with new developments and add-ons, one discreet drawback with the X-Plane 11 simulation is that most of the detail is loaded into the United States, unlike FSX where airports and locations all over the planet are available.
And thanks to the numerous add-ons, which we have already mentioned, these various locations are often highly detailed. Similarly, if P3D prices were to come down over the next few years, then it might, in turn, attract much larger numbers to it than it currently does and it is already one of the most popular flight sim software available.
Each of the programs has its drawbacks and strengths, and in an ideal world, an amalgamation of the two software packages would fill in their respective gaps in each program. Unfortunately, and again this is a testament to the overall strength of each package, as well as the quality of the flight simulation market in general, it is not a case of picking a clearly better program over another. Like anything else in life, it depends on what you, the pilot, are looking to get out of your virtual flying missions, as to what program is ultimately the better option.
However, in time, X-Plane looks set to challenge to be just that. Indeed, like many of us, many pilots of the virtual skies use multiple virtual software programs. And there is certainly nothing to stop any of you doing the same. Except perhaps budget, that is.
Of course, we have reviewed all three flight sim platforms in detail; you can read our review of FSX: Steam Edition here , Prepar3D review here , and of course our X-Plane 11 review here. Please, please post your comments in the comments section below. We need to hear your thoughts. What simulator platform do you prefer? What did you start with? Have you switched simulators - if so, why? Don't forget Files include aircraft, scenery, and utilities All are free-to-download and use - you don't even need to register.
Browse on down to the file library here. Ian Stephens is a flight simulation industry expert with over 20 years of experience and also has a keen interest in aviation and technology. Ian spends a lot of his time experimenting with various simulator packages but has a love for Microsoft Flight Simulator X because of the huge selection of add-ons available. Ian has been writing for Fly Away Simulation for over 9 years. Should you wish, you can contact Ian via email at ian.
The content of the comments below are entirely the opinions of the individual posting the comment and do not always reflect the views of Fly Away Simulation. We moderate all comments manually before they are approved. Why compare X-plane with an outdated 10 years old simulator with a fast decreasing number of users. FSX itself has been succeeded already many years ago by Prepar3D, has a fast-growing number of users and all critics and reviews elaborate on the endless improvements in Prepar3D related to FSX.
Many comparisons are also available on Youtube. Besides that, there are regularly improvement-updates for Prepar3D, the most current one is Prepar3D V4. I have flight simulator x gold edition I am 75 and not too clever but I need a total commander for the downloads. I'm a loyal customer, I've spent a much more dollars for add-ons, I'm too lazy to start from the start again.
And some FSX aircraft flight dynamics and texture, especially the latest add-ons, is better than XP For the record, I do not own XP. Thanks, Dennis. There is no doubt that the X plane has better flight dynamics and generally is more accurate. However, it is very complicated to set up. Trying to for example set up aircraft using Saitek control systems rudder x52 proflight yoke is very complicated. One has to configure each aircraft separately. This can be very time consuming and frustrating as Xplane 30 does not always work with for example X52 throttle.
Then one has to look at sensitivities each time; this is unnecessary. Xplane needs to make this much simpler and user-friendly. You can of cause program different buttons But it is so much more user-friendly and simple and it works for all aircraft. Their scenery for Australia and airports for Australia are perfect and a further total upgrade is been developed.
As regard to aircraft in FSx the jet aircraft do not appear to have the best cockpit layout but for those like USA myself who prefer to fly piston single or twin piston aircraft are excellent I myself a Dcc3 from MAAM in the USA which is fantastic and all the single-engine aircraft that I have purchased are also excellent, I submitted this reply twice by mistake Bob.
Looking at the videos on the latest sim it looks a bit too complicated for an old Aussie like me. Kindest regards Bob. I recently purchased X Plane 11 and agree the scenery looks great but still have the same problem getting all the buttons and switches programmed to be able to fly it so I don't.
Just my two dollars worth. Wish someone would do that or upgrade FSX to bit tech. However, be it because of advanced age or lengthy familiarity with FSX, I find X-Plane very complicated and the controls are so different as to be a daunting disincentive.
Also, what is with the screeching tires when taxying? The biggest shortcoming with FS X is the 4 GB max memory characteristic in the game, regardless of your computer's available memory.
Steve's FSX fixer program helps, but it is a band aid really. I think X-Plane has not reached the addons quality for skies and clouds, water and seasons FSX have got. In fast all other matters, I find X-Plane superior. And In X-Plane there is no need of installing programs and addons; only copy them to the computer.
For me, it was a lot easier programming flights in FSX, even if less realistic. I started out using FSX years ago with my three monitor system. FSX is a good program but I now definitely prefer X Plane 11 as it provides a much more realistic flying experience and a much better and easier to use visual cockpit experience for the virtual pilot using three or more monitors.
I recommend any new virtual pilot go with X plane I personally prefer FSX, and it's for a reason which has been overlooked here: I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy a joystick although I did spend a few hundred bucks on add-on missions and aircraft , so I fly using the keyboard only -- so the advantage of FSX is that it has primary flight controls on the keyboard, which the X-Plane interface lacks!
I've used FS since it came on 5. I run a fairly normal i7 PC with a 2GB graphic card and the frame rates are very good. Count me among those who are FSX only -- I actually have XPlane, but it is such a power hog that my 3-year old computer stalls
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