spotlope
09-21-2001, 11:44 AM
With the delays put on FS2002, I decided to look again at X-Plane 6, especially in light of the fact that the demo of the next version is out. I've now loaded it and flown around a little, and here are a few thoughts I have:
1. The eye candy factor has really increased dramatically. I'm referring especially to the scenery. I had a great time just slewing around the SoCal town I chose first, watching police cars and stuff. The skies are just fantastic, but I always thought they were nice in X-Plane.
2. The panels of the provided aircraft are very much improved. They still aren't the photo-realistic one's I've been able to find for FS2000, but they are light-years ahead of the previous version of X-Plane. Still no side views on most, and I hope that's something that will be addressed someday.
Now for the stuff that still makes me crazy:
3. Can it possibly be true that only two input devices are usable? I recently plunked down for a CH USB Pro Throttle, which brings the number of devices I have to three, counting my CH Yoke and Pro Pedals. When I went to configure my joystick options, I could only get input from the first two device IDs in my system. Also, only three of the five axes on my CH Yoke are usable; the other two don't provide any input. Shame, Austin, if this is true! My hope is that maybe I just missed how to enable the other devices.
4. Okay, this one has made me absolutely nuts since I first used X-Plane, and it continues to bug the heck out of me in this version. Why oh why can't I assign my hat switch buttons to pan around the cockpit as they do in FS2k (and almost every other flight sim on the planet) and have them return to the front view when I let go of the switch? Using the keyboard is clunky and not at all convenient. When I've tried assigning the hatswitch to do what I mentioned above and then step outside the plane, using the hat jumps me back inside to the view that was set for that button. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot not to like about FS2000, but I've always felt that it's view capabilities were fairly natural and let me feel as though I were actually there. Am I being dense about the views setup, or is it just a pain in the butt?
Okay, that's it for now. I hope that the things I don't like about this sim will either be fixed by release or are due to my misunderstanding of the setup. I really liked this new version the first time I loaded it; it was only after a few minutes of flying that I got frustrated. But of course, that's all I wanted to do in it, so it's pretty disappointing.
thanks,
Bill Womack
http://www.spottedantelope.com/images/never_forget.jpg
Please feel free to copy and use this graphic if you are so inclined.
[font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"]
Go tropical! Download my DreamFleet 737 Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines liveries at http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/Downloads/737_liveries_2.html and http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/Downloads/737_liveries_5.html
1. The eye candy factor has really increased dramatically. I'm referring especially to the scenery. I had a great time just slewing around the SoCal town I chose first, watching police cars and stuff. The skies are just fantastic, but I always thought they were nice in X-Plane.
2. The panels of the provided aircraft are very much improved. They still aren't the photo-realistic one's I've been able to find for FS2000, but they are light-years ahead of the previous version of X-Plane. Still no side views on most, and I hope that's something that will be addressed someday.
Now for the stuff that still makes me crazy:
3. Can it possibly be true that only two input devices are usable? I recently plunked down for a CH USB Pro Throttle, which brings the number of devices I have to three, counting my CH Yoke and Pro Pedals. When I went to configure my joystick options, I could only get input from the first two device IDs in my system. Also, only three of the five axes on my CH Yoke are usable; the other two don't provide any input. Shame, Austin, if this is true! My hope is that maybe I just missed how to enable the other devices.
4. Okay, this one has made me absolutely nuts since I first used X-Plane, and it continues to bug the heck out of me in this version. Why oh why can't I assign my hat switch buttons to pan around the cockpit as they do in FS2k (and almost every other flight sim on the planet) and have them return to the front view when I let go of the switch? Using the keyboard is clunky and not at all convenient. When I've tried assigning the hatswitch to do what I mentioned above and then step outside the plane, using the hat jumps me back inside to the view that was set for that button. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot not to like about FS2000, but I've always felt that it's view capabilities were fairly natural and let me feel as though I were actually there. Am I being dense about the views setup, or is it just a pain in the butt?
Okay, that's it for now. I hope that the things I don't like about this sim will either be fixed by release or are due to my misunderstanding of the setup. I really liked this new version the first time I loaded it; it was only after a few minutes of flying that I got frustrated. But of course, that's all I wanted to do in it, so it's pretty disappointing.
thanks,
Bill Womack
http://www.spottedantelope.com/images/never_forget.jpg
Please feel free to copy and use this graphic if you are so inclined.
[font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"]
Go tropical! Download my DreamFleet 737 Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines liveries at http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/Downloads/737_liveries_2.html and http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/Downloads/737_liveries_5.html