I'm a complete newbie!

[Whiteman]

Hi all,

I've been running various versions of MSFS for some years now but it's only via passing references to X-Plane that I've come to realise it appears to be a pretty good flight sim.

Bearing in mind that I've never seen it (either on a PC or in the shops [U.K.]), couls someone answer a few questions for me please?

1/ How much is it?
2/ Where can I get it?
3/ Is it a similar kind of Sim to FS2000 in terms of being purely civil avaiation?
4/ Does it simulate the whole world or a psecific area?
and finally,
5/ Is it as good or better than FS2000?

Thanks in advance.

John

[gary2]

I also have just recently discovered X-Plane and purchased a copy ver 5.52. for about $60.00 Canadian. After installation I found out the ver 6.0 is soon coming out also for the same price. Fortunately an up-grade for all 5.x holders was made available ver 5.9. Talk about bad timing. Anyway I guess the game is to produce a version and up-date it for awhile for free then when the coffers get low put out another version. I would rather pay a little each time to keep it updated.
Now- to try to answer your questions - I am no expert however know enough to be dangerous.
There are a few quirks - freezes, aircraft out of control, scenery is pretty basic and not detailed in this version and some runways appear in mid air, cane field fires in Hawaii appear in mid air.
It is important to understand that this flt sim emphasizes(?)
different aircraft many of which are well engineered with
many realistic controls. eg Harrier, Space Shuttle and others.
A great deal of blood sweat and I'm sure tears went into producing the sim.
Do not compare it to FS2000 as that would be comparing apples and oranges.
I do enjoy it as a change from other sims but it is not my favourite.
There seems to be a great x-plane following as I am sure you will be hearing from them as a result of your post and maybe my comments
Good luck - as a newbie you might check out IL2 on the Bluebyte.net - it looks like a winner for the shoot em up crowd Gary:-jumpy

[maheshfsnet]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-04-01 AT 00:44AM (EDT)[p]You can try the demo for free!

The previous full version is v5.66. It allows you to fly for 5 mins after which you loose the joystick control.

The new version, v6.04, also can be downloaded and will work as demo for 10 mins. The full version CD will be out "..by October 10".

They can be freely downloaded at www.X-plane.com

P.S. All downloaded versions are full programs but work without the CD as demos for the times listed above.

Try it - doesn't cost you a penny to try aside from the download time - the file sizes are in the 60-70 MB range.

Good Luck!

[Whiteman]

Thanx Gary - much appreciated.

John

[Whiteman]

Thanks very much - I'll go get the dem and give it a shot!

John

[Short1ESK]

No!!! The demo is horrible! I HATE it! The Joystick NEVER works as far as I am concerened! I never got the airplane to move! And you can only go in Southern Calif. and a little bit of MARS! It is soooo bad! It takes forever to download on my Cable Modem! The FrameRates on the ground were terrible. I couldn't tell you about the air since I never got there!
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"Framerates are much better in real life."