I'm in the market for a new Sim, need advice

Folks, after passing the commercial pilot checkride on my MS 2002, I am in the market for a new Sim.

 

Any advice?

 

Should I go with X-plane 10, or Microsoft FSX?

 

Should I instead wait for X-plane 11 or MS 2015?

 

btw, I have a fairly new computer, with windows 7, intel i7 etc

 

I notice that there are about 20 times as many posts in the FSX forum than in this X-plane forum. Should I read anything into that?

 

Or am I in the wrong forum for this?

 

Thanks.

 

Matt

I would say get FSX, but only AFTER the Steam version is stabilized. FS 2015 will probably just be another Train simulator style product. (i.e pay 30$s for 3 routes, pay 30$ for every new one you buy) X plane is a physics simulator. Nothing but. Graphics are OK default scenery is GODAWFUL, (vs poor in FSX) VERY few good payware and the ones that are out there have rather poor models and systems. (I know there is one, the rammzez 757, that is really good...) BTW, I woud recommend the PMDG planes, and FlyTampa, Taxi2gate, ORBX, and LatinVFR scenery.

Hi Matt,

 

Welcome to the X-Plane forums:D.

 

I thought I'd chime in here as I think some of the advice given to you so far is not quite up to date (apologies Speedbird ATC;).

 

There was a time when X-Plane severely lacked the add-ons and features capable of bringing it into the mainstream but these days have long since passed (I'll get to that in a minute).

 

When it comes to making a choice between the two, why choose?

 

Gone are the days when hard drive space was a limiting factor. I use both sims and enjoy them greatly. Both (whilst limited to a desk) are never going to compare 100% with the feel and thrill of real life flying, but at least by having both, you're not blinded into thinking one is supremely better than the other.

 

With FSX (to name just a few) you have the incredible sceneries from Orbx and amazing aircraft by A2A. There are of course many other quality add ons, but these are the add-ons seen most in forums.

 

With a standard installation of X-Plane, you get incredible worldwide mesh, which greatly surpasses that of a vanilla FSX installation. Road and water data is also of a higher standard than default FSX.

 

To add to this detail seen in X-Plane, you can also add the amazing HD Mesh from Andras Fabian (donationware):

 

http://www.alpilotx.net/gallery/

 

Available at FlightSim.com in the X-Plane file library.

 

Another option is to add OSM (Open Street Map) buildings of the world. Coupled with the HD Mesh previously mentioned, the results can be spectacular:

 

http://world2xplane.com/screenshots/

 

Did I mention this is also donationware?

 

In the past, X-Plane was pretty much devoid of airport buildings, with just plain runways and taxiways shown. This is no longer the case as default airports are now being populated (in great numbers):

 

http://gateway.x-plane.com/airports/page

 

You don't need to download these airports as they are part of X-Plane and added with each new update. Each update brings (in most cases) an increasing number of populated airports.

 

With regards to more posts about FSX in the forums, of course. MSFS has a strong and well established user-base and rightly so. It's a remarkable franchise which for a long time has offered a great deal of fun and realism to would be and professional pilots.

 

However, FSX is getting on and no longer in development (except in the guise of P3D), so with each new release of Windows, problems can occur with FSX, often regarding installation. Add to this that it is only a 32bit application and the limits (with todays modern hardware) are clear to see.

 

X-Plane is a 64bit simulator and the reason it can use HD mesh coupled with a massive amount of OSM is because there is no 32bit memory limit.

 

Aircraft too are exceptionally modelled in X-Plane and to give you a few examples have a look at these:

 

https://www.fspilotshop.com/vflyteair-grumman-traveler-for-plane-p-4783.html

 

https://www.fspilotshop.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=x-plane+carenado

 

https://www.fspilotshop.com/vmax-777-boeing-777-worldliner-professional-p-3877.html

 

Over at X-Avation, you'll find more examples:

 

http://www.x-aviation.com/catalog/xplane-aircraft-c-21.html

 

Do you like weather enhancements?

 

http://www.x-aviation.com/catalog/skymaxx-p-101.html

 

As you can see, both sims offer a wealth of add-ons to the simmer and to shun one in my experience is to do yourself a disservice.

 

If you can, use and enjoy both, as together they pretty much make the ideal simming environment:D.

 

Happy Flying!!

 

Dom

I notice that there are about 20 times as many posts in the FSX forum than in this X-plane forum. Should I read anything into that?

Matt

 

There is a very lively XP community, but regrettably (and for reasons not entirely clear to me) not here at flightsim.com. That doesn't say anything about the quality of XP10.

 

As for "default" scenery, XP10 does require some initial work (see Dominic's post above), but once you completed that it puts FSX default scenery to shame. But yes, you do need to tinker a bit to get it up to your personal standards.