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Question about different flight sims....FSX vs Prepar3D vs Xplane


adebiase

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hi all, I have been FSX user for many years and was looking around for something new, either in the form of payware for FSX or expand in to new software. This may have been discussed a lot so I apologize if this may make your eyes roll but here is what i am taking from doing a little for homework:

 

-FSX is a dead end software, it will not be improved or further developed by Microsoft simply because that whole product team got dissolved, it doesn't exist anymore! There is a Steam edition with some nice on line features but for the most part is a re-packaging of the good'ol FSX. The good: FSX has a lot of adds-on (free and payware) that still make it a very desirable platform. FSX, as technology moves on, may encounter issues when running with newest CPUs and hardware in general.

-Prepar3D is the newest best thing out there. It is actually the real development of FSX as sw code and dev team got purchased and hired by LM. However, there are no modern jets that come with the basic install sw (is that right?). EULA clearly states who can and cannot use this sw but seems to me from what i read that a lot of people are buying it just for fun and police is not really knocking at your door....weird!

-XPlane. You can buy it for fun (oh wow...really??), performance and price are pretty good. There is only a 747 as a jetliner in the basic install. Not sure where Xplane stands among enthusiasts (good...bad?) but i think is ranked pretty well.

 

Conclusion: i think i will stay with FSX and the adds-on

 

Is this a reasonable summary or I am missing something major and totally off?

thank you

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I'm an FSX nut because I've not found anything better..:)

It's not perfect, (and none of the other flight sims are) but if you glance at the 'Viewing' figures for each sim here at FlightSim.com at any time of day or night you'll see FSX is waaay more popular than any of the others-

 

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-popular2_zpswrxecirz.jpg~original

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/FSX-popular1_zpsrzpsmqr6.jpg~original

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P3D 2 or later will, given decent recent hardware, give better performance than FSX, for most folks, since it makes heavy use of the processing on the video card, as well as on the CPU. It also adds some nice things such as much improved clouds and fog, shadows, shadows everywhere, even from clouds, control over many lighting features, especially what casts and/or receives shadows (important late in the day- long shadows may reduce performance a bit), and some other things, as well.

 

P3D v2 is compatible with a large percentage of the add-ons for FSX, with some needing changes (some only installer changes), while V3 needs more time for add-ons to be ported over, though many will work.

 

...but if you glance at the 'Viewing' figures for each sim here at FlightSim.com at any time of day or night you'll see FSX is waaay more popular than any of the others-

 

Viewing figures may mean popularity (or not -- I'm one of the "viewers" of both FSX and P3D, but popularity figures that include me would have to be counted for P3D, subtracting my views (lots of them) from the FSX count), but are not necessarily indicative of being the better program. Some folks are happy with what they have, some don't want to explore the unknown, and some have had bad experiences, perhaps their fault or perhaps not. There are even many who stick with FS9 because they have it where they want it.

 

So choices have to be very personal, considering the program itself plus all the side angles (performance, add-ons, etc.) along with that.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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I agree with Larry (lnuss)... the number of 'viewers' doesn't necessarily show that one Sim is more popular than another.

 

The important thing is to get the particular Sim working the way you want it to.

 

Alan :pilot:

"I created the Little Black Book to keep myself from getting killed..." -- Captain Elrey Borge Jeppesen

AMD 1.9GB/8GB RAM/AMD VISION 1GB GPU/500 GB HDD/WIN 7 PRO 64/FS9 CFS CFS2

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If you go to a website where the primary focus is MFSF, then of course the viewing numbers are going to favour that sim.

 

However, the same can be said for a site which focuses on X-Plane or even FlightGear.

 

With that said...FlightGear is free, X-Plane allows you to try the demo and P3D lets you use the sim for a month (very small fee).

 

Wide view is better than narrow! My advice, explore and enjoy;)

 

Cheers

 

Dom

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Exactly! +1

 

Exactly! +2! I'm here to enjoy what I fly. My enjoyment is not a reliable indicator of what others might or might not enjoy. I think we're talking Chevy folk against Ford folk here. Or from an aircraft point of view Mooney lovers versus Cirrus lovers.

 

There isn't a real right or wrong.

Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow.
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As I understand it, FlightSim.com covers a whole bunch of flight sims and is not focussed solely on FSX, yet most people hang in the FSX forum as shown by the viewing figures.

If they didn't like FSX surely they wouldn't be viewing it?..;)

 

That is true here, and at some other flight sim sites that cover multiple sims. However, users of X-plane and Flightgear are far more likely to hang out in their own sim specific forums. So while FSX probably is the most widely used sim, the forum viewing figures here are somewhat skewed and exaggerate the difference.

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As of just a minute or so ago, FSX 276, 2004 63, P3D 10.

 

That's a ratio that seems fairly common to me. But as someone else said, that doesn't mean everyone viewing is a user. I normally also view P3d & 2004 at least once a day, though I own both, I don't fly either.

 

But we're still talking Chevys and Fords here. What does it matter, we're happy doing what we're doing.

Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow.
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I have been using FS9, FSX, FSX-SE, P3D from 1 to 3. and X-plane (also DCS is another type of sim), also I have tested other sims.

 

Today I use FSX-SE (with Steve's DX10) and P3DV3 and DCS.

 

Given the great work performed by Dovetail with FSX-SE, I'll keep FSX if works well in your system and wait for the new Dovetail simulator coming this year:

 

http://www.dovetailgames.com/news/2016/feb/11/dovetail-games-presents-the-flight-simulators-of-the-future.

 

P3D is great but locked by its FSX origins. If Dovetail makes a 2016 sim...

 

I left X-plane in spite of better flight model, because is not so friendly for user as FSX/P3D, has no seasonal variations, has "desertic" airports and cities, more real roads (but much over bridges what for VFR is boring).

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..I left X-plane in spite of better flight model..

 

On the other hand I left X-Plane because I didn't like the flight model (with light prop aircraft)!

It just shows what we've been saying about how everybody has their own different opinions about flght sims..:)

 

PS- I've played most flight sims on various computers over the past 33 years and it just happens that I like FSX more than any others even though it's not perfect.

The only notable sim I've never had is P3D, but I might get it out of curiosity to see what it's like.

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Jim,

 

I just used your links and used the compare feature. As I read it the most current reading says P3D 2 & FSX 15. I use old style math, you may not. But according to your provided chart site, Fsx is currently 7.5 times more popular than P3D.

 

Of course you could say P3D is trending up. P3D wasn't around in 2008 so I agree 2 is a trend up from 0.

 

However your provided chart link still says FSX is 7.5 times more popular currently than P3D. I agree with that chart.

Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow.
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And the new Dovetail sims, the Trainer, out in April, & the actual new sim, out whenever it is ready, will be based on......

FSX, but will be 64bit & DX11.

 

What makes you so certain that it will be based on ... FSX ?

 

In every press release Dovetail make sure to state that their flight simulations will be based on

Microsoft’s genre-defining flight simulation technology

 

By that I can only hope they mean MS Flight's technology, which was a vast improvement over FSX (and in spite of the fact that MS Flight itself was a total marketing failure).

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Jim,

 

I just used your links and used the compare feature. As I read it the most current reading says P3D 2 & FSX 15. I use old style math, you may not. But according to your provided chart site, Fsx is currently 7.5 times more popular than P3D.

 

Of course you could say P3D is trending up. P3D wasn't around in 2008 so I agree 2 is a trend up from 0.

 

However your provided chart link still says FSX is 7.5 times more popular currently than P3D. I agree with that chart.

 

OK you win.

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What makes you so certain that it will be based on ... FSX ?

 

In every press release Dovetail make sure to state that their flight simulations will be based on

 

By that I can only hope they mean MS Flight's technology, which was a vast improvement over FSX (and in spite of the fact that MS Flight itself was a total marketing failure).

 

Dovetail has stated the new sims are based on FSX.

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This was a post three days after FSX came out. I found it to be interesting from the perspective of the idea that the most recent sim that is out on the market now is the best. They were posting nine years ago that FS9 was the smoothest. I still think it is. The codes written are what they are. The question is what can I do to make my experience better.

 

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?153400-I-will-definitely-upgrade-but

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This was a post three days after FSX came out. I found it to be interesting from the perspective of the idea that the most recent sim that is out on the market now is the best. They were posting nine years ago that FS9 was the smoothest. I still think it is. The codes written are what they are. The question is what can I do to make my experience better.

 

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?153400-I-will-definitely-upgrade-but

 

GREAT POST!! Some things truly never change!

Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow.
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