Others say...

"X-plane 9"
Scenery not as good as Microsoft Flight Simulator X.Mecanics are counter-intuitive;not very easy.Harder to program the Logitech Force joystick than FSX. Flight dynamics OK. Not worth the price.

"Improved from X-Plane 8, but still not excellent"
I have been growing up with the Flight SIMs since SoloFlight back in the '80s on a Commodore 64, so I can honestly say, as many would agree that the flights SIMs have come a very, VERY long way. But I must contest those who state that this is the most realistic flight SIM in the world---not that it isn't, but it certainly isn't REAL. I'm sure Austin would agree that there's quite a bit of evolution still in store before this can possibly match the real world. But with that said, I can offer my hopefully un-biased approach to FlightSim X and X-Plane 9.

Graphics - Smoother in X-Plane, and flows better with most video cards, seamless in nature, and quite attractive, especially without having to download add-ons to see tire marks on a runway. Runways, for that matter actually imitate real runways in that they are allowed to have a "grade", or slight slopes. FlightSim X still has flat runways, and limited graphics on them. Weather is also something to be happy with in X-Plane, though, especially the fog, rain, thick clouds, etc. Flying above the clouds is very cool, indeed. Now where the graphics of FlightSim X outdoes the graphics in X-Plane 9 is by way of natural sunlight. X-Plane has a much colder (more blue) cast to it's sunlight, along with low contrast on landscapes which give the appearance that a cloud is always hovering over the area you're flying in or taxi-ing across. Flight Sim X has the opposite effect, where an overcast sky might still allow the ground to look like it's baking in the sun. So, ups and downs, we're not there yet in either SIM, but getting closer.

Controls - X-Plane's got tons of them, which is an improvement (or curse in some people's eyes) over the last few SIMs. I still think there's more to offer down the road, though, but I can deal with what we have now. Joystick detection in X-Plane is not very reliable, but once detected, X-Plane knows you again.

Flight Characteristics - Won't go into the details of how each work, as there's tons of other sites with that info, but I must lean toward FlightSim X as being more realistic in how the planes fly. X-Plane has a unique approach, which many tout as being the best possible, but when an airline pilot tells me that a C-5B Galaxy in X-Plane flies like an empty beer can, I have to agree that X-Plane seems to lack weight or momentum characteristics. I don't know if that's been addressed in the latest version of X-Plane, but all the Heavy Metal and MegaPlanes planes I have installed don't seem to fly like they would in Flight Sim X. In Flight Sim X, all of these attributes are considered, and you can even edit them to make the plane so heavy that it can't even take off. Plus, in X-Plane, if you simply jerk the yoke to the right or left, even the biggest planes react violently, where their real-world counterparts I doubt seriously would do the same. A C-5 is not agile, and because of that, C-5 pilots have procedures they use when taking off or landing in adverse conditions. However, in X-Plane, the B-52 and the C-5 I bought and installed are quite forgiving and don't seem to have much trouble performing some minor aerobatic maneuvers.
One redeeming feature of "blade-technology" is that you're more likely to succeed when trying to execute an Auto-Rotate emergency landing in a helicopter.

Detail - This is where X-Plane rules over Flight Sim X. If you want all your controls (well, for the most part), and the ability to control the environment, you can do more in X-Plane 9. Although, again I still think the sunlight effects need work, the weather, wind-sheer, updrafts, turbulence, etc. are better defined in X-Plane 9. If you fly along too slowly for a landing with a tail wind, and the lift gets low, you'll see the effects of your wing dropping, or something else happening.

Overall - I'm fairly happy with X-Plane 9, bugs aside (yes there are quite a few), and when compared to Flight SIM X I can honestly say Microsoft will have more work to do in their next release, hopefully sometime before 2010. I can't wait! But for now, I will enjoy both X-Plane 9 and Flight Sim X as much as I can.



"x-plane 9 "
boring, prepare for a very long install process -it had 6 disks-- most macs cant run this program on full graphics ---it also takes over 60 gigs of hard drive space !!

only very serious mac flight sim gamers should pay for this game

"Pass"
I would pass on this simulator. it takes up way too much room and is not that fun.

"Uncompromising and impressive."
Make no mistake, this is a real Simulation of flight.
4 hours is a long time for an install, and unneeded. The extra DVD's (disks 2 through 6) contain, as they are labeled, nothing more than the Hi-res imagery for the planet outside of the United States. Installing the first disk is all you need to do to get going, and Northern California is all you get to see if you've downloaded the Demo.

X-Plane is not a "Toy Video Game with Airplanes", it's a true Flight Physics Simulator. It doesn't have fancy looking interface designs, no happy guidance on how to fly. X-Plane is for the people who want a highly realistic simulation of actual aircraft physics. For this reason, many pilots prefer it over the competition's product. It's accurate, it feels like flying a real plane, and it doesn't fudge any numbers for the sake of simplicity.

If you take a design from X-plane, build it in real life, with the correct power engines, correct wing designs, and correct fuselage design, your plane will fly exactly the same in real life. (Cirrus' "The Jet" and the Carter Copter were actually designed using X-plane). If you know how to use autopilot systems in real life, they will all work here. If not, you've got a learning curve to tackle.

Can you load up the game and start flying immediately? Almost. You'll have to program your joystick. Tell the sim what sliders should do what, what buttons should do what. After that, yes, you can "just go". X-Plane isn't going to give you an intro on how to take off, you need to either know how, or figure it out. (Throttle + Flaps = Flight)

You can even design your own aircraft, design your own airports, and update world maps. (I don't actually know how to change the world, but I've made a few aircraft designs in my years, none all that impressive, mind you, but still)

The community website (www.x-plane.org) is full of new designs, (admittedly since V9 is only a month or so old, the pickings are fairly slim), and many v8 designs still work nicely, or so I've heard. This sim is the best value for the money, and the most serious item around. If you've got a motion control platform, you can configure it to move with the sim. You can run multiple copies on a network for multiple screens, multiple aircraft, and instructor stations, if you've got a pile of money to buy it all.

The new high-res graphics are killer nice, and flying over NYC brings my computer to it's knees, but NYC isn't exactly a village now, is it?

If you want a video game, look elsewhere. If you want to know how to fly, you've got but one choice. X-Plane.

-CameronB
Gayla's Husband