I think that xplane 12 being so similar to xplane 11 in terms of structure of files and other things like that is really important since it means a lot of plugins or modifications are compatible from the start without being forced to wait for everything to become compatible
As a real pilot who uses my sim mostly for IFR practice, the weather in XP 11 always annoyed me because it was never accurate from a visibility or ceiling perspective. But since XP 11 was so much more realistic and accurate from a G1000 systems perspective, MSFS never did it for me. The weather and cloud updates were the one thing I was really hoping for in XP 12 and am really glad they made significant improvements to the weather. Thanks for the review!
What do think about the new G1000 Nxi from working title that is being added to the base sim in Sim Update 10? Seems to have more features than the xplane 11 version. Have you tried it yet?
MFS2020 is not really a simulator at all it's a game... For me it's X-Plane forever but since my bad GPU I have to still on X-Plane 11. Btw for small VFR flight it's true MFS2020 can be nice.... even if flight physic is kinda trash..
@@torusx8564 hahah. I had a good chuckle at your ridiculous statement about MSFS not being a simulator. But if it makes you feel better you are entitled to your opinion, regardless of how silly. As far as I'm concern, xplane 11 and MSFS are both good simulators. For me MSFS is hands down the most immersive simulator on the market and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. It is great that xplane is trying to keep things interesting with competition but they have a long way to go with xplane 12 to make it good.
@@ryanwright3965 Bruh... I dont like saying MFS is a sim mainly because only gamers play it. It was created for amusement and not to simulate a real aircraft for pilot training instead of X-Plane known as a real flight simulator for professional. Flight physic is much better in X-Plane than MFS2020. MFS is only graphics you dont have a lot option like in X-Plane. Btw the way u say people are silly without knowing them show your incompetence in this field. I hold there arguement from a real pilot "father dane" on RUclips. Graphics are really not important for a flight sim.
@@torusx8564 So when you fly in the real world you dont see nothing from the time you start the aircraft to the time you park all you do is look at instruments? Do you know xplane without hardware and an instructor is not faa certified right? How long XP has been out vs MSFS? A lot of developers are ditching xp and p3d and guess where they going. To say MSFS is only used by gamers is so stupid. I guess Fenix, PMdG are fake. I guess the new crosswind in msfs is fake too. So tired of these chair simmers thinking they know it all.
What an exciting time to be alive. Thanks for the video and sharing your thoughts on the current state of the sims. I will continue to support both platforms !
I was excited for this game; but it's just not enough of an upgrade from XP11 to justify buying it. It just seems like a slight graphics upgrade with a few more default planes for 60 dollars. Compared to FS2020, I would barely open this game, especially considering I'm seeing reports that the CFD simulation on the Cessna 172 is highly realistic, and more realistic than XP11. Along with that, products like the Fenix just set a new bar for flight simulation addons. I think they dropped the ball with this one. I don't see where the development time has gone into. PBR textures, HDR lighting? We had HDR lighting starting with Half-Life 2: Lost coast. That came out in 2005! PBR textures are great, but the game still looks undersaturated in some parts. It's also very heavily aliased. It just seems like they didn't hire enough people who know what they're doing when it comes to visuals. The clouds are also a nice addition, but they're very low resolution. They stick out. So we've got very little improvement across the board. When it comes to graphics, in every single metric, FS2020 has Xp12 beat, from a technical and aesthetic standpoint. When it comes to physics, stock, Xp11 / 12 beats fs2020; with mods, Fs2020 is tied with XP, beats it, or lags slightly behind it, depending on the category. In scenery, FS2020 beats xplane. In weather, FS2020 beats xplane. It's simply a more advanced simulation. Couple that with the just absolute flood of updates we've been getting with FS2020, the storm of addons, and the sheer visual quality difference, I just don't see a reason to get xp12, other than to maybe train on a specific aircraft, or unless you need one specific plane, or if you like long-haul flights specifically. I'm disappointed. The community at large seems disappointed. I'm glad they released it. But I'm not happy with what they released. This sort of stuff would literally constitute two or three FREE Sim Updates in fs2020, and yet they're selling it for 60 dollars? There's also the 40th anniversary update for FS2020 adding even MORE free planes. It's ridiculous how much Microsoft and Asobo are spoiling us with this game. Anyway, rant over. I really, really hope they get their act together in a few more updates, because this is just disappointing. I was hoping for so much more than this, I was hoping for competition between Laminar and Microsoft. It's just not happening. Nice video, though!
I understand that they completely revamped a lot of stuff under the hood, and that they will continually improve the sim now that they have the base stuff in place. But yeah for now the full price isn't justified. Maybe if they had some discount for the early adopters. Do note that Laminar doesn't have the resources that Asobo and MS have, so you can't compare the speed of development. In some regards, MSFS is still lacking some features that they don't seem to care about.
@concodroid I agree with almost everything you say. The only thing XP does nicely is the "feel" of flying. I too cannot see where all the dev time has gone. "Under the hood"? Lets not forget, the last 2 years of XP11 leading up to .5 was "under the hood" conversion into Vulcan. This just feels like XP11.6. Some of the clouds and rain graphics are truly awful. The scenery looks like something from a chap video game from the '90s. It's such a shame. I used XP11 a lot with tons of addons and was really hoping that Laminar had managed to pull off something improved given the long years they have had in development, but no. Laminar seems too dependent on Austin, who, as brilliant as he is, can't do it all. They missed their shot and I , much to my chagrin, won't be buying XP12 unless something changes.
MFS has a very bad flight model and its addons are highly unrealistic, the fenix is a pretty bad addon, flight factor a320 is better in every way, and the graphics of mfs 2020 are good but unrealistic. Over saturated graphics, with blurry ground textures, and bad airport models, Xplane still wins in the realism category.
Agreed with some comments in the sense that currently it is not enough of an upgrade from XP 11. Will probably be worth taking a look at in a year time.
Yeah really had to tell at this first beta.... I was looking for the big picture and overlooking the smaller issues I assume they will work out. Time will tell.
I have been flying around in the demo version, essentially I am a newcomer to Xplane entirely. I am not at all convinced by all this talk of the flight model, to me this feels like flying on rails. Perhaps the demo is somehow running in an easy mode, turns and rudder feel extremely smooth.. like flying in a perfectly stable air mass. In the real world at low VFR altitudes during the day, you are mostly going to experience pockets of warmer air causing some turbulance and disturbance. MSFS models this pretty well I have to say. It does not appear that Xplane does. MSFS feels closer to reality when flying around VFR, and obviously the visuals are not even close. So my initial impression is that Xplane 12 is great for easy flying with that super stable air, but it appears to me that people rave about the flight model because it is very simplistic comparatively to MSFS. I have more real world flying hours than simulator hours incidentally, so take my opinion for what it is, just my initial impression.
nope... that's default aircraft for ya... when people talk about flight model, it depends on the effort the developer puts in to make it good... really doesn't matter the simulator anymore. It just appears that because of the longer period of time, X Plane has produced more flight model favoured aircraft (Like air foil labs C172) It'll come to MSFS, it'll take time.
@@starflexthe2nd I am very ready to admit I am wrong, I guess I am posting my initial impressions with a touch of disappointment. Perhaps I do need to look at the addon aircraft to see if that changes my mind. I have not yet purchased Xplane but probably will.
@WingAndAPrayer you are right to question the XP is king of the flight model. In XP Blade element this uses 10-30 lines across the lift producing parts to create a 2D airfoil for each line. The lines do not impact on each other to create a whole. The line airfoil is then used to create discrete pressure forces. In MSFS boundary element this uses 1000s of surfaces that are then merged to create the airframe. This is then used by a 3D airflow model to create the pressure forces. XP provide devs with simple graphs and lookup tables. MSFS provides a CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic to analyse the airflow. The full exploitation of the MSFS model is still to come, but there is no way XP has some superior model.
You can't honestly say xp12 has better systems than MSFS and then show the A330 with a Boeing fmc 2 minutes later. At least the default A320 in MSFS has an Airbus FMGC in it... For other planes MSFS will get the G1000 NXi by default which is pretty much a 1:1 of the real G1000 and it will be available in every default plane using the G1000. For third-party there are very high fidelity aircraft available such as PMDG 737 and Fenix A320. The Fenix A320 is on par with FlightFactor A320, and you get all the graphics benefits of MSFS on top. I'm not saying XP12 is a bad sim, but don't say things that just isn't true as people blindly repeat it over and over even if there is no facts backing it.
The problem Xeno is a lot of folks are stuck in the past. They see X-Plane 10 or 11 say as always having better system modeling than FSX. The truth is MSFS has shown itself to be a capable platform to support study level aircraft as good as anything you'll see in DCS World and X-Plane and with the introduction of iniBuilds adding study level default aircraft and Working Title updating the default systems you really can't say MSFS is left wanting when it comes to system modelling.
MSFS G1000 isn't realidtic at all. It can't even replicate same collors. Xplane has better physics, i bet it is more stable. FS2020 has a bad interface, has some bugs yet that exists since launch day.
With more than 1000 hours logged with real NXi, MSFS’s G1000 is not real and for some control parts, X-Plane is even still better and more real than MSFS… plus the map and reposition functions, X-Plane is still way more closer to training level sim than MSFS, it’s a good game but talking about sim not really :/
@@apreaze he's talking about g1000 nxi addon u definitely haven't tried it tho that's for sure cause from what u r saying I don't even know if u have tried the sim at least not any time close
5:05 I was expecting a much more beautiful setting, a more lifelike landscape, this is very "plastic"! Oylan, it's like X-plne 11 has been a bit jazzed up, but that's it! For me the feeling is important, not just the technical simulation precision!
Thanks Russ. Your review was honest and fair. I have had MSFS since the DOS days, but had to drop it when it required a Playstation account, and for you to sign in every time you wanted to run the simulator. I waited and got XPlane, and found clicking a desktop icon to start refreshing, and I don't have to fiddle with it nearly as much, not to mention having to reinstall MSFS per start up. MSFS got really nasty.
Yes, $65 for MSFS plus an monthly fee to use it adds up to over $120 a year every year just to fly it. No thanks. Have X Plane 11 and enjoy that very much and it is on my hard drive so it is mine. Looking at reviews of X Plane 12 and so far it is good. The only thing that bothered me in X Plane 11 is the trees, but that is only up close not flying at altitude. This review has helped a lot.
2 года назад+9
Wow the graphics make me recall my FSX time in my old laptop, so outdated!
exactly thats the main issue. and while graphics arnt everything i think one of the big draws is realism thats what made ms flight sim 2020 so popular and 2024 is really going to give xplane a run for its money. .
I REALLY appreciated your real world insights and very detailed analysis of the updates etc. I'm in IT and your notes on consistency of the pop outs (which ones pop out and which do not), using a Ctrl or Alt click to pop them out and from a UX perspective, these are quite big things for them to add. This is early access so hopefully they can bring that consistency in before the full/final (what's final these days) release. For that same reason (IT experience), I disagree with your perspective that the Interface is too similar. The most painful thing I have to do everytime Microsoft brings a new version of Windows or Office is to re-learn how to find some bread and butter things, and how to help various users (professional and family) to figure out how to do the stuff they always "used to" be able to do. I want to fly a sim. I don't want to have to learn a new interface. You mentioned this in passing that the X-Plane interface is good so perhaps that's why they kept it. I would say that's huge! Make improvements where needed, but don't overhaul something just for the shine. For me, the X-Plane 11 interface was a lot nicer than 9 and 10 before, so I am THRILLED that the interface has had so little change. Regardless, your analysis and reasoning is brilliant and extremely helpful and made me think about things in ways that I perhaps would not have. Have a great day!
Thanks for this nice early looks at XP-12. I think I'll wait a little while before jumping in on this. Really good review though, good to see the features and the weather generation. Nicely done!
I like your Videos Russ! As you, (obviously) I have logged a couple of hours as a commercial and AF pilot. Right now and even more so with XP12 I believe we are truly on the edge of a new era of flight training. Currently, I am rated on the Challenger 650 and when I look at X-Aviation’s Challenger Simulation for XP11 I must say it is really stunning, unbelievable …
Very good review... I'm building a sim now. Ive always used MSFS (since the early 90's)... But those helping me build my sim are suggesting XP12. Which is a hard choice for me, mainly bc I have so much admiration for MSFS. This said, he also suggested that I can run them both? (2) and chose between them at will... I'm a student pilot with 70 hours, just about to complete my private, so predominantly my sim will be for practice and IFR training. Thanks again for the great review. This is very helpful to someone juggling to decide.
Flew into KMSP last night in the pmdg 737 on MSFS and it was damn near real looking. ILS aproach and the runway appeared right at minimums. I just can get over how this still looks like it was from 2017 compared to msfs. Yes I paid 60 bucks for the 737 but that is probably as close to a real Boeing sim there is so it makes the whole thing super realistic.
I've been an Xplane user since ver 4 or 5 (when it came with a paper booklet) all the way up to 11. MSFS user since the early days (mid 1980s). Love them both in different ways, but no way will I be paying 60 bucks for XP12. Looks like a minor upgrade to XP11 based on the few videos I've seen.
It's realllly disappointing. I've been waiting for XP12 for so long, and it feels like Laminar has just been twiddling their thumbs if this is all we got. I know it's early access but I hope Laminar doesn't think that's a free pass to trickle in the improvements at a slower pace now that some cash is flowing. I dunno, this is the first time I've ever seen a flight sim in early access.
Excellent video, Russ! Liked and Subscribed. I concur with your summary suggestions for X-Plane window pop-outs, as well as your assessment of terminal area weather. I disagree with your comment about "learning the landmarks of a certain area" in Microsoft Flight Simulator," but not for anything having to do with one flight simulator over another. I "held" roughly 230 hours in MSFS before joining the Air Force in the late 1980s. Indeed, the sim helped familiarize me with procedures required in flight, primarily the details of various SIDs, STARs and IAPs. Rather, with 2,500 hours of flight time in two USAF aircraft, including roughly a thousand hours of low-level, visual navigation, I understand all too well the importance of keeping a running mental DR of one's position and attitude. Flight simulators can lead one into a false sense confidence and/or security that rapidly disappears in the real world when landmarks are different than expected or obscured by weather in ways that are not depicted in a flight simulator. Even the real world can change enough from one day to the next to be misleading and/or disorienting! For this reason, I always encourage newly minted pilots to continue their training by working towards their instrument rating, not as a way of "pushing the weather envelope," but rather, as a way of conducting all flights in a safer, more methodical, well-practiced and reliable manner.
Couldn't have said it any better myself! Hopefully the community comes together instead of jumping on either the MSFS train or XPlane train. Looking forward to the xplane VR review soon.
MSFS FOREVER - JK had to throw that in there to mess with you. Xplane 12 looks stunning. My pc can run 11 at decent medium settings 😅 but there’s no chance my pic could run MSFS2020. Not sure if it could run xplane 12 either 😢
It's kind of unfortunate that it'll always be a tug of war between the two, even back with FSX and XP8/9. Both have their ups and downs, but both also have their right to exist. Like many hobbies, flight simming is a subjective one. Two people won't like the same for the same reasons. But what irks me the most is the fact that neither can accept the other, so it always results in arguments about which is better, and why.
The problem is that affording both sims is practically impossible, especially with those $100 addons Those bandwagons are divided strong and it will stay that way as long as it’s hard to have both sims as the common man
Tnx Russ ..what about AP & Runways curvature, and I'm wondering how long it will take for our oddons, plugin, & Hardware to be migrated to the new XP12 ????
HI Russ great video as usual. About your monitors can you confirm that it is 3 televisions ? If it is what refresh rate is it setup to ? Thanks for an answer
And also if you can give us what brand and model of television. Finally do you know if we can find something to avoid most of the reflection between the screens ? thanks
Does this have a in-built around the world scenery or like x-plane 11 jus a few miles around certain airports .. I purchased X-plane 11 which had a ridiculous price and was shocked to see that it dint have those around the world sceneries like MSFS.. it was left to the user to download from 3rd party programs.. With in a week I dumped 11.. hope that's not the case here.. ???
Not sure what you mean by around the world scenery but both XP11 and XP12 have scenery coverage for the entire world. You only need to run the installer found in the X-Plane folder and select “add scenery”. Then you click the regions on a map that contain the areas you want to include. Since it can take a while to download scenery the demo only contains a small area of scenery. While the XP scenery is much improved and has a few features that are better than MSFS, it is not photo realistic and can’t compare visually. Of course XP is aimed more at serious pilot training so scenery is designed to be plausible but not exact. You can add photo scenery to XP using Ortho4XP which is free but it takes a very large hard drive and lots of downloading to cover extended regions. But XP does include worldwide scenery coverage and has since at least XP9 when I started using it
Hi Russ. I am a newbie newbie and only just getting my feet wet with flight simulators. I have a question for you: do you a joystick or mouse to control your aircraft? In this video you mentioned using the mouse which made me curious to ask. I would think that using a joystick might give one more control, but I'm not sure about that. When you have a moment, could you let me know. If anyone else can enlighten me on whether a mouse or joystick is best, I'd appreciate it very much.
Thank you for this. I only got into flight simming with MSFS (I did do a little in XPlane 11, but own little 3rd party scenery for it). I fly in VR and have seen the useability of VR in MSFS decline since about SU8, things like toolbar windows opening half size, and their positions not being remembered, really affect the experience for me. Therefore, reading the SU10 Beta VR forum is making me wonder if SU10 is actually going to break VR further, and fix nothing, and if XPlane 12 might be the way forward for me.
Had this come out in 2019 this would have been a much bigger deal, but in 2022 it misses the mark. That being said, it's still an improvement over XP11.
X-Plane gives me what I want from a simulator and this beta is a nice evolution. I bought it without hesitation. There are issues of course but that's to be expected for early access. Nice video!
I've owned every flight sim for the last 35 years and am always excited for the release of any of them. I prefer not to get involved in the this or that between them all but since MSFS release I've been pretty exclusively using MSFS & DCS while XP11 took a back seat (really back seat I guess, haven't played it in over a year). "XP12 is like an old friend" is very telling in describing a product that has just been released. I think what the Laminar Research team has done with XP over the years is incredible (for such a small team) but I think it will be difficult for them going forward to compete with the likes of Microsoft and the resources available to them.
people seem to prefer xplane physics or other games compare to microsoft flight sim, even if its a smaller company they might get more and more people coming from microsoft flight sim
@@supernova4760 Which planes do you fly in XP12? I was quite excited about XP12 to start with but I'm really disappointed with the add-ons like FF, Magknight, SGS etc. they don't seem to care about fixing their bugs once they've got the money. In my opinion there are only Toliss and Laminar airliners that are flyable. I have flown the A350 a bit but it's just hit and miss whether it follows the flight plan. It's a shame because the simulator itself is very good. It takes the fun out of it when things don't work.
Is it me or do others find the cockpit controls and display graphics a little blurry - not sharp enough until you zoom in or use pop outs when they are there?
Excellent review. I agree with your opinions here. I bought it to support Laminar Research but was left a bit underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely improving on XP11 but visually it is not much better. Especially scenery. That said, I don't like MSFS, as to me it feels wrong.
If you don't mind sharing. what brand and model GPU do you use? Your frame rate in X-Plans 12 is impressive. I've tried X-plane 12 and had terrible results with the frame rate, even after reducing the various CPU/GPU parameters to their lowest settings. In X-plane 11, the frame rate is excellent, using the very same equipment, with parameters set to their highest values.
@@rbarlow In a separate RUclips video, I discovered my frame rate problem was caused setting my three (3) monitors/TVs to 4k. Reducing the resolution on the side view monitors solved the problem. Thanks for replying.
I might wait a few months but I’ll definitely pick up XP12. I echo other peoples sentiments that I’d be happy using both XP12 and MSFS. I honestly don’t see them as naturals competitors anymore because they appeal to different crowds of people who look for different things in sims. It’s nice to have a choice, people! There is nothing wrong with that!
@@masflow09 Not sure where you got that from. MSFS has an extremely realistic flight model no matter what X-Plane fanboys say. A lot of MSFS _planes_ don't have realistic flight models, that is where people get the assumption that MSFS itself is unrealistic.
@@masflow09 I got you bro. It's really annoying how many X Plane fanboys act like MSFS isn't a "serious" flight sim just because it has better graphics. It's like they can't process a sim having good graphics and simulation at the same time.
msfs feels like it's going to be the go to simulator for the next 10 years while xplane 12 just feels like it has a lifespan of maybe 4 years until they release xp13
@@StreagleEagle depends it has more elements for arcade style gamers but it is a very professional software when you turn the realism settings up. Especially with pmdg 737 and the fenix a320. Graphics are beautiful as well.
I strongly believe that its a reskinned XP11. I think Laminar was caught behind the 8-ball with MSFS taking over. UI is almost identical with XP12. I get this is pre-alpha but this is just bad. More of an update as opposed to a new sim.
A little off script here Russ. But with todays computers being released with AMDs Rizen 7000 series CPUs and Intels 13 Gen CPUs and Nvidias 4000 GPU series, do you think you would be able to get by with one computer system or would you still need two to run your physical cockpit using XP-12 or MSFS. I've viewed your prior videos testing whether one computer would do and was curious if computer technology has reached a point that would allow a one computer hookup to a physical cockpit with multi monitors like yours to operate smoothly with no hiccups or bottlenecks? Or anyone else with an opinion, please chime in. Thanks for the enlightenment and education.
If you can live with less than maxed out graphics I think a single top of the line can handle it. It does greatly simplify life to maintain only one computer. I can run MSFS or XP11 with 3 visual screens plus Air manage and pop outs on two attritional monitors(using a Pluggable) and get pretty nice results.
Perhaps that models real life more realistically? Small ariplanes can be quite hard to control. I bought the full copy and was very impressed by the handling of the J3. I also bought the M7 Maule and that handles very well too. In a real taildragger you get the tail up and then stay on the main wheels using the rudder for directional control until flying speed is reached. This is pretty good in XP12, so far. The challenge will be to see how the Stinson performs, it is terrible in XP11.
It is you and the equipment used, planes don't drive straight down runway, physics pulls it in one direction or other. XP models that properly, MSFS does not if the plane maker doesn't force it into the lookups. So if you aren't used to that and with the lack of force feed back on cheaper gear, you will have a hard time.
Trees and weather are good but xp 12 needs more polish. I like the flight physics. But I think in the age of Google Maps in 2 or 5 years XP will have a very hard time without satellite scenery. Currently using MSFS and XP, cant decide.
Is there a script that I can add that will duplicate the functionality of the Knobster in VR mode in MSFS. Specifically the floating function menu that selects the parameter that the Knobster will control?
Thanks for this overview, Russ. I'm actually delighted that Laminar didn't go off the rails redesigning everything. I tried the demo last night and I really appreciate the sense of continuity. I liked that I could just get on with it. I was blown away by the new lighting, the variety in weather depiction and the crispness of textures considering my middle-of-the-road graphics card. The forests are lush and everything sits much better in the landscape. I did get a laugh on Reddit yesterday when some posted a picture of default Vancouver in MSFS and X-plane 12. There is no competition there, but I've never really flown any sim right out of the box. I'm an aftermarket addon guy through and through. The multidisciplinary nature of creating a sim makes it impossible to devote resources to creating high fidelity planes AND a good sim. I just need Laminar to do what they always have. Focus on the underlying platform, in essence the flight model and leaving things nice and open for third parties to offer various possibilities, paid or otherwise. Enjoy your flights!
Hi Russ, I started watching your channel a few months ago. I got back in to flight sim again with the Xbox. Well I picked up a new computer last week to try out X-Plane 12. I am having issues with my joy stick and the flight controls. Only the hat switch works for moving around the view. Can you make a video about calibrating a joy stick for X- plane 12? Thank you so much!! I have not been able to find much on line for help with X-Plane 12. I am an MTC guy with a Major airline and I do love planes. Thank you.
Nice video thank you. I have a question: why all my screen and plane in outside view are strongly bouncing as soon as I set weather to VFR broken and higher to the right. Is this just me? Thank you if you could try to reproduce this. I am not talking about normal turbulence effect but rather to the entire screen and plane bouncing strongly! Thank you
Does it have shared cockpit? How is the ATC for airline flying? Performance looks horrible, as does the scenery (except for airport environment). Other than that, weather precision mode is awesome (can't believe Asobo didn't think of that), airplane sounds too.
Right now VR in x-plane 12 is truly horrible! I am sure it will improve but, for now, what a disappointment... The crystal clarity of the Varjo Aero merely serves to highlight how truly outdated and dreadful the graphics are....
@@Drmerlin604 XP12 VR on my Aero is really bad. the tracking is not smooth jumping at times and with black areas at the sides at times. What is your experience?
I used to be BIG into X-Plane 11, but when MSFS 2020 came out, that completely changed my perspective in flight simulators. X-Plane 12 is cool, and definetly a big upgrade from X-Plane 11, but for me it still doesn't even come close to being compared to MSFS 2020
It’s almost shocking to see something this muddy-looking and dated come out now, especially with an insane price point of $60. They had an opportunity to change a lot of things from the ground up like flight planning, a conspicuously absent ATC and the atrocious UI but instead we have a product that looks identical to XP11. This just stinks of laziness and greed.
Given the apparent low framerate in the video it looks like Russ might be using a very low end PC which is not capable of showing XPlane 12's full graphical quality! At least I hope that's the case as graphics this 'dated' run at 60fps on mobile phones these days!
@@hansloyalitat9774 flight model is not everything...hey why don't we delete all that ugly trees and buildings we dont need them all we need is a green ground and the other half of the screen as blue sky ...all we need is a fckng FLIGHT MODEL!!! wtf is wrong with you people!!!
Hi Russ, I am curious how you got rid of the anti aliasing. I have slider all the way up and a nividia 1080ti card I7 processor and still can't get smooth edges.
I know a good flight game is NOT just about scenery eye candy but its just impossible for me to ignore that aspect after MSFS. XP11 gave me many happy years and I still use it alongside MSFS now and then. The issue I have (again i speak for myself only) is that this feels like a huge XP11 upgrade and not a brand new title in the series. Kinda like what Euro Truck Simulator did - they did a huge upgrade to the game engine, graphics, lighting etc. This is what XP12 feels like to me. It just looks the same as 11. For sure there are improvements but Im looking at it as a whole and it just feels so same-y. I have XP11 modded and looking great. I also hardly use it so will pass on XP12. Great video thanks!
Isn't the 'wave' button on the weather for setting up wave for gliding? Not waves on water. Nice helpful vid though. Like most I will not be rushing out to buy it. I may be hinting what I want for xmas though 🙂
Thank you Russ for a considered review. I get a bit annoyed with some comments on various fora bagging either X-Plane or MSFS. I would like to hope that most simmers can enjoy both. Let's face it, if you have a computer that will run one of them it will probably run the other, and the cost of the product, at least in base form, should not be prohibitive for most simmers. I can drink Coke OR Pepsi (in moderation of course!)
Thanks for the video. What 3rd party enhancements that bring MSFS closer to X-Plane as a simulation were you referring to here, do you maybe have another video on that?
When I use X-Plane 11, it greatly taxes my laptop's GPU and I have to use low scenery settings. I can use the highest settings in MSFS without the fan for the GPU turning on. Is X-Plane 12 better for not taxing the GPU as much?
I installed xp12 today and already not happy. Can't update the database with Navigraph yet so get an alert that navdata is out of date. Also on the C172 the obs knob on Nav 2 doesn't work. I don't find the graphic any better the xp 11 where I fly.
Great video, thanks for review and your opinions. Based on your experience and hours, have you had a chance to fly the MSFS 172 with the enhancement pack by WB Sim? I am currently looking for a a local school to get my PPL later this fall or next spring and I'm leaning towards the school that has the 172 analog as an option over the other school of all pipers (and one 152). I will be sticking to msfs and this enhancement pack sounds great, but without really knowing what to look for I can't tell. From what I have learned it's a full blown electric makeover and has many things we saw with A2A.
My biggest problem with MSFS2020 is that, in VR, the cockpit has a lot of stutter as I look around (I'm running a pretty beefy system with an 10th gen i7, 32 GB of RAM, and an RTX 3090). Not only is this immersion breaking, but it's extremely distracting. I'm hoping that X-Plane 12 will offer a better experience, especially since it is regarded as the better platform to use to augment flight training.
When you took of in the citation, you were getting 50 fps. But then you looked left out the window and the scenery was going past very stuttery. Can you xplane what this is about? Also when you look around the cockpit. It's not smooth even for your 90fps in the cessna. It looked very blocky. I think I will stick with msfs. I haven't touched xplane in 3 years and nothing is convincing me to get it.
Hi, I just found out my 12 year old grandson really wants to learn to fly and his goal is a private license at 16 and onto commercial flying at some point. I have not had a chance to talk to him personally. I have a CH control yoke and rudder pedals that I am going to give him. Which sim would be best for him for a PC? My sim is FS2 for a Mac, but I think it would be best if he gets either MFS or X-Plane, but don't have personal experience with either. Any recommendations or comments would be appreciated. I have a commercial license with 25 years experience, with occasional commercial work, but mostly private flying. Thanks in advance! PS: I also have an Xbox 360...would that work with anything usable?
You mentioned that MSFS has an outside software that allows pop out screens to stay where you want them in Air Manager displays. Could you share what software that is? Great video BTW.
My question would be how the Xplane VR performance is on average hardware? While In VR I can only get 30fps on low settings with 1080ti in MSFS, Im curious about Xplane.. Though I still have to test MSFS without the Realtime surroundings streaming..
I have i4790k 4 GHz, Geforce 1060, 24 GB RAM. At complex airports I get around 30 fps in the Zibo 737, in the air 50-60 fps, at normal airports 40 fps. This is XP 11. In XP 12 it is about the same.
@@maltimoto Ok interesting.. I assume you are talking about flatscreen and not VR!? I would really like to know the average VR performance.. Though I think your system is just quite not powerful enough to do so comfortable.. I am running i78700k, 1080ti and 32gb ram with m.2 ssd (that is actually considered average these days) and I doubt I can get above 30fps on medium/high settings in VR.. I would really like to get at least 45+ fps on medium/high or 60fps low/medium, Then I might consider buying, but I do not think I will get that.. (compared to sims like Msfs and or DCS I cannot)
I just bought the early version of X-Plane 12 it is the downloaded one and i could not even fly out of the demo area even it cost me a fair amount of money so if i want to fly from any area in the world all I got is water and I have to go to the X Plane 11 disk and then I get an error ( permission denied). I was thinking by getting the one pay wear it was to be easy to get it going. Any help would be nice .
You need to install scenery for the areas you want to fly in. Look in the XPlane folder for the installer. One of the options is to install scenery. It will present a world map and you select the areas you want to add… they will download… and you’re good to go
The only reason you'd buy this over MSFS 20 is loyalty, its like me buying AMD over Intel, its because I know more about AMD well and will stay loyal to AMD!
I disagree. Some people, mainly serious sim pilots, or real pilots, will buy X-Plane because of the physics that are built in and the superior flight modelling. Others will buy MSFS because of the fantastic scenery and not be so concerned about accurate handling. Some people will have both and maybe some others as well. It all depends what you want from the sim. I don't have the time or money to invest in 2 or 3 sims + addons so I will stick with X-Plane. If I had thought that MSFS would be better than buying XP12 then I would have considered it but the reviews I have read would suggest otherwise. But, that is only my opinion, of course. YMMV 🙂
I have MSFS2020, and I would love for Xplane to do well, but I think this is the end unfortunately, they no longer have better flight models and the scenery really is MSFS holy grail and as much as people love planes they love scenery as well
the whole point of x-plane is the flight model.. i tried msfs, tried with several different scenarios, different flight models, different everything, it just feels more consumer grade.. i fly real planes, xp feels more realistic physics wise
Russ, have you tried multi-monitor with X-Plane 12? With my three year old i7, GTX 1060, I went from 22 fps to about 8. What kind of frame rates do you get now with multi-monitor, and what are your computer specs?
Odd that your FPS counter shows 45+ yet the visuals we see in the vid are so stuttery, and look more like 15 FPS. Bad setting in your video capture software?
![[MSFS vs XP12] Thoughts after the six flights I did](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Bd5hnl3WBBs/mqdefault.jpg)
I think that xplane 12 being so similar to xplane 11 in terms of structure of files and other things like that is really important since it means a lot of plugins or modifications are compatible from the start without being forced to wait for everything to become compatible
As a real pilot who uses my sim mostly for IFR practice, the weather in XP 11 always annoyed me because it was never accurate from a visibility or ceiling perspective. But since XP 11 was so much more realistic and accurate from a G1000 systems perspective, MSFS never did it for me. The weather and cloud updates were the one thing I was really hoping for in XP 12 and am really glad they made significant improvements to the weather. Thanks for the review!
What do think about the new G1000 Nxi from working title that is being added to the base sim in Sim Update 10? Seems to have more features than the xplane 11 version. Have you tried it yet?
MFS2020 is not really a simulator at all it's a game... For me it's X-Plane forever but since my bad GPU I have to still on X-Plane 11. Btw for small VFR flight it's true MFS2020 can be nice.... even if flight physic is kinda trash..
@@torusx8564 hahah. I had a good chuckle at your ridiculous statement about MSFS not being a simulator. But if it makes you feel better you are entitled to your opinion, regardless of how silly. As far as I'm concern, xplane 11 and MSFS are both good simulators. For me MSFS is hands down the most immersive simulator on the market and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. It is great that xplane is trying to keep things interesting with competition but they have a long way to go with xplane 12 to make it good.
@@ryanwright3965 Bruh... I dont like saying MFS is a sim mainly because only gamers play it. It was created for amusement and not to simulate a real aircraft for pilot training instead of X-Plane known as a real flight simulator for professional. Flight physic is much better in X-Plane than MFS2020. MFS is only graphics you dont have a lot option like in X-Plane. Btw the way u say people are silly without knowing them show your incompetence in this field. I hold there arguement from a real pilot "father dane" on RUclips. Graphics are really not important for a flight sim.
@@torusx8564 So when you fly in the real world you dont see nothing from the time you start the aircraft to the time you park all you do is look at instruments? Do you know xplane without hardware and an instructor is not faa certified right? How long XP has been out vs MSFS? A lot of developers are ditching xp and p3d and guess where they going. To say MSFS is only used by gamers is so stupid. I guess Fenix, PMdG are fake. I guess the new crosswind in msfs is fake too. So tired of these chair simmers thinking they know it all.
What an exciting time to be alive. Thanks for the video and sharing your thoughts on the current state of the sims. I will continue to support both platforms !
I was excited for this game; but it's just not enough of an upgrade from XP11 to justify buying it. It just seems like a slight graphics upgrade with a few more default planes for 60 dollars. Compared to FS2020, I would barely open this game, especially considering I'm seeing reports that the CFD simulation on the Cessna 172 is highly realistic, and more realistic than XP11. Along with that, products like the Fenix just set a new bar for flight simulation addons.
I think they dropped the ball with this one. I don't see where the development time has gone into. PBR textures, HDR lighting? We had HDR lighting starting with Half-Life 2: Lost coast. That came out in 2005!
PBR textures are great, but the game still looks undersaturated in some parts. It's also very heavily aliased.
It just seems like they didn't hire enough people who know what they're doing when it comes to visuals.
The clouds are also a nice addition, but they're very low resolution. They stick out.
So we've got very little improvement across the board. When it comes to graphics, in every single metric, FS2020 has Xp12 beat, from a technical and aesthetic standpoint. When it comes to physics, stock, Xp11 / 12 beats fs2020; with mods, Fs2020 is tied with XP, beats it, or lags slightly behind it, depending on the category. In scenery, FS2020 beats xplane. In weather, FS2020 beats xplane. It's simply a more advanced simulation.
Couple that with the just absolute flood of updates we've been getting with FS2020, the storm of addons, and the sheer visual quality difference, I just don't see a reason to get xp12, other than to maybe train on a specific aircraft, or unless you need one specific plane, or if you like long-haul flights specifically.
I'm disappointed. The community at large seems disappointed. I'm glad they released it. But I'm not happy with what they released. This sort of stuff would literally constitute two or three FREE Sim Updates in fs2020, and yet they're selling it for 60 dollars?
There's also the 40th anniversary update for FS2020 adding even MORE free planes. It's ridiculous how much Microsoft and Asobo are spoiling us with this game.
Anyway, rant over. I really, really hope they get their act together in a few more updates, because this is just disappointing. I was hoping for so much more than this, I was hoping for competition between Laminar and Microsoft. It's just not happening.
Nice video, though!
I understand that they completely revamped a lot of stuff under the hood, and that they will continually improve the sim now that they have the base stuff in place. But yeah for now the full price isn't justified. Maybe if they had some discount for the early adopters. Do note that Laminar doesn't have the resources that Asobo and MS have, so you can't compare the speed of development. In some regards, MSFS is still lacking some features that they don't seem to care about.
@concodroid I agree with almost everything you say. The only thing XP does nicely is the "feel" of flying.
I too cannot see where all the dev time has gone. "Under the hood"? Lets not forget, the last 2 years of XP11 leading up to .5 was "under the hood" conversion into Vulcan. This just feels like XP11.6. Some of the clouds and rain graphics are truly awful. The scenery looks like something from a chap video game from the '90s.
It's such a shame. I used XP11 a lot with tons of addons and was really hoping that Laminar had managed to pull off something improved given the long years they have had in development, but no. Laminar seems too dependent on Austin, who, as brilliant as he is, can't do it all. They missed their shot and I , much to my chagrin, won't be buying XP12 unless something changes.
i dont see any proper hdr here, there are no tone/exposure mapping, luminance bloom, and ldr ... which should be basic for hdr lighting
MFS has a very bad flight model and its addons are highly unrealistic, the fenix is a pretty bad addon, flight factor a320 is better in every way, and the graphics of mfs 2020 are good but unrealistic. Over saturated graphics, with blurry ground textures, and bad airport models, Xplane still wins in the realism category.
I agree
Agreed with some comments in the sense that currently it is not enough of an upgrade from XP 11. Will probably be worth taking a look at in a year time.
Yeah really had to tell at this first beta.... I was looking for the big picture and overlooking the smaller issues I assume they will work out. Time will tell.
I have been flying around in the demo version, essentially I am a newcomer to Xplane entirely. I am not at all convinced by all this talk of the flight model, to me this feels like flying on rails. Perhaps the demo is somehow running in an easy mode, turns and rudder feel extremely smooth.. like flying in a perfectly stable air mass. In the real world at low VFR altitudes during the day, you are mostly going to experience pockets of warmer air causing some turbulance and disturbance. MSFS models this pretty well I have to say. It does not appear that Xplane does. MSFS feels closer to reality when flying around VFR, and obviously the visuals are not even close. So my initial impression is that Xplane 12 is great for easy flying with that super stable air, but it appears to me that people rave about the flight model because it is very simplistic comparatively to MSFS. I have more real world flying hours than simulator hours incidentally, so take my opinion for what it is, just my initial impression.
nope... that's default aircraft for ya...
when people talk about flight model, it depends on the effort the developer puts in to make it good... really doesn't matter the simulator anymore.
It just appears that because of the longer period of time, X Plane has produced more flight model favoured aircraft (Like air foil labs C172)
It'll come to MSFS, it'll take time.
@@starflexthe2nd I am very ready to admit I am wrong, I guess I am posting my initial impressions with a touch of disappointment. Perhaps I do need to look at the addon aircraft to see if that changes my mind. I have not yet purchased Xplane but probably will.
@@wingandaprayer883 You are probably not wrong! The selling point is the flight model, why would the developer let someone else do the modeling?
You are right but brace for getting a lot of rant from X-Plane fanboys.
@WingAndAPrayer you are right to question the XP is king of the flight model.
In XP Blade element this uses 10-30 lines across the lift producing parts to create a 2D airfoil for each line. The lines do not impact on each other to create a whole. The line airfoil is then used to create discrete pressure forces.
In MSFS boundary element this uses 1000s of surfaces that are then merged to create the airframe. This is then used by a 3D airflow model to create the pressure forces.
XP provide devs with simple graphs and lookup tables. MSFS provides a CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic to analyse the airflow.
The full exploitation of the MSFS model is still to come, but there is no way XP has some superior model.
You can't honestly say xp12 has better systems than MSFS and then show the A330 with a Boeing fmc 2 minutes later. At least the default A320 in MSFS has an Airbus FMGC in it...
For other planes MSFS will get the G1000 NXi by default which is pretty much a 1:1 of the real G1000 and it will be available in every default plane using the G1000.
For third-party there are very high fidelity aircraft available such as PMDG 737 and Fenix A320. The Fenix A320 is on par with FlightFactor A320, and you get all the graphics benefits of MSFS on top.
I'm not saying XP12 is a bad sim, but don't say things that just isn't true as people blindly repeat it over and over even if there is no facts backing it.
The problem Xeno is a lot of folks are stuck in the past. They see X-Plane 10 or 11 say as always having better system modeling than FSX. The truth is MSFS has shown itself to be a capable platform to support study level aircraft as good as anything you'll see in DCS World and X-Plane and with the introduction of iniBuilds adding study level default aircraft and Working Title updating the default systems you really can't say MSFS is left wanting when it comes to system modelling.
MSFS G1000 isn't realidtic at all. It can't even replicate same collors.
Xplane has better physics, i bet it is more stable.
FS2020 has a bad interface, has some bugs yet that exists since launch day.
With more than 1000 hours logged with real NXi, MSFS’s G1000 is not real and for some control parts, X-Plane is even still better and more real than MSFS… plus the map and reposition functions, X-Plane is still way more closer to training level sim than MSFS, it’s a good game but talking about sim not really :/
You two are not talking about the same G1000 implementaton as I am. You currently have to download it from the marketplace
@@apreaze he's talking about g1000 nxi addon u definitely haven't tried it tho that's for sure cause from what u r saying I don't even know if u have tried the sim at least not any time close
My MSFS does not have "blobs" for scenery when I get close. It only does that if you have slow internet.
5:05 I was expecting a much more beautiful setting, a more lifelike landscape, this is very "plastic"! Oylan, it's like X-plne 11 has been a bit jazzed up, but that's it! For me the feeling is important, not just the technical simulation precision!
You state it well,”plastic”. It just feels a bit artificial looking compared to MSFS.
If you watch other reviews, on max settings it barely renders shadows correctly. Disappointing.
Thanks Russ. Your review was honest and fair. I have had MSFS since the DOS days, but had to drop it when it required a Playstation account, and for you to sign in every time you wanted to run the simulator. I waited and got XPlane, and found clicking a desktop icon to start refreshing, and I don't have to fiddle with it nearly as much, not to mention having to reinstall MSFS per start up. MSFS got really nasty.
Yes, $65 for MSFS plus an monthly fee to use it adds up to over $120 a year every year just to fly it. No thanks. Have X Plane 11 and enjoy that very much and it is on my hard drive so it is mine. Looking at reviews of X Plane 12 and so far it is good. The only thing that bothered me in X Plane 11 is the trees, but that is only up close not flying at altitude. This review has helped a lot.
Wow the graphics make me recall my FSX time in my old laptop, so outdated!
exactly thats the main issue. and while graphics arnt everything i think one of the big draws is realism thats what made ms flight sim 2020 so popular and 2024 is really going to give xplane a run for its money. .
Is there an add on where the IPad window mount falls of on takeoff and approach at the most in opportune time? That would be great, thanks.
great stuff russ! im getting back into x plane after having taken a break from it after my multi engine checkride! cant wait for this to be complete!
I REALLY appreciated your real world insights and very detailed analysis of the updates etc. I'm in IT and your notes on consistency of the pop outs (which ones pop out and which do not), using a Ctrl or Alt click to pop them out and from a UX perspective, these are quite big things for them to add. This is early access so hopefully they can bring that consistency in before the full/final (what's final these days) release.
For that same reason (IT experience), I disagree with your perspective that the Interface is too similar. The most painful thing I have to do everytime Microsoft brings a new version of Windows or Office is to re-learn how to find some bread and butter things, and how to help various users (professional and family) to figure out how to do the stuff they always "used to" be able to do. I want to fly a sim. I don't want to have to learn a new interface. You mentioned this in passing that the X-Plane interface is good so perhaps that's why they kept it. I would say that's huge! Make improvements where needed, but don't overhaul something just for the shine. For me, the X-Plane 11 interface was a lot nicer than 9 and 10 before, so I am THRILLED that the interface has had so little change.
Regardless, your analysis and reasoning is brilliant and extremely helpful and made me think about things in ways that I perhaps would not have. Have a great day!
Thanks for this nice early looks at XP-12. I think I'll wait a little while before jumping in on this.
Really good review though, good to see the features and the weather generation. Nicely done!
I like your Videos Russ! As you, (obviously) I have logged a couple of hours as a commercial and AF pilot. Right now and even more so with XP12 I believe we are truly on the edge of a new era of flight training. Currently, I am rated on the Challenger 650 and when I look at X-Aviation’s Challenger Simulation for XP11 I must say it is really stunning, unbelievable …
Another good video, the adverse weather examples takes me back (real world)!
Very good review... I'm building a sim now. Ive always used MSFS (since the early 90's)... But those helping me build my sim are suggesting XP12. Which is a hard choice for me, mainly bc I have so much admiration for MSFS. This said, he also suggested that I can run them both? (2) and chose between them at will... I'm a student pilot with 70 hours, just about to complete my private, so predominantly my sim will be for practice and IFR training. Thanks again for the great review. This is very helpful to someone juggling to decide.
they are both just computer games you could easily install and try them
Flew into KMSP last night in the pmdg 737 on MSFS and it was damn near real looking. ILS aproach and the runway appeared right at minimums. I just can get over how this still looks like it was from 2017 compared to msfs. Yes I paid 60 bucks for the 737 but that is probably as close to a real Boeing sim there is so it makes the whole thing super realistic.
I've been an Xplane user since ver 4 or 5 (when it came with a paper booklet) all the way up to 11. MSFS user since the early days (mid 1980s). Love them both in different ways, but no way will I be paying 60 bucks for XP12. Looks like a minor upgrade to XP11 based on the few videos I've seen.
Yeah, was expeecting something that really makes it stand out, but it looks the same.
It's realllly disappointing. I've been waiting for XP12 for so long, and it feels like Laminar has just been twiddling their thumbs if this is all we got. I know it's early access but I hope Laminar doesn't think that's a free pass to trickle in the improvements at a slower pace now that some cash is flowing. I dunno, this is the first time I've ever seen a flight sim in early access.
+1
Excellent video, Russ! Liked and Subscribed. I concur with your summary suggestions for X-Plane window pop-outs, as well as your assessment of terminal area weather.
I disagree with your comment about "learning the landmarks of a certain area" in Microsoft Flight Simulator," but not for anything having to do with one flight simulator over another. I "held" roughly 230 hours in MSFS before joining the Air Force in the late 1980s. Indeed, the sim helped familiarize me with procedures required in flight, primarily the details of various SIDs, STARs and IAPs.
Rather, with 2,500 hours of flight time in two USAF aircraft, including roughly a thousand hours of low-level, visual navigation, I understand all too well the importance of keeping a running mental DR of one's position and attitude. Flight simulators can lead one into a false sense confidence and/or security that rapidly disappears in the real world when landmarks are different than expected or obscured by weather in ways that are not depicted in a flight simulator.
Even the real world can change enough from one day to the next to be misleading and/or disorienting!
For this reason, I always encourage newly minted pilots to continue their training by working towards their instrument rating, not as a way of "pushing the weather envelope," but rather, as a way of conducting all flights in a safer, more methodical, well-practiced and reliable manner.
Couldn't have said it any better myself! Hopefully the community comes together instead of jumping on either the MSFS train or XPlane train. Looking forward to the xplane VR review soon.
MSFS FOREVER - JK had to throw that in there to mess with you.
Xplane 12 looks stunning. My pc can run 11 at decent medium settings 😅 but there’s no chance my pic could run MSFS2020.
Not sure if it could run xplane 12 either 😢
@@HotTakeHQ actually i ran both at similar settings, and XP12 ran much worse, and looked much worse at the same quality settings
@@ravenn22 hmmmmm 😬 interesting
It's kind of unfortunate that it'll always be a tug of war between the two, even back with FSX and XP8/9. Both have their ups and downs, but both also have their right to exist. Like many hobbies, flight simming is a subjective one. Two people won't like the same for the same reasons. But what irks me the most is the fact that neither can accept the other, so it always results in arguments about which is better, and why.
The problem is that affording both sims is practically impossible, especially with those $100 addons
Those bandwagons are divided strong and it will stay that way as long as it’s hard to have both sims as the common man
Tnx Russ ..what about AP & Runways curvature, and I'm wondering how long it will take for our oddons, plugin, & Hardware to be migrated to the new XP12 ????
HI Russ great video as usual. About your monitors can you confirm that it is 3 televisions ? If it is what refresh rate is it setup to ?
Thanks for an answer
And also if you can give us what brand and model of television. Finally do you know if we can find something to avoid most of the reflection between the screens ?
thanks
Excellent review Russ, much appreciated.
When I saw that Russ posted a video on X-Plane 12 I knew I wanted to watch it immediately. Thank you Russ.
This XP11.8 version costs $60?
Does this have a in-built around the world scenery or like x-plane 11 jus a few miles around certain airports .. I purchased X-plane 11 which had a ridiculous price and was shocked to see that it dint have those around the world sceneries like MSFS.. it was left to the user to download from 3rd party programs..
With in a week I dumped 11.. hope that's not the case here..
???
Not sure what you mean by around the world scenery but both XP11 and XP12 have scenery coverage for the entire world. You only need to run the installer found in the X-Plane folder and select “add scenery”. Then you click the regions on a map that contain the areas you want to include. Since it can take a while to download scenery the demo only contains a small area of scenery. While the XP scenery is much improved and has a few features that are better than MSFS, it is not photo realistic and can’t compare visually. Of course XP is aimed more at serious pilot training so scenery is designed to be plausible but not exact. You can add photo scenery to XP using Ortho4XP which is free but it takes a very large hard drive and lots of downloading to cover extended regions. But XP does include worldwide scenery coverage and has since at least XP9 when I started using it
@@rbarlow thanks a ton for the information.. happy landings
Hi Russ. I am a newbie newbie and only just getting my feet wet with flight simulators. I have a question for you: do you a joystick or mouse to control your aircraft? In this video you mentioned using the mouse which made me curious to ask. I would think that using a joystick might give one more control, but I'm not sure about that. When you have a moment, could you let me know.
If anyone else can enlighten me on whether a mouse or joystick is best, I'd appreciate it very much.
Cant wait for VR review in XPlane12
I'm working on my instrument rating and your comments about being able to set precise ceilings and visibilities plus the video does it for me
Thank you for this. I only got into flight simming with MSFS (I did do a little in XPlane 11, but own little 3rd party scenery for it). I fly in VR and have seen the useability of VR in MSFS decline since about SU8, things like toolbar windows opening half size, and their positions not being remembered, really affect the experience for me. Therefore, reading the SU10 Beta VR forum is making me wonder if SU10 is actually going to break VR further, and fix nothing, and if XPlane 12 might be the way forward for me.
Had this come out in 2019 this would have been a much bigger deal, but in 2022 it misses the mark. That being said, it's still an improvement over XP11.
Well, as a professional pilot, I’d never use MSFS - XP11/12 however is fantastic!
@@matthiaskalt7041 what makes xp11/12 better than the fenix a320 or msfs in general?
@@LetsAaron nothing.
MSFS 2020 : All electronic cockpit panels pop out by pressing Right Alt + Left Mouse click (default).
And my point was that XP12 should have something similar so a standard mouse click could be used on touch screen displays
X-Plane gives me what I want from a simulator and this beta is a nice evolution. I bought it without hesitation. There are issues of course but that's to be expected for early access. Nice video!
Some people forget this is the first beta and have written off XP 12. Still a long way to go before the product is officially released.
Hey Russ, so good to see you! Some remarks there should be passed to Laminar. Remembering the position of panels should be quite easy to implement.
Thank you for uploading this quick review!
If you purchase the beta version will the updates to the final version be free?
Yes. Purchase and all version 12 updates free. XPlane 11 lasted about 5 years
Just another very educational video. Thanks for sharing Sr.
I've owned every flight sim for the last 35 years and am always excited for the release of any of them. I prefer not to get involved in the this or that between them all but since MSFS release I've been pretty exclusively using MSFS & DCS while XP11 took a back seat (really back seat I guess, haven't played it in over a year). "XP12 is like an old friend" is very telling in describing a product that has just been released. I think what the Laminar Research team has done with XP over the years is incredible (for such a small team) but I think it will be difficult for them going forward to compete with the likes of Microsoft and the resources available to them.
people seem to prefer xplane physics or other games compare to microsoft flight sim, even if its a smaller company they might get more and more people coming from microsoft flight sim
@@votpavel That was a long time ago. Its just not the case anymore IMO.
@@trevoC132 I prefer X-plane 12 over MSFS
@@supernova4760 Which planes do you fly in XP12? I was quite excited about XP12 to start with but I'm really disappointed with the add-ons like FF, Magknight, SGS etc. they don't seem to care about fixing their bugs once they've got the money. In my opinion there are only Toliss and Laminar airliners that are flyable. I have flown the A350 a bit but it's just hit and miss whether it follows the flight plan. It's a shame because the simulator itself is very good. It takes the fun out of it when things don't work.
Is it me or do others find the cockpit controls and display graphics a little blurry - not sharp enough until you zoom in or use pop outs when they are there?
Great video, Russ!
Excellent review. I agree with your opinions here. I bought it to support Laminar Research but was left a bit underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely improving on XP11 but visually it is not much better. Especially scenery. That said, I don't like MSFS, as to me it feels wrong.
If you don't mind sharing. what brand and model GPU do you use? Your frame rate in X-Plans 12 is impressive. I've tried X-plane 12 and had terrible results with the frame rate, even after reducing the various CPU/GPU parameters to their lowest settings. In X-plane 11, the frame rate is excellent, using the very same equipment, with parameters set to their highest values.
The cpu can be the limiting factor too so it’s a balance. I have an i9-12900K cpu and a nVidia RTX3080TI
@@rbarlow In a separate RUclips video, I discovered my frame rate problem was caused setting my three (3) monitors/TVs to 4k. Reducing the resolution on the side view monitors solved the problem. Thanks for replying.
What version of MSFS are you talking about in this video?
I might wait a few months but I’ll definitely pick up XP12. I echo other peoples sentiments that I’d be happy using both XP12 and MSFS. I honestly don’t see them as naturals competitors anymore because they appeal to different crowds of people who look for different things in sims. It’s nice to have a choice, people! There is nothing wrong with that!
so you saying by that MSFS is not for real pilots or for IFR?
@@masflow09 Not sure where you got that from. MSFS has an extremely realistic flight model no matter what X-Plane fanboys say. A lot of MSFS _planes_ don't have realistic flight models, that is where people get the assumption that MSFS itself is unrealistic.
@@JohnDoeWasntTaken i asked Joe J a question lol im not the one saying it is fake.
@@masflow09 I got you bro. It's really annoying how many X Plane fanboys act like MSFS isn't a "serious" flight sim just because it has better graphics. It's like they can't process a sim having good graphics and simulation at the same time.
@@JohnDoeWasntTaken they dont have that immersion in XP so that is why lol
msfs feels like it's going to be the go to simulator for the next 10 years while xplane 12 just feels like it has a lifespan of maybe 4 years until they release xp13
Msfs to me looks like a.. game style, arcade kinda sim for beginners most of the time however i do love the scenery and graphics etc. I might get both
@@StreagleEagle depends it has more elements for arcade style gamers but it is a very professional software when you turn the realism settings up. Especially with pmdg 737 and the fenix a320. Graphics are beautiful as well.
@@StreagleEagle with plenty of mods, msfs is pretty much realistic.
So what is it that makes Xplane 12 better for training?
I strongly believe that its a reskinned XP11. I think Laminar was caught behind the 8-ball with MSFS taking over. UI is almost identical with XP12. I get this is pre-alpha but this is just bad. More of an update as opposed to a new sim.
Exactly
They got caught slipping. They were on cruise control and then msfs came out of nowhere and they panicked
The answer is simple that dude owner of X11 desperately needs some retirement cash.........
the day MSFS2020 was released Austion didnt even realise the new MSFS2020 was even out!
A little off script here Russ. But with todays computers being released with AMDs Rizen 7000 series CPUs and Intels 13 Gen CPUs and Nvidias 4000 GPU series, do you think you would be able to get by with one computer system or would you still need two to run your physical cockpit using XP-12 or MSFS. I've viewed your prior videos testing whether one computer would do and was curious if computer technology has reached a point that would allow a one computer hookup to a physical cockpit with multi monitors like yours to operate smoothly with no hiccups or bottlenecks? Or anyone else with an opinion, please chime in. Thanks for the enlightenment and education.
If you can live with less than maxed out graphics I think a single top of the line can handle it. It does greatly simplify life to maintain only one computer. I can run MSFS or XP11 with 3 visual screens plus Air manage and pop outs on two attritional monitors(using a Pluggable) and get pretty nice results.
Thanks for mentioning about X-Plane 11 being hard to keep the plane on the centerline. I thought it was me.
Perhaps that models real life more realistically? Small ariplanes can be quite hard to control. I bought the full copy and was very impressed by the handling of the J3. I also bought the M7 Maule and that handles very well too. In a real taildragger you get the tail up and then stay on the main wheels using the rudder for directional control until flying speed is reached. This is pretty good in XP12, so far. The challenge will be to see how the Stinson performs, it is terrible in XP11.
It is you and the equipment used, planes don't drive straight down runway, physics pulls it in one direction or other. XP models that properly, MSFS does not if the plane maker doesn't force it into the lookups. So if you aren't used to that and with the lack of force feed back on cheaper gear, you will have a hard time.
@@hiddenmonkeyofdoom I haven't flown in a while, but I don't remember it being so difficult to stay on centerline with any plane that I flew. Thanks.
I COULN'T GET THE THING TO RUN? The computer I use is very big but I just couldn't started.
I agree XP12 is not yet ready for serious use...lots of bugs remain and it worries me they call these Release Candidates
When will xplane 12 have navigation and functional mcdu?
Trees and weather are good but xp 12 needs more polish. I like the flight physics. But I think in the age of Google Maps in 2 or 5 years XP will have a very hard time without satellite scenery.
Currently using MSFS and XP, cant decide.
Keep using both. It's not a crime!
@@Mercwerx2unfortunately not everyone sees it like that.
11:04, it doesn't shine in FPS... Lord. Look at the low FPS
That's what I use MSFS for, sightseeing.... and tweaking being a retired Navy AT and engineer that's retired ; )
O7
Is there a script that I can add that will duplicate the functionality of the Knobster in VR mode in MSFS. Specifically the floating function menu that selects the parameter that the Knobster will control?
I’d be interested to know what avionics the RV-10 comes with.
Thanks for this overview, Russ. I'm actually delighted that Laminar didn't go off the rails redesigning everything. I tried the demo last night and I really appreciate the sense of continuity. I liked that I could just get on with it. I was blown away by the new lighting, the variety in weather depiction and the crispness of textures considering my middle-of-the-road graphics card. The forests are lush and everything sits much better in the landscape. I did get a laugh on Reddit yesterday when some posted a picture of default Vancouver in MSFS and X-plane 12. There is no competition there, but I've never really flown any sim right out of the box. I'm an aftermarket addon guy through and through. The multidisciplinary nature of creating a sim makes it impossible to devote resources to creating high fidelity planes AND a good sim. I just need Laminar to do what they always have. Focus on the underlying platform, in essence the flight model and leaving things nice and open for third parties to offer various possibilities, paid or otherwise. Enjoy your flights!
Hi Russ, I started watching your channel a few months ago. I got back in to flight sim again with the Xbox. Well I picked up a new computer last week to try out X-Plane 12. I am having issues with my joy stick and the flight controls. Only the hat switch works for moving around the view. Can you make a video about calibrating a joy stick for X- plane 12? Thank you so much!! I have not been able to find much on line for help with X-Plane 12. I am an MTC guy with a Major airline and I do love planes. Thank you.
Which VR gear do you use?
Nice video thank you. I have a question: why all my screen and plane in outside view are strongly bouncing as soon as I set weather to VFR broken and higher to the right. Is this just me? Thank you if you could try to reproduce this. I am not talking about normal turbulence effect but rather to the entire screen and plane bouncing strongly! Thank you
Does it have shared cockpit?
How is the ATC for airline flying?
Performance looks horrible, as does the scenery (except for airport environment). Other than that, weather precision mode is awesome (can't believe Asobo didn't think of that), airplane sounds too.
I will use both, just like I did with 11 and MSFS. Although I like flying VFR, overall I have always preferred X-Plane.
Right now VR in x-plane 12 is truly horrible! I am sure it will improve but, for now, what a disappointment... The crystal clarity of the Varjo Aero merely serves to highlight how truly outdated and dreadful the graphics are....
@@Drmerlin604 XP12 VR on my Aero is really bad. the tracking is not smooth jumping at times and with black areas at the sides at times. What is your experience?
I used to be BIG into X-Plane 11, but when MSFS 2020 came out, that completely changed my perspective in flight simulators. X-Plane 12 is cool, and definetly a big upgrade from X-Plane 11, but for me it still doesn't even come close to being compared to MSFS 2020
You prefer a game over a simulation, not surprising ... everyone has different tastes.
@@supernova4760and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It’s almost shocking to see something this muddy-looking and dated come out now, especially with an insane price point of $60. They had an opportunity to change a lot of things from the ground up like flight planning, a conspicuously absent ATC and the atrocious UI but instead we have a product that looks identical to XP11. This just stinks of laziness and greed.
It looks realistic not muddy and not dated at all, I prefer this over the child like mfs 2020.
Given the apparent low framerate in the video it looks like Russ might be using a very low end PC which is not capable of showing XPlane 12's full graphical quality! At least I hope that's the case as graphics this 'dated' run at 60fps on mobile phones these days!
The answer is simple that dude owner of X11 desperately needs some retirement cash.........
@@Voltomess A real airbus pilot tried xplane12 and said that the flight model is superior to mfs.
@@hansloyalitat9774 flight model is not everything...hey why don't we delete all that ugly trees and buildings we dont need them all we need is a green ground and the other half of the screen as blue sky ...all we need is a fckng FLIGHT MODEL!!! wtf is wrong with you people!!!
The aliasing issues in X-Plane 12 make it unusable in VR. Anyway to address that?
Hi Russ, I am curious how you got rid of the anti aliasing. I have slider all the way up and a nividia 1080ti card I7 processor and still can't get smooth edges.
I know a good flight game is NOT just about scenery eye candy but its just impossible for me to ignore that aspect after MSFS. XP11 gave me many happy years and I still use it alongside MSFS now and then. The issue I have (again i speak for myself only) is that this feels like a huge XP11 upgrade and not a brand new title in the series.
Kinda like what Euro Truck Simulator did - they did a huge upgrade to the game engine, graphics, lighting etc. This is what XP12 feels like to me. It just looks the same as 11. For sure there are improvements but Im looking at it as a whole and it just feels so same-y. I have XP11 modded and looking great. I also hardly use it so will pass on XP12. Great video thanks!
so you're saying it's what ow2 is to ow1?
Isn't the 'wave' button on the weather for setting up wave for gliding? Not waves on water. Nice helpful vid though. Like most I will not be rushing out to buy it. I may be hinting what I want for xmas though 🙂
Thank you Russ for a considered review. I get a bit annoyed with some comments on various fora bagging either X-Plane or MSFS. I would like to hope that most simmers can enjoy both. Let's face it, if you have a computer that will run one of them it will probably run the other, and the cost of the product, at least in base form, should not be prohibitive for most simmers. I can drink Coke OR Pepsi (in moderation of course!)
Ok, after 1 Minute I have already enough. Is there any streamer that has a good computer to show any beauty? Or is it the Sim really being that bad?
Thanks for the video. What 3rd party enhancements that bring MSFS closer to X-Plane as a simulation were you referring to here, do you maybe have another video on that?
When I use X-Plane 11, it greatly taxes my laptop's GPU and I have to use low scenery settings. I can use the highest settings in MSFS without the fan for the GPU turning on. Is X-Plane 12 better for not taxing the GPU as much?
havnt tried 12 myself, but you can always download the demo for xplane 12 to see how it runs on your system
It's taxing and my fans go off crazy! Hopefully they fix it near the future
though they have improved performance a bit
What are your specs?
@@Mohammed-cy5wm Intel Xeon W-10885M CPU, 96 GB RAM, RTX5000, Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus.
I installed xp12 today and already not happy. Can't update the database with Navigraph yet so get an alert that navdata is out of date. Also on the C172 the obs knob on Nav 2 doesn't work. I don't find the graphic any better the xp 11 where I fly.
Framerate looks unusually low. Are you using a capture card or second PC to get the footage?
No just software capture
Great video, thanks for review and your opinions. Based on your experience and hours, have you had a chance to fly the MSFS 172 with the enhancement pack by WB Sim? I am currently looking for a a local school to get my PPL later this fall or next spring and I'm leaning towards the school that has the 172 analog as an option over the other school of all pipers (and one 152). I will be sticking to msfs and this enhancement pack sounds great, but without really knowing what to look for I can't tell. From what I have learned it's a full blown electric makeover and has many things we saw with A2A.
Looks decent knowing it's gotta' run on a MAC as well as windows .
Sir, thank you for this review. May I ask what operating system you’re using for XP12?
Probably Windows 98
Great video Russ, many thanks to you.
13:11 so they still have those ghastly wheel squeeling sound effects. Why 🙄
My biggest problem with MSFS2020 is that, in VR, the cockpit has a lot of stutter as I look around (I'm running a pretty beefy system with an 10th gen i7, 32 GB of RAM, and an RTX 3090). Not only is this immersion breaking, but it's extremely distracting. I'm hoping that X-Plane 12 will offer a better experience, especially since it is regarded as the better platform to use to augment flight training.
When you took of in the citation, you were getting 50 fps. But then you looked left out the window and the scenery was going past very stuttery. Can you xplane what this is about? Also when you look around the cockpit. It's not smooth even for your 90fps in the cessna. It looked very blocky. I think I will stick with msfs. I haven't touched xplane in 3 years and nothing is convincing me to get it.
Hi, I just found out my 12 year old grandson really wants to learn to fly and his goal is a private license at 16 and onto commercial flying at some point. I have not had a chance to talk to him personally. I have a CH control yoke and rudder pedals that I am going to give him. Which sim would be best for him for a PC? My sim is FS2 for a Mac, but I think it would be best if he gets either MFS or X-Plane, but don't have personal experience with either. Any recommendations or comments would be appreciated. I have a commercial license with 25 years experience, with occasional commercial work, but mostly private flying. Thanks in advance! PS: I also have an Xbox 360...would that work with anything usable?
Any ideas how to fix it? I have zero plug ins yet, I’ve turned all settings in graphics to 0
Can I turn on the Flight path mae=rker? I am on my first day of X-Plane 12 and MSFS 40th edition
Not sure I understand your question.
Is it your recording software that makes it look like low fps?
my crappy recording software the FPS was posted in the upper right of the captures.
You mentioned that MSFS has an outside software that allows pop out screens to stay where you want them in Air Manager displays. Could you share what software that is? Great video BTW.
Just google pop out panel manager and you find
flightsim.to/file/35759/msfs-pop-out-panel-manager
Nice video. I would like to try Microsoft but I don't think there is a port for Mac as yet. I have Xplane 12 demo so I will try that for now.
My question would be how the Xplane VR performance is on average hardware? While In VR I can only get 30fps on low settings with 1080ti in MSFS, Im curious about Xplane.. Though I still have to test MSFS without the Realtime surroundings streaming..
I have i4790k 4 GHz, Geforce 1060, 24 GB RAM. At complex airports I get around 30 fps in the Zibo 737, in the air 50-60 fps, at normal airports 40 fps. This is XP 11. In XP 12 it is about the same.
@@maltimoto Ok interesting.. I assume you are talking about flatscreen and not VR!? I would really like to know the average VR performance.. Though I think your system is just quite not powerful enough to do so comfortable.. I am running i78700k, 1080ti and 32gb ram with m.2 ssd (that is actually considered average these days) and I doubt I can get above 30fps on medium/high settings in VR.. I would really like to get at least 45+ fps on medium/high or 60fps low/medium, Then I might consider buying, but I do not think I will get that.. (compared to sims like Msfs and or DCS I cannot)
@@SkywalkFPV ah sorry i didnt see that you meant VR. yes this is "normal" fps without VR
MAKE MORE VIDEOS! Looking forward to your VR video Russ and thanks again for sharing.
Would you be so kind to tell us what are you using to fly in the sim? You Know..Your computer and its spects?
hey, are the fps lower than Xplane 11's fps?
I’m having some issues with xplane 12 and some of the rendering as my aircraft and reflections are all pink and un loaded
I just bought the early version of X-Plane 12 it is the downloaded one and i could not even fly out of the demo area even it cost me a fair amount of money so if i want to fly from any area in the world all I got is water and I have to go to the X Plane 11 disk and then I get an error ( permission denied). I was thinking by getting the one pay wear it was to be easy to get it going.
Any help would be nice .
You need to install scenery for the areas you want to fly in. Look in the XPlane folder for the installer. One of the options is to install scenery. It will present a world map and you select the areas you want to add… they will download… and you’re good to go
The only reason you'd buy this over MSFS 20 is loyalty, its like me buying AMD over Intel, its because I know more about AMD well and will stay loyal to AMD!
I disagree. Some people, mainly serious sim pilots, or real pilots, will buy X-Plane because of the physics that are built in and the superior flight modelling.
Others will buy MSFS because of the fantastic scenery and not be so concerned about accurate handling. Some people will have both and maybe some others as well. It all depends what you want from the sim. I don't have the time or money to invest in 2 or 3 sims + addons so I will stick with X-Plane. If I had thought that MSFS would be better than buying XP12 then I would have considered it but the reviews I have read would suggest otherwise. But, that is only my opinion, of course. YMMV 🙂
Your frame rate seems low. Is it because of the screen recording app? Thanks.
Yeah I filmed that on my older notebook with a GTX1060 mobile GPU... I was traveling and didn't have a desktop with some horse power
I have MSFS2020, and I would love for Xplane to do well, but I think this is the end unfortunately, they no longer have better flight models and the scenery really is MSFS holy grail and as much as people love planes they love scenery as well
uhm....yes they have better flight models, even way better
the whole point of x-plane is the flight model.. i tried msfs, tried with several different scenarios, different flight models, different everything, it just feels more consumer grade.. i fly real planes, xp feels more realistic physics wise
Russ, have you tried multi-monitor with X-Plane 12? With my three year old i7, GTX 1060, I went from 22 fps to about 8. What kind of frame rates do you get now with multi-monitor, and what are your computer specs?
Odd that your FPS counter shows 45+ yet the visuals we see in the vid are so stuttery, and look more like 15 FPS. Bad setting in your video capture software?