XPlane 11 or P3D?

JudgeDredd · August 24, 2018, 10:57:37 PM

As the title. Anyone got these and if so which one and what made you go for one over the other?

XPlane looks stunning but I gather from Asid it doesn't have ATC.

Kushan · August 25, 2018, 01:13:55 AM

P3D hands down. Only way their getting me on XP is kicking and screaming.

jomni · August 25, 2018, 06:37:31 AM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on August 24, 2018, 10:57:37 PM
As the title. Anyone got these and if so which one and what made you go for one over the other?

XPlane looks stunning but I gather from Asid it doesn't have ATC.

I've outgrown FSX ATC and do online (VATSIM) so I'm fine with XP. I stopped at XP10 though. Is the current P3D now 64bit?

Jarhead0331 · August 25, 2018, 06:38:06 AM

Quote from: Kushan on August 25, 2018, 01:13:55 AM
P3D hands down. Only way their getting me on XP is kicking and screaming.

Can you explain why? I have XP11 and think it is fantastic. I've heard it's the gold standard.

Pretty good discussion here...consensus seems to be that they both excel at differen5 things. Neither one is unquestionably superior to the other.

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/536928-trying-to-make-the-p3d-vs-xp11-decision/

Tuna · August 25, 2018, 07:44:48 AM

JD, the money you've invested in FSX, you'll be able to use some of them with P3D I think.. It's been awhile since I've FSX'd but at least back when I did, I thought some of the expensive add ons were cross platform applicable. Some the creators wanted you to buy again. I think Orbx you could go either way.

Skoop · August 25, 2018, 08:45:54 AM

Some big addons that prepar has make it the Goto more than xplane. Active sky for and world traffic for AI. Xplane's has week addons for these areas. Prepare has a better default ATC which I have been using more than addon ATC because it works better with the AI.

XPLANE looks better graphically and runs better, I can make my own photoreal scenery that look amazing. But the overall experience is still better and more alive in prepar.

RyanE · August 25, 2018, 09:07:20 AM

My son is a pilot and going through flight training cert. He flies both. I showed him this thread and the first thing he said was XP has a much better "real" feel for flying, especially for maneuvering and landing. He said P3D is better for ATC and navigation. He was specific around XP being a lot better for anything beyond straight as an arrow flying. When he is using P3D, he is trying to recreate the whole flight experience and concedes on the flight characteristics.

He also said the uses XP to prep for maneuvers prior to every training flight. He uses P3D when he has to do a solo cross country.

JudgeDredd · August 25, 2018, 10:22:39 AM

Well as they're civilian flights it seems to me ATC would be a big part of "having something to do", especially when taking off and landing. Otherwise all your doing is jumping in a plane and flying from A to B.

I like the look of X Plane, but no ATC is a bit of a bummer. I also looked at the add-ons. There's ALOT...£700+ worth!!

Tuna, I don't even think I've got those downloads for FSX kicking around anymore so that's not a positive for me jumping on P3D

Thanks for the replies

RyanE · August 25, 2018, 11:00:10 AM

ATC is only part of it. The bigger part is radio management and navigation. Stuff that P3D does well. But when you are in commercial training, maneuver is a big part of it. If he is going be flying a Piper Warrior that day on specific maneuvers, he jumps in XP. If he is going to be doing a basic cross-country, he jumps in P3D. Pretty simple.

He says P3D only provides a good feel for flight in specific conditions. XP does a better job across the entire flight profile. If he needs to get a better feel for things like pushing the departure and stall limits, he uses XP.

His flight school uses XP in its simulator for flight. For ATC, they literally sit in a cockpit on the ground and talk to a controller. At home he uses P3D. ATC is super important in instrument ratings. But he said the ATC in P3D wasn't dynamic enough to help much. It wouldn't provide feedback when he was doing something wrong. Interestingly, he flies out of an airport in New England that is well modeled in XP. He takes a recording of his flight into school and is critiqued by head of flight.

Skoop · August 25, 2018, 05:35:47 PM

I would say RyanE's comments are spot on. Xplane does have 2 freeware 737s that are payware quality, zibo mod, and 737ultimate.

Still nothing beats the sum of all prepar's parts functioning together. A2A makes an add on, accusim which enhances the flight feel to more realistic levels. I haven't tried it in a while though.

jomni · August 25, 2018, 06:50:02 PM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on August 25, 2018, 10:22:39 AM
Well as they're civilian flights it seems to me ATC would be a big part of "having something to do", especially when taking off and landing. Otherwise all your doing is jumping in a plane and flying from A to B.

I like the look of X Plane, but no ATC is a bit of a bummer. I also looked at the add-ons. There's ALOT...£700+ worth!!

Tuna, I don't even think I've got those downloads for FSX kicking around anymore so that's not a positive for me jumping on P3D

Thanks for the replies

That is why I'm doing real life ATC with real people thought VATSIM. It will always be better than any computer ATC. But there will be times there are no controllers or not a lot of people flying depending on where you are.

jomni · August 25, 2018, 06:56:28 PM

Quote from: Skoop on August 25, 2018, 05:35:47 PM
I would say RyanE's comments are spot on. Xplane does have 2 freeware 737s that are payware quality, zibo mod, and 737ultimate.

Still nothing beats the sum of all prepar's parts functioning together. A2A makes an add on, accusim which enhances the flight feel to more realistic levels. I haven't tried it in a while though.

I think with FSX platform, you do have a lot of quality add-ons, but you have to buy them to get the quality flight experience that you desire.
XP may have less add-ons but you only really need a few to enjoy. For me, it's all about getting a very good payware plane. Then I just live with default weather and environments. Do online flying with VATSIM ATC. Lots of free airports with better quality than FSX. In the end, you'll spend less money. Runs smother too.

jomni · August 25, 2018, 07:19:03 PM

That said, my final advice is to choose the platform with the professional-level aircraft you really want fly a lot. O0
I chose to go X-Plane since I am fine with exclusively flying the IXEG 737. Then I just live with the other imperfections and make do with freeware airports.

Grim.Reaper · August 25, 2018, 07:39:29 PM

For prepar3d, am I reading their site correctly where it costs $199 to purchase?

Skoop · August 25, 2018, 09:29:56 PM

^ negative, that's for the pro version. Get the academic version, it's like 60bucks.