One thing that is really good in the XP12 demo is the moving trees and scrub. It looks great and is something the breathes some more life into the sim. Some improvement in the way this works in MSFS would be nice.
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I may give it a go tomorrow. Iām most interested in how MSFS compares with things like XP12 ground handling, crosswind takeoffs/landings, stalls, and spins.
Iāve seen some streams of it already, but only in demo mode so not a lot of chance to see much. The clouds look much nicer than they used to, but appeare a bit blurry to me.
Many here say that XPlaneās commercial product side is safe (as opposed to the entertainment version of XP). For now. But I wouldnāt be surprised if MSFS will go into the commercial direction soonish. I mean it seems extremely wasteful to me if Microsoft developed a digital twin of the earth (as Jorg puts it) for a single product alone. Therefore I think the digital twin will serve as a foundation for many other products, like commercial flight simulators, military simulators, truck simulators, etc.
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Physics ? even Full motion sims for professional training have different āphysicsā from real planes. Thatās what a real 737 Pilot told me.
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Yes thatās true what the real pilot told you as I heard that as well. Obviously PC or Console physics will never come close to real world no matter how much anyone tries but as long as itās not flimsy and not paperweight like some arcade game. The best possible physics they can implement for PCs is what matters.
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Iāve always had multiple sims installed, xp12 will be no exception. However my loyalty and trust has always been with Flight Simulator and P3Dā¦. That will not change, MSFS is my main sim.
Iāve heard it all, MSFS is a travel simulator MSFS is only good visually this that etcā¦ but Iāve never understood this, as flying and visual depiction of whatās around you is probably one of the most important components of flight.
XP has never really done it for me. In my opinion MSFS is years ahead and as the flight model reaches capabilities it will be 1000 years aheadā¦ā¦ catch my drift.
XP does look to me like XP11 with slightly enhanced visuals. An updated flight model and melting snow on the runways doesnāt need a whole new XP12 release. THIS is all in my opinion.
I understand they both donāt care to compete with each other but itās safe to say they still love looking at numbers relating to each otherā¦ after all both are businesses in the same niche industry.
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Its really interesting flying the G1000 172 in XP12. It really does feel like a completely different aircraft to the MSFS version. The management of power is so much more important in XP, even on the ground. Its worth trying just for interest sake if nothing else.
I am buying xplane 12 for 3 reasons
- The flight dynamics
- F14
- Weather
I love MSFS but 70 dollars for a 737-800 when X plane has a good one for freeā¦
Also,Wake turbulence,a free cirrus sr22ā¦
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Yes. Simulated physics differ from real physics based simply upon the fact they are simulated and not real.
Read that sentence again, because while it might sound like, āDuh!ā upon first read, it is profoundly important.
You donāt get Laminar Research and Asoboās REAL FLIGHT, you get their flight simulators.
And each is an artistically simulated take on a real life.
Same goes for racing sims. Every one is different. Even in the same cars.
We pick favorites not always based on which sim is the most realistic, but which sim we PERCEIVE TO BE the most realistic. And we will argue for days with folks who disagree but we are just arguing about someoneās artistic interpretation of reality, rather than reality itself.
No sim is real life. Every sim will be different. We will like certain sims more than others, and other people will disagree with us!
As long as it is a sim, it is not real, and therefore, it will not feel 100% like the real thing. It is the very nature of the beast.
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It is out today. I was watching a livestream for a couple hours. I admit, I like the water, how it makes sounds and the aircraft sinks into the water, and how the waves rock the plane. The water in different places is different colored, which was also pretty cool.
There is a whole lot of things look pretty bad from a distance, but when you get closer, they look better. While the water has water masks and has different colors, islands from a distance look kind of meh.
All in all, I will probably buy it. I will probably buy a water plane, and probably the A350 (that is the model that for 3 years I kept flying back and forth between South Africa and the US). Basically, there are a couple things that I would like to play around and try out. But the bulk of my flying will still be MSFS.
It wonāt compare to MSFS for the sheer exploration. And I prefer being able to see from a disnace what things look like.
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Itās most definitely the other way around imho. Iām sticking with MSFS. Iāve genuinely been enjoying MSFS so much these days, I canāt go to anything else. Plus, I like to look at the ground every once in a whileā¦ Good times! Good times!
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Just saw the Beta live videosā¦
If the video titles did not mention V12, I would have bet my yearās income that it is V11 with the known sky and OSM data modsā¦
And I am talking about the world engine hereā¦
Nothing to call home aboutā¦
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There is a Demo that you can download and try.
I just tried the demo. Itās ok, planes and aircraft light and reflections look nice with their new graphics compared to XP11 but we became spoiled with MSFS photogrammetry and terrain. Physics is better in xp12 but not by a severe margin. Noticeable shimmers more than MSFS even at ultra settings. Tried to fly in VR but xp12 kept crashing. No live traffic which is a bummer as well. Overall at least for me, MSFS is the leader and keeps on improving.
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Everything what you said I knew it since a while, 3rd party dev testing, far from finished, stability/performance in wide range of system , crash, features, itās just another unfinished sim and things will probably never been finished, it need another years of works, sound familliar.
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Totally agree. I myself have a PPL and do find MSFS to have a better representation of how a Cessna 172 flyās compared to XP, but still, it has much more to improve in regards to realism. At the end, it really comes down to 3rd party devs and what they can do to make it look realistic and we are just now getting that and so far Fenix and PMDG have real pilots out there stating that it comes really close to the real thing.
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I agree, completely. I think it will be easier for MSFS to catch up in physics than X-plane can catch up with everything else, In the end competition and choices are healthy , but Iāll stick with MSFS while I watch whatās going on with XP12.
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With some enhancements like Cloudscapes, OrbX Terrain and scenery, it will look a lot nicer. And you can fly two Airbusses not available in FS20 and the LevelUp Boeing 737 NG. Therefore is always very practical to have all simulators installed the have the maximum amount of favorite planes ready to go. 
Did about 2 hours of A / B w XP12 and MSFS - same plane, same location. nothing to worry about here.
Perf is borderline with similar settings. The one advantage is ground handling, to include water handling ( but the ānew seaplane physicsā are either not in yet, or terrrrrrible )
XP still has a smoothness to the controls that feel good, but MSFS feels like a much more live environment w winds and updrafts from hills etc. If they just smoothed out some of the effect, itād feel much betterā¦
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Just been watching some videos of xp12. The bad aliasing with shimmering lines is still there. The cloudās are a bit meh. Saw someone land the A330 and the wing flex seemed somewhat excessive. Night lighting still pops.
Compared to xp11 I would say itās an improvement. I wouldnāt necessarily say $60 worth of improvement.
Comparing it to MSFS is futile when you consider the flightsim experience as a whole.
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