Xbox stability: scenery performance using the PMDG 737 as the test subject

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All,

Firstly, I elected to put this post in the General Discussion forum because a) it’s not strictly an aircraft or scenery thread since it deals primarily with sim performance/stability; and b) it would get quickly buried in either of those categories, and anyone interested in the info here might miss it.

Secondly, in choosing the PMDG 737 as the test subject, I feel we’re using the most up-to-date, demanding aircraft currently available for Xbox. However if you have findings using the BAe 146 or ATR, I think they’d be worth reading too.

After seeing many, many posts about the sim’s stability on Xbox scattered throughout the various forums, I felt it was time to open a single thread in which Xbox users can share their experiences with particularly well performing scenery — as well as those that guarantee black screens/CTDs. This might help many with their buying choices and so a worthwhile endeavour, I think. It’s also not limited to airports — if there are cities or utilities that crash the sim, please post here.

I’ll start with my own experiences, by listing a few that either VERY rarely CTD, or don’t CTD at all:

IniBuilds Chios (very rarely)
Just Flight Lanzarote (never)
Orbx Skiathos (very rarely)
Pyreegue Belfast Aldergrove (very rarely)
Pyreegue Glasgow (very rarely)

All three also perform exceptionally fps-wise, with very infrequent stuttering — and although fps isn’t the main focus of this thread, feel free to include any other performance notes.

Now for those that result in a CTD without fail, before I can even start handling the aircraft:

FlyTampa Corfu
Pilot’s Alicante

If anyone’s using any of the above sceneries with more/less success, again, let us know.

Just to add, I own many more sceneries, but haven’t detailed them because the black screens/CTD situation appears too random.

Thanks.

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Whilst I don’t typically buy airports or scenery the ones below I couldn’t live without(EDLP was free so why not lol)

PAKT(OrbX) - none experienced
SKPS(SierraSim) - none experienced
KRNT(Drezwiecki Design) - none experienced
EDLP(Aerosoft) - none experienced
TNCM(Airworthy Design) - none experienced

Cancun/Riviera Maya(DXR Simulations) - CTD during load screen.

South America Mesh and Alaska Mesh from OrbX show no issues.

Will be buying some more Alaska airports along the Milk Run route in the near future as well and add to this post/thread.

Happy flying y’all!

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Uk2000 scenery works well for m i only have Belfast and cardiff but they both work, LSVR i think kfll and mmun no issues , egcc is good also. Last of the good ones for me is egph by pyrguree. For the game crashers, Origami gatwick , mks shannon and lisbon, justflight eddl all crash on my xbox x via the blank avionics method, followed closely by a ctd.

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Hey @JakTrax78, thanks for the topic. I strongly recommend that you ask people who would like to report on this if they are using the Xbox Series S or X. Very important to more accurately gauge in which environment this is happening more or less frequently. I remember you telling me that you use the Series X.

Well, about my experience with the 737, via Xcloud which is the Series S in the Cloud. In the internal view, that is, cockpit, it works very pleasantly without complaint. However, in the external view, the FPS drop is noticeable when flying with the version with the passenger cabin. This does not happen with cargo planes or with the BBJ. I spoke with a PMDG administrator, via Ticket, who informed me that it is not in PMDG’s plans to add an option to enable and disable the passenger cabin for their aircraft.

About scenarios. I don’t usually buy scenarios except for what comes in World Updates or those that are not generated by autogen. With TNCM which is not autogen, I had a black screen when landing and going to the gates. And all my friends who were arriving and going to the terminals (all using Series S and 737) had a black screen. One effect of the black screen is that when going to the game menu, CTD is guaranteed. I also had an even more serious problem at Rotterdam Airport (EHRD) which is an airport from some WU. When entering it you can easily find a black screen with 737, especially if there are more 737s around your aircraft.

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I’m currently in the Beta. Very smooth so far, no stuttering and no black screens.
Now, with that said there is not other human players that I have seen.

So I’m thinking some of our issues could be server/internet speed/connectivity when there is a lot of other traffic. So far in the Beta it’s been great.

787 Dreamliner

Xbox Series X
Hotas One and Xbox controller

So far

  • JFK KJFK Intl - Good
  • Toronto Pearson CYYZ - Good
  • Las Vegas McCarron KLAS (with Fly Tampa add on) If you delete the airport and keep Vegas portion all is Good. With airport CTD
  • Seattle SEATAC ( with add on) Good

Ok here we go with the 737-800

JFK KJFK Intl - plane loaded but I had all the panels black. I was disappointed but decided to take off without just to see how she handled.
Beautiful to fly, even without displays lol.
Then a minute after takeoff every panel came to life. Everything functions as it should, ok well that’s a plus.
So I decide to turn around and land back at JFK
Taxing off the runway and… all panels go black.
But… they did come back. Hmmm
So once parked I did an exterior view and then back to the cockpit and … yup panels all black.
So I waited a bit and yes they did come back on.

So, it appears it takes time to load up everything but it all functions once loaded. There was no performance hit once everything was loaded. Small lag while it was loading though.

So if you are going to fly this aircraft. Be patient for everything to load and once loaded do not leave the cockpit.

I’ll test the other airports as I get more time.

Update:
Heathrow. Good :+1:
Seattle. Good. :+1:

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I had to delete reserved space tonight, these were my previous “Not a Single Issue” airports, just installed them back without any WUs, Deluxe, Premium and any extra aircraft. I will edit this msg when i test other airports enough time. Forgot to add, 737-700 BDSF, no traffic, 24% ground services. No WU updates or extra planes, other addons installed. Just airports.

43518d86-fd52-4d86-8579-a8832a522488
43518d86-fd52-4d86-8579-a8832a5224881920×1080 126 KB

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  • NZWN - Flightbeam - 1.33gb - Always black screen after preparations, black screen recovers 10mins after takeoff, CTD on approaching any other airport. Fps friendly. NZWN - YouTube
  • NZAA - Flightbeam - 2.02gb - Same as NZWN NZAA - YouTube
  • EBBR - Justsim - 1.19gb - Same as NZWN NZAA EBBR - YouTube
  • EDDH - Simwings - 1.87gb - 1 CTD while initial loading, 2 black screens on gate while preparing EDDH - YouTube , 1 successful takeoff without any issues.
  • EDDN - Captain7 - 466mb - not a single issue after 30+ full flights.
  • EGPF - Pyreegue Dev Co - 1.26gb - 10+ full flights, not single issue.
  • EGPH - Pyreegue Dev Co - 746mb - 10+ full flights, not a single issue.
  • EGAA - Pyreegue Dev Co - 1gb - 10+ flights, no issues.
  • ENVA - Aerosoft - 1.37gb - 5 flights no issues, but a bit stuttery, it is like close to black screen and ctds time to time.
  • LZSH - Fsdreamteam - 327mb - no issues 10+ , 1 invisible wall on a gate entrance.
  • UKLL - Pyreegue Dev Co - 577mb - no issues so far.
  • SGRJ - Paulo Ricardo - 563mb - no issues 2 tests.
  • EETN - Drzewiecki - 1.75gb - no issues so far, need more tests. It is like on the edge.
  • LGKR - Flytampa - 3.19gb - 20+ CTDs at loading screen. If rolling cache deleted and recreated can spawn in airport but black screen/ Ctd under 10 mins. Includes huge scenery cant be uninstalled, airport is small.
  • KBOS - Flytampa - 1.22gb - no issues 4 tests. (1x ctd, fps drop, micro macro stuttering after AAU2 update, it was smooth before)
  • KDCA - Drzewiecki - 823mb - no issues 2 tests, airport has lots of parked cars around unnecessarily, fps could be better. Imgur: The magic of the Internet
  • KIAD - Flightbeam - 2.22gb - 1x no issues, 1x CTD while loading, 1x black screen 2mins after takeoff. KIAD - YouTube
  • EPKK - Drzewiecki - 1.52gb - 4x no issues, 1x ctd while loading
  • KEWR - Drzewiecki - 1.15gb - fps drops to 36-40 from 48-56 range a lot, micro macro stutters even with 50+ fps, laggy. 3x no issues miraculously, will test more. KEWR - Album on Imgur (1x azure disconnect)
  • LYTV - Pyreegue Dev Co - 242mb - no issues.
  • UKBB -Pyreegue Dev Co - 633mb - no issues. Stuttery.
  • UKOO - Pyreegue Dev Co - 369mb - no issues.
  • EPLB - Drzewiecki - 1.31gb - no issues, but why it is 1.31gb? 1 main building thats it, small airport.
  • EPMO - Drzewievki - 1.28gb - CTD in 3mins, big lag spikes and freezes while rotating outside and cockpit camera. Fps was above 50. June 25, 2023 - YouTube
  • EKCH - Flytampa - 1.66gb - no issues 3 tests EKCH, Gate C39, runway 22L , 3 tests, no issues - Album on Imgur

to be tested…

  • EGLC - Orbx - 1.78gb -
  • KLAS - Flytampa - 1.28gb airport - 566mb scenery -
  • KLAX - Iniscene - 1.06gb -
  • KMIA - Lvfr - 823mb -
  • KPDX - Flightbeam- 704mb -
  • KRNT - Drzewiecki- 1.82gb -
  • KSAN - Lvfr - 751mb -
  • LGAV- Flytampa- 2.35gb -
  • LGSK - Orbx - 448mb -
  • LOWW - Gaya Simulations - 1.26gb -
  • RJAA - Drzewiecki - 1.34gb -
  • YBBN - Orbx - 1.40gb -
  • YSSY - Flytampa - 995mb -
  • NZNS - Nza Simulations - 1.68gb -
  • NFFN - Inibuilds - 2.70gb -
  • EGGD - Uk2000 scenery - 72mb airport, 143mb uk2000 common library -
  • CYVR - Fsdreamteam - 196mb -
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Update my original reply adding the 737-800 as per discussion. I thought it might be important to see the difference between the in game aircraft versus a fully featured 3rd party one.

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Have had success in the -700 on XBOX at the following airports WITH LIVE TRAFFIC OFF:

AVP msfscenerybuilder, 175mb
DTW Inibuilds 1.38gb
CID msfscenerybuilder 261mb
DEN flightbeam 1.16gb
MDW Drzewiecki 684mb
EWR Final approach simulations 242mb
EWR Drzewiecki new 1.15gb, not so much yet, still trying

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+1 for Pyreegue’s EGPH, bought it earlier and have tried to get it to CTD with the ATR but it ain’t happening! I’ve not done too much testing with the PMDG 738 but so far the result is no different. Not sure what this guy does but it’s currently one of the industry’s best kept and no doubt most sought after secrets!

Worth adding that, prior to today’s flying, I also bought/installed Orbx’s GB North — which covers Edinburgh — so my findings include the further burden of that scenery.

I’ll probably be buying a couple more sceneries in this summer mini-sale so hopefully more updates to come.

So to recap, for anyone who doesn’t want to read the entire thread…

100% success (i.e. no black screens/CTDs): Pyreegue EGAA, EGPF, EGPH; Orbx LGSK, Just Flight GCRR

100% failure (i.e. guaranteed black screens/CTD): Pilot’s LEAL, FlyTampa LGKR

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So far I have tested EGGW, EGPH, EGAA, LIML, LIPX, LIRA, LFTE, RJFF, KSAN third parties and haven’t had any issues on 737. All solid mid size airports.

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It’s great that this thread is becoming what I hoped it would - a reference for Xbox simmers so we can enjoy the best console experience possible.

I just got a black screen instance at Pyreegue EGPF but it magically corrected itself after about 20 seconds. I’d been circuit-bashing between there and Pyreegue’s EGPH for a good couple of hours, non-stop, so to have avoided the bane of the CTD was a relief! Still an exemplary record for Pyreegue and his products!

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737-800, KSEA > KLAX

Xbox Series X

Nearly perfect flight. Friday morning, live weather, live traffic, full procedures, Ground Services menu put through all its paces to accuracy.

Heading vectors to final, autoland worked beautifully allowing me to capture a rare nice Xbox landing using drone mode.

No AIRAC waypoint discrepancies in this flight, Simbrief’s output agreed with the MCDU, VNAV worked beautifully.

Couple stutters here and there when using left side and right side quickviews. That’s it.

Destination KLAX was a beefy airport too, it’s payware, I forget who makes it, but the terminals are modeled and everything. Got some sweet screenshots from the whole landing and parking procedure.

It was a flawless flight managing radios the whole time via MIAP ( filed IFR from the world map even though it was a pain in the ■■■), honeycomb bravo and alpha, Turtle beach flight stick and rudders and mouse and keyboard.

The aircraft I figured was most likely to cause issues on Xbox is quickly becoming the only one I trust to, puzzlingly, NEVER cause issues. It runs so well and this is a great barometer for Xbox performance, and the capabilities of the sim overall.

Thanks for the thread and collection of data points; hope people contribute.

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I have CTDS at :

BIKF by MK-Studios
EGKK by Origami Studios
LIMC by Deimos INC

All addons I have are on Xbox Series X and was using the 737-800

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I’ve heard that Origami’s EGKK is terrible performance-wise generally so it’s perhaps not too surprising the PMDG 737 triggers CTDs there.

Are these guaranteed CTDs, i.e. you never actually get to do a successful flight?

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Yeah tried to do flights departing and arriving at these airports and the black screens come first then ctd.

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Completed a flight today with live wx, no ATC, and absolutely no defects save for the white dot/frame thing we all know and love. These add ons worked fine:

KCID (msfscenerybuilder)
KCLT (fsdreamteam)

P.S. This flight plan took advantage of a near 100 kts tailwind in the jet stream as depicted by Navigraph’s new weather feature, very cool stuff!

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Bought Orbx’s Brisbane Airport this evening. Couldn’t find a video review and the Marketplace images didn’t look great, but Orbx’s own promo vid looked okay and an average rating of 4.1 isn’t terrible. With nearly 40% off in the current Orbx MP sale, I figured I could somehow get my money’s worth…

Well, what a little gem! Nice ground textures, completely custom-modelled landside roads (albeit quite low-res) and tons of off-airport detail (again mostly low-res but not all). Lovely terminal areas, although no interior development.

But the emphasis of my post is how beautifully it runs on Series X. Obviously I’ve only had it a couple of hours but I’ve done several consecutive flights (PMDG 737) and tried my best to trigger a CTD. Not happening so far!

Makes me wonder if some of the lower res textures significantly help avoid issues. The balance here is spot-on, with the building textures generally becoming simpler the further away from the terminals you get. But there are a couple of warehouses right under the approach paths that are very crisp - I suspect purposefully done that way due to their being so obvious to landing pilots.

We’re getting there with this thread - I haven’t personally had a CTD for well over a week!

Add Orbx YBBN to that ‘flawless’ list, people!

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Great to have these reports but what makes it difficult is to search through this. A reminder that for over a year there has been an add-on compatibility google sheet online which is filled in by users with all third party add-ons. I have used it often before buying stuff so would be good if all of you update what you have found there too. MSFS Addon Compatibility List - Google Sheets

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Did a flight yesterday from EHAM (Asobo) to EGLL (Inibuilds) using the 800 and with air traffic turned off and it worked perfectly and was very smooth.

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Yes, I was actually thinking about this last night. The compatibility list is decent but not as focussed on the two extremes of performance/optimisation. Perhaps every so often in this thread I can compile a simple, up-to-date list to save people scrolling through all the replies?