Making the jump

[Steve Ruiz]

Since XP9 is on sale everywhere, I think I'm gonna make the jump for my GA flying.

Just curious how it will shape up in my system. I figure someone in here has to be running something in this range-

AMD Phenom II X4 920 @2.8 ghz
4 GB PC8500 DD2 1066mhz
ATI Raedon HD4860 1GB
Win Vista 32b

[Tom Solon]

Nice. I think you will enjoy the change!

[Keith Smith]

Go and install the demo, see how it runs. The settings/variables which will affect your framerate are:
- where you're flying (affects the baseline object density)
- rendering options
- resolution, (appears to be vid card dependent)
- anti aliasing (video card dependent, if I understand it right)
- texture res (if you exceed the texture buffer on the video card, you will experience stuttering as you change views while textures are moved from RAM to the texture buffer on the card)
- object density/visibility (these is where it ALL happens, these settings can run you from 125fps down to 19fps, at which point Xplane starts limiting your visibility with fog to maintain frame rate).
- water reflections (go for one or two from the max if you have a good video card. Only go for max setting if you have FPS to spare).

That's all that comes to mind right now. It's important to realize that some of the variables are video card dependent, and others are CPU dependent. Have at it!

Bear in mind, socal and ZNY are brutal on the system. The rendering settings that I use all over the country just don't work well in ZNY/ZLA.

It's worth taking the time to understand the rendering options, and to tweak for your rig. For the best experience, you want to shoot for the highest density of objects, and highest object visibility while still maintaining, say, 30-40fps. If you're getting 60+ fps, that's great, but you COULD enable more eye candy.

Enjoy!

[Steve Ruiz]

I've done the demo, and it works great, but I'll hardly ever fly in Innsbruck, Austria, so I was looking for a broader opinion.
30-40 fps is golden. I run and avg of 25-30 in FSX with most options near the max. (I favor smoothness over raw fps calcs, and I am buttery smooth) so I'm sure it will be to my liking. I'm just doing some fact finding...

[Wade Williams]

The important thing with X-Plane is to be sure your expectations are correct. It's not MSFS and as long as you don't expect it to be, you'll be fine. Both programs have advantages and disadvantages - if you use them both with that in mind, you'll enjoy the best aspects of both.

[Steve Ruiz]

Ok. I'm here. Excited, but slightly
overwhelmed with regards to the best place to get started. Is there a "roadmap/guide" to getting things setup and updated? Obviously, the forums and you guys, but I'm thinking the more "Capt. Obvious" type stuff people tend to overlook.
Thanks in advance, gang!

[Steve Ruiz]

Anything?

[Keith Smith]

- make sure you move your joystick through the full range of motion to get it calibrated
- map all your axis and buttons as desired
- find out which rendering settings work relatively well for your machine under most circumstances (some of the settings are constrained by video power, others by CPU)
- go through all the menus, find out what they do, and understand the views and how to change 'em.
- go do some flying. It's a lot of fun.

[Ian Elchitz]

My advice is to get on teamspeak with one of us so that we can run you through a bunch of configurations and help you get going for a flight. I did this with TJ recently and it worked out pretty well (to my shock since it seems like just yesterday I needed KS to help me tie my shoe laces).

One thing to note when moving from MSFS to XPlane. If you have a lot of experience using MSFS you might have a lot of initial "hate" for XP. Not understanding what the menus did, how to setup/configure the application, or how I "moved" around in the XP environment caused me a lot of grief. I clearly recall closing the application in frustration and going back to MSFS. I was convinced by KS to give it another shot and obliged him. I'm so happy that I did. By the 3rd-4th night I was using it, the experience went much smoother.

The problem is that many people expect it to work and feel like MSFS. It isn't MSFS so it isn't going to feel the same. This is not like using Excel and moving to Google Docs Spreadsheet. Gut it out Steve, based on the types of flying you've been doing the past year, I'm fairly certain that XP is going to provide you with a better experience than MSFS.

[Steve Ruiz]

TJ and I discussed some things along the lines of what you both said. I'm having the same exact frustrations, but I stand resilient as to not give up (especially because it's money invested!) I don't expect it to be FS, but I do want to get comfortable with the menu and view system. I went through similar "techno-straitions" when I bought a Mac for work, but it's now my daily driver.
I'll certainly try and get one of you on TS over the weekend for a quick tutorial if not a flight.
First, I have to figure out where the rest of this panel is...

[Brian Ratledge]

I'll be around Sat and Sunday. PM me if you need anything.

[Steve Ruiz]

Thanks, Doc, Ian, and BR! My frown is now upside down...

[Tom Solon]

Thanks, Doc, Ian, and BR! My frown is now upside down...

[like]

[Amrit Ayalur]

Thanks, Doc, Ian, and BR! My frown is now upside down...

[like]

Someone has been spending too much time on Facebook....

[Keith Smith]

Steve,

Sorry I haven't been around to help you out more, or on the scope much. You'll have an idea why in a little bit. Keep practicing with xplane, you won't regret it.