Cypress
10-03-07, 03:20 PM
Anybody have this? I'm getting it on Friday.
Worth it?
Worth it?
Foo - X-Plane
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ModoVincere
10-03-07, 03:21 PM
what is it?
Siu Blue Wind
10-03-07, 03:21 PM
Is it anything like an X-bike?
Cypress
10-03-07, 03:22 PM
Flight simulator.
Mo'Phat
10-03-07, 03:22 PM
explain.
Siu Blue Wind
10-03-07, 03:24 PM
explain.
haha! Explain x-plane. :p
haha! Explain x-plane. :p
KingTermite
10-03-07, 03:25 PM
Precursor to the x-wing fighter?
okpik
10-03-07, 04:06 PM
I have it, actually several versions going back to 5.1
It allows you to design aircraft then fly them and test them out using about as close to real world physics as can be done. Graphics are unbelievable as are the realistic flight response you get. Downside, it isn't combat, closest you can get to that is it allows you to dump water on forest fires.
If you have an nvidia graphics card and/or via chipset on your motherboard it may or may not work. Its an openGL game and nvidia's drivers broke it like 10 versions ago with no fix planned AFAIK. The old nvidia driver will work though, versions before 77.xx I think.
basically in flight the game takes your aircraft and splits into thousands of parts and analyzes the forces on each then compiles that together to make the flight envelope and it does it in real time
It allows you to design aircraft then fly them and test them out using about as close to real world physics as can be done. Graphics are unbelievable as are the realistic flight response you get. Downside, it isn't combat, closest you can get to that is it allows you to dump water on forest fires.
If you have an nvidia graphics card and/or via chipset on your motherboard it may or may not work. Its an openGL game and nvidia's drivers broke it like 10 versions ago with no fix planned AFAIK. The old nvidia driver will work though, versions before 77.xx I think.
basically in flight the game takes your aircraft and splits into thousands of parts and analyzes the forces on each then compiles that together to make the flight envelope and it does it in real time
Caspar_s
10-03-07, 04:07 PM
Very technical - they use it for flight training. As long as you're not expecting a game, it should be good.
CdCf
10-03-07, 04:13 PM
X-Plane is probably the best flight sim around, when it comes to the physics of flight. It simulates a whole range of aerodynamical phenomena. I got hooked on X-Plane in 2001 (v5.66) and was a serious X-Plane junkie for the following four years. I also spent hours and hours analysing the physics model, to find out what was modelled, how it was modelled and how to optimise aircraft models based on that.
It's greatest feature is its aircraft design suite. You shape the fuselage, the nacelles and other bodies, then add wings, v-stabs and h-stabs and aux wings. Then engines (unless it's a glider) and you also design the prop(s) and/or rotor(s). The wing shapes can be varied a great deal, and have a large number of different control surfaces assigned to them (ailerons, elevators, flaps, speed brakes, spoilers, rudders, split surface rudders, tilting sections, leading-edge slats, et c). Each wing is made up of a user-set number of elements, that are used in the physics model for lift, drag and moment calculations, along with airfoil data (for two different Reynolds numbers per wing end).
Centre of gravity can be set, and a large number of fuel tank locations (and volumes) can be specified, and fuel can be transfered between them in flight, altering CofG. Wings can be set to sweep (F-14, F-111, Tornado), retract laterally or pivot upwards (carrier aircraft style). Flying wings are also possible, as well as canard designs, and even lifting bodies (lift, drag and moment, as well as wave drag at transonic and supersonic speeds, is calculated for all bodies, and not just for wings).
Engines can be carburettor pistons, injected pistons (supercharged or not), turboprops (fixed, free), jets (high bypass, low bypass), electric, rocket and probably something else that I've forgotten. A large number of variables, limits and special stuff can be set for them, including stuff like driving one prop with two engines, two props with one engine, props that retract into the fuselage, and so on...
Pilot viewpoint locations and light (beacons, nav lights, tail light, landing lights) positions are set along with tow hook and lift hook positions, and refueling nozzle location. The instrument panel can be totally customised, and two different positions are available (pilot and co-pilot positions). The electrical system can be configured, and different systems and instruments can be assigned to different generators/buses. The vacuum system and the hydraulics can also be configured to some extent.
Landing gear configurations galore.
Gliders, lifting bodies, multi-engined aircraft, helos, autogyros, blimps, rockets are all types of aicraft that can be simulated.
The atmosphere is modelled as closely as possible to the real thing, with pressure, temperature and density varying correctly upwards. You can even leave the atmosphere and head out into space, where rockets work, and reaction control thrusters allow you to manoeuvre. During re-entry, there is even kinetic heating (although the simulation isn't sophisticated enough to simulate materials and melting...) as shown by the nose temperature data output (available along with dozens and dozens of other data outputs during flight). It's fully possible to fly the Space Shuttle from a post de-orbit burn state to a landing at Edwards, for example.
99% of all my flying in X-Plane was flight testing of my own creations. Among the more fun and "practical" aircraft I designed was the four-engined tilt-rotor transport:
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7853/vtx42bt7.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1817/camosvy5.jpg
And a small jet:
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/227/bullsharkjj4.jpg
Ok, this is turning into a novel, so I'll just stop for now... :D
It's greatest feature is its aircraft design suite. You shape the fuselage, the nacelles and other bodies, then add wings, v-stabs and h-stabs and aux wings. Then engines (unless it's a glider) and you also design the prop(s) and/or rotor(s). The wing shapes can be varied a great deal, and have a large number of different control surfaces assigned to them (ailerons, elevators, flaps, speed brakes, spoilers, rudders, split surface rudders, tilting sections, leading-edge slats, et c). Each wing is made up of a user-set number of elements, that are used in the physics model for lift, drag and moment calculations, along with airfoil data (for two different Reynolds numbers per wing end).
Centre of gravity can be set, and a large number of fuel tank locations (and volumes) can be specified, and fuel can be transfered between them in flight, altering CofG. Wings can be set to sweep (F-14, F-111, Tornado), retract laterally or pivot upwards (carrier aircraft style). Flying wings are also possible, as well as canard designs, and even lifting bodies (lift, drag and moment, as well as wave drag at transonic and supersonic speeds, is calculated for all bodies, and not just for wings).
Engines can be carburettor pistons, injected pistons (supercharged or not), turboprops (fixed, free), jets (high bypass, low bypass), electric, rocket and probably something else that I've forgotten. A large number of variables, limits and special stuff can be set for them, including stuff like driving one prop with two engines, two props with one engine, props that retract into the fuselage, and so on...
Pilot viewpoint locations and light (beacons, nav lights, tail light, landing lights) positions are set along with tow hook and lift hook positions, and refueling nozzle location. The instrument panel can be totally customised, and two different positions are available (pilot and co-pilot positions). The electrical system can be configured, and different systems and instruments can be assigned to different generators/buses. The vacuum system and the hydraulics can also be configured to some extent.
Landing gear configurations galore.
Gliders, lifting bodies, multi-engined aircraft, helos, autogyros, blimps, rockets are all types of aicraft that can be simulated.
The atmosphere is modelled as closely as possible to the real thing, with pressure, temperature and density varying correctly upwards. You can even leave the atmosphere and head out into space, where rockets work, and reaction control thrusters allow you to manoeuvre. During re-entry, there is even kinetic heating (although the simulation isn't sophisticated enough to simulate materials and melting...) as shown by the nose temperature data output (available along with dozens and dozens of other data outputs during flight). It's fully possible to fly the Space Shuttle from a post de-orbit burn state to a landing at Edwards, for example.
99% of all my flying in X-Plane was flight testing of my own creations. Among the more fun and "practical" aircraft I designed was the four-engined tilt-rotor transport:
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7853/vtx42bt7.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1817/camosvy5.jpg
And a small jet:
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/227/bullsharkjj4.jpg
Ok, this is turning into a novel, so I'll just stop for now... :D
DrPete
10-03-07, 04:20 PM
X-Plane is pretty schweet as long as your goal is to geek out with a super-realistic flight sim. If you're expecting a game, look elsewhere.
Now that I have the MBP I might have to pick up v8...
Now that I have the MBP I might have to pick up v8...
CdCf
10-03-07, 04:27 PM
Now that I have the MBP I might have to pick up v8...
Meh, knowing the whims of Mr. Meyer, v9 is probably right around the corner... I mean, he's at 8.61b now, and an X.6x has been the end of the line for most versions.
Meh, knowing the whims of Mr. Meyer, v9 is probably right around the corner... I mean, he's at 8.61b now, and an X.6x has been the end of the line for most versions.
Cypress
10-03-07, 04:31 PM
Meh, knowing the whims of Mr. Meyer, v9 is probably right around the corner... I mean, he's at 8.61b now, and an X.6x has been the end of the line for most versions.
I was offered 8.6 AND 9 for $100 when I ordered them. 9 should be out in January...
I was offered 8.6 AND 9 for $100 when I ordered them. 9 should be out in January...
3MTA3
10-03-07, 05:28 PM
nothing better than playing pretend with digital images of aircraft.
FTW!
FTW!
p4nh4ndle
10-03-07, 08:22 PM
I thought it was free
operator
10-04-07, 04:39 AM
nothing better than playing pretend with digital images of aircraft.
FTW!
Being a naive loser on the internet.
FTW!
FTW!
Being a naive loser on the internet.
FTW!
3MTA3
10-04-07, 06:49 AM
Being a naive loser on the internet.
FTW!
how is it not playing pretend (not actually flying) with digital images of aircraft (not real planes, but pictures of them on a computer screen)? help my naive self understand.
FTW!
how is it not playing pretend (not actually flying) with digital images of aircraft (not real planes, but pictures of them on a computer screen)? help my naive self understand.
Cypress
10-04-07, 07:33 AM
Until I get my pilot's license, it's all I've got.
CdCf
10-04-07, 07:36 AM
how is it not playing pretend (not actually flying) with digital images of aircraft (not real planes, but pictures of them on a computer screen)? help my naive self understand.
Pretending is one thing - knowing and accepting the limitations of a computer simulation displayed on a screen is another. Never have I pretended it was the real thing.
I have no interest at all in actual flying. I'm interested in designing and constructing aircraft. In lieu of a few billion dollars, an R&D department and a major manufacturing plant, X-Plane is a pretty good substitute. Sure, it doesn't simulate everything, and what it does simulate is done through generalised and simplified methods, but the consensus is that it usually comes very close to reality, given realistic input. That's good enough for me.
Pretending is one thing - knowing and accepting the limitations of a computer simulation displayed on a screen is another. Never have I pretended it was the real thing.
I have no interest at all in actual flying. I'm interested in designing and constructing aircraft. In lieu of a few billion dollars, an R&D department and a major manufacturing plant, X-Plane is a pretty good substitute. Sure, it doesn't simulate everything, and what it does simulate is done through generalised and simplified methods, but the consensus is that it usually comes very close to reality, given realistic input. That's good enough for me.
EJ123
11-08-07, 01:04 PM
A very good game indeed!
DannoXYZ
11-08-07, 01:15 PM
I have a friend who's a flight-instructor and flies DC-9 cargo planes. He's mentioned that X-plane was darn good and better than some of the actual simulators out there.
Will G
11-08-07, 01:26 PM
I've been flying for some time and have never been overly thrilled with PC simulators. I think it is the lack of the 'big picture" you get from the cockpit vs a screen plus the actual feel of the accelerations, G loads, etc. It could also be that it took me a long time to be proficient with all the switches on the stick and throttles and I am too lazy to relearn that process on a computer. That being said, they make for great introductions to the concept of cross checks and some aircraft performance abilities.
Michigander
11-08-07, 02:43 PM
For some reason I get more thrills from going fast on the ground.
fuzzbox
11-08-07, 05:16 PM
Until I get my pilot's license, it's all I've got.
Orly I might get one, my neighbor has a plane in his driveway, then my pops was a pilot and he's an air traffic controller.
Orly I might get one, my neighbor has a plane in his driveway, then my pops was a pilot and he's an air traffic controller.
Cypress
11-08-07, 05:20 PM
Orly I might get one, my neighbor has a plane in his driveway, then my pops was a pilot and he's an air traffic controller.
I has a plane.
I has a plane.
fuzzbox
11-08-07, 05:23 PM
Really, closest thing I gots iz a FAA sticker on mah car.
Cypress
11-08-07, 05:23 PM
Piper Arrow. I'll post pic when I get home.
fuzzbox
11-08-07, 05:25 PM
I used to has plane. When I was borns.
glenng
11-08-07, 07:10 PM
Airplanes suck, sell it and buy a nice boat.
fuzzbox
11-08-07, 07:40 PM
Pfft boats.
RATBOY
11-08-07, 08:01 PM
The US Navy is using X-Plane (version 8.2) as a flight simulator while conducting hypoxia training using a mixing box known as ROBD2 (Environics-http://www.environics.com/robd.html).
We use the F-22 cockpit, only as a generic cockpit and not to emulate a specific aircraft. The Hornet cockpit is just so-so for realistic capabilities, but it is highly programmable (GPS really works!) graphics are better than average and for $60 you can have the map of the entire US...for another $60 the world!
I like it becasue I can put my aircrew over any place in the world and have them fly a mission, long before they ever see the area to which they are going to fly.
OBTW, I am the Director of the Aviation Survival Training Center at NAS Pax River, MD...the center of excellence for USN/USMC test and evaluation, so we get alot of strange airplanes flying in and out of here...we also cater specifically to the US Naval Test Pilot School.
We use the F-22 cockpit, only as a generic cockpit and not to emulate a specific aircraft. The Hornet cockpit is just so-so for realistic capabilities, but it is highly programmable (GPS really works!) graphics are better than average and for $60 you can have the map of the entire US...for another $60 the world!
I like it becasue I can put my aircrew over any place in the world and have them fly a mission, long before they ever see the area to which they are going to fly.
OBTW, I am the Director of the Aviation Survival Training Center at NAS Pax River, MD...the center of excellence for USN/USMC test and evaluation, so we get alot of strange airplanes flying in and out of here...we also cater specifically to the US Naval Test Pilot School.
Will G
11-08-07, 08:38 PM
The last iteration of software that I saw in the sim (I'm a staff weenie now and haven't flown a military jet in 3 years) swapped the computer generated scenery for photo imagery. It is very, very cool.
I will say the realism level of PC based sim's far exceed the aircraft sim's (T-37 and T-38) that I initially trained on 20 years ago. The T-37 visual was actually a camera that traversed across a miniture scale scenery model built on a board about the size of a tennis court. Occasionally, guys would screw up along with the machinery that moved the camera over the board and fly the camera into the board causing damage to both. Not a good way to impress the Instructor. The T-38 sim was computer images but not near as detailed as the latest version of MS Flight Simulator but we found some barns to fly through and would do loops around the center span of the Memphis I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River.
I will say the realism level of PC based sim's far exceed the aircraft sim's (T-37 and T-38) that I initially trained on 20 years ago. The T-37 visual was actually a camera that traversed across a miniture scale scenery model built on a board about the size of a tennis court. Occasionally, guys would screw up along with the machinery that moved the camera over the board and fly the camera into the board causing damage to both. Not a good way to impress the Instructor. The T-38 sim was computer images but not near as detailed as the latest version of MS Flight Simulator but we found some barns to fly through and would do loops around the center span of the Memphis I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River.
Cypress
11-08-07, 08:51 PM
As promised
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/IMGP1705.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/IMGP1705.jpg
Cypress
11-08-07, 09:07 PM
Neato.
I have a space station, BTW.
Don't all Californians?
I have a space station, BTW.
Don't all Californians?
fuzzbox
11-08-07, 09:10 PM
Tubes?
Cypress
11-08-07, 09:12 PM
Tubes?
Plane got a flat.
(we were floating the Meadow River Gorge)
Plane got a flat.
(we were floating the Meadow River Gorge)
timmyquest
11-08-07, 11:06 PM
Falcon 4.0 FTW
fuzzbox
11-09-07, 03:39 PM
California gave birth to me.