Hey Flight Simmers...

[Yskonyn]

Is PMDG's 737NG compatible with XP yet?
One of the great things about XPis its performance; it runs very well on mid range systems while still maintaining a great visual experience.

Jomni, which Europe and Pacific scenery could you recommend?
And is there also a kind of Air Hauler-like management addon for XP?

[jomni]

Is PMDG's 737NG compatible with XP yet?

Nope.  So far, PMDG only released a DC-6 prop liner.

IXEG 737 is very good but an older model of the aircraft.
http://www.x-aviation.com/catalog/product_info.php/take-command-ixeg-737-classic-p-122

And is there also a kind of Air Hauler-like management addon for XP?

http://www.fseconomy.net/

[Yskonyn]

Cheers jomni!

I found XP gateway, is this the general one stop shop regarding airport scenery?
https://gateway.x-plane.com/airports/page

Also, you mentioned Ortho4XP?
It seems like a very cool terrain mesh / texture tool, but is there also a way to just load meshes others have prepared? If so could you please assist in how to do this?

Currently I use SkyMax for weather effects and World2XP for scenery meshes.

[Skoop]

You can get a free app that generates the ortho4xp tiles at the zoom level you want for the area you want.  The higher the zoom level the bigger the gig foot print.  Most say that zoom level 17 to 18 is about right vs the gig footprint.  You could do zoom level 19 or 20 for say Socal and the detail would be amazing but the tile would be like 80 gigs for one tile....you see the trade off with space vs zoom level. 

You could find already made tiles made by the community but because there are so big they are usually less detailed zoomlevel 16.  Once you start tinkering with the app most just end up making their own.  You can even do tricky stuff like make an area around the airport at zoom level 20 but the rest of the tile is zoom level 17.

Also the IXEG 737 is the best payware plane for XP, it's the classic version and expensive, but it's still one of the top airframes used by southwest. 

You can get a copy of air hauler native to XP at simmarket, works with XP11 but not the steam version.

The new version of Airhauler (Airhauler2) is in early access at just flight and is 10 times better than the original AH.  You build your own virtual passenger airlines now, not just air freight, but it only works with prepar fsx (another reason I'll end up getting prepar v4) due to it only supporting one third party link which doesn't work with XP11.
You would think they would change that due to the insane amount of popularity XP has received with the release of version 11.

[Yskonyn]

Thanks. The 737 classic is nice indeed, but after having done a long day in a real 737 I am not interested in doing airline stuff yet again in a simulator.
I use XP to do the stuff I cannot do at work;
Seeking out the challenging corners of the world, fly in insane weather conditions or make cool visual tours through beautiful areas I wont come in real life.
I hardly ever fly airliners in XP, the only one that would interest me is PMDGs 737NG as I could use that as a basic training aid for work.

BTW if you buy a Prepar3D license prior 30th May, will that also be valid for v4?

[jomni]

I found XP gateway, is this the general one stop shop regarding airport scenery?
https://gateway.x-plane.com/airports/page

I prefer x-plane.org.  I have uploaded a few airports for Japan if you're interested. 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/26029-japan-sapporo-area-airports-rjcc-rjco/

[Skoop]

I'd wait for version 4 release, the install for prepar takes some time and v4 will probably require a full reinstall.  In the past you could get a refund if a paid up grade released within 30 days of your purchase.

[Yskonyn]

I have now got X-plane 11 running with SkyMaxx 4.5, XEnviro, OpenSceneryX and world2xp and its associated libraries. Stock mesh.
Quite impressed with the quality and representation on the world so far. Low visibility meteorological conditions actually look quite convincing and the aircraft handling is smooth and feels realistic enough.
Subtle variation in winds translate nicely from MSL to high level, nothing like the 'bands' I remember from MSFS, where winds could suddenly shift erratically when you entered the next layer on your way up or down. X-Plane seems to calculate windshifts smoothly over the whole range of altitudes.
The best part is that my rig is very comfortable running it at high settings which absolutely makes the immersion top notch!


I seem to remember that older versions of X-Plane had various challenges included where you could fly a specific scenario (like re-entry with the Space Shuttle), but I can't seem to find those scenarios anymore?

[jomni]

No more challenge scenarios. It's pretty much a sandbox now.

[Yskonyn]

Oh, that's a bummer really.
Any way to get the old ones working in 11?

[jomni]

My previous reply might be wrong. You can still load situations. U mean there no pre-made ones? I don't have XP11 at the moment.

http://www.x-plane.com/2017/03/tutorial-saving-loading-flights-x-plane-11/

[Yskonyn]

Indeed, no premade ones anymore like the X-1 launch, the Shuttle approach, etc.

[PanzersEast]

I'm sticking with XP for the long haul.  After getting Ortho4XP, HD Mesh v3, and W2XP, setup and running.. with EnviroX and custom sky textures.... the sim is simply amazing to fly.  The flight dynamics, night lighting etc... I am still waiting on PMDG and A2A to jump in on XP, I know PMDG is, however A2A is yet to be seen.  There have been some announcements of upcoming addons for XP that has me very excited and I can run all this with no texture poping  or OOM, or having major tweaking etc.... 

[jomni]

I've read reports that P3D v4 dynamic lighting is killing FPS!  Looks like XP is still the better option until this gets fixed.

[Yskonyn]

I really like XP, but the quality of the aircraft still leaves some to be desired.
And Orbx scenery is just unprecedented IMO, even in relation to the HD mesh and World2XP mods for X-Plane.
If and when PMDG port their 737NG over to X-Plane I'll look into it more closely, but my experience is that even though the physics engine of Xplane is far superior to that of P3D, I feel P3D has a better all round package on offer still.