[Soccerji]

Is it worth getting the X-plane 8 ??

How does it compare to MS FS2004 ?

The reason why i'm asking is because i don't feel like installing bootcamp on my MBP just to run MS FS2004...

Things that i'm looking for : pretty decent graphics, i know that x-plane 8 is a true simulator...(based on a few reviews)


so who's played em both ??

[littlegreenspud]

Well I have not played with the latest MS Flight Sim, but what I remember from earlier ones is that it was more aimed towards people that wanted to experience what it is like to be a "pilot" - erm, for example you could not take off from the runway until you did all the correct switches and talked to the tower etc. X-Plane is more of a "flight" simulator - the plane flies like a real plane ( it can be used to help with you pilots licence!). It also has been used to design planes. X-Plane 8 also has gorgeous world-wide scenery, if you have enough HD space.

[gorgesailor]

hey soccer,

I'm looking for basically the same answer to the question you asked... Here's what I've found out so far though... X-Plane is more realistic if you are a pilot, whereas FSim is somewhat better if you're just mucking around. In other words, x-plane offers more realistic malfunctions, more realistic cockpits, and better IFR scenarios (approaches, SIDs, etc..) The flight college that I used to attend once used FS, but have switched to X-P as they have found it more realistic in the true sense of flying an aircraft, with a focus on IFR flying.

My beef right now, is that I'm still trying to figure out if the newest version of X-P will work on a Macbook, which has only integrated graphics, instead of the actual dedicated graphics card found in MB Pros. Also, will X-P work natively with the new Intel chips? Or will it have to use Rosetta in order to run it??? This is something that we really need to know in order to get the proper performance out of the program...

Cheers,

GS

[littlegreenspud]

X-Plane 8 is a universal binary.

There is a demo download on their site so you can try it out on your MacBook.

X-Plane, by Austin Meyer

Happy flying!