FSX -> X-Plane Pilot Conversion Wiki

[Steven Perry]

This post is to help those contemplating the move from MSFS to X-Plane for VATSIM flying. I will update this main post to correct mistakes, add additional info, and hopefully remove some of the warnings I have. Please leave comments & corrections below.

 

I'm a long time MSFS pilot who finally decided in December 2014 to buy X-Plane due to a nice sale on Steam. I do 90%+ of my flying on VATSIM and the remainder off-line just tooling around. My interest was to get X-Plane and go fly on VATSIM.

 

I can fly on VATSIM using X-Plane, right?

MAYBE. Expect a learning curve though, as with any software. XSB's interface is not as refined as some MSFS solutions.

 

Maybe because... XSquawkbox crashes on some systems, including mine, VERY frequently. The most stable VATSIM XSquawkbox experience I've had is being able to taxi across an airport. It crashed before I got airborne. Most other tries crashed before releasing the parking brake.

 

VERDICT as of 01 February 2015: I'm shelving XPlane and waiting for something besides XSquawkbox to be released.

 

IMPORTANT: Before flying, under XPlane's Rendering Options, disable "Runways Follow Terrain Contour". This gives you a better chance of being at the same elevation as the MSFS pilots operating on the ground with you. Even after disabling this though, I still see many planes suspended 20' or more above grade.

 

X-Plane and it's 50+GB of world scenery will have the airports I want to fly to and from, right?

Not really. You'll have runways and maybe some taxiways. Beyond that there are no airport buildings. This is apparently by design that you must create your own scenery, seek it out on one of the many disparate scenery repositories (at least one of which requires a paid subscription!), or convert MSFS scenery for use on X-Plane. The conversion apparently is easy to do, but it's still more trouble than just using the scenery as downloaded (or better yet, having it in the default).

 

X-Plane is so realistic! It has accurate winds aloft, right?

Maybe... investigating Brad G.'s suggestion about XPGFS and how it interacts with XSB's forced weather (see below).

 

Previous answer: No. X-Plane extrapolates winds aloft from surface winds from what I've been able to gather so far. There is no ActiveSky or Opus for XPlane. Even if there was, XSquawkbox forces use of the VATSIM weather. So even if/when a weather solution is created for X-Plane, you can't use it with XSquawkbox on VATSIM. So if you are flying on VATSIM from LA to NY via the jetstream, expect to see MSFS planes shooting past you at 100 knots.

 

Change log

• 29Dec14: Original, could not connect to VATSIM.
  29Dec14: Revised to indicate some VATSIM functionality. Pending further update.
  09Jan15: Added note about Runways Following Terrain Contour.
  01Feb15: Revised to indicate that XP10 + XSquawkbox is too unstable to be worthwhile.

Edited February 1, 2015 at 09:18 PM by Guest

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

I can fly on VATSIM using X-Plane, right?

No! The 64-bit Windows version has no way to connect to VATSIM as of December 2014. The 64-bit version is all you can buy on Steam as of December 2014. Some have reported that the Mac 64-bit version only crashes occasionally.

 

can you elaborate more on this? there seems to be plenty of xplane users connecting with 64bit? the xSquawkbox client was updated for this

[Bradley Grafelman]

I can fly on VATSIM using X-Plane, right?

Yes. (See Ernesto's response above; XSquawkBox has shipped with a 64-bit variant for over a year now.)

 

But X-Plane comes with both 32 and 64-bit EXE's, so everything is still a little awesome for Windows users, right?

Don't have the Steam version myself, but I'm [Mod - Happy Thoughts]uming you receive some sort of error if you directly try to execute the 32-bit version? If so... You could always fool Steam into thinking that it's launching the correct version by renaming the EXEs.

 

But given the above, I can't see why one would want to do this, anyway.

 

X-Plane is so realistic! It has accurate winds aloft, right?

Yes. (See the XPGFS NOAA Weather plugin.)

[Steven Perry]

Thanks for quick replies and hold the phone.... ...

 

XP v10.31 (Steam) 64-bit crashed every time with the XSB plug-in installed. Though not particular to steam, several others 64-bit XP/XSB users have reported the same thing. Indeed our log files look identical with the gibberish about the "glyphs".

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?s=0bbca8c419f5dfccf11410ce148d6f6e&showtopic=81420

 

But now I seem to have XSB working at some level by, get this... uninstalling scenery for KCLE.

 

So I can have the KCLE scenery or I can have XSB, but not both. I wasn't even trying to fly near KCLE. Oh well. Beyond my understanding, but at least the log file gave me a few cryptic hints.

 

Anyway, I'll edit the first post to note this until I can get more testing done. Still 5 days of tinkering to get this far... yikes!

[Steven Perry]

I give up. After a month of fiddling with XPlane 10 and XSquawkbox, I have been able to connect to VATSIM for maybe 30 minutes total time.

 

XPlane 10 isn't ready for VATSIM prime time until/unless a stable pilot client is developed.

 

One advantage XP10 does have over MSFS at this point: it crashes early and often rather than waiting until I'm on final approach.

[Fred Michaels 1137645]

I'm sorry, but as someone who has used X-Plane 9 and X-Plane 10 (now 64-bit) for years on VATSIM, honestly I must say I find this post very one sided. The vast majority of people who properly install the application find that XSquawkbox works fine, minus recent issues dealing with TCAS availability on 64-bit operating systems. Those who do have problems often have issues at the local level. Further, most who state the software is "not as refined" as clients available within Microsoft products often struggle with the direct connection that exists between the the X-Plane software and the client itself.

 

Comments about the "disparate scenery repositories (at least one of which requires a paid subscription!)" is also a very, very, very misleading statement. It appears as if you never accessed or researched the X-Plane.org download database, officially suggested by the manufacturer of the software (http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads). With over 3,900 scenery packages present on the site alone...for free...it is disingenuous to make an implication otherwise. Are there sites requiring a fee? Of course payware exists, just like it does for MSFS. Are there freeware issues with different sites with different scenery? Of course, but that happens with any software.

 

Simply because you have encountered a problem, please don't discount the software that many people use successfully all the time. For many of us, X-Plane 9 and 10 have always been "ready" for VATSIM prime time. For those that have it configured probably, it is also rare that it will crash at all. It is a regrettable you did not have the same experience. I do wonder if it may be something involving Steam, as I have heard many people (regardless of the software) having issues with versions of programs downloaded from that service vs traditional installation.

[Josh Glottmann]

Solutions to some of your problems:

Scenery: X-Plane Scenery Databse (WIP)

Winds Aloft: XPGFS by Joan. In regards to this plugin, I flew over the atlantic with FSX users with ActiveSky and I had almost the exact same winds, all the way down to the 40kt crosswind on final into EGLL

[Steven Perry]

I started this post with "Wiki" in the title because I hoped I could provide the crucial steps to make the FSX to XP10 conversion as easy as possible for future converts. I've read so many glowing reports and watched some really cool videos of XP10. My hopes were high! Alas... it is a cautionary tale for those like me with very limited time and money to invest in this hobby.

 

It very well could be Steam that's throwing things off for me. If I would have known that, I would have saved my US$30 from the Steam version and probably wouldn't spend the US$60+S&H on the full version until FSX just didn't work any more.

 

The scenery thing still irks me. MSFS's scenery repositories are no less fractured, perhaps even more fractured, but the key that makes the situation worse for XP10 is the un-usability of the sim without addon scenery. My local airport (no slouch at 200,000+ real world ops/year), has a radio tower right smack in the middle of the runway. "Ultra-realistic" may mean getting the full-aileron roll rate just right using advanced blade theory FEM/CFD, but I would rather be able to fly to my home airport without having to design my own scenery.

 

Clarifying: I was shocked that someone providing links to freeware scenery would charge for that service, not that there is payware scenery requiring payment.

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

they charge to provide links to freeware? i would avoid such a website like the plague. just shows there is always someone out there trying to get into your pocket, even under the guise of "community spirit"