X plane 10 addon aircraft simulator#
Additionally, the implementation of the scenery gateway quickly led to a default scenery offering that was without precedent in any other consumer simulator to date. Version 10 introduced features like high-dynamic-range lighting and artificially intelligent traffic that convincingly showed a desire by Laminar to expand the scope of their sim. In my opinion, the first true contender was v10 in its mid-to-late run. With X-Plane version 10 and later, version 11, however, the situation has rapidly changed. These include graphical complexity, atmospheric modeling, generation of other traffic, native air traffic control, and the ease of implementing complex aircraft systems. Whilst arguably always having been superior in the physics department (yes, being able to compute stability derivatives and aerodynamic forces on the fly as opposed to reading from a table is a plus, especially with regard to ensuring a smooth control response as well as making it easier to get right various aspects of the overall flight dynamics such as uncoordinated flight), X-Plane has traditionally come second in areas which have been mainstays of competing products for, in some instances, decades. What was once Austin Meyer’s personal pet project has rapidly evolved into a true contender against the FSX, P3D and FSW platforms based on the codebase these days known as ESP (Enterprise Simulation Platform), developed initially by Bruce Artwick and later by Microsoft’s game division for a consecutive period of over 25 years. Whilst X-Plane has been around for over two decades now, only in the two most recent iterations has it begun to show true maturity as a platform.