X-plane 10 Interface

[RojanTrojan]

Hi there,

Yesterday, I presented my Primary 6 Flight Simulator (please see my simpit blog for some details) to a flight sim club here in the UK. Many of the members of the club (around 20) were rather surprised and quite curious as to why it was running with X-plane 9.70 and not MSFS, even though my simpit could quite happily run with FSX or FS2004 via FSUIPC or another similar interface. I explained to them that I have chosen X-plane 9 as I feel it enhances what I am looking to simulate with my simpit in terms fluid flight with advanced weather effects and mostly because of the potential it presents to cockpit builders right out of the box. I was not overly surprised to find that many of the members (mostly current pilots, retired pilots, engineers and enthusiasts of aviation) either already owned a copy of X-plane 9 or had downloaded the trial at some point but had difficulty coming to terms with the differences with MSFS that they had become so accustomed to over the years. So while I was there I thought I would show them some of the features that I believe X-Plane 9 really excels at. Most of them seemed genuinely impressed with the weather simulation and speedy loading times between night and day. We had a bit of fun trying to land into the local airport on CAT 3 approach, My Simkits gauges were having a great workout. However, one thing that really struck me was their genuine hatred of the interface. I had a long conversation with one gentlemen a very experienced, retired, automobile engineer, who expressed his fondness for X-plane, but had struggled to get to grips with the interface. He said he was bewildered with the amount of options, sliders and tick boxes. But this gripe seemed to be a running theme with most of the members, who had become used to FSX's simplified, approach. Personally, I actually like this interface, even though it presents itself as coming from Austin's engineering background, I feel it looks more industrial and professional than MSFS graphics driven menu system. However, I am aware that Austin has mentioned that this may be changed with the later updates of X-plane 10 (many of the members had a real buzz about version 10, which was great to see). I do wonder what sort of interface could be possibly introduced to change the default grey menus. Maybe LR should take a leaf out of Real Environment Extreme's branding. It presents a slick, intuitive interface that seems to be very popular with simmers. I would also be surprised if Aerosoft didn't have a hand in creating something new for X-plane 10, they have many experienced artists and designers on their books. Does it need an overhaul? Is it something that the average Joe can get involved in and send designs to LR for consideration? It would be interesting to know what others think?

Cheers

Rhydian

www.cessnaglasscockpit.blogspot.com

Edited November 21, 2011 by RojanTrojan

[steven winslow]

Funny, I'm a Mac guy and you would think I would consider the X-Plane 9 interface unfriendly, but I have never given the interface a second thought. To me, it seems quite intuitive. I actually find the manual a bit daunting and not very well written. Most of the X-Plane "knowledge" I have has come from other X-Planers and forums, rather than the manual, or just playing with the sliders and menu items to see what they do. Personally, I don't mind the interface at all. For me, everything else X-Plane has to offer makes up for any perceived deficiency in the interface.

Edited November 21, 2011 by steven winslow

[Xflyboy]

Like ANYTHING new, you just have to spend a little time to get use to it.

I for one hope they DON'T change it.

[Jim Kallinen]

I was just the opposite when it comes to X-Planes interface. I hated the way FS set up theirs and just moved back to X-plane. This goes back to 1999 when I first bought X-Plane 5.52 for $80.

Personal preference is easy to come by when you get use to it, then change it and it becomes more negative since you must retrain way of thinking.

[RojanTrojan]

Oh good so it isn't just me then. Well that is a relief. What brought me to X-plane, apart from being genuinely interested in simulated flight as a whole was it's no nonsense style to its settings. You do have to know what you are doing and it doesn't hide away from the fact that it's a very powerful piece of software. To me, the interface makes it look like a niche piece of software if you understand what I'm saying. But that is part of its charm and I do like it like that. Unfortunately, the only other person that agreed with me happened to be an aeronautical engineer (retired) who had worked for BA and DARPA. The rest of them found it confusing and were hoping that it would change for XP10.

[Hampster]

If you need a break I have made some new interfaces for XP9, they are not the best, but they are smarter looking. (find it at the org)

[Lukasz]

Actually I'd like to have more options accessible from X-Plane's interface. Dew point - anyone?

I like the spartan looks of the GUI itself, it gets the job done in a very efficient way. Which is how every interface should be. Even my Windows XP still run "classic" theme and I was relieved, when I learned that there is something very similar for Win7, which is going to be my next OS of choice.

[GrahamH]

I'm the same as Jim. I find the msfs interface annoying and hard to use.

Check out this video. You can see Austin playing around a little.

There appears to be a few changes here and there.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Graham H