Selected shots in ideal conditions do not tell the whole story methinks. There is absolutely nothing that can be done to make X-Plane look like a 2021 sim. There is just is no comparison between FlyTampa Vegas in XP and MSFS for instance no matter what you do. It's down to the lighting and shadows. Believe me I've tried. In order to enjoy XP you have to accept that visually it is out of date. Save your money on enhancements because they are not going to satisfy you and you will be forever chasing rainbows.

Edited May 7, 20215 yr by jarmstro

1 hour ago, CarlosF said:

hopefully they will bring enough improvements to make me come back. 

I will let them know - they will double their efforts! 😉

 

Edited May 7, 20215 yr by Janov

UPDATE: 

I have been busy building X-Plane up and suffice to say, it looks great now! I went ahead and began downloading forkboys orthotiles for the US and it made a world of a difference. This is where I ran into my newest issue. I am not even halfway through all his tiles and I have just 500gb left of 2tb... how big are they all together when completely downloaded?

2 hours ago, Janov said:

they will double their efforts!

LOL, don't bother I'm sure you got better things to do then be a messenger for my sake, I would hate myself if you end up wasting you precious time.

1 hour ago, ShortFinal said:

UPDATE: 

I have been busy building X-Plane up and suffice to say, it looks great now! I went ahead and began downloading forkboys orthotiles for the US and it made a world of a difference. This is where I ran into my newest issue. I am not even halfway through all his tiles and I have just 500gb left of 2tb... how big are they all together when completely downloaded?

Probably more than 2TB depending on the zoom level hehe.

20 minutes ago, ryanbatcund said:

Probably more than 2TB depending on the zoom level hehe.

lovely... Well I guess I will just do the east and west coast and not the middle of the US. "flyover states"

9 hours ago, jarmstro said:

In order to enjoy XP you have to accept that visually it is out of date. Save your money on enhancements because they are not going to satisfy you and you will be forever chasing rainbows.

I agree here, once in a while I will install a new update for X-Enviro to see if they made enough improvements, but beyond that....I just fly "as is" and accept that addons won't really make a substantial difference to improve the outdated looks.

7 hours ago, FlyBaby said:

I agree here, once in a while I will install a new update for X-Enviro to see if they made enough improvements, but beyond that....I just fly "as is" and accept that addons won't really make a substantial difference to improve the outdated looks.

 With a vastly superior flight model, and graphics like this, I can only imagine what XP12 will look like.  

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/599590-x-plane-looks-horrible-how-to-improve-it/?do=findComment&comment=4526412

Edited May 8, 20215 yr by GoranM

I'm a fan of ORBX TE, but there's no New England TE so I need suggestions. I'm primarily interested in the tri-state area (NY,NJ,CT)

What's the best combination?

1) vStates + vState Overlays or SFD Global

OR

2) Forkboy's Ortho with SFD Global

Any ideas are appreciated.

My hope is the get the best looking ortho with the best of SFD Global.

32 minutes ago, GoranM said:

 With a vastly superior flight model, and graphics like this, I can only imagine what XP12 will look like.  

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/599590-x-plane-looks-horrible-how-to-improve-it/?do=findComment&comment=4526412

Based on my experience with FSX, P3D, XP11 and now MSFS, I'll can confidently conclude that 3rd party developers will be the one's to make XP12 look great.

There are some who think that XP11 is outdated. I've seen dusk and night pics in XP11 that blow away MSFS.

MSFS is a nice VFR sim and it has it's place for me when I want to go island hoping in tropical destinations. That's about it.

X Plane graphics engine and visuals has a huge potential for improvements in future.

6 hours ago, GoranM said:

 With a vastly superior flight model, and graphics like this, I can only imagine what XP12 will look like.  

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/599590-x-plane-looks-horrible-how-to-improve-it/?do=findComment&comment=4526412

Well that day (XP12) has yet to come, and I thought that the OP was referring to the here and now.

"vastly superior flight model"...that is not a true statement from my perspective, but this is not a comparison thread, so I will leave it at that.

7 hours ago, DJJose said:

MSFS is a nice VFR sim and it has it's place for me when I want to go island hoping in tropical destinations. That's about it.

And yet there is thread after thread after thread about trying to make XP look as good as MSFS. The fact is you can't. It's a pity but that's just how it is.  X-Plane is about flying and has a catalogue of payware planes MSFS cannot match. If you consider that up to date graphics are important then don't use X-Plane.

9 minutes ago, jarmstro said:

If you consider that up to date graphics are important then don't use X-Plane.

Graphics are important. That's why so many X-Plane users are willing to spend money on addons to make it look better.

As I've shown time and time again with pics, XP11 can look pretty darn good both day and at dusk/night where no sim can touch it.

6 hours ago, FlyBaby said:

and I thought that the OP was referring to the here and now.

Which is why I linked a post to show what XP11 is capable of...now.  

If anyone thinks those images look like outdated graphics, I know a few good optometrists.