Jump to content

Plugin Review : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 by rk Apps - Realism effects


Recommended Posts

XPReal Header 1.0.9.jpg

 

Plugin Review : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 by rk Apps - Realism effects

 

In most cases you cover a review and then move on to another review to keep the X-PlaneReview site's content current. But some items and in this case a plugin (2017 has been a huge year for plugins) in the excellent XPRealistic for X-Plane realism effects in that I am revisiting it only a few weeks since the original review earlier in the month: Plugin Review : XPRealistic Pro by rk Apps - Realism effects

 

Usually after a initial release, there is a follow up of any new updates and features. But here with the latest release in v1.0.9 there has been a lot of changes and enough to recover the plugin with a more extensive review than just noting the changes. So you will find parts of the original review also inserted here in to save you having to go back and too to that release and not missing anything important.

 

So first of what this plugin is. It is a way to get more effective feedback in movement and sound. This is called realism effects or the way that movement on the screen will be replicated like within a real aircraft. This new effects plugin is to take the basic movement features and then ramp them up to another level of cockpit immersion, another and a huge factor in a feature is that you can set the level and immersion factor on each individual aircraft from a small GA right up to the largest heavy aircraft in your hangar.

 

So first let us see how to install the plugin and set it up, then look at its features and ease of use.

 

Installing the XPRealistic Pro plugin

The XPRealistic zip package includes the XPRealistic main folder, a manual and the XPRealistic.lua plugin.

 

XPReal Package.jpg

 

Inside the XPRealistic folder are two folders for "Profiles" and "Sounds" and a .json file.

 

XPReal Plugin folders.jpg

 

XPRealistic Pro uses the "FlyWithLua plugin as its engine. FlyWithLua is run with C/C++ code, and makes plugins with a Lua 5.1 script engine or more like a BASIC interface on top of machine code and is compiled with LuaJIT. It is easy for developers to create clever plugins to do clever things in X-Plane or wherever you can run lua scripts. But a note is that lua can cause plugin conflicts, and many other plugins or even the main simulator can be effected by running the FlyWithlua plugin. In most cases the conflict is not an issue, but you may lose a few favorite plugins because it will clash with lua, obviously Headshake is one of them.

 

FlyWithLua is created by X-Friese and there are two versions in one 2.4.4b (win, lin, mac) for X-Plane9 and XP10. And now a new version only for X-Plane11 version 2.6.0 (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) so make sure you insert the correct version.

 

FlyWithLua is inserted into your X-Plane/Resources/Plugins folder.

 

XPReal Plugin arrangement.jpg

 

In the FlyWithLua (FWL) folder there is a "Scripts" folder (arrowed) on where you install XPRealistic's main Folder and the XPRealistic.lua file (A note in that I removed all the other extra .lua scripts that were part of the FlyWithLua download package except for the Checklist tool). One particular visual script in "Please read the manual" will annoyingly come up on your screen when running X-Plane unless you remove it.

 

Using XPRealistic Pro

XPRealistic Pro is accessed via the "FlyWithLua" (Macros) plugin in the X-Plane Plugins menu.

 

XPReal Plugin.jpg

 

Selecting the XPRealistic (XPR) plugin from the FWL menu will bring up the XPR menu on your screen...  The old version (1.0.8) on the left and the new (1.0.9) version is on the right.

 

XPReal main menu.jpgXPReal Ver1.0.9 menu 1.jpg

 

As you can see the new version is very X-Plane11 in menu design and is very nice visually and has a more friendly feel to the interface.

 

XPReal Ver1.0.9 menu 2.jpgXPReal Ver1.0.9 menu 3.jpg

 

You can make the window larger or smaller with the + or - signs on the top border and also the new menu comes with a new feature that was put forward by myself. You can now via the "Menu Toggle" list item, assign a key to open and close the menu window. I found it very time consuming and not very efficient in having to constantly find the XPRealistic plugin buried within the FlyWithLua plugin folder to adjust the plugin's immersions, so now a simple one press key access is a great if not brilliant step forward.

 

When you activate the panel with the current version noted on the header. All green and red text in the panels are clickable or can be adjusted, the rest is just text...    The main menu consists of seven items:

 

  • Enable for (aircraft)
  • Multi monitor
  • TrackIR
  • X-Camera
  • Menu Toggle
  • Freeze Toggle
  • Master Volume

 

Note the changes with Enable instead of "Always Start", Multi monitor is now new, TrackIR and X-Camera have lost the "Are you using", the new "Menu Toggle" and the Freeze Toggle and Master Volume are the same as before.

 

The best feature of XPRealistic Pro is that it can be set for the current individual aircraft in use. This means when you load an aircraft you load the XPRealistic profile for it as well, and that any changes or settings are kept for that aircraft only. This background set of settings is a great way to always have your own preferences set for that active aircraft and changing to another aircraft (say a heavy) will also load in the preferences for that aircraft automatically. 

 

These settings are stored in the "Profiles" folder in the XPRealistic main folder as .json flies.

 

XPReal Profiles.jpg

 

  • So the first item on the menu "Enable for (aircraft)" is the choice of and if you want that aircraft active with XPRealistic when you load the aircraft (yes/no).
  • Multi monitor is new and allows users that use more than one monitor to have the effects work across all screens and not just the central one.

 

  • You can use XPRealistic with both TrackIR and X-Camera and crossover functionality is built in, these two check boxes will allows you to activate or deactivate both these plugins if you don't use them.

 

  • "Menu Toggle" allows you to assign a key to open and close the menu window.

 

  • "Freeze Toggle" will allow you to stop the shaking to adjust knobs or the vibrations if they get too severe. It is used by setting a situation like when in clean smooth level flight and using a key input to activate it, you set it when it says "set now". I used the spacebar and that worked fine.

 

  • "Master Volume" allows you to set the global volume of the plugin.

 

Active Profile

The last menu item is the "Active Profile". This is activated when you "Enable" the aircraft via the top checkbox. So whenever you restart X-Plane with the activated aircraft switched on the setting is automatically set unless you deactivate this checkbox. On checking the "Enable" if when starting up then the XPRealistic Pro plugin will load and that is noted on your screen (centre).

 

XPReal Ver1.0.9 menu 4.jpg

 

There are a set of default profiles to use in "GA", "Jets" and "Gliders" and more are promised. The number of profiles available will change as you add in more aircraft or if rk App's add in a new default profile.

 

XPReal Ver1.0.9 menu 5.jpg

 

Now the clever bit is that you can select the default profile and then press the "Customize" wording to make that GA profile into the "C172" profile which is stored in the as we know in the "Profiles" folder in the XPRealistic main folder as .json flies".

 

This is the selection of a profiles for the aircraft. Notice I said "a" aircraft. Even though it will note the current aircraft profile you can use another profile on that aircraft as well if you like that particular set of settings or duplicate the other profile and adjust it to your preferences for this aircraft. The number of profiles available are noted by the "profile" (4/15). A note is to point out that the older profiles will still work fine in the v1.0.9 update, but you will have to adjust for the new effects added.

 

XPReal Ver1.0.9 menu 6.jpg

 

Selecting the aircraft (arrowed) will open a dropdown profile for that aircraft..  This is where you can edit the settings for that profile.

 

In the profile there are three levels of choices:

 

Profile Actions

First level of the profile gives you the "Profile Actions" or the main choices in:

 

Reset to Defaults - To reset all the settings in the profile

Delete Profile - To delete the current profile completely.

 

Profile Immersions

Second level is your main aircraft editing tools in (effect choices can change for that particular effect):

 

  • Category
  • Name
  • Enable
  • Sound
  • Volume

 

Immersion Preview

Third level will give you a preview of that set profile immersion

 

Editing Your Profile

Profile Immersions

 

Category

The immersions are set into (currently) ten "Categories" that include:

(1) All, (2) Atmosphere, (3) Engine, (4) Environment, (5) Flaps, (6) Gear, (7) Ground Roll, (8) Head Movements, (9) Touchdown, (10) Uncategorized

 

(note that in the current v1.0.9 version the <> change pointers don't work, but holding the pointer over the wording and using your mouse scroll will change the category, this will be fixed soon). You will also note this is a significant change to the earlier v1.0.8 version.

 

Name

Under "Name" is your immersion effect and in this case "Atmosphere - Airport Atmosphere" and if you select the "info" tab then details of what that effect does pops up to the right of the menu panel. As you select a choice of effect the lower panel adjusts to include the extra settings you can use on that effect. This includes different sound files, the volume of the sound files, shaking effects and movement effects.

 

XPReal Ver1.0.9 menu 7.jpgXPReal Ver1.0.9 menu 8.jpg

 

Listed under "Category" are your different immersions or effects that you can use.

 

(1) All - every effect and immersion that you can scroll through.

(2) Atmosphere - Includes: Airport Atmosphere - Cockpit Atmosphere

(3) Engine - Includes: Activate reverse - Engine start - Engine Stop - Reverse Thrust - Side Prop - Throttle

(4) Environment - Includes: Rain - Turbulence - Wind

(5) Flaps - Includes: Flaps drag - Flaps Set - Flaps stress

(6) Gear - Includes: Gear drag - Nose wheel well

(7) Ground Roll - Includes: Ground roll fast - Ground roll slow

(8) Head Movements - Includes: Braking - G-Force effects - Heading Anticipation - Natural Head - Pitch Anticipation - Roll Anticipation - Taxi Anticipation

(9) Touchdown - Includes: Touchdown Front - Touchdown Main

(10) Uncategorized - Includes: Airframe Wind - Ground effect - Rudder Squeeze - Speed Brake - Stall - Stall extra sound

 

A few notes on the immersions. First there are now 32 immersions up from 26 in the earlier version (1.0.8) and one in "breathing" has been replaced by "Natural Head" that is now more a circular motion than the in-out motion of before. Other new immersions include Airport Atmosphere and Cockpit Atmosphere that puts in noises and other ideas to simulate the environment around you. The original Head Anticipation effect has been widened out to cover not only the left - right look, but now up - down (Pitch Anticipation) and a quick side look (Taxi Anticipation). Even the the left - right look has been split into  Heading Anticipation and Roll Anticipation movements.

 

The immersions can be adjusted to the various areas of their effects that include:

 

Enabled

This checkbox allows you to have that immersion effect on/off

 

Sound File

This effect is the choice < > of different sounds to that immersion

 

Sound Volume

This is the separate volume only for that immersion effect %

 

Shake Intensity

If the effect has shake or vibration, then you can adjust the movement percentage %

 

Movement Intensity

Slightly different from the shake effect in more of a slow change than a violent action.

 

Here is a small selection of the immersions and their editing profiles :

 

XPReal Ver1.0.9 Profile 1.jpgXPReal Ver1.0.9 Profile 2.jpg

XPReal Ver1.0.9 Profile 3.jpgXPReal Ver1.0.9 Profile 4.jpg

 

 

Immersion Preview

Here you can see or hear the changes to the selected immersion by pressing the checkbox on/off.

 

This is the preview of "Head Anticipation" which is an effect to guess where you are going to look next in the Pitch Anticipation.

 

XPReal Ver1.0.9 Pitch 1.jpgXPReal Ver1.0.9 Pitch 2.jpg

 

_______________________________________________

 

As for me a general rule with these vibration effects is the line between realism and totally annoying. In that rational I usually have most settings set low, certainly the ones like the "brake" effect that wants to put your head through the windscreen every time you simply touch the brakes.

Mostly (as in life) less is usually more with these choices. The most intrusive are the ones that are over active when you need to control the aircraft and you are trying to scroll knobs or adjust your height or speed. There is the "Freeze Toggle" to help you here, but I would still set the on the side of minimum than maximum for the best effects.

 

But GA vibrations and sounds always would be more violent and louder than a Jet airliner, I know you would want that feeling anyway, but you can go too far in that direction of effects as well, because at the start it is all very exciting, but after an hour or so in the air in a small slow aircraft the constant noise and vibrations can then send you to the doctor.

So the aim is simply realistic and realism and not the point of that if you even have that huge amount of adjustments doesn't mean you have to use them all.

 

As there is so much choice available then to GET IT just right in a profile setting will take a little time and a little patience, fly and adjust would be my mantra. Do a flight and "oh that wind noise is too low" and adjust or "that ground roll vibration is too heavy" and then adjust that and so on, and soon you will get a perfect set of profiles for that particular aircraft.

 

Does XPRealistic have that "Wow" effect!

 

II have used "Headshake" for a long time, so the effects of XPRealistic will have to really surpass those in a big way as this is payware as headshake is freeware.

 

So to test the theory out I again took the same three flights as in the other review as in one a GA with the default C172 and one a Jet with SSG's E-170 and the prop regional B1900D (text has been edited from the original review, but the images are the same)

 

Cessna C172

First to note in that on both aircraft I already lowered right down the settings for the "Natural Head" that replaced the "Breathing" effect to again 20% but it was not as noticeable as the older in - out movement. The old Breathing effect was slightly unnerving in a horror film hiding in the cupboard way. You found the the panel heaving up and down as if you are about to be consumed by it, so that was then downgraded quickly. The "Natural Head" does feel well...  more natural so that is a good change there.

 

With the Head Anticipation changed to Heading Anticipation, Pitch Anticipation, Roll Anticipation and Taxi Anticipation" you have a lot more adjustments now to do in this area. I am still not a big fan of these constant movements and in fact in the few weeks since the original review I switched Head Anticipation off as it got slightly annoying, but to be fair I will give the new selections another go and see if they are better. But I did find the movement were very large and do need a fair bit of culling to restrict them from not seeing the instruments at critical times.

"Braking" (5%) was again adjusted right down as it still felt too high. It is clever but unnerving. I want to be shook and not shaken if you get my drift. The braking adjustment is because I don't want to constantly smash my head forward on the windscreen over and over again.

 

First noticeable change in v1.0.9 is when you start up the aircraft. The Cessna will vibrate side to side to the vibrations of the starting engine and propeller momentum. It will do the same at shutdown as well and is highly realistic. The throttle setting has had a lot of attention as well with more vibration adjustment and a new movement adjustment. I found the earlier version was that the engine vibration came in very late, but it is perfect now, I ramped both settings up to 90% shaking and 80% Movement for the best effects.

 

XPReal E170 start 1.jpgXPReal E170 start 2.jpg

 

In taxiing you don't so much as go side to side anymore but more of a wide shallow elliptical movement, it is better than before and it does feel more natural. The Heading Anticipation is doing most of the work here by adjusting to your yaw movements.

 

XPReal C172 2.jpgXPReal C172 1.jpg

 

The aircraft vibrates slightly at a standstill, which is very realistic but I have asked rk App's for more fuselage vibration from the airframe and they say that is possible but not coming yet. 

 

Now let the brakes off and push up the throttle and the vibrations get more vibrant and the throttle (engine) vibrates now even more. Look up at your door window frames and they are very nicely vibrating to the power of the aircraft, love that.

As the engine goes up in its range the instruments will blurr and then settle down again and the aircraft is vibrating to the engine's power.

 

But adjust the yaw as you keep to the centre line and the "Anticipation" effects kicks in. The combination of the now four head movement anticipations (Heading Anticipation, Natural Head, Pitch Anticipation, Roll Anticipation and Taxi Anticipation) is far better than the original "Head Anticipation" which had that bad flick correction movement back to the centre, I didn't see that once on this check flight.

 

You can and you probably will adjust each movement to find your sweet spot, but it does sort of swim around as you move, but not enough to want to switch it off like I did before, in fact is is very good at replicating movement in an aircraft. Overall now the ground roll and noises with the vibrations are excellent, you will quickly come to love the realism of it all.

 

Pull back the stick and the main vibrations cease and the wind noises increase.

 

XPReal C172 3.jpgXPReal C172 4.jpg

 

A left bank brings the "Heading Anticipation" back into operation again as it anticipates where you are going to look via the turn of the yoke.

 

XPReal C172 5.jpgXPReal C172 6.jpg

 

It is very good, as you always wanted to look in the direction of travel, but couldn't fly the aircraft and adjust your viewpoint at the same time, so this effect does it for you. It does feel very real, but the same point is valid in that if you have to readjust the other direction with the yoke (or turn straight) you do find yourself looking right or the other way than the direction you want to go? But you get used to it, again the point is not having the effect "Heading Anticipation" adjustment too high as to not go too far each way.

 

Adjustments can be done on the fly, so to speak is possible...

 

Cessna_172SP_wind new 1.jpgCessna_172SP_wind new 2.jpg

 

I tried different wind settings to see what the differences were, it is very effective and you can easily find your preference with a change from one sound file to the next and you can now adjust that particular sound file as well for the best aural effect.

 

One thing you have to be aware of is plugin crossover. I am running xEnviro and the environment plugin has a similar "turbulence" effect like XPRealistic...   So you have to find a compromise between the two plugins so they don't overwhelm you with too much vibration.

 

XPReal C172 9 LG.jpg

 

It is the same with rain effects, and you will have to be aware of aircraft that have these effects already built in like with FlightFactor's Boeing 767 series.

 

I did a heavy climb stall to see the effect. It was very realistic, juddering airframe, yoke noises, aileron and elevator banging, so you felt that you was pushing the aircraft past its limits, very good.

 

XPReal C172 11.jpgXPReal C172 10.jpg

 

Extra wind noises when you drop the flaps, and more vibrations from the airflow...   Flap stress will also create a banging in the cockpit that may scare your passengers and another new effect is that the flap switch can now be heard as you change the switch position.

 

XPReal C172 12.jpgXPReal C172 13.jpg

 

Once back on the ground you get the ground rolling and vibrations again, braking efforts are highlighted as is any reverse thrust if you change the propeller pitch. Again like at startup the shutdown vibrations effects are excellent and that overall scenario in the GA environment the package with XPRealistic active was very effective and highly realistic.

 

XPReal C172 14.jpg

 

 

SSG Embraer E170

One of the great features of this effects plugin is that you can tailor the effects to different aircraft, and the differences between the GA C172 and the larger E-Jet couldn't be more noticeable and that is what makes this plugin more desirable. Certainly you would like even more subtle differences between the same GA's and the feel between small regional aircraft and the large A380 aircraft, and yes with a lot of fine tuning I think that is possible here, but a few more immersions to highlight those size differences more would be a nice addition.

 

If you have used the excellent BSS sound packages like with the JARDesign A320neo then you will know how much a difference that great sound can add to the simulation in feel and feedback. But what about vibration? as that is another dimension again.

 

This XPRealistic can give that feel on start up and shutdown of the engines, the one great thing is that the plugin represents not just one vibration but the effects of an vibration over the top of another vibration at different frequencies, in that an engine vibration is very different from a rolling aircraft taxiing vibration, the trick is to make them work together to make the whole feel realistic.

 

XPReal E170 1.jpgXPReal E170 2.jpg

 

The trick again is that both the aircraft developer's designs and the XPRealistic effects don't clash, so fine tuning is required to find that balance. But together feedback realism is excellent it you get it it right, so the point of the specialised profiles for certain aircraft has to be raised to get the maximum effect of both sets of effects working together?

 

So engine startup and shutdown is featured and there is nothing like vibration at engine starts and running to make you feel a better experience.

 

XPReal E170 3.jpgXPReal E170 4.jpg

 

Taxiing gives you the vibration, but not as bouncy as the C172 as to be expected. A rainy day gives you the rain effects and the accompanying noise which is highly realistic, the braking as before noted is reduced to (5%) just a slight move forward for comfort and realism and I am finding the v1.0.9 settings just slightly lower than the older version.

The newer "Heading Anticipation" and other anticipations are again far better in the jet environment. Changes of head direction and movement are extremely realistic and that dreaded centering movement which was particularly bad in the E-Jet is now gone and the whole feeling is far more smoother and better. I do feel that as time does go on and with more finer adjustments you are going to find that perfect balance and feel.

 

One of the great aspects with this plugin is that any adjustments are saved automatically, set and forget is the mantra and with the new key popup it is very easy to access and quickly make adjustments.

 

XPReal E170 5.jpgXPReal E170 6.jpg

 

Putting the power up brings first the engine vibrations and then the secondary airframe vibrations, and finally the rolling runway vibrations and you can tell which one is which one doing a certain job...  it is all very credible.

   
The vibrations build until the moment of flight and then like in a real aircraft it all ceases and replace with new vibrations and sounds of wind and wind drag noise from the undercarriage until it is retracted.

 

XPReal E170 7 LG.jpg

 

Don't get me wrong in that all this action is all very dramatic and noisy in that it is totally overwhelming because it is not but kept in context with the simulation and the effects are all close to real to keep it all credible.

 

You do get that small but significant vibration in the cockpit when out of turbulence periods to keep it realistic. Like with the C172 the better

 

XPReal E170 9.jpgXPReal E170 8.jpg

 

In level flight I did like the slight movement of vibration of the aircraft moving, your not going to rattle and shake along like in the C172, but vibration is a big realism factor.

 

XPReal E170 10.jpgXPReal E170 19.jpg

 

The effects are of course not just limited to the cockpit. If you like the window view (mostly for me in replay) in that the effects are highlighted here as well in the back. Again I will note BSS's sound packages in the JARDesign A320neo and A330 and if you use them you will understand (or hear) the significant differences of the varying sounds in the cabin is so very different from the cockpit sounds and how much those effects enhances the overall simulation.

It is the same here and to a point it does bring the same sort of effects that you get with BSS sounds to any aircraft, but of course not to the extreme of BSS sounds. But it does bring vibration, and flap, airbrake noise and undercarriage drag noise to virtually any aircraft in your collection and with that it makes XPRealistic a very handy tool to have.

 

XPReal E170 11.jpgXPReal E170 12.jpg

 

The "Heading Anticipation" feature works back here in the cabin as well as in the cockpit of course, but could that actually be distracting from your viewing pleasure? But unless you turn it off you still get the movement effect.

 

But it is a great feel when flying to get that aircraft vibration in the rear. It delivers a more of the real vibration feel of what you remember when trying to sleep at 37,000ft and moving through the air at nearly the speed of sound.

 

Landing is of course the most dramatic event of flying. And it is here of where any realism plugin can deliver or fail the test of giving you a realistic feedback of this event in motion.

 

Landing can be akin to a controlled crash, which I suppose is what it really is but with the last minute ground contact being in control. Headshake was very good in delivering that initial gear compression and violent shake as the aircraft was still partly flying and yet parts of it is now connected to Terra Firma...

 

XPReal E170 13.jpgXPReal E170 14.jpg

 

...   switch Headshake off and landings became very quickly very boring. So how does XPRealistic stand up with the same strong expectation of drama and vibration.

 

Certainly the initial gear contact was very good, but so is the slightly blurry shake vibrations as you still barrel down the runway still at landing speeds. The newer v1.0.9 has now a split rear main gear and forward nose gear vibration effects. So you feel one (heavier) set as the rear gear contacts and then a secondary set as the nose gear grips and aligns the aircraft and there is now two nose wheel well sounds added as well.  

 

XPReal E170 15.jpgXPReal E170 16.jpg

 

Like at takeoff the vibrations come in a different frequencies to cover the different actions like airbrakes, flap movement and mostly the overriding reverse thrust vibrations that shake the airframe to a taxiing speed as is your final braking actions and like in real life it all feels very much quieter and more serene once the aircraft has completed the event.

 

XPReal E170 17.jpgXPReal E170 18.jpg

 

It will be very interesting to compare different aircraft in this category and use the different profiles to see what different feel you can achieve and experience. But overall the XPRealistic landing is a brilliant experience and highly real.

 

Like when we left KRSW the taxi vibrations are again good, as is the movement into the gate and the final engine shutdown vibrations from the engines.

 

XPReal E170 20.jpgXPReal E170 21.jpg

 

This was basically just a gate to gate circuit around KRSW, but it was a great experience of an injection of far more realism into the simulation, I can't wait to use it on one of my well known routes

 

Beech 1900D

I taxiing out I found "oh, that is quite different, not much happening here?" Well there wouldn't be as I had the "Always Start for B190" checkbox unchecked and then once selected it was quickly back to the vibrations and movement, so there is a lesson in there in checking first the profile is switched actually on.

 

XPReal_B1900D_1.jpgXPReal_B1900D_2.jpg

 

The B1900D interests me because it is a mid-way aircraft in that it has the genes of a GA but the power of a much larger aircraft, a bit more of a "Rattle and Shake" machine if you know what I mean.

 

The B1900D doesn't disappoint either as it rattled and totally shook it's way right down the runway to takeoff.

 

XPReal_B1900D_4.jpgXPReal_B1900D_3.jpg

 

The effects work very well in here, and a bit of turbulence from some heavy low cloud added in to the experience and shook you up a little bit more. The "Heading Anticipation" worked again better in here as well, but you did get a constant motion sort of feeling if you are doing a lot of manual manoeuvres, if I did a lot of this I would probably turn the "Heading Anticipation" effect right down or off in the B1900D, but I loved the look to turn effect of the immersion more in here than the negative aspects.

 

The landing was excellent with great vibrations of the airframe and the hard pull back and extra vibrations of the prop reversed thrust, I actually put the brake effort up more slightly here to exaggerate that pull back effect for the different style of aircraft. 

 

XPReal_B1900D_5.jpgXPReal_B1900D_6.jpg

 

The slight vibrations at the gate and then the final out of balance vibrations as the props spun down to stop was excellent and better again in v1.0.9, they are highly realistic and you noticed the vibrations really well from the rear cabin window view as the airframe shook to the stopping engines.

 

XPReal_B1900D_7.jpgXPReal_B1900D_8.jpg

 

At this point there are no profiles for helicopters? In X-Plane11 helicopters do already have a very good vibration effect, and the set up for helicopters would be very different from aircraft. My main slight worry is that helicopters may over exaggerate the vibrations, so it will be interesting to see if a default profile is created and how it relates to the aircraft.

 

Summary

It is a very fine line with effect tools in that they can be very good or just simply annoying. Headshake had managed to enhance but also not become an in your face tool that you either switched off or threw away. In other words it worked very well in the background and was only noticeable at crucial points like taking off or landing and that was it's successful appeal.

But Headshake is global and that makes the same effects and their vibrations work in every aircraft no matter it's size and type.

 

XPRealistic is adaptable to every aircraft in large, small, noisy or even older and newer. It works like all great plugins in the background, not seen or heard unless you want to adjust something or even switch it off. And that adaptability means you can have some aircraft active and others not, and then unlike Headshake you can adapt certain characteristics to every different aircraft as you desire, so the plugin is hugely flexible and it also supports X-Camera and TrackIR.

 

So what are the downsides. Well not that much directly but there are things you need to be aware of in using the plugin. One it uses FlyWithLua for its base coding, and the FlyWithLua as a plugin can conflict with other plugins. So you may lose some favorite plugins or some might not work at all and even worse also create conflicts that could cause the crash to desktop a regular occurrence. I'm glad to say it didn't conflict at all with my regular plugins, but then again my plugin folder set is quite small.

 

Another point to make early is that you will need to spend time to fine tune your profiles and your desires of certain feels given to certain aircraft, the word "tweeking" come to mind, but I would like the idea that users share their favorite "tweeks" online so we can all enjoy the same settings and profiles that have been refined. But the awareness of the original aircraft's features is also required so they don't overlap or conflict with each other.

 

This v1.0.9 is a major step forward even from the already very good original version (1.0.8). The newer and more accessible key activated visual menu is a great revision of the original with the multitude of immersions (effects) that are now also split into their various categories for easier access and adjustment. There are now six more new effects mostly in the "Anticipation" effects and the Airport Atmosphere and Cockpit Atmosphere effects, which require a more of a longer view to see if they are effective and I found all the different vibrations and shake more realistic and better intergrated now than they were in the original.

 

So is this plugin another staple in a "must have" standard. Personally I really think so, as its qualities are excellent but also there is the huge flexibility of the profiles for every aircraft and the return of the effects and the huge immersion factor is going to make this plugin easily an X-Plane standard. It is clever in doing just a simple thing, and because it is layered in effects and sound as well in that it also gives it the absolute wow and realism factor.

So certainly a "Must Have" plugin and you see that again X-Plane go another step forward in simulation realism...  XPRealistic immersion is that good.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________
 

X-Plane Store logo sm.jpg

 

The XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 by rk Apps is NOW available! from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

 

XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9

 

Your Price: US$19.99
 
If you have already purchased the XPRealistic Pro v1.0.8. You can update to v1.0.9 by going to your X-Plane.OrgStore account as it is available now.
 
Features
  • Separate Aircraft Profiles
Create aircraft profiles with dedicated settings. Change sound volumes, shake intensity and much more.
  • 32 Immersions in 10 categories
Enjoy a growing list of 22 real life scenario immersions along with more than 15 different sound files to choose from.
  • X-Camera/TrackIR Support
X-Camera and TrackIR are supported, furthermore, we highly recommend to use X-Camera with XPRealistic Pro.
  • Easy to use
Enjoy a straight forward user interface which allows you to control almost every aspect of XPRealistic features.
  • Fast Support
We believe that fast response to any issue is the key to keep you happy, we are here if you need us.
  • Realism and quality

 

 

Requirements

X-Plane 11 - X-Plane 10

Windows, Mac or Linux
Required X-Plane Plugins: FlyWithLua (free)
X-Camera (optional but recommended)
Current review version: 1.09 (26th June 2017)

 

Installation and documents:

Full installation procedure is noted within the review above

FlyWithLua (free) IS required to use this plugin

 

Documents:

Manual (13 pages)

__________________________

 

Plugin Review by Stephen Dutton
28th June 2017
Copyright©2017: X-PlaneReviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 

Review System Specifications:

Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - GeForce GTX 980/SSE2 - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 

Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.02

Addons: Saitek x56 Pro system Joystick and Throttle

Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : WorldTraffic 2.0 Plugin - US$29.95

Scenery or Aircraft

- KRSW - Southwest Florida International Airport by Aerosoft (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$24.99

- E-Jet 170 Evolution - by SSG (Supercritical Simulation Group) (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$49.95
- Beech 1900D HD - by Carenado (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$34.95

- C172 - X-Plane Default aircraft (X-Plane11) Free with simulator

 

Logo Header X-PlaneReviews 200px.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Just bought this, in part thanks to your excellent (and so far accurate) review...and I have to agree it is addictive...this in combination with the AFL c172 is a  pure joy to fly.  Definitely a must-have as you have said.

 

My only concern is that it is dependent on Fly with Lua which leads me to the first real BUMMER of this fact: I had to remove my beloved Kamimari script (all those who ENJOY constantly having to adjust the gyro in-flight raise your hand) in order for XPRealistic to not crash LUA. Now whether this situation is XPR's fault or negligent programming of Kamimari, I don't know - but it really makes me hope that RK will some day repackage this as a proper plugin. Kamimari was the ONLY other LUA script I was running BTW...so I hope it doesn't mean that I have to keep my scripts folder clear of all others in order for XPR to work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...