Stephen Posted September 6, 2022 Report Share Posted September 6, 2022 NEWS! - Laminar Research releases X-Plane 12 Public Beta! Just under 6 years ago Laminar Research released the X-Plane 11 Beta on Nov 24th 2016. Here is the next numbered version of the X-Plane Simulator in X-Plane 12. Notable this is a Beta version and a digital download called "Early Access", not the full release of X-Plane 12, so expect a development run to "Final" of around three months, however this IS a public release at the cost of US59.95, a free DEMO version is also available to test your computer configuration and to try out (briefly) the next version of X-Plane. This Early Access digital edition is ideal for people who: Want to get started using X-Plane 12 immediately Have a reliable internet connection Have a computer that meets these minimum requirements Plan to use X-Plane only in their own home (see X-Plane for Professional Use for commercial use) X-Plane 12 Early Access includes: Universal platform support (Windows, Mac with Native ARM Support and Linux) Global scenery 19 high-quality aircraft with immersive 3-D cockpits Access to X-Plane 12 and 11 Free internet updates for all versions of 12.xx Highlights in X-Plane 12 include complete system overhauls for: Weather Lighting Trees & Fauna Seasons Water ATC - Air Traffic Control Sounds Systems And 7 new default aircraft Features Tropical Water Colors Gorgeous, geographically-aware water colors. 3D Forests and Vegetation Large variety of 3D trees with variation of species, size, and seasonal effects. They even sway in the wind. Ambient Sounds The entire world now comes to life with FMOD sound – birds in the forest, cars in the cities and of course, ground service vehicles. Tower Kit Custom suite of endless control tower variation, easy to use for maximal realism. Animated Jetways Jetways move to meet your aircraft when parked at the gate. Localized ATC Procedures/Voices Air Traffic Control follow regional procedures and accents around the world. Pavement Effects Airport artists can choose from a library of pavement effects to perfectly capture the look-and-feel of airports by setting level of cracking, oil spills, pavement material, and more. Volumetric 3D Clouds Immersive clouds to fully capture the sensation of flight. Real Weather Proprietary algorithms to turn data from the real world into X-Plane weather. Wake Turbulence Powerful streams of upset air left in the atmosphere by other aircraft – just like real life. Microbursts Small, powerful downdrafts – perfectly modeled with pilot training in mind. Thermals Terrain-generated updrafts that allow gilders to gain altitude without a tow plane. Snow, Rain and Ice Accumulation Precipitation now accumulates on surfaces, freezing or thawing based on temperature. X-Plane 12 Minimum Requirements CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, i7, or i9 CPU with 4 or more cores, or AMD Ryzen 3, 5, 7 or 9. (Those with other CPUs should try the demo before purchasing.) Memory: 8 GB RAM Video Card: a Vulkan 1.3-capable video card from NVIDIA or AMD with at least 2 GB VRAM If your system is borderline, we encourage you to try the demo first. The full version of the simulator will perform exactly the same as the demo—neither better nor worse. X-Plane 12 Recommended Requirements CPU: Intel Core i5 8600k or Ryzen 5 3500 or better, or Apple Silicon Memory: 16-24 GB RAM or more Video Card: a DirectX 12-capable video card from NVIDIA or AMD with at least 4 GB VRAM (GeForce GTX 1070 or better, or similar from AMD) Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA: NVIDIA GeForce 900 or newer, driver version 510 or newer AMD: AMD Radeon RX 500 or newer, driver version Adrenaline 22.2.1or newer Supported Operating Systems: OS X: OS X 10.15 or newer (e.g. Catalina, Big Sur, or Monterey) Windows: Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit Linux: Varies If you want to run on Linux, you will need to try X-Plane on your distribution to see if it is compatible. We have developers using Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and newer successfully, however we don’t provide support for specific distributions. We require the proprietary driver from NVIDIA to run X-Plane. We require the Mesa drivers, version 22.0 or newer, for AMD to run X-Plane. X-Plane 12 (Beta) Early Access is purchased directly from Laminar Research for US$59.95 X-Plane 12 Price is US$59.95 A detailed release summary is coming very soon, so check back on the site regularly for coming X-Plane 12 updates as we delve into the exciting new chapter of the X-Plane Simulator. ____________ NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 6th September 2022 Copyright©2022: X-Plane Reviews (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) All rights reserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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