Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
x plane hands down.
a) It comes with the plane maker and world maker
b) People can make plugins
c) It's very customizable
d) It's cross-platform
Other than that it also just has a great feel. It doesn't crash, it works with my equipment, it has a very realistic feel, it looks great, everything about it is awesome. There's my two cents :)
 
On Mac OS 9, A-10.

Awesome realistic flight sim. Advance maneuvers like accelerated stalls could be performed. Really enjoy that flight sim.

I'll second this too - I loved A-10. For me, 90% of the realism comes from frame rate. A consistent ~60fps is what I need. A-10 with no textures at 60fps is far more 'real' to me than the latest and greatest MSFS (or whatever) at 30fps.

And along the same vein - I liked the Hellcats titles too.
 
X-plane is always the winner in this form. I have X-plane 9 and also MS Flight Simulator X. Both are good, but X plane wins with me for 2 reasons.
1- I do not have to deal with Windows.
2- X plane does not crash like FS X.

FS X has more additions you can buy but some ca be imported into X plane.
To be honest If I was a windows user I might prefer MS FSX.
 
I'll second this too - I loved A-10. For me, 90% of the realism comes from frame rate. A consistent ~60fps is what I need. A-10 with no textures at 60fps is far more 'real' to me than the latest and greatest MSFS (or whatever) at 30fps.
Even though A-10 was a game, I never ran it as a game. I just used it to fly. I had have a three control set up which made it a lot of fun especially doing extreme maneuvers.

And along the same vein - I liked the Hellcats titles too.
Hellcats was awesome.

I believe programmers for Hellcats were the ones who did A-10. Have to check on that to be sure.

X-plane is always the winner in this form. I have X-plane 9 and also MS Flight Simulator X. Both are good, but X plane wins with me for 2 reasons.
1- I do not have to deal with Windows.
2- X plane does not crash like FS X.

FS X has more additions you can buy but some ca be imported into X plane.
To be honest If I was a windows user I might prefer MS FSX.
Interesting.

I am looking to purchase a current Flight Sim.

My take:

- MSFT FSX is very good procedural wise.

- X-Plane is better for the flight realism.
 
probably not the best choice but a very interesting one nonetheless

Google Earth actually has a built in flight simulator. i think that its very interesting to see google doing something like this. they even allow joystick control.

like i said, probably not the best choice, but a very interesting one indeed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: -BigMac-
Google Earth actually has a built in flight simulator. i think that its very interesting to see google doing something like this. they even allow joystick control.

like i said, probably not the best choice, but a very interesting one indeed.
Yep, not a flight simulator, but rather a navigation system that allows you to see the Earth much like you were flying.
 
Interesting read as I want a flight game too. My problem is that I care not for realism as long as I can dog fight and free fly causing mayhem in anything from a Fokker DR1 to a Mig29...... any ideas on that kind of game for MAC OS X 10.5 on intel?
 
Interesting read as I want a flight game too. My problem is that I care not for realism as long as I can dog fight and free fly causing mayhem in anything from a Fokker DR1 to a Mig29...... any ideas on that kind of game for MAC OS X 10.5 on intel?

haha the best part!

like in sim city, i love destroying them moreso than creating lol
 
Don't get me wrong, I am no fan of micro$oft but they have been developing and releasing FS for some time and have progressively improved a program which no one has been able to successfully compete with, IMO. Ive been a big fan since MS 4.0, so I have to disagree with others about X-Plane. I've tried it. Its ok. I admit both have there advantages and disadvantages, but as far as customization, planes, scenery, fun balanced with overall realism, FSX takes the cake.

Sadly I have to soil my MBP with a windows partition to run it, but its worth it.

Also for someone who said FSX crashes, that has not been a problem for me.
 
Don't get me wrong, I am no fan of micro$oft but they have been developing and releasing FS for some time and have progressively improved a program which no one has been able to successfully compete with, IMO. Ive been a big fan since MS 4.0, so I have to disagree with others about X-Plane. I've tried it. Its ok. I admit both have there advantages and disadvantages, but as far as customization, planes, scenery, fun balanced with overall realism, FSX takes the cake.

Sadly I have to soil my MBP with a windows partition to run it, but its worth it.

Also for someone who said FSX crashes, that has not been a problem for me.
I m curious what flavor of Wndows do you use? XP, Vista 32bit or 64. I run FS X with XP pro. Is there a advantage to go with Vista.
 
I am looking to purchase a current Flight Sim.

My take:

- MSFT FSX is very good procedural wise.

- X-Plane is better for the flight realism.

Once you make that purchase - lemme know what you discover. I haven't done the flight simulator thing in many years, but your take is exactly how I saw things back then. Once I get an Intel Mac, MSFS will be back on the table for me, and I'll re-evaluate.
 
Once you make that purchase - lemme know what you discover. I haven't done the flight simulator thing in many years, but your take is exactly how I saw things back then. Once I get an Intel Mac, MSFS will be back on the table for me, and I'll re-evaluate.
Will let you know.

But please don't hold your breath, as I am in no hurry to get it and it may be a while.
 
No worries sushi - my job requires me to go through a week long butt kicking in a sim every six months. Simming at home isn't a high priority! :)
 
Interesting read as I want a flight game too. My problem is that I care not for realism as long as I can dog fight and free fly causing mayhem in anything from a Fokker DR1 to a Mig29...... any ideas on that kind of game for MAC OS X 10.5 on intel?
Xplane allows dogfighting. You set up teams with up to 20 planes with up to 4 teams, set their planes, and fight! Go to http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?act=idx and check out all the planes they have in the download portal... I do regular WWII dogfights... it's awesome!
The two problems I have with xplane... the multiplayer option is an addon someone made, it's a pain to try and set up. Also, the bullets are white orbs, which is kind of lame.
 
Hi,

Any update on whats the best flightsim for mac?

Ive used fsx and xplane on windows and found xplane to be totally unrealistic in how the airplane handles. Anyone else founf that?

Matt
 
Hi,

Any update on whats the best flightsim for mac?

Ive used fsx and xplane on windows and found xplane to be totally unrealistic in how the airplane handles. Anyone else founf that?

Matt

Not much new here except when I run FSX now I am using windows 7 x64 and the performance boots is nice.

What do you mean "xplane to be totally unrealistic in how the airplane handles" Is it a matter of Joystick tuning or you don't like the way the sim handles. I find it has a lot to do with the plane, I do find X plane to be realistic in handling and is challenging to fly. And I get to stay in OS X.
 
I have been flying Flight Simulators for more years than I can remember.

Though since my conversion to Mac I have not flown much at all.

Hands down Microsoft FS is the best.

Now that I have Intel Macs, I'll probably put in a partition for Windows/Flight Sim.

At one point Flight Sim was considered to be the premier PC Flight Sim, so much I think the FAA was considering it as being good enough to count as simulator time for pilots.

I have been flying Radio Controlled Airplanes and Helicopters for almost 20 years, if not longer. Microsoft Flight Sim was my computer trainer of choice because of it's true flight characteristics.

In the beginning I flew several different simulators, probably had them all but MS Flight Sim stood head and shoulders above the competitors. They probably have caught up by now, they've had enough time. Even so, it's MS Flight Sim for me! ;)
 
X-Plane

.
I fly both X-Plane and FSX.
FSX has better graphics but I prefer X-Plane.
X-Plane feels better to me, more realistic.
But I've been running X-Plane a lot longer than FSX so that could be why I am so biased toward X-Plane.
.

By the way, if you have either an 8800 GT or GTX 285 video card, run X-Plane under Boot Camp.
It is a lot faster, I mean a lot faster.

X-Plane runs 2.3 times faster running under Boot Camp (WinXP) with the 8800 GT Mac Edition than with the 8800 GT running under OS X.
X-Plane runs 1.4 times faster running under Boot Camp (WinXP) with the GTX 285 Mac Edition than with the GTX 285 running under OS X.
 
Problem running Microsoft Flight Simulator on iMac

I just bought this 24" top of the line iMac, installed Paralells (software that allows you to run Mac and Windows simultaneously without the need to reboot each time) with Microsoft XP and then loaded up my Microsoft Flight simulator (Gold Edition Delux with Accelerator). Big disappointment. First, it takes FOREVER to load up the FS and get it running, and second the screen is ONLY about 1/5 of the whole 24" screen

What am I doing wrong? HELP, please :)
 
I just bought this 24" top of the line iMac, installed Paralells (software that allows you to run Mac and Windows simultaneously without the need to reboot each time) with Microsoft XP and then loaded up my Microsoft Flight simulator (Gold Edition Delux with Accelerator). Big disappointment. First, it takes FOREVER to load up the FS and get it running, and second the screen is ONLY about 1/5 of the whole 24" screen

What am I doing wrong? HELP, please :)

You need to use Boot Camp!
 
Not much new here except when I run FSX now I am using windows 7 x64 and the performance boots is nice.

What do you mean "xplane to be totally unrealistic in how the airplane handles" Is it a matter of Joystick tuning or you don't like the way the sim handles. I find it has a lot to do with the plane, I do find X plane to be realistic in handling and is challenging to fly. And I get to stay in OS X.

What i mean is...

Its almost like the flightsim doesnt take into consideration drag? , If i fly level at low speed(close to the stall) and go to a seriously high climb angle, it will do so instantly , no lag , no drag , no bogging down , nothing. That isnt realistic!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.