I just got X-Plane 11. It’s very pretty!
While it basically has no real-world landmarks, it had a complete database of roads, from all major highways to the most insignificant streets, so you can find your street if you wanted. Its distribution of autogen buildings is a little more sensible than in Flight Simulator X, where those were just placed in random patterns on randomly-generated streets. Cars travel along the roads, and even trains on tracks, and there’s some air traffic. The world seems a little more alive. There may even be some animals roaming around.
The overall graphics are sharper than in Flight Simulator X. Textures are generally sharper, autogen buildings are detailed, terrain is a bit sharper, streets have definition, ground vehicles are detailed, and everything just looks better. There’s a nice atmospheric haze. The only downside are trees, which aren’t very good. Planes and their shaders look quite nice, too. Night lighting is a beautiful sight to behold, but too dark at times.
The default planes are pretty nice and detailed. They have 3D cockpits with a huge array of controls. If you don’t know how to operate an aircraft, like me, it can get a bit confusing. I accidentally engaged the engine fire controls on the MD-82 and couldn’t figure out how to get the engines back on. It’s definitely geared toward the more serious flyer. The planes even have detailed cabin interiors. The 747 is fun to roam around in. Just don’t let the AI fly or you’ll crash.
The flight model is far more advanced than other simulators. Programs like Flight Simulator X use tables of pre-made information about aircraft to figure out how a plane should behave in flight. If you plug in a new plane, it won’t have that info. But X-Plane uses a system that breaks the aircraft down into smaller parts, around which the airflow is calculated on the fly. It makes for much more realistic and challenging flying, and the creation of new aircraft much easier in the way of how it flies.
Out of the box, X-Plane 11 includes, for free, worldwide scenery. This is primarily land and road data, along with mostly basic airports and general scenery. If you’re expecting to fly around Chicago or New York to see the sights, you’ll be very disappointed. There are a number of free add-ons you can get for airports, scenery, AI traffic, aircraft, and more. However, if you want better quality and more variety, you’ll quickly find that it may be out of your reach. The base game costs $60, but many add-ons run the $20 to $50 range, with most being on the more expensive side. Many cost at least as much as the base game itself, even for individual aircraft. Even then, you may find the content lacking. It’s the same problem that Flight Simulator X has. The add-ons are simply way too overpriced. So unless you make a ton of disposable income and don’t mind throwing out hundreds and hundreds of dollars for all that, you’ll have to stick with the base game and any free stuff you can get. In fact you can’t even get any of it through less legal means, as the piracy market for X-Plane add-ons appears to be pretty slim at best.
Despite that, it’s one nice-looking simulator, and a challenge to fly with. You at least need a decent joystick, and at best a genuine yoke, throttle, and pedal setup.
If X-Plane isn’t for you, though, you could always for for the next generation of Flight Simulator X, now known as Repar3D by Lockheed Martin. That is, if you’re a student and can get the academic version at $60, or else get the pro version at $200. FSX and P3D certainly have more out of the box than XP11, including better scenery, albeit without a complete network of roads. P3D, which looks better out of the box than FSX, can also work with most FSX add-ons. Still, if  you want some nice physics-based flying, give X-Plane 11 a try!
