PilotEdge Forums

A new user recently asked me how to configure X-Plane to get the best results...here was the summary I posted with the time I had.

- set video rendering options to give you the best visual experience whilst still having a nice, healthy frame rate (30+). The product of density and visibility of objects will have the most direct impact on your framerates (in v9)

- all joystick axis and buttons mapped to meet your needs

- realize that xplane is always calibrating the joystick in real time. Be sure to the move the controls through their full range of motion each time you start xplane

- make sure that when all controls are released that xplane shows 0 input on all axis (use Settings->Data Input & Ouput, row 4 or 8, I forget which, column 4 for visual output)

- set realism sliders to full realism. The artificial stability introduced by the default 25% setting makes the flight feel like it's running on rails. That's not how GA airplanes fly. They waddle and wallow.

- use exponential sensitivity to mute the response about the center. This will give you more fine grain control for subtle movement.

Great post, Keith. Very helpful. Can you (or someone) explain the last one a bit? I understand the general concept but am not sure how to implement and "calibrate" it to be accurate.

Keith Smith wrote:- set realism sliders to full realism. The artificial stability introduced by the default 25% setting makes the flight feel like it's running on rails. That's not how GA airplanes fly. They waddle and wallow.

In your own words Keith: A-Hah!

Thx for the tips, you learn something new all the time.

Tim, there's no science to that one. Change the value to whatever produces the reaction that you expect when you apply a certain amount of input on the stick.

It doesn;t hurt to increase your dead zone a little if you want to simulate older craft that might have a little wear.

Watch your weather rendering options, these can turn your sim into a slide show if you increase the cloud features too much.

I like to calibrate my controllers while holding short of the runway, in the place where I would normally do my runup. Calibrate controls, set mixture, finish the pre-takeoff checklist, switch to tower and dial in departure on the standby channel. Lights, camera, action.