It has been a long time coming for X-Plane fans, but a brand new build of the flight simulator from Laminar Research is now here. X-Plane 12.1.0 is the long-awaited update that includes improved turbulence models, bloom lighting, enhanced autogen, and much more.
One of the biggest improvements to come with the new update is how CPU performance is handled. An improvement to the CPU performance is coming with this update that should help CPU-bound bottlenecks be relieved for many users. The results mean that the overall experience should be better.
It’s not just the boost in performance through the new ‘modern collector’ CPU improvements, but also graphically speaking, X-Plane 12 will see improvements. Cloud shadows will now be shown on water, ground shadows will be softer, and water opacity and turbidity have been improved. One other area the team is beginning to focus on is improving anti-aliasing options in the simulator. MSAA resolution is now photometrically correct, and MSAA + FXAA is now combined. These are just the first steps X-Plane 12 is taking to improve this.
Weather also has been enhanced with X-Plane 12.1.0, thanks to new real weather service, which should be more reliable than before. Real weather METARs should also be improving with less random rain, along with fixes for odd-looking weather.
Another new visual element that has launched alongside the update is particles. This includes sparks from pavement collisions (engines, tails), along with ground spray from aircraft wheels and engines, and also brown/white-outs when flying helicopters.
In addition to improvements to the simulator itself, there has also been a glow-up of the G1000 included. New functionality and features include:
- ADS-B Simulation
- Stormscope Page
- Traffic Map Page
- Airport METAR flags
- NDB + VOR Pages
- WAAS/Test Satellite Constellation
- Boot-Up Overlay
You can download the new public beta right now, but do keep in mind that it is a beta. Report bugs to Laminar Research if you spot any so that everyone can benefit from the fixes to come. Or, if you wish, stay on the current build of X-Plane 12.
You can read the full changelog over on the X-Plane knowledge base. Otherwise, you can buy X-Plane 12 right now from their store for $79.99.
