X-Plane 12

Product information "X-Plane 12"

X-Plane 12 is the latest version in the flight simulator series for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. In this simulator, there is a whole world to discover. Thanks to its open structure, all users and enthusiasts can change every single part of it and adapt it to their preferences.

In X-Plane 12, every major aspect of how Laminar Research simulates the world and its effects on aviation has been rewritten based on first-principles physics and real-world data with tireless pursuit of realism.

WORLD

• Photometric Lighting Engine

• Light brightness, intensity, spread, and more – all computed in real time with the laws of physics.

• 3D Water

• Gorgeous global water rendering, complete with wave height controls and floatplane interaction based on feedback from expert pilots.

• Seasonal Effects

• Tree colour and leaf coverage vary to show season – snow accumulates, too!

• Tropical Water Colors

• Gorgeous, geographically-aware water colours.

• 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.

AIRPORTS

X-Plane 12 includes detailed 3-D scenery for more than 17,000 airports around the world – all with new ground textures, towers and pavement effects to enhance realism.

• 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.

WEATHER

• 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 modelled 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.

INCLUDED AIRCRAFT

• Cessna Citation X

• Cirrus SR22

• Grumman F-14 Tomcat

• Lancair Evolution

• Piper PA-18 Super Cub

• Robinson R22 Beta II

• Vans Aircraft RV-10

• Airbus A330-300

• Cessna 172SP

• Aero-Works Aerolite 103

• Boeing 737-800

• Beechcraft King Air C90

• Beechcraft Baron 58

• Cirrus Vision SF50

• McDonnell Douglas MD-80

• Schleicher ASK 21

• Sikorsky S-76

• Stinson L-5 Sentinel

Minimum system requirements:

• CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, i7, or i9 CPU with 4 or more cores | AMD Ryzen 3, 5, 7 or 9 (Those with other CPUs should try the demo before purchasing)

• Memory: 8 GB RAM

• Video Card: Vulkan 1.3-capable video card from NVIDIA or AMD with at least 2 GB VRAM

Recommended system requirements:

• CPU: Intel Core i5 8600k | Ryzen 5 3500 or better | Apple Silicon

• Memory: 16-24 GB RAM or more

• Video Card: 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 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.

Supported video cards:

• NVIDIA: NVIDIA GeForce 900 or newer, driver version 510 or newer

• AMD: AMD Radeon RX 500 or newer, driver version Adrenaline 22.2.1 or newer