X-Plane 10 preview

My first contact with the world of flight simulators was one of the first demo versions of the X-Plane that I found on a CD received togheter with a popular gaming magazine. I remember I first installed that demo during the Easter and even though I was allowed to fly only 5 or 6 minutes, I got hooked and spent the entire Easter holiday learning as much as I could about the different airplanes and exploring the demo world (South California at that moment).
So, as soons as I found out yesterday about the release of the version 10 demo, I could not resist and  I took the game for a quick test run.



I am still exploring the world of X-Plane, but here are a few screenshots took during the trial runs. One of the first things that I noticed was the weather system. Clouds especially look very good. Also the lighting seems right, especially when it comes to interior, but also exterior shadows. They look very well.

Despite not having the latest configuration, the game ran smoothly at the default settings, but I could maximize most of the settings and still play (not with a very good frame rate, but enough to make a decent landing).

Graphics are good, but I have to admit I am not very thrilled by the quality of the default 3d cockpits. On the other hand the physics are just spectacular. The controls are very smooth and the overall forces seem to be calculated well.
Although not a new thing, I can't get enough of the sloped runways. It's amazing just how much realism that particular detail can give.