X-Plane

X-Plane is a sophisticated flight simulator for personal computers. The long-running series distinguishes itself from competitors, such as Microsoft's now-abandoned Flight series, by basing its simulation on the modeling of actual aerodynamic and physical forces. Most other flight simulators, by contrast, use simple lookup tables derived from real-world aircraft for this purpose. This makes them much less flexible. X-Plane's more fundamental and ambitious approach to simulation allows for the program to model even completely notional aircraft which have never taken to real-world skies.

This fact alone has made X-Plane a favorite with enthusiasts, but the program brings many other advantages to the table, too. As a way of allowing users to take full advantage of X-Plane's unique simulation engine, the package ships with a fully functional aircraft-design program. This allows ambitious users to fiddle with existing aircraft or create new ones, and even those who would rather just enjoy flying benefit by having access to those tweaks and creations as they are shared.

The open nature of X-Plane extends in other directions, too. Users are just as capable of editing the extensive collections of maps and rendering assets that come with the game, meaning that they can update these to reflect real-world developments or even just to suit their personal tastes. Once again, sharing is an important outcome of this fact, as X-Plane users have access to an incredible variety of modified and original assets created by others, straight out of the box.

In fact, given that the other leading flight simulators of years past are no longer actively developed, X-Plane's community makes for a striking advantage on its own. While those other programs are still usable, most of those who once breathed life into them have moved on. When it comes to X-Plane, however, a vital and thriving online community serves to do everything from providing helpful tips to beginners to solving the most arcane problems that advanced users run into.