f13.net forums - X-Plane for Desktops

I've played X-Plane a fair amount. Its probably the best realistic flight sim out there. The controls are more intuitive and friendly than MS FS. The gui is a lot smarter too. Takes a while to get the hang of it, but once you do its much more powerful and diverse than what is available from the MS one. Its not really a 'game', perse, since I don't think there any missions. Its sorta sandboxy, but with a HUGE learning curve for plane development. I have not explored that element of it.

My favorite thing to do with the sim is to find interesting terrain to fly in. Grand Canyon is good, so are the Swiss Alps. Also, play about with the time of day and weather, since that's really well developed. The graphics for sky, lighting and terrain are unmatched thusfar. City landscapes aren't all that, however.

I can't remember where, but I managed to find some sites that let you download planes of various sorts. I think I got a SR-71 Blackbird, various other fighter jets; the phantom and the f15 I think. These player-made planes are in various states of semi-shoddy development, with dubious cockpit art, etc. It may take a few tries to find the few you really like. X-Plane sells their own plane add ons, but nothing caught my eye enough to shell out money for it.

The vast majority of add-ons I found are very esoteric planes. The game is really by pilots for pilots who can genuinely get excited about flying some lumbering 1973 Pan Am jet liner or a 1940s cargo plane.