Compatibility, Performance and Settings
Engine flames coming out of the X-15AD-4 main engine and rocket booster nozzles.
The Xtreme Prototypes X-15A-2 Special Edition addon is optimized for the latest versions of Microsoft® Flight Simulator X with Acceleration Expansion Pack (or Flight Simulator X Gold fully installed), Flight Simulator X: Steam® Edition and Lockheed Martin® Prepar3D®.
Make sure that you install the correct addon version for your simulation platform. The currently available versions are for Flight Simulator X (FSX), Flight Simulator X: Steam® Edition (FSX Steam), Prepar3D® v1 (P3Dv1), Prepar3D® v2 (P3Dv2) and Prepar3D® v4 (P3Dv4). To install this addon in Prepar3D® v3, please use the installer for Prepar3D® v2.
As a rule of thumb, if your simulation platform is running properly on your computer, and assuming that your computer meets the minimum system requirements, you should be able to install and fly the X-15A-2 SE addon without major issues.
There seems to be no limit to the maximum altitude to be attained by the X-15A-2 in FSX or Prepar3D® (which was limited to 100,000 feet in FS2004). For example, it is now possible to recreate the highest flight of the X-15 program achieved by X-15-3 on August 22, 1963 (354,200 feet), even though the highest altitude attained by the real X-15A-2 rocket plane was 249,000 feet (August 3, 1966). Unfortunately, speed is still limited to approximately Mach 4.65 on all current platforms.
The X-15A-2 Special Edition addon was designed with its overall visual quality, complex systems and most accurate simulation features in mind. It was designed as an experimental aircraft to be flown in areas with limited weather, traffic and terrain features, such as in the desert area surrounding Edwards AFB where the X-15 program was conducted. Unless your computer hardware allows it, we do not recommend flying the addon in high traffic zones, over high density terrain such as major cities because this may affect the frame rate and have a negative impact on the overall X-15 simulation. Of course, all this depends on your computer hardware and your simulation platform's settings. Increased performance will be noticed on more powerful systems and these restrictions may no longer apply in the near future.
The many complex custom systems designed for the X-15A-2 addon are responsible four thousands of calculations at each computer cycle. These systems, combined with the new high-resolution models and textures, hundreds of cockpit animations and some of the special visual and sound effects, may affect your frame rate on slower processors and video cards, depending on on your simulation platform's settings. Adjust your simulation platform's display, weather and traffic settings to correct this problem if necessary or upgrade your computer system with more processing power and a better video card.
Under normal conditions and with the recommended settings in this section, assuming that your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements, you should expect acceptable frame rates of between 20 to 60 frames per second, depending on your hardware and settings. Average frame rate should be between 30 to 45 fps. Frame rates below 20 fps are not normal under these conditions, unless they are temporary.
We recommend limiting your frame rate to 30 fps on all platforms. This will free computer resources for other tasks and will improve performance.
Most of our tests were performed under Windows 8.1 in a 1920 x 1200 simulation window, with a screen resolution of 5760 x 1200 on all simulation platforms:
Refer to the documentation included with your simulation platform for more information about minimum system requirements and how to optimize your settings for the best overall performance.
Because there are as many computer systems as they are users, it is impossible to recommend unique settings that would fit all systems. However, assuming that your computer hardware meets the minimum system requirements, below are the recommended settings for the supported simulation platforms based on our own experience with the X-15A-2 SE addon. These settings may vary from system to system and experimentation is required.
Recommended settings for Microsoft® Flight Simulator X
Recommended settings for Prepar3D® v1
Recommended settings for Prepar3D® v2 and v3
Recommended settings for Prepar3D® v4
Note: If you still experience performance issues after optimizing your simulation platform, you may need to upgrade your computer system. Refer to "Minimum System Requirements".
See also: