X-Plane 12.1.0 is packed with new features and improvements. Let’s get a rundown!

As most of you know, the X-Plane Team is growing faster than ever. One result of that are larger updates that touch more aspects of the X-Plane experience and 12.1.0 is no exception! Originally a Graphics-focused release, our team has also implemented new aircraft systems, flight model improvements, weather, ATC system improvements, enhancements to X-Plane Professional and a physics-based camera that makes you feel like you’re actually moving with the aircraft. This release is currently being tested internally and we look forward to releasing it as a public beta soon. Here’s what you can expect:

Graphics – our focus for 12.1.0

• Cloud shadows on water
• Bloom lighting effects
  • Bloom is a graphics effect where ultra-bright light sources are allowed to “leak” light out into surrounding parts of the image, often seen around the sun or aircraft lights that are meant to be observable at all environmental brightnesses
• RCAS (Robust Contrast Adaptive Sharpening)
• Softer, less aliased ground shadows
• Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA) Improvements
  • MSAA resolution is now photometrically correct
  • MSAA of alpha-cut textures
  • MSAA + FXAA combined
  • This is one of our first steps to improving anti-aliasing options in X-Plane 12
• Improved CPU Performance thanks to our new “modern collector”
  • This piece of code is used to decide what scenery the sim needs to draw at any given moment
  • Many X-Plane users are currently CPU-bound so this should result in somewhat higher performance for that demographic
• Better water opacity and turbidity
  • No more seeing the bottom of your boat hulls in many circumstances
• New Screenshot Utility to control Depth of Field and Exposure in real time

and much much more – Visit x-plane.com for more details on this exciting story!!