X-Pansion supports both
X-Plane 4 (classic), and the OpenGL dependant
X-Plane 5 (the pretty one). Since Open GL drivers are required to run
X-Plane 5, Wilco included a slew of drivers for some of the more popular 3D video cards. The system I used to test
X-Plane and
X-Pansion had a Voodoo 3 2000 (PCI), which was not included on the
X-Pansion disk. I was able to download special 'MESA' drivers from the
X-Plane website, however, which did the trick. If you have a Voodoo 2, your drivers are on the
X-Pansion disc. The
X-Pansion disc also includes drivers for popular 3D accelerator cards.
When you start one of the situations (adventures), all of your controller settings and warning settings will be changed. This can be disruptive - especially if you aren't using rudders. (It took me a little bit to figure out why I just kept going round in circles on the runway if I took off the brakes... DOH!)
Installation: Weird. If you have installed X-Plane, you probably noticed that it had a somewhat odd manner of installation. X-Plane doesn't use Uninstall Shield and doesn't appear in your list of installed programs. X-Pansion follows suit, simply unzipping into the folder of your choosing. The really weird thing is you install from a HTML based online manual. Not bad, just unique.
Some of the aircraft included are pretty fun, others are just so-so, but the new scenery is very pretty from the air. Up close, the cities suffer from repetition of the same type of buildings, but I suppose I'm probably not supposed to be flying commercial aircraft between them (and through them... he he). Probably the best part are the adventures... the scenic ones, anyways.
