How is networking handled in Xplane 11?

Question

We are unable to make any sort of connections between computers Using networking. The new UI screen is very ambiguous as to what has to happen. Will there be a centralized lobby system?

Answer 1

Default networking in X-Plane is best used on a local network, such as with all computers on the same wifi network. If you would like to use multiplayer to fly with friends a long ways away, it is best to use a third party service such as Vatsim or IVAO. X-Plane does not provide any multiplayer servers.

Comments

thank you for the response but you really don't answer the question. How exactly can you connect these computers running Xplane to third-party servers? How can we connect them to each other over the Internet ? there is no networking section in the manual. And the instructions are nowhere to be found. Networking seems to be a very dark and mysterious subject when it comes to this program.  and this comes from someone who worked in networking!  Is it even possible to connect the two computers over the Internet? We have several airshow demonstration teams who I am in contact with who currently fly in another program desperately seeking to use this program (X  11) because of its superiority in flight model but woefully lacking in the ability to just link people together. So is there is a way to do it?. if so please explain the procedure in detail for connecting two or more machines via the Internet. can one machine act as a host? And if so where do you set that up? if there are third-party networking options what are they exactly and how does Xplane support them?

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Good point--we will be adding more info in the manual about networking. We only cover some edge cases such as setting up a copilot machine and networking multiple computers as external visuals.

To use the multiplayer feature when all machines are on one network (and running the same version of X-Plane), go to Settings > network and expand the multiplayer section.  Click the blue button to add another player. You can enter an IP address by hand, or if they already have X-Plane running, you'll most likely see them named in the drop down list. You should not need to change the port number, nor the machine's role. You can add up to 19 machines this way.

When you go back to your flight, you should see the other aircraft on screen and in the map. Note that having different scenery installed will affect this as well. If your "opponent" doesn't have scenery and you do, they will be at a different altitude (0 ft MSL).

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Thank you for the reply. After much head scratching and consternation my brother and I were able to link two machines together via the Internet. We use the program called, hamachi, to do the simulation of the single network node so Xplane sees it as a single local network. A lot issues arose with firewalls both from Windows and from our associated routers. once we surmounted those hurdles. We notice problems with synchronization but more importantly and I emphasize here the word "tremendous" rubber banding and lag issues making it virtually impossible to do any kind of close formation work. We both run identical machines I7, 32 gig, dual 1080 GTX, 4K LCD so there's no shortage of computing horsepower. And we both have 150 MB Internet connections (we pay extra for those) so the bottleneck is not in either the hardware or the Internet. we both ran clean stock installations of Xplane 11 and after several hours could not identify the cause of the severe rubber banding. Worse still when we compare monitors using Skype screen share they were not even synced with each other. He always showed me as being in front of him and I always saw him in front of me when we should have been flying in an echelon formation. Even with slow aircraft like the L5 Stinson. We tried this with several other aircraft including our own custom-made A4 Skyhawk in blue Angel colors. So was not the selection of aircraft.. This leads me to believe that much work needs to be done optimizing the net code for multiplayer. This is unfortunate because I had at least three demonstration teams that I had been in contact with expressing interest in doing virtual airshows using Xplane 11. They are currently running DCS. I appreciate all the help I got here.and I hope the networking gets better in the future.

Thank you

Jim

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The Netflight plugin was recommended to me, but is X-Plane 10 only I believe. 

Modern multiplayer is a feature we have on our (very) long term wish list but just isn't available on X-Plane yet. Basically all we have is local networking for people with multiple computers.

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Yes, you can join friends within X-plane 11

Google, "Whats my ip address" note it, get your friends to do the same, share. On the Settings/Network Tab, upper right, input your friends ip addresses adding a line each. Get them to do the same.

You may all need to open UDP port forwarding on each router/firewall (49000-49010) - check youtube for your models, if you dont know how. Allow Xplane11 through you firewalls.

Ensure you all disconnect xSquawkbox and iVap using PluginAdmin (Upper Left Dropdown Menu) simply untick.

LR need to invest a little more work as currently multiplayer doesnt send livery data.

Hope this helps