X-Shop Education
AliveGrass for X-Plane 12: grass that finally exists
AliveGrass from AionSky Studios adds simulated vegetation around the camera in suitable terrain. Fields, airport environs, and countryside no longer appear as flat textures.
You know that feeling when you land over a beautiful field and there’s just a picture below? Everything seems to be in place, but there is no depth. AliveGrass is trying to fix this.
What is this
AliveGrass from AionSky Studios is a plugin for X-Plane 12. It dynamically adds simulated vegetation around the camera on suitable terrain. Not just one texture for the whole earth, but objects that appear next to you as you fly.
As a result, fields, airfield environs and rural landscapes gain noticeable depth and natural variety. AionSky is a small studio that makes addons only for X-Plane 12, and AliveGrass is an independent project not associated with Laminar Research.
Where it is noticeable
It’s best in those places where you can see the ground up close:
- cabinet of a general aviation aircraft at low altitude
- helicopter landing
- screenshots from ground level
If you usually fly at flight level and see the ground like a map, you will feel less of a difference. This is an addon about small details and a sense of presence.
Settings
The plugin is not just “turn it on and forget it”. It has advanced settings:
- vegetation height
- distance between plants
- permissible terrain slope
- indentation from the surface (so that the grass does not creep onto the strip and taxiways)
- streaming
To select the load, the manufacturer advises starting with standard settings. Then you can adjust the coverage radius, long-range density and plant budget to suit your hardware.
What about performance
Honestly: beauty costs resources. High settings, including a coverage radius of 5000 m, require more graphics card and processor power. We don't have specific FPS numbers, because they highly depend on the build, scenario and selected settings.
The advice is simple. Install it, fly at the default values, look at the FPS and only then increase the radius and density. This makes it easier to find your balance.
What you need for work
- X-Plane 12 with an installed scenario for the regions where you will fly
- Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) or macOS 12 Monterey and later
- PC that can handle X-Plane 12, with a reserve of CPU, memory and video card for the selected settings
- write permissions to the plugin folder, settings and cache are written there
If folder permissions are limited, the plugin will not be able to save its files. Check it right away, and not after an hour of searching for why the settings are not applied.
Installation and compatibility with scripts
Details on installation, settings and compatibility with scripts are in README.txt inside the archive. Read it before the first launch, everything there is relevant for the current version.
Total
AliveGrass is suitable for those who in X-Plane 12 do not have enough living ground under their wheels and who are ready to adjust the settings to their PC. If you only fly at high altitudes and have a weak video card, it will make less sense. The rest should try 🌱
