How do I install alps-west-photoreal-xp11 in X-Plane 12?

Alps-West Photoreal (XP11) into XP12 – practical install steps

Yep, I’d ignore that dead/corrupted link and just install it the “normal” X-Plane way. Most photoreal packages are simply a scenery folder that goes in Custom Scenery, plus (sometimes) a separate overlay and/or library requirements.

1) Unzip and identify the scenery folders

1. Download/unzip the package.
2. Inside, you should end up with one or more folders that contain an Earth nav data subfolder (that’s the key sign it’s an X-Plane scenery).
3. If you see extra folders named something like overlay, autogen, osm, etc., keep those separate (don’t merge them into the photo folder).

2) Put the folders in the right place

1. Move the scenery folder(s) into:
   X-Plane 12\Custom Scenery\

2. Make sure you don’t accidentally create double-nesting like:
   Custom Scenery\alps-west-photoreal-xp11\alps-west-photoreal-xp11\Earth nav data
   It should be:
   Custom Scenery\alps-west-photoreal-xp11\Earth nav data

3) Run XP12 once to generate the scenery_packs.ini

1. Start X-Plane 12 and let it get to the main menu.
2. Quit the sim.

4) Fix the load order in scenery_packs.ini
Open:
X-Plane 12\Custom Scenery\scenery_packs.ini

General rule of thumb:

• Airports at/near the top
• Overlays above the photo mesh
• Photoreal/mesh down lower (but still above “global” meshes if you use any)

So if the package includes an overlay, you typically want:

1. Overlay entry above…
2. …the photoreal entry

5) If it doesn’t show up: check Log.txt for missing libraries
If XP12 is missing a required library, it’ll usually say so in:
X-Plane 12\Log.txt

Look for lines mentioning missing assets or “failed to find resource”. That’s the fastest way to figure out what dependency (if any) is needed.

A couple quick questions so I can tailor this exactly

1. When you unzip it, do you get one scenery folder, or separate photo + overlay folders?
2. Does X-Plane 12 throw any error message on startup, or is it just “not appearing” in the sim?
3. Can you paste the last ~30 lines of your Log.txt after you load at an airport in the Alps area (and then quit XP12)?