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)?

Glad you got it going, Pscham — and yep, that combo can look really nice.

Just one small “sanity check” to make sure you keep the best result long-term (and avoid the usual “why did my houses/trees disappear?” moment after the next scenery change):

Recommended load order (photo + X-World Europe)
In X-Plane 12\Custom Scenery\scenery_packs.ini, the typical best practice is:

1. Airports (your custom airports, then default airports)
2. simHeaven_X-World overlays (all the simHeaven entries)
3. Any other overlay scenery (if you use any)
4. The photoreal scenery (Alps-West photo/mesh)
5. Global/base meshes (if you have any other mesh products)

The key idea is: simHeaven provides the 3D overlay (buildings/roads/forests), and the photoreal provides the ground. If the photoreal sits above the overlays, it can “flatten” them.

One more practical tip
If you later add other orthos/meshes, keep them grouped together near the bottom so you don’t end up with one tile overriding another by accident.

If you want, paste the relevant portion of your scenery_packs.ini (just the airport + simHeaven + Alps-West lines). I can quickly confirm the order is optimal for XP12 with X-World Europe.