P3D First impressions ?

[Oliver Ooi 73]

The autogen pop-ups are one of my main FSX pet peeves that I had hoped had been improved upon.

I hope Prepar3D future update will include "alpha-fade" autogen like the one in fs2004.

[duckbilled 288]

Is the ATC the same as FSX? I noticed that LM said it supports SID's and STAR's. Does that mean ATC supports them?

[Chris F. 95]

Yeah I was wondering that also. LM said "realistic ATC" so I want to know how realistic it is...?

[JNicol 17]

I hope Prepar3D future update will include "alpha-fade" autogen like the one in fs2004.

Yes, it is being worked on. It is called LOD alpha blending (Level of Detail). It will get rid of the LOD popping. Guys, feel free to ask us questions on the Prepar3D site as well! I do not want to take ANY traffic away from Avsim at all, but you also don't need to try to guess or discover these things on your own either! :-) John NicolPrepar3D

[MatthewS 748]

Yes, it is being worked on. It is called LOD alpha blending (Level of Detail). It will get rid of the LOD popping. Guys, feel free to ask us questions on the Prepar3D site as well! I do not want to take ANY traffic away from Avsim at all, but you also don't need to try to guess or discover these things on your own either! :-)

Excellent! One thing that always bugged me about FSX is that custom scenery objects tend to popup at about 10NM. So imagine you are flying into a big city suddenly at about 10NM you see the skyline popup. Is it not possible to have large objects start to appear at a much greater distance? The skyline should start to appear when only a few pixels tall (at a much reduced LOD). Could you add a config switch so that users can decide at what pixel height scenery objects will fade-in, actually maybe 2 switches, one for custom scenery objects and the other for autogen objects? Btw the Prepar3d forum is great but does it offer email notifications? I would like to 'watch' arbitrary threads and threads that I have posted in and get email notification when something new is posted, but it doesn't seem possible. Also, do you have any plans to offer a yearly subscription at a discounted rate over the monthly subscription? I would happily sign up for an entire year at say $80, rather than having to pay $10 per month. But also, what happens if LM ditches Prepar3d, does the product suddenly stop working and thus any investment in 3rd party Prepar3d products become worthless?

[JNicol 17]

Excellent! One thing that always bugged me about FSX is that custom scenery objects tend to popup at about 10NM. So imagine you are flying into a big city suddenly at about 10NM you see the skyline popup. Is it not possible to have large objects start to appear at a much greater distance? The skyline should start to appear when only a few pixels tall (at a much reduced LOD). Could you add a config switch so that users can decide at what pixel height scenery objects will fade-in, actually maybe 2 switches, one for custom scenery objects and the other for autogen objects?

The functionality will be looked at and will depend on a number of factors as the developers get into it. It would be premature to comment on specific functionality.

Btw the Prepar3d forum is great but does it offer email notifications? I would like to 'watch' arbitrary threads and threads that I have posted in and get email notification when something new is posted, but it doesn't seem possible.

Yes, the forum has email notifications. Click on "Subscribe" in the blue bar above the topic posts.

Also, do you have any plans to offer a yearly subscription at a discounted rate over the monthly subscription? I would happily sign up for an entire year at say $80, rather than having to pay $10 per month. But also, what happens if LM ditches Prepar3d, does the product suddenly stop working and thus any investment in 3rd party Prepar3d products become worthless?

No plans to discount however there is an option for a six month or 12 month subscription in the store. LM does not have any plans to ditch Prepar3D obviously, but in the unlikely event there were future issues, there would likely be contingency plans to ensure continuity for users. John

[OHN 1]

After using Prepar3d for about 2 weeks now, I also am also impressed with it. I dont see any increase in frame rates between it and FSX, but both run smooth for me. I will say the autogen looks better in Prepar3d and I love the interface. However, I dont like the fact that it boots right into the default flight. When your first install it, you get the initial impression its a lot faster than FSX,(Default FSX runs just as fast) but once you pile on the addons, its about the same in regards to performance. There are some addons like Ultimate Traffic 2, FSX Orbx scenery and FSDT scenery that will keep me using FSX since the dont seem to work with prepar3d. Also FSX look better to me when using the enb mod along with Shade, both of which dont seem to work with Prepar3d at he momment. Its somthing to keep your eyes on, but it does not replace FSX just yet at least not for me. But worth trying out for yourself at $9 a month , its not a bad deal. Rob

I thought it was 500$ for the sim it self, at least thats what im seeing at their store.

[Glynn 403]

I thought it was 500$ for the sim it self, at least thats what im seeing at their store.

HelloYou don't see the $9.99 a month developer subscription.?

[ohsirus 223]

I opted for the 6 month flaf flee

[ErichB 2,926]

So how does the 1 month option work? The application times 30 days and then you have to revalidate with a new monthly subscription key? I'm really pleased with what I'm reading about P3D - it's all extremely encouraging for the future. Seems like we are back to the heydays of flightsimming when we had FS2000, Fly, Flight Unlimited all at once. Soon it will be P3D, Flight, FSX, XP10....(probably in that order) Good times...

[Bert Pieke 3,563]

If you choose the monthly option, you agree to monthly billing until you discontinue your subscription.

[Bert Pieke 3,563]

Having used this sim for a couple of flights, I would say that it flies much like FSX with similar performance. The water is better and some little things that have bothered me with FSX, like not having the unrestrictedoutside view that we had in FS9, have been fixed.. So far, flying has been very smooth, but with similarframe rates to FSX on my system. My impression is that this is the beginning of a journey - and if the programming team keeps hammeringaway at things that have been on the FS11 wishlist for some time now, this may very well be the directionto follow if you want a "more serious" flight simulator. If the add-on community rallies behind this effort and each of us add the little tweaks and enhancements aswe have in the past, this COULD become the equivalent of FSX SP3, or FS11 - whatever you choose to call it.

[David Roch 886]

Why not calling it simply P3D? :( Thanks a lot for your small review Bert, as always very clear and interesting.

[SpiritFlyer 987]

Why not calling it simply P3D? Thanks a lot for your small review Bert, as always very clear and interesting.

The genius of simplicity, you coined it David, P3D says it all.

[deetee 164]

Interesting stuff! If there was a possibility we could have the VC raindrop effects we had in FS9 in all planes but lost in FSX I'd be interested in signing up. It really does make a difference when flying in inclement weather. :)