I was invited once to see a professional simulator. That thing had 10 high-end computers, worth each one about 4,000. Along with a professionally designed and mounted cockpit with a hemispheric screen. That thing was worth around $300,000 to $500,000

 

8 computers were needed to process the graphics in the simulator. The instructor has its own workstations and the 10th was the master that controlled everything. All 10 had a copy of the simulation software. There was no need for a user interface since the rig was configured for a single aircraft type: a SAAB Gripen. The system always booted at the runway, just like P3D and it was the instructor who decided whether to change flight parameter at any time during flight.

 

So, you can see that a user interface is actually not necessary, nor required, for a training simulator.

 

For THAT type of training simulator, I agree. But not all training sims operate like that - some allow for starting in any configuration at any location at any altitude etc. For that type, a front end would be mandatory EVEN though any programmer could write one. Like buying a Rolls and having to provide your own dashboard.

 

Let's just agree to disagree. P3d is a great sim so far - it would be greater with a user interface.

 

Vic

I agree that an UI would be cool. Actually, I think the best thing P3D could do is make an UI which is by default disabled. And just make an cfg entry for enabling it. Voila.

 

It's quite probable that many training simulators which are usually configured for one type aren't gonna need it. Yet some might need it.

Someone please check something for me:

Open P3D, go full screen, press print screen and go to Paint or similar app and paste. I get a black screen instead of a shot...

Thx.

No problem here both in Paint and Paint.Net...

Dang... what the hell is wrong with mine...

Dang... what the hell is wrong with mine...

 

I had a black screen when I tried first. Then I fiddled a bit with FRAPS enabling to monitor the aerodesk top. Now it works even without fraps. Seems to be a glitch.

Dang... what the hell is wrong with mine...

 

Probably nothing wrong with yours after all. It doesn't work on mine either when Aero is enabled (and I don't use FRAPS). No problem with a basic non-Aero theme.

For me it's a no brainer. If you like FSX then you should love Prepar3d because FSX code base will ALWAYS BE FSX but the code base for Prepar3d is moving forward and actively being developed.

Probably nothing wrong with yours after all. It doesn't work on mine either when Aero is enabled (and I don't use FRAPS). No problem with a basic non-Aero theme.

 

Ahh, disable Aero and it works? Cool.

Ahh, disable Aero and it works? Cool.

 

I think that LM used some kind of 'hack' to get P3D working with Aero natively. It doesn't surprise me that we see some glitches like this.

OK, finally managed to get some little but conclusive results.

A simple test, PNW over KSEA, straight flight over lots of autogen (external view of the aircraft, view from front to back, kind of flying backwards to easily spot blurries), 3min FRAPS benchmark.

FSX with FFTF 0.2: 25.3 - no blurries

FSX with FFTF 0.1: 26.3 - blurries starting to appear after 1-2 minutes of flight

P3D without any tweaks: 29.0 - no blurries, little stuttering due to FPS below 30

 

I also did a comparison on crispness of both sims, and I can say there is no difference in static shots. Only when flying, as noted above. Otherwise if same scenery used, it's the same picture quality in a static scenario.

 

Still, I would like to test a fully loaded FSX vs fully loaded P3D. Like: PNW, PMDG, UTX, addon airports etc. I remember that back when P3D came out, I did such tests and actually saw FSX perform better in some situations... I'll keep you posted guys.

 

 

 

Interesting, on my rig P3D and FSX are also quite close in performance on OrbX scenery.

 

 

 

- OrbX nearly identical performance

 

- Madeira X Prepar3d performs a bit better

 

- Frankfurt X FSX performs better

 

- Marshall Islands FSX performs a lot better

 

- Horizon VFR FSX performs better

 

- Default autogen FSX performs better

 

 

 

I look forward to see how that compares to the results on your setup.

Thanks for posting those comparisons, bakayoyo. Very informative stuff. :good:

 

I have a question on the colour tone of the videos. Are they different because LM changed the light/shader setup in P3D (I only had 1.2 running back then) or am I looking at e.g. FSX with REX and P3D without it or something of that kind?

 

I also agree to Word Not Allowed's suggestion, the 'naked' run of both sims makes sense, as well as the fully loaded one does. While the last one may be harder to achieve, it serves as a good comparison to a loaded FSX installation. Just looking at my dll.xml and exe.xml makes me think that my ol' FSX is loaded. :o

 

As you can surely tell, I'm happy with it, but new P3D results are always interesting. And since you folks are the tweak and test fly guys, there's no better place to ask, huh? :smile:

So cool to see 1.4 getting a really great response. As a long everyday user of 1.3 I'm really pleased with 1.4.. Easy transition and all the bug fixes and smoother performance is great.. So happy to finally be able to leave water reflections on all the time now too.

After 3 days of thinking, couple of hours testing, then again rethinking, I've come to one thing that is probably going to be keeping me from replacing FSX with P3D or even using it paralelly.

 

Each new version of P3D is a new install.

Now, I have countless sceneries, aircraft, textures, all set up to my liking... even thinking of reinstalling FSX makes my head spin. Now, to think about doing that each new version of P3D comes out... uggghhh.

I don't quite get it why can't LM make a patch system, at least between major releases. I'm sure it would be possible, because they are not changing the core of the sim but only system files, which are not changed through sceneries or dll.xml file...

 

After lots of thought, some tests and as much as I would love to replace the old lady with a fresher opponent, the non-patching system is a no-go for me, as I don't wish to spend DAYS installing...