Shadows - the Importance of, and P3Dv2.

[Appliance 51]

Today I bought P3Dv2.

 

I HATED FSX because to run it with acceptable frames one had to turn off shadows ... so much for "as real as it gets." 

 

And then developers started transferring that FSX weakness into their FS9 ports. Yuk!

 

Today I purchased P3Dv2.  I do intend to use it as per the academic licence and will shortly purchase A2A's Cessna 172 which is similar to the training aircraft here at Ballina airport.

 

Now I will continue to run my beloved FS9 until hell freezes over BUT one advantage P3Dv2 immediately has over that sim is controllable shadows. 

 

Glorious shadows of trees even.

 

We are getting closer ...

[HaraldG 559]

Congratulations to your new sim, and this

 

 

 

Now I will continue to run my beloved FS9 until hell freezes over

 

really makes me happy!

 

Harald

[gwillmot 31]

 

 

Glorious shadows of trees even.

We are getting closer ...

 

To what? ........ the ground?!

[Jeff H 63]

I think that the conversation we should probably be having is what is the definition of "As Real as it Gets."?  If you asked 100 simmers to explain what that phrase means to them, I'd venture to guess you'd get 100 different answers. 

 

Cheers.  :smile:

[Appliance 51]

 

 

To what? ........ the ground?!

LOL 

 

What we would do without such dry humour?

[Appliance 51]

 

 

I'd venture to guess you'd get 100 different answers. 

 

Jeff H ... I respect very much your contributions to this forum.  

 

The phrase "As real as it gets" however implies only one thing ... reality.  Nothing more, nothing less. No interpretations, no compromises, no tweaking, no opinions ... just reality.  Whether sitting in a Cessna 152/172,  a hang-glider, or a B737/A320, lined up on the runway raring to go ... in real life. 

 

Microsoft prostituted that phrase implying an 'entertainment' game/simulation/hobby/pastime could invoke reality. Clearly not, however as I inferred above, we are getting closer ... to total immersion, to the suspension of disbelief, or just to kidding ourselves.    :rolleyes:

[Jeff H 63]

Jeff H ... I respect very much your contributions to this forum.  

 

The phrase "As real as it gets" however implies only one thing ... reality.  Nothing more, nothing less. No interpretations, no compromises, no tweaking, no opinions ... just reality.  Whether sitting in a Cessna 152/172,  a hang-glider, or a B737/A320, lined up on the runway raring to go ... in real life. 

 

Microsoft prostituted that phrase implying an 'entertainment' game/simulation/hobby/pastime could invoke reality. Clearly not, however as I inferred above, we are getting closer ... to total immersion, to the suspension of disbelief, or just to kidding ourselves.    :rolleyes:

Well thanks for that.  I really do appreciate the sentiment.  :smile:

And honestly, my post wasn't meant to create any controversy.  Rather it was to suggest that we all have different priorities when it comes to what we find to be a deal breaker, and what compromises we are willing to live with in a sim, given that no sim will ever be perfect in everyone's eyes.  For example, in my personal use of a sim, my expectation of reality is in the context of real world aviation, that is, that a simulator provide the highest level of fidelity to the actual RW operation of an aircraft and it's systems; to real world infrastructure, i.e. ATC, flight planning, airways, etc; and to the environment that an aircraft operates in, such as weather, pressure patterns, wind behavior and so forth. Things that don't have an impact on flying itself don't matter to me quite so much.  As such, I think it's great that we have all of the convincing visuals when it comes to things like autogen, traffic on the roads, boats in the harbor, and even ground crews to marshal the plane, catering trucks and other ramp functions, but if none of that existed in my sim, I wouldn't miss it.  In fact, I would gladly trade it for improvements in things like more realistic ATC and better representation of the atmosphere in which the plane operates. like turbulence for example. I've flown a lot of the older full motion training sims in the past, and believe me when I tell you, the visuals on those left much to be desired when compared to what we all have in our homes today.  But they simulated the flight aspects to near perfection. To other folks though, many want to see picture perfect visuals, shadows cast by the landscape, beautiful clouds and colorful sunsets.  They aren't as interested in whether or not an electrical system works the way it should, the effects of high density altitude, or if the weather behaves the way it does in real life.  They just want to hop in a cool plane, push the "go lever" and fly around admiring the scenery.  That's fine too, but for them, their definition of "as real as it gets" comes from a different personal perspective than mine does.  So that's all I really meant to get at.  Nothing personal, no agenda and no matter to me either way someone chooses to go, just purely a matter of curiosity.

 

Cheers, :Big Grin:

Jeff

[LHookins 3,113]

 

 

If you asked 100 simmers to explain what that phrase means to them, I'd venture to guess you'd get 100 different answers.

 

You'd get at least 130 different answers!  You'll get even more if you ask the same people a year later.

 

Hook

[Appliance 51]

Thanks for the reply Jeff.

 

 In FS9 I started with GA aircraft, progressed to the Meridian with RXP-developed Meggit avionics, The Flight1 172R followed with a full compliment of RXP gauges and now i fly tubes exclusively with ALL the trimmings. Everything. To enhance immersion. I can't afford full motion but well before ButtKicker I had its predecessor adding a bit of 'thump' to proceedings.

 

Unfortunately I fly the world over so payware airports have kept me poor.  Navigraph charts, Lido airac, PFE/Radar Contact, FSGRW, PFPX/Topcat, MCE/FS2Crew, RAAS and a million other 'aids' to flight keep me busy.

 

P3Dv2 with the A2A 172 (and maybe Piper Cub) I hope will bring back the simple pleasure of flight, flying, seat of the pants stuff. Won't even use GPS just brush up on dead reckoning and VOR's again.  Might be able to get off in 10 minutes instead of the hour it now takes! I'll use the ORBX Australian scenery/airports I already own (but never use) ... nothing else scenery wise.  I'll just tool around the sky having fun flying circuits and local cross country again.  Simple but serious. Full circle, eh!

[Jeff H 63]

Like you, I have high hopes for Lockheed Martin and P3D (v107.5 or so, I'm guessing  :smile:).  If I had a choice of any company to pull it off, I'd choose LM any day of the week, and twice on Sunday!!

[Appliance 51]

Forgive me for bumping this thread however some may profit from my observation that indeed P3Dv2 eats graphics cards for breakfast.  :(

 

I can assure you only a top notch GTX770 4GB, 780, 780Ti or R9 690, R9 690x will cut it even at 1920 x 1080. My lowly 560Ti 1GB  is insufficient to cope.  It IS true that much processing has been off loaded to the GPU.  Pluses and minuses therefore.

 

Again, should anyone be wondering, Traffic 360 works splendidly.  I bought it several months ago while on special for US$9 ... a bargain.

[WingZ 547]

You've just been spoiled with the FS9 experience, is all

 

My next sim must be 64-bit I have decided.

I can't go through the pain of sim renewal more than once a decade...

[zeddock 0]

Reality = Just the basics for me right now!

 

I bought the bundle from Sportys to practice as a Student Pilot.

 

I was looking for reasonable realism from the controls.  It seems to be there but I am VERY sure the configuration is off.

I thought it would be pretty simple.... hit the brakes on the tops of the rudder pedals and brakes! Nope. (After hours of fiddling I got he brakes to work on that axis, but as soon as I apply it must turn on a brake somewhere else because if I release it still says brakes.... I digress...

 

This is basic reality for me:

Reasonable physics form the 172. (I can't feel it in my seat so reasonable will have to do...)

Throttle

Fuel Mix

Carb Heat

Flaps

Elev Trim

Rudder Trim

Yoke movements

Rudder movements

Brakes

 

Now after that we can go into others like radio, instruments, etc.... however..

 

And this hopefully will be a good reason for my post;

 

I got all of this and put it together for really one reason:

Upon approach for landing I wanted to get an idea of the sight-picture.

 

Now THAT is really open to interpretation!

 

I mean, how far up is your dash coming?

How easy is it to see out the side window?

Do shadows throw me off?

 

So, the visuals certainly important.  Only time will tell if this setup is headed back or not.  So far, it has been way too much trouble to even get what I call the basics.

 

I am hoping that my purchase of FSUPCI4 will help, since I have been unsuccessful at getting the hardware even close to correct.  But, I think I am losing that battle too!

 

Cheers!

 

Zeddock

[Appliance 51]

 

 

But, I think I am losing that battle too!

 

Hi Zeddock and welcome.

 

You may well do better by posting your problems/experiences in the dedicated Prepar3D and hardware forums. :rolleyes:    I'm just giving a (very) little feedback to my chums here in FS9 land.

[zeddock 0]

OK. Sorry.  Was just trying to say perception of reality IS very different depending on the person... But I see that I rattled on and vented a bit too.  <warm smile>

 

zeddock