P3D vs FSX in low IFR challenge

[kama2004 74]

Interesting experiment today. I decided to try two flights in the same IFR conditions to compare Prepar3D with FSX.

 

The flight was from Gander, Newfoundland to St. Anthony. The condition was low IFR for the VOR 10 approach. I used the same settings on FSX and Prepar3D understanding that there is much more autogen generated by Prepar3D. Volumetric cloud was on. 

 

Framerate was about the same, and even slightly better in FSX.

 

But the level of immersion in prepar3D was so much better with the volumetric fog. In P3D, I was on short final and still looking in the fog ahead trying to see the runway. The tension of the approach was very acute and I even crosschecked NAV frequency, radial and the To/From flag to be sure I was not missing the airport.

 

In FSX, as soon as I was below the cloud, I was able to see immediately the light of the airport from several miles ahead. There was no challenge at all in the approach. Not the same sense of immersion.

 

For this particular scenario, P3D really shine…..  we discuss a lot about fps, stuttering, backward compatibility but still, this product has so much to offer…. Looking forward for the next development.....

[Jazzfan 57]

If it's one thing you will see lots of in NL, it's fog, RDF. Rain, drizzle, and fog. Lived there for 25 yrs, loved it, miss it. I have yet to fly there in P3Dv2 though. You have piqued my curiosity, gotta go fly.

Cheers, C.

Edited February 23, 2014 by Jazzfan

[Manny 1,293]

There is no question P3D v2 is simply fantastic for visbility/fog/Sky dawn/dusk etc.  

 

Water could do some improvement (ocean animation/wave crust).

 

but after the recent update, texture blurries are back. Hmm... 

[rparson99 32]

I hope, but have no reason to doubt, that P3D will continue to improve in the immersion area.  Cockpit shadows alone sold it for me...but I have come to really appreciate other things like the fog.  I had the best flight experience the other day taking the twin otter from Mandiera (LPMA) and sight seeing up the peeks of the Portland mountains.  As I got high up,the low hanging clouds and fog gave just the right atmosphere, that alone was nice.  But once I got over the peeks I was not prepared for the steep drop off where you could see deep down the steep crevice.  The atmosphere really promoted the sense of depth such that I actually felt a little queezy in the pit of my stomach! lol. 

 

Fact is, all of these queues will help to suspend disbelief. But most of all, the fact that the graphics engine is now more efficiently driven by the graphics engine means we don't have to pay for that with low framerates and a maxed out cpu.  Once these other issues are dealt with, we still have other things to look forward to...like cloud shadows!   The day is young....

[drumsonly2002 3]

Can one get the same immersion with Rex or some kind of cloud / fog add on for FSX? I dislike the fog effect in FSX, a real buzz kill.

[kama2004 74]

I don't think we can acheive the same effect in fsx. I use rex and Opus in fsx and i have never feel approach like in Prepar3d.

[Jazzfan 57]

   I agree with kama2004, the lighting in P3d is simply stunning.  Maybe sweetfx, along with REX textures, would get you closer to P3D, but would never match it's immersion.

Regards, C.

[DylanM 1,069]

There is no question P3D v2 is simply fantastic for visbility/fog/Sky dawn/dusk etc.  

 

Water could do some improvement (ocean animation/wave crust).

 

but after the recent update, texture blurries are back. Hmm... 

 

Manny, two things you can try are running frames at unlimited and setting affinity to use all cores (eg affinity at 15 for a quad core processor in the cfg or task manager). That's what cured the blurries for me.

Edited February 24, 2014 by DylanM

[Manny 1,293]

setting affinity to use all cores (eg affinity at 15 for a quad core processor in the cfg or task manager).

 

Thank you Dylan. I shall try this option, My  current  affinity is 14.

 

Manny

Edited February 24, 2014 by Manny