First impression disappointment

[jfri 42]

I bought P3D2 three weeks ago and I can't help but feeling a bit disappointed in it.

First a lack of add on products. I discovered that most of my FSX add on didn't work in P3D2. In FSX I have a lot of ORBX regions and airports. In P3D2 I only have the regions since the airport add on are not converted to P3D2 yet.

Second and more important performance. Taking advantage of the new features seem very difficult since it will hit performance very hard. I have stuttering blurries and low fps (flying in ORBX PNW). Since P3D2 is no updated FSX but new code that makes better use of the videocard I hoped for more. Finding the optimal slider settings seems very difficult. Question is how to get the most out of P3D2 and benefit from features not available in FSX (DX10)?

I have already spent money on the EMT tool and a new SSD intended for P3D. I find the two A2A GA planes very interesting. I have the C172 trainer for FSX. Need to decide if to buy the P3D versions.

[Warmbrak 5]

All I can say is that there is a lot of content on this forum where people have gone through the same process as you. People put a lot of effort into compiling compatibility lists, performance tweaks, hardware discussions etc. There is just way too much information to summarise in one post. My advise is that you ready the stickies on this forum, and look through the posts of relevant topics. If you have any specific queries there are many people around that will gladly help you out, but I suspect you may have to take a few hours and read through these first.

 

There are answers to all your questions in this forum, but you are going to have to read through them yourself.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

jfri I advise you to start right here to save you a lot of pain as you have an overclock you can skip that part - give it a try would really be surprised if this does not help you starting on post 56 - the only thing I see a bit lacking is your video card ram and I would pump up that motherboard ram to at least 16 gb - anyway give this a try

 

Here is the link

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/442898-my-new-observations-in-p3d/page-3#entry3000456

[Dave_YVR 968]

 3 weeks ago!!!!   OMG!! The horror!!   Part of the problem of people blindly moving to P3dv2 is that people want all these new features that DX11 and updated coding can provide BUT still want their FSX addons to work... SERIOUSLY?

 

"Finding the optimal slider settings seems very difficult."   Boo Hoo... So work it out!

 

ORBX is very busy doing their own thing as well as working on providing updates to P3dv2 owners for FREE! 

[spirit_66 2]

It's easy! Get your refund from LM and stay with FSX/DX10.

Spirit

[Rocky_53 1,566]

The big problem people are having, including, originally myself, is comparing FSX with P3d, when in actuality they have very little in common.

[Nyxx 6,993]

3 weeks ago!!!! OMG!! The horror!! Part of the problem of people blindly moving to P3dv2 is that people want all these new features that DX11 and updated coding can provide BUT still want their FSX addons to work... SERIOUSLY?

 

"Finding the optimal slider settings seems very difficult." Boo Hoo... So work it out!

 

ORBX is very busy doing their own thing as well as working on providing updates to P3dv2 owners for FREE!

Very useful and helpful.

And you use the word "SERIOUSLY"!!!!!

[mgh 89]

BUT still want their FSX addons to work... SERIOUSLY?

 

Why shouldn't they want them to work? Even today this is what Lockheed Martin states:

 

Prepar3D furthers the development of Microsoft® ESP™ while maintaining compatibility with Microsoft Flight Simulator X, allowing many thousands of add-ons to be used within Prepar3D.

http://www.prepar3d.com/

[flyingsub1959 3]

And many thousands of addons do work....after a fashion (I know because I have most of them) but they were written for a simulation that was last updated many years ago. P3Dv2 is not FSX. If you want P3Dv2 to work at it's best then you should only install products that are 100% compatible with it.

 

You could install legacy products and see if the result is worthwhile to you but I recommend that you keep good records and backups so that you can roll back if you need to.

 

If it is that important to you to always have 100% backwards compatiblility, stick with FSX

[Arwen 289]

And many thousands of addons do work....after a fashion (I know because I have most of them) but they were written for a simulation that was last updated many years ago. P3Dv2 is not FSX. If you want P3Dv2 to work at it's best then you should only install products that are 100% compatible with it.

That sounds simple enough, but how can we know for certain what addons are 100% compatible with P3D2? There are a lot of addons being marketed as being P3D2 ready, and they will install into P3D and run mostly ok, yet few of these are actually 100% compatible with P3D2.2.

 

Whenever there is a problem, the third party developer often blames it on a P3D bug. For instance, none of the windsocks work in their "P3D compatible" Orbx airports (like those in the PNW scenery); and the lights on A2A's two "P3D native" aircraft still have issues. Both developers claim that these issues are due to "P3D bugs," but I haven't seen any acknowledgement from LM that they are to blame for these bugs, or that they are working to fix them.

 

Note that the above were just chosen as examples. Overall, I'm very happy with A2A's P3D aircraft and with Orbx's P3D2 scenery. I'm trilled that both developers are now releasing P3D2 products. The problem is that, unlike FSX, P3D is still being developed, so actual 100% compatibility between the latest version of P3D and third party addon is a rare thing at this point.

[pete_auau 1,154]

Prepar3D furthers the development of Microsoft® ESP™ while maintaining compatibility with Microsoft Flight Simulator X, allowing many thousands of add-ons to be used within Prepar3D.

Wonder if  they can name  all the thousands of  addons  that can be installed and are able  to function

[mgh 89]

 

 

And many thousands of addons do work....after a fashion (I know because I have most of them) but they were written for a simulation that was last updated many years ago. P3Dv2 is not FSX. If you want P3Dv2 to work at it's best then you should only install products that are 100% compatible with it.

 

But that's what not Lockheed Martin said, so it's not surprising some people feel disappointment.

[Lewis B 14]

For instance, none of the windsocks work in their "P3D compatible" Orbx airports (like those in the PNW scenery); and the lights on A2A's two "P3D native" aircraft still have issues. Both developers claim that these issues are due to "P3D bugs," but I haven't seen any acknowledgement from LM that they are to blame for these bugs, or that they are working to fix them.

 

 

Why would they let you know?

[pmanhart 176]

 

 

Whenever there is a problem, the third party developer often blames it on a P3D bug. For instance, none of the windsocks work in their "P3D compatible" Orbx airports (like those in the PNW scenery); and the lights on A2A's two "P3D native" aircraft still have issues. Both developers claim that these issues are due to "P3D bugs," but I haven't seen any acknowledgement from LM that they are to blame for these bugs, or that they are working to fix them.

 

What A2A says is a bug, is a bug that's been noticed by many aircraft developers. For some reason, not every file associated with an aircraft is being loaded upon initial startup, requiring the aircraft to be reloaded in order for everything to show up.

 

As for scenery, a similar bug is present in that not all scenery files (especially mesh), is being loaded at startup, requiring the scenery library to be reloaded and then the scenery to be reloaded for it to work.

 

As for the windsocks, some of the windsocks work and some of the older ones do not. For example, the windsock at 05S works fine, but it's using newer code.

[William J.S.S 173]

It has to be your addons. I am rocking P3Dv2 with ONLY addons that have a P3Dv2 installer and I get great performance and visuals. My computer is also weaker than yours.

 

I would suggest doing this first.Uninstall ALL you addons you have for P3Dv2. Leave your weather addon and maybe texture if you use REX, because those work fine. Then, go to you addon makers we site, and actually see if they support P3Dv2. Install only those addons that are supported, be realistic with your sliders, as right now LM knows that cloud shadows KILL performance at certain times of the day.