mrmertz, curious on why you consider X-Plane to be off your list?

 

Only reason I didn't get x-plane is some devs flat out don't support it. Especially some of the better guys like A2A or PDMG.

So having pushed X Plane pretty hard in terms of trying out different platforms I said I may well have another go at getting P3D to run sweetly. I did it (set iNvidia Inspector back to default and copied a few of Rob Ainscough's settings from his web site - thanks Rob) and Bang!! Smooth as silk (well nearly) and frames rates in the 30s to 50s, sharp image and across 3 x 23 inch screens!. So re-installed the key Orbx meshes and North California and an updated England and downloaded Rex. Jeez what a stunning visual display. I must admit it did knock X Plane for six. Tried the trusty Carenado C90B that I know so well from X Plane and it flew like a dog. It was like flying through treacle. So disappointed. It had taken me an age to get a decent FOV using the Camera UI (it's simple in X Plane). But I was using default P3D settings. So into FSUICP and calibrated the kit. Wow now a fairly decent flight experience - but not X Plane standard but very flyable. So, as I said in my previous post, I just had to try the A2A Accu Sim experience out of curiosity. Cherokee purchased. Well I was pretty stunned. Very fluid wonderful feeling of flight.......and stunning visuals - inside and outside of the aircraft - wonderful sounds - very responsive to throttle and trim but not over responsive. What a winning combination. So now I am really confused.....you love the one you are with but the eye candy and new experience elsewhere is filling you with lust! So yes I am now being unfaithful to my one and only X Plane and really enjoying it - but I do do go back to her because although she doesn't look quite so good she does when push comes to shove feel better. Having said that I am going to carry on being unfaithful and enjoy the best of both worlds! So there you have it - they are both in reality utterly amazing in different ways and both have their flaws. What a great time it is in the flight sim world. Enjoy.

Well that was an utterly amazingly well written post for someone with only 6 posts..  Nicely written! You should post more often. 

Yep agreed - nice refreshing unbiased post Capt. Allen

I managed to get 20-30 FPS in airport (sometimes lower peaks of 15) with nearly max settings (no shadows from buildings or terrain) SweetFX (vibrance only), ORBX, Opus (with MILES of clouds showing on overcast) , 8xAA (which still isn't enough to kill flickers in long distance, especially lights at night) and FXAA with 8x Anisotropic, a Carenado B58, and it looks quite good.

 

I find myself wanting to tweak more and more (my cfg only has affinity on it) to get up to 40fps.

 

All this with a GTX680, which isn't considered high-end at this point.

 

EDIT: I also much point out that, even limiting frame rates in nVidia would cause my FPS to drop. So leaving your FPS UNLIMITED entirely is paramount in any setup.

 

 

A2A Accu Sim experience out of curiosity. Cherokee purchased. Well I was pretty stunned. Very fluid wonderful feeling of flight.......and stunning visuals - inside and outside of the aircraft - wonderful sounds - very responsive to throttle and trim but not over responsive.

 

A2A C172 and Cherokee are top notch products ... glad you are enjoying two platforms.

 

Cheers, Rob.

A2A C172 and Cherokee are top notch products ... glad you are enjoying two platforms.

 

Cheers, Rob.

Hi Rob,

 

I have now also purchased the 172. Brilliant. Can't say enough about how immersive the whole experience is. Even down to the 'feel' of a switch - I know you can't feel it but they have created the illusion that you can. Mind bogglingly good - both of them. I hope Real Air make a version of their Duke as as a study sim twin would be fabulous - unless A2A do one next!?

 

Although I have got P3D pretty smooth it does have its moments - normally just at the wrong moment! X Plane is definitely more fluid even at lower frame rates. But I am hooked on the A2As with P3D and ORBX. I obviously do direct comparisons in the same areas (e.g. PNW) and whilst X Plane is stunning, especially when one considers that the HD2 mesh is donation ware, but ORBX definitely has the edge.

 

I know that LM is working on the stutters and fluidity and have seen your 2.3 Beta test posts. So hoping they can find a solution. REX seems to set it off pretty badly if there is any amount of cloud around, even though the frame rate is holding up at between 30 & 50 FPS. Still I am sure they will fix it. In the meantime I am enjoying flying in the sunshine. The natural lighting effects in P3D are very good and I now even have water that is very realistic. Oh and also the seasons. Good to have them back after dumping FSX. So yeah, fabulous product with wonderful add ons.

 

Where I think X Plane is very clever and visually stunning is at night with HDR on flying low and slow. The lighting effects of the street lamps, cars, road signage and traffic lights is fabulous. The throw and glow of the lights is better than P3D IMO. I also think that it has the edge in terms of depicting the road network accurately and in more detail, although it has it's mad moments. But there isn't a road that I can't follow and know where I am when in a familiar place with X Plane. Not bad for what is fundamentally 3 - 5 full timers doing the programming. I did notice you were pretty keen on it at one point, but the lack of use of DirectX appeared to throw you off it. Do you still use it? Mind you I doubt you have the time with all the testing you do.

 

So fortunate to have the best off both worlds in our flight sim world. Loving it.

 

Cheers

Peter

 

 

I also think that it has the edge in terms of depicting the road network accurately and in more detail, although it has it's mad moments. But there isn't a road that I can't follow and know where I am when in a familiar place with X Plane.

 

If you like to follow accurate roads, install Orbx FTX Vector 1.15 + Orbx FTX Global for P3D v2.x -- I usually disable some of the road via the configuration options as they are just too many roads.

 

 

 

I did notice you were pretty keen on it at one point, but the lack of use of DirectX appeared to throw you off it. Do you still use it? Mind you I doubt you have the time with all the testing you do.

 

Yes I do still use it, not as often ... just don't have the time or more accurately I should say what time I make for flight simulation, XP10 doesn't get priority for my time slot.

 

I didn't care that XP10 wasn't DirectX ... I was confused why it was being sold as "requiring DirectX 11 when it clearly is based on OpenGL".  I am a little concerned that the version of OpenGL XP10 uses is a rather old version and not a more recent version (I believe this was done because at the time Apple's OSX was stuck on old OpenGL 3.x version).  For the most part OpenGL 4.x is on par with DX11 in terms of accelerated feature support, but OpenGL 3.x is closer to DX9 for accelerated feature support -- even with extensions.  

 

I realize XP10 is using OpenGL because it allows them to not have to change "as much" code when working with Windows vs. iOS vs. OSX etc.  But given that LM's development team is larger than LR's and they only focus on a single platform, I think it's just stretching resources way too thin for LR to attempt to work on 3+ platforms ... to me that seems more like a decision based on "because that's what Austin wants to do" vs. a correct business decision to consolidate to a single platform (for now).  Doesn't matter to me which OS LR pick, just pick one and focus on it.  Multi-platform large scale simulations require fairly significant resources not just 3-5 full timers.

 

What I find is that if you build something "that good" people will follow, especially those passionate about flight simulation.  Sadly XP10 doesn't hit the "it's that good" spot for me, but I keep hoping it will -- but with Austin doing driving simulators now I have my doubts it'll ever hit the "it's that good" spot for me.  But I'll continue supporting them with my money and hope ... about all I can do.

 

Cheers, Rob.

Here ya go Peter ... a quick flight I did in A2A's C-172R in Italy ... what a beautiful country.  I added a little weather drama on approach to Sarzana/Luni (LIQW).

 

 

I think what I really like about P3D V2.x with add-ons is that I can pick any spot on the globe during any season and explore and find it visually interesting and even challenging ... no restrictions is a powerful draw for me.

 

Cheers, Rob.

P3D is even more amazing with all shadows on, with the "receive" and "cast" boxes checked with terrain, building, and vegetation. 

 

Unfortunately that's a frame rate killer. But I'm hoping it'll be more optimized in the future.

 

I will say this though, the lightning in XP10 is pretty awesome.

When Active Sky Next and Plan- G running in the background, My CPU can be as high as 89% while playing P3D. It not like I have a small machine (I5-4670k,8G RAM, R290X 3GB). I get between 30FPS in the city and about 45 FPS outside. 

HI Rob,

 

Great video - OpenLC is looking very good. I have it but have not flown in the relevant areas yet. Busy checking out my new regions.

 

I am sure the jousting will continue on for a long time between us simmers. I rather hope that the underdog does come through though. I just love Austin's eccentricity. The Caractacus Potts of the flight sim world (no offence Austin).

 

Now in terms of the jousting - still don't get the P3D night lighting - is it me or is the street lighting just orbs of light - are they attached to a street lamp? Night lighting in X Plane with HDR is without doubt more realistic, even down to the headlights of a car close behind another lighting the one in front. Silly but very cool!

 

I do have Vector by the way and see that the roads are correctly placed. I only have primaries on and no railroads so I thought only the main roads were in full working order (still learning the P3D/orbx ropes). In X Plane I pretty much have them all at full setting and so they are more obvious and better for VFR. Also, to my eye the roads look much more real and very sharp - is it me or are the roads a bit blurry in P3D?

 

Spent some time in PNW out in the wilds - stunning. Was getting great frame works and then went to Full Screen mode and got a huge increase in FPS. Up into the 80 - 100 range with triple 23" screens - and all the stutters went. I wondered if it was the bevel manager that I have on in Windows mode that caused the stutters - as every time I switched the FPS dropped and the stutters came back. Thought I had found the holy grail. Anyway, I look forward with great anticipation to exploring all of this area and up into Alaska - with orbx all the way.

 

Then went to San Fran and wasn't bowled over (orbx NorCal) - I think X Plane with HD mesh wins that one for me from an eye candy perspective - but I only did a circuit from KSFO to Half Moon Bay and back in each sim. I can get really good detail in the built up areas without losing fluidity in XP which I can't in P3D. The stutters were back even in Full Screen and the frame rate plummeted (20 - 30 FPS).

 

The consistency of quality visuals P3D with orbx add ons is of course a winner, but with a little patience and the right donation-ware X Plane can be very realistic. I made a (dreadful) recording around Rotterdam with Simheaven & World2Xplane. Best viewed on a tablet because I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to recording. But the visual is pretty good - see what you think.

 

http://1drv.ms/1kqUxJt

 

On with the jousting.

 

cheers

Peter

ORBX is responsible for the lighting. P3D actually uses the basic FSX lighting I think.

 

ORBXs default lighting is really, really bright. But there are different sizes and lighting types you can use.

 

 

is it me or is the street lighting just orbs of light

 

I believe they are actually a Tree class and yes no attached lamp post.  Agree night lighting in XP10 is more realistic.  Blurry roads in P3D usually indicates a saturation point or affinitymask issue -- suggest staying with 1024 textures and make AffinityMask adjustments and dial visuals back until you can keep the roads sharp within whatever LOD radius you have set.

 

 

then went to Full Screen mode

 

There is actually no full screen mode in P3D ... what you think is full screen mode is LM managing the resolution (window handle with no borders).

 

 

 

Then went to San Fran and wasn't bowled over (orbx NorCal) - I think X Plane with HD mesh wins that one for me from an eye candy perspective

 

Have to disagree with you there (XP10 didn't have a main road that goes right by my house, Orbx NCA did, XP10 also didn't have key power-lines and obstacles around KCCR) ... but Orbx NCA is very hard on fps for my system ... add FB's KSFO and it sub 20 fps.  I sadly don't fly the SF/Bay Area much as I just can't get good performance (I keep trying) ... not sure what it is but default P3D SF/BayArea with FB's KSFO I get almost double fps, but add Orbx NCA and it's cut in 1/2 ... but only the SF/BayArea, everywhere else in NorCal is fine.

 

Nice video Pete ... is that area really that flat?  I didn't notice any building, or car shadows?  I know XP10 can do that, did you turn them off?  XP10's water is another aspect that seems static ... they don't change, always calm and the water aircraft don't interact well with the water.  In P3D when I do a water takeoff or landing in windy conditions with high waves it'll impact the aircraft considerably, not so for XP10 ... it's always the same.

 

Anyway, not here to be negative on XP10 because like you I want to see Austin do something more with it and stop messing around with really bad driving simulations (iRacing is king when it comes to car racing simulations) ... like I've said before Austin needs to find some focus or pass the torch along to someone that will move XP10 forward if he's losing motivation to keep at it.

 

Cheers, Rob.

Hi Rob - thanks for the hints and tips.

 

This may be off topic, if so please advise to be moved if appropriate.

 

I have no idea how to set up my affinity mask. I know it's an alteration to the .cfg file but how does one know what number to use - I have seen so many different options. Is it system dependent? Are there 'rules'? I found the P3D performance tweak post but it didn't reduce stutters or help the visuals for me so I am vanilla on the .cfg at the moment. I have a Titan which I think you do too? Any pointer on this would be most appreciated.

 

Already on the 1024 textures based on guidance on your website. That is what got rid of the really bad blurries for me. So thanks for that.

 

Re: Full Screen - I just hit Alt Ent - but that is probably just a Windows function?

 

.......and yes the Netherlands is that flat [HD Mesh at full power ] - if it wasn't for the dykes it would probably be underwater!

 

cheers

Peter