V2.3 is Released Woo Hoo

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Here are some changes I have noticed. Colors, weather density and my computers ability to handle it....and call me crazy, but my rendering, as in AA looks better. Never had such sharp, jagged free visuals in P3D before.

 

 

Thanks for the shots Bill - good idea

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

Really, it seemed haphazard to me. With some aircraft it worked and some it just forgot either some things or everything. It looks like from the documentation (and my perusal of my documents folder) that there is now a PNL file for each flight.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Really, it seemed haphazard to me. With some aircraft it worked and some it just forgot either some things or everything. It looks like from the documentation (and my perusal of my documents folder) that there is now a PNL file for each flight.

 

Maybe different addons that I have not tried - that could be the reason

[brucek 38]

You must remember that LM is building a product which runs on its own merit not with payware addons - that will have to be addressed by all of the payware developers this is the reason many have not decided to get involved till the dust clears - If I cant install both versions at the same time I am not installing anything until developers are on board as 2.2 is pretty good all ready

I'm with Rich, that's my plan too.... downloading the P3D full install now, and will wait until I know that my add-on vendors have done their magic and enabled their installers to work with v2.3. In the meantime I'm happy to fly with v2.2.....

 

I think that a part of the problem is that most of us come from an FSX world, where other than 2 SP's nothing ever changed, we're now in a dynamic update world where it's not always as easy as it maybe should be.

 

Bruce.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

Pardon this mess, from the 2.3 Learning Center:

 

The Prepar3D v2.3 update highlights include:

• Dozens of rendering and performance optimizations and updates
• The inclusion of the v2.2 'hotfix' that caused the Flight Planner to crash
• Several new features in the multiplayer system
• An update to the 'ultra' 3D water libraries that increase immersion and realism while improving performance
• A new panel serialization feature that saves the state of your panels and gauges when you save a flight or mission, so that you can resume training in the same conditions that you left with
• Three new tutorial missions that highlight the flexibility and power of SimDirector as a virtual instruction tool
• Several new updates to SimDirector to further it's position as the industry leading desktop virtual instruction suite

Reference the full listing of performance improvements, fixes, and requested enhancements broken out below.

Three new SimDirector Virtual Instruction Sample Missions Added

• Learn how to properly start up and run through the pre-flight checklist of the Bonanza A36
• Next test your abilities with a timed and graded exercise of the A36 startup procedures
• Finally, learn how to taxi, takeoff and land with assistance from the Prepar3D SimDirector Virtual Instructor

General Platform Updates

• Added a new panel (.PNL) file that is saved when a mission saves. This allows users to save their vehicle's gauge and panel states and settings and is transferable between workstations
• Fixed an issue with the value being written to the MUTE_ON_LOST_FOCUS variable in the Prepar3D configuration file

Rendering and Performance Updates

• Updated 3D water and terrain and improved performance
• Added new higher-resolution textures to the 3D water as well as sea foam
• Optimized GPU particles for higher visual performance
• Added more show/hide options to camera definitions
• Fixed an issue where the Render to Texture (RTT) would disappear after closing and reopening 2D panels
• Fixed an issue where specular maps for buildings could become corrupted
• Fixed an issue where airport parking detail markings could float off the ground
• Fixed a rendering issue related to the context menu causing 3D water not to render
• Fixed an issue where ultra water was not updating in certain conditions on AMD video cards
• Fixed an issue where anisotropic filter would not respect user configuration settings
• Fixed an issue that caused boat wakes to be placed above the water surface
• Fixed an issue where the TextureMaxLoad configuration variable was not being respected
• Fixed an issue where some library object effects would not appear correctly
• Fixed issues with camera views becoming motionless
• Fixed cases where attached effects rendered incorrectly in virtual cockpit views
• Fixed an issue where particle effects would occasionally render with the wrong texture
• Fixed issues relating to scenery objects disappearing across a multiple monitor environment
• Improved clouds near camera to make them look more volumetric
• Added functionality to allow more than one window plugin for add-ons
• Added bathymetry support to GPU (tesselated) terrain
• Fixed an issue where water textures would pop when changing altitudes
• Fixed Sea-Tac environment buildings that were covered with environment maps
• Fixed several issues with trees rendering on multiple video cards
• Fixed the BGL line list and point list from crashing AI aircraft.

Lighting and Shadows

• Improved performance and speed with changing the shadow settings
• Created consistent lights on aircraft
• Enhanced performance related to cloud shadows
• Fixed an issue where the lighting page would sometimes display incorrect data
• Optimized lighting at airports that improved performance
• Improved stability issues with HDR luminance
• Fixed an issue where lighting on 3rd party aircraft carriers would not display
• Fixed an issue where clouds and weather would not appear on first flight loads
• Fixed an issue with shadows being cast on objects that were set to be invisible
• Fixed an issue where the shadowing of the sun and moon was broken at dawn or dusk
• Added visibility support for cloud reflections
• Fixed an issue where landing lights could draw behind clouds
• Fixed an issue where airports below sea level could have their clouds appear black
• Fixed an issue with light scaling at high zoom levels
• Made PreFS9 AI aircraft now cast shadows as model type

Radar

• Fixed an issue where Air to Ground radar's cursor would not correlate exactly with the radar image
• Fixed radar issues relating to target range and zoom level precision
• Fixed an issue where airport surfaces and runways would show up bright on the radar

User Interface and Controls

• Fixed an issue where when resetting the flight, locked spot cameras could appear to be much closer to the user vehicle
• Consolidated temporary files in the User AppData that is deleted on shutdown and startup
• Fixed an issue where loading Prepar3D with a controller connected would reset saved views
• Fixed an issue where joystick control and button assignments would not register properly
• Fixed an issue where double-clicking an airport from the Select Airport screen would not work consistently
• Fixed an issue where drop down menus did not always appear while spanning across multiple monitors
• Fixed an issue where control setting changes would not be saved when changing modes, such as entering multiplayer
• Fixed an issue where labels would pop when new objects were created
• Fixed an issue where if Prepar3D was set to full-screen, the window would span across all available monitors upon restart
• Fixed an issue where searching in the Select Vehicle screen would not display all available options

Multiplayer

• Enhanced functionality of shared cockpit
• Improved overall functionality and capability of the multiplayer UI
• Added functionality to allow checkpoints during multiplayer missions. Users will be able to select roles at a checkpoint and load in a synchronized state
• Renamed Scoring Categories to Entity List since it now holds additional multiplayer player names and container titles
• Fixed an issue with switching roles or vehicles in multiplayer sessions
• Fixed an issue with multiplayer panel serialization
• Fixed an issue where missions were not being cleared when selecting Free Flight mode
• Removed duplicate data that displayed in the multiplayer UI
• Fixed an issue where multiplayer incorrectly swapped SimObjects of different categories
• Fixed an issue where default fake airport objects would cause a crash during multiplayer sessions

Professional Plus Weapons Capabilities

• Fixed an issue where the time on rail property is not respected when a missile was guided
• Fixed an issue where buildings and trees were unable to be targeted via mouse clicks
• Improved performance issues with the first weapon hit
• Fixed an issue where weapons hitting auto generated buildings do not trigger a hit effect
• Fixed an issue where the positioning of weapons would be incorrect when the aircraft loaded
• Fixed an issue where weapons would not fire when first loading a mission
• Fixed an issue that would not allow weapons to fire immediately after reloading
• Fixed simulation variable issues

Flight Recording and Playback

• Fixed an issue where "Reset Weapons" did not work correctly in the flight recorder
• Fixed an audio issue with engine sounds during playback
• Improved speed and functionality of the load recording screen
• Improved overall performance with playing back multiple AI objects
• Improved flight segment recording and playback performance
• Fixed an issue where the time preview window would not automatically close when starting a new recording

SimDirector

• Updated general SimDirector UI with new options and appearance
• Overall performance improvements when loading large missions
• Several improvements and enhancements to object interaction in the mission visualization window
• Added capability to tab through mission objects, flight file editor, catalog, and visualization
• Added extra validation capability to improve mission creation experience
• Added capability to save and load missions in all three SimDirector modes
• Added a prompt that asks to save before exiting
• Added the ability to create focal points on 2D panels
• Improved zooming capability while using the Mission Visualization window
• Fixed an issue where play animation actions would not work with Mobile Scenery objects
• Fixed an issue where recording a new flight segment while in SimDirector would continue to record while you exit SimDirector
• Enabled the settings menu during Flight Instructor Mode that allows you to enable and disable failures while recording flight segments
• Allowed the start and end times for flight recordings to be automatically set when a (Flight Segment Recording) FSR is selected
• Fixed an issue where AirplanePlaybackAI would not be resumed when saving during flight recording playback
• Fixed an issue with renaming Virtual Instruction sessions
• Fixed an issue where the conditional logic operator could change when switching modes
• Fixed an issue where actions were being bidirectionally referenced and added a validation warning to help further clarify this issue
• Added capability to reorder references in any object reference list
• Fixed an issue with the main Prepar3D window resizing incorrectly when exiting SimDirector
• Fixed an issue with the simulation rate slider not being in sync with the simulation
• Fixed an issue where some invalid property data would save in your mission if changed in SimDirector
• Improved Flight Recording graph capabilities and performance
• Fixed an issue with setting the pitch, bank, and heading of objects
• Added sorting to the comprehensive failures list in a FailureAction
• Improved performance with loading a large amount of Flight Recordings and Flight Segments
• Fixed an issue with centering after adding and removing mission objects
• Added extra editing options for recording options in Virtual Instructor
• Added abilities to enable and disable focal point and view change properties
• Added a mission state status in the status bar
• Updated the reset mission option to include drop down to select which kind of reset the user wants
• Updated logical conditions to ensure correct windows are enabled and disabled at the correct points
• Added a settings file to the SimDirector options file
• Added specific settings to ensure Virtual Instructor options persist
• Added the zoombox as default when entering Mission Visualization
• Fixed errors in controls, mouse clicks, and scroll wheel
• Fixed maximization issues upon startup
• Fixed OnScreenText position offsetting error
• Fixed an issue where creating a new scenario while in a mission does not reset the mission state
• Fixed several mouse scroll and dragging issues

SDK and SimConnect Updates

• Fixed flickering issues when changing weather through SimConnect, most noticeable when using 3rd party weather addons
• Fixed an issue with the METAR string of temperature without altitude not setting correctly
• Fixed an issue with the SimConnect_ChangeVehicleWithExternalSim that prevented legacy ExternalSim simulations from working

Resolved the Following Crashes that Could Occur

• Fixed a crash when entering SimDirector when a Flight Segment is playing in Prepar3D
• Fixed a crash that occurred in SimDirector when deleting objects with the same name
• Fixed a crash in SimDirector that would occur when un-grouping a large number of objects
• Fixed a crash in SimDirector with ViewChangeAction on exit
• Fixed a crash that would happen when using a vehicle that implements HelicopterAIService

Learning Center Documentation Updates and Additions

• Added extra documentation relating to Air Traffic Control
• Updated and improved SimDirector tutorial documentation
• Fixed attachments.cfg in the Learning Center 

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

I'm with Rich, that's my plan too.... downloading the P3D full install now, and will wait until I know that my add-on vendors have done their magic and enabled their installers to work with v2.3. In the meantime I'm happy to fly with v2.2.....

 

I think that a part of the problem is that most of us come from an FSX world, where other than 2 SP's nothing ever changed, we're now in a dynamic update world where it's not always as easy as it maybe should be.

 

Bruce.

 

Smart guy you are young Jedi  

[z06z33 763]

I'm gonna wait till ORBX and FSUPIC are working again to update because without these a sim is kinda useless to me. Not LM's fault 

[Jim Robinson 122]

Wow, those are some impressive screenshots.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Wow, those are some impressive screenshots.

 

Yes lets start seeing the good with 2.3 so we can see what we have to look forward to - reports guys - I will wait till developers have had some time for the adjustment especially Estonia tool - priceless little program

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

I totally agree, I'm pretty upset...There goes my whole evening trying to just not get a CTD...I can't even spawn my default plane anymore JUST with FTX Global scenery with vector & nothing else installed (this is without the patch too and a WHOLE fresh install on a just freshly formatted system lolll)

 

I don't understand...U need to be a software developer and an engineer to just fly a sim these days. I feel sorry for the people who aren't even on these boards lol.

Try this...I am up and running with v2.3   What I did, was to rename my P3D v2.2 folder that was P3D, to TEMP. I then re-ran the full install program, and pointed to a 'new' P3D named folder. It installed....and I got to the run screen. What I am going to do now...is to start adding all my folder (scenery) files into the proved-running P3D folder from my TEMP folder..and see how that goes...

 

Not happy with the B.S. we are having to do here....this should have been much better released and played out.  Not the each of us trying ANYTHING to get a smooth upgrade path.  LM DROPPED THE BALL......  What a laugh...the each of us, trying any back-door method to get v2.3 installed...and oh my gawd...perhaps to run without CTD'ing....what a thought..... :mad:

[DylanM 1,069]

Agree, but this is best directed at LM.  I pointed out the issue ... but I'm not going to 2nd guess why they elected to deploy this way.  I can only offer suggestions to help those that want to try and go the patch route.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

Okay - one good upgrade to report from 10438. Just removed any "tweaks" I had in my cfg, deleted the shader folder and ran the 2.2 to 2.3 patch. Total patch time was about half an hour (including "computing space requirements").

 

Now to test out the performance.

[shivers9 1,174]

 

 

Try this...I am up and running with v2.3

You can't be!...You said earlier,,,I am done, I quit....so you can not play anymore!!

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

BTW, there is a SP3 for REX 4 Texture Direct, which got released by accident for a few hours:

 

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/31001-ive-got-rex4-sp3-installed/

 

I don't have it, but my guess is that it will be available soon, along with the next beta of ASN for P3D. In the mean time the REX 4 textures seem to work okay in 2.3, except there is no sea foam evident on my setup. This was supposedly an improvement for 2.3, but maybe I'm missing something.

 

EDIT: MyTraffic P3d  (5.4b or 5.4c with the 2012 schedule) also works properly under 2.3.

[yorgosGK 7]

Its going to be a great next couple of weeks....

 

I finally got it flyable with complete re-install and installed Global Base+Vector and landclassEU, (FS Global 2010 is next)....Gonna wait for ASN to update their beta, ORBX to update their libraries for the object flow fix, Paavo over at migration tool forum is saying within 48 hours he will be all patched up and finally (and most importantly) Mr. Dawson to get back from vaca... after all this happens I think we are going to be in for a treat!

 

My performance is definitely noticeably different and everything seems smoother and more stable while using more resources.

[DylanM 1,069]

Okay first impressions with 2.3. Performance is up about 5-10 fps across the board on my setup, and it runs beautifully with NO tweaks (no blurries, stutters, etc - who knew vanilla tasted this good! ).

 

And it's smoooth....Rob wasn't pulling our leg with the preview videos! Other things - cloud shadows have negligible impact, even at dawn/dusk and the HDR seems "softer" and more true to life. Just did a takoff at Nantes at dawn and it was gorgeous.