FSX-MS To FSX users on the fence for P3D 2.5

[aceridgey 330]

Hi guys, I have written the majority of this text in a topic on the p3d forum but I wanted to write my thoughts here to.

 

**NOTE the following is my personal *opinions* only and that doesn't represent the projects I am working with.

 

I have been with FSX loyally since release, is it almost a decade now?) I have put thousands of hours into it and thousands of pounds/dollars. I have been on the fence with p3d and for good reason. I do work with HIFI sim, Majestic software and Fs2crew, 2.5 is the first version that some of these products work for. 2 days ago I installed P3D 2.5 from FSX DX9 sp2 and these are my initial thoughts.

 

 

To those on the fence.

 

Was it worth it? 100% yes is the short answer here's why.

 

I mainly jumped the ship for the performance gains that P3D offers (including this new Optimise parts thing) and I was greatly looking forward to it as I have a modern GPU and older CPU.

 

DX11 utilises the GPU more and I did see a noticable performance lift. That was my main objective.

 

I have always struggled at particular sceneries, FSDT Vancouver and Flytampa Copenhagen  is a couple of them. I could go from 25-30fps in Flytampa Dubai, Montreal, T2G Orlando to a stuttering mess of 8fps - 25fps at Vancouver. That coupled with memory leaking and all sorts of issues. 

So, I loaded ORBX global, Rex, ASN all the usual culprits into other sceneries I didn't have a massive problem with in the past, UK2000 for example and noticed that my FPS were locked at 30.. I was feeling quite optimistic, I am getting better visuals but I am acheiving my beloved 30fps locked (VC in the NGX btw).

 

I wonder, just wonder if I can now fly out of Copengahen without the jump from 10fps to 30fps? .. Nervously installed and loaded.. into 30fps locked bliss. No matter where I looked they didn't go under 29-30fps. The leaks and jumps I was seeing in FSX DX9 have been eradicated. I went on to try my arch nemesis and greatest foe, FSDT Vancouver. I have never ever acheived smooth sailing out of here, we're talking 10-15fps (this is with all the very lowest airport settings btw). 777 out to VHHH and same with Copenghagen, I was getting no drops, no awkward losses and the scenery looked amazing.

 

Conclusion, It's early days but I am completely sold on P3d. I hope with all my might that they go into a posiitve trend of optimisation rather than eye candy as that would burst my bubble.

 

The quality of the sim looks amazing, it's just so much more colourful. I absolutely love the shadows of the fuselarge creeping over the wind in a turn, or the light dancing off all the cockpit switches and knobs as you bank in turns. I love it and to those on the fence. Try it.  Don't put all the sliders to the right and fly a complex aircraft that isn't wanting to recharge you.

 

My negatives on the current sim are the HDR lighting affects the gauges of complex aircraft like the pmdg and I think it's the addon venders responsibility to work on a fix as the ported over FSX ones don't like it.

 

Another negative is the amount PMDG and a minority of others are charging to those who have already bought the FSX version,  I just feel like it is extortionate. Especially as they're still offering sales on the price to which will go up, there is obviously reason there alone to not charge an exterotiante amount for essentially the same product.  I still bought them all again but I don't feel it is fair and feel extremely let down.

 

 

TLDR; If you're on the fence, 2.5 (with active sky etc. etc. is the perfect time to jump ship. I don't think you'll go back easily).

 

Alex

[Beardyman 604]

I am the one on the fence, but honestly you have not changed my mind.

Recent NGX update and Steve DX10 Fixer is giving me opportunity to enjoy beautiful cockpit shadows same as yours.

My FSX is quite well balanced, so EKCH & PMDG is not slide show experience for me.

Then what else ?, what feature will blow me off the fence ?

 

( as you said - paying again even higher price for same products - PMDG, is not helping me to make decision to jump on other side of the fence )

[Rimshot 1,135]

Just try it! LM offers a refund policy. I used to be just as pigheaded as you. Then I decided to give it a go. Trust me, it really is that much better than FSX.

[JughedJones 202]

Do I have to buy my 737 and 777 again?

[ryanbatc 12,833]

Yep....... sucks

[AviatorMoser 353]

Well I tried it with the expectation, based on many claims from AVSIM users, it would:

 

1) significantly render frames quicker

 

2) load assets more smoothly

 

3) manage VAS better

 

4) and make a leap in graphical fidelity.

 

Well, it seems to only excel with 2). I perceived no substantial differences in frame rates, it seems to have worse VAS management and OOMs quicker, and while it looks better, it certainly doesn't look that much better.

 

So I wasn't sold one on it. Still waiting for LM to succeed on that part and then I would easily transition, but I'm not in their target audience, so I don't expect them to. It feels like FSX with a little lipstick on the pig.

[Need-To-Know 34]

Nice review!

 

I bought P3d back when it went to version 2 so I could still install it to 2.5. But sadly where I fly to many things are not supported: Orbx Alaska APs = PAKT, PAJN, PAEN, PAGS, CZST, CYBD, J4100. And the thought of having to buy the J4 again.....

 

With Steves DX10 thingy I am pretty happy. I do pretty good flying into FSDT Vancouver (I installed it with all textures at their lowest).

 

Will change over one day when (if) my area is supported or I change to a different area. Will probably buy a different plane then instead of the J4 over again.

[Beardyman 604]

yes of course, at higher price

[MikeAdamo 51]

For what it's worth, here's my couple of pennies on making the switch from FSX to P3D.

 

It's not the type of activity you can undertake in a week-end and make a positive assessment on staying with P3D or rolling back to FSX. You need a little time to put the sim through it's paces and while it may fundamentally be FSX at its core, it is a "new" sim. Give yourself a couple of weeks to load up all the now FSX/P3D compatible add-ons you have (PMDG is a new purchase unfortunately) and test/play. The first thing that struck me with P3D is the lack of needing to overhaul the .cfg file to get stable, smooth flight. 99.9% of P3D tweaking is done within the sim and it involves balancing your sliders to give you the best quality/performance.

 

FPS aside for a moment, P3D has been able to deliver consistent smooth flight for me between FSDT and other heavy 3rd party scenery add-ons compared to FSX where I would always observe stuttering/pausing as I was getting close to the same add-ons in FSX and in many cases, the FSUIPC chime would start ringing letting me know I was about to blow the VAS limit and the sim would crash. Now, I can complete a flight without any concern of the sim crashing due to VAS or OOM.

 

Are there some shortcomings in P3D, yes but when you look at the two platforms, which one currently has developers actively working on it? FSX hit a plateau many moons ago and the dev team is long gone whereas LM has an active team continuing to advance the sim and fix much of what was broke in FSX when it was released.

 

At the end of the day, we’re nowhere near a point where the only option is to move over to P3D because FSX as a sim platform is “dead” so if you’re happy with FSX, stick with it!! There’s still a massive community around it and 3^rd party developers are still supporting it however, take a look at how many FSX only 3^rd party developers are now making their add-ons dual purpose.

[Beardyman 604]

It is quite obvious that P3D is future, no objection about that.

Question is if P3D is already so much different and better to jump in ?

[pmanhart 176]

Just a thought for everyone...

 

It's perfectly OK to have FSX and P3D installed on the same computer. Unless you are fighting HDD space and can't afford to increase your capacity there is no reason not to try it out.

 

I have FSX-Steam installed for Multiplayer flying with my sons, and use P3Dv2 exclusively for myself and Orbx Beta Testing.

 

In regards to HDD space, you can pick up a 250GB SSD nowadays for around $100 if you check deal/coupon sites like Slickdeals or Techbargains, which would be perfect for trying out P3D. If you have a little more to spend you can splurge for a 500GB SSD for around $175-200 and make sure you have room for all those HD sceneries.

[Christopher Low 5,352]

It's also true that.....if you are very happy with FSX at the moment, you are a PMDG user, and you do not suffer from OOMs even when using your preferred addons.....then there is every reason to stay exactly where you are. Purchase of P3D can be done at any time now or in the future. It isn't as if LM are suddenly going to say...."sorry guys, but we will not be selling any more copies of P3D to home users. You need to own at least a small private army (and preferably a squadron of fighter jets) to qualify".

[magnetite 38]

I might try out P3D again when I build a new computer, but FSX-SE works just fine for me now.

 

 

 

It's also true that.....if you are very happy with FSX at the moment, you are a PMDG user, and you do not suffer from OOMs even when using your preferred addons.....then there is every reason to stay exactly where you are.

 

Sounds like me.

[altstiff 71]

If ever or when P3D takes advantage of 64bit I will move over then.

[smakar 0]

 

 

Hi guys, I have written the majority of this text in a topic on the p3d forum but I wanted to write my thoughts here to.

Thank you for posting your thoughts.

 

I cannot discuss the technical aspects, for I have never tried P3D, and the reason is simply the financial aspect. I do not qualify for any of the discounted versions, and I cannot justify the expense for the regular license. It's exactly the same as with my photography software - there is no doubt that Adobe Photoshop is the most highly ragarded, but there is no way I will pay a monthly fee of 50 dollars for it, when an alternative, Corel Paintshop Pro, gives me most of the same features but for one months' cost of Photoshop. I can't help thinking that LM should consider people like myself as a potential market, for I'm sure that I'm not the only one holding off for this reason.

 

For now, I am more than happy with FSX, especially with the fixes/updates being made to FSX-SE (not to mention having paid 5 dollars for it when it was first released).