Personal first impression

[Guest]

I did some quick tests with the default Carenado plane above Seattle and New York with scenery sliders maxed out (sort of all of them) except water detail at zero (I hate the look of the waves) but with all reflections on. All shadows too. O, wait, I have traffic off, quite important, I suppose.

 

1. I thought there would be an option button on the scenario screen? It's not. It's the exact same screen as v2?

2. Being able to change HDR on the fly is great!

3. Er... I will have to look at the P3D site again to see what's new because it all looks the same to me. Is this v3? Check. Yes, it is.

4. Boy, do I miss Global and my FTX regions.

5. Performance isn't bad... with settings similar to v2 (extremely dense for me, please, thank you) performance stayed in the twenties no matter what. O, wait, I fly without traffic... Turning traffic on led to spikes in the teens. Right now I have the fps slider at maximum: felt better to me. Average was above and around 30 (above the Seattle and New York).

6. I really have to look at the P3D site what's new because it really looks the same...

7. Stutters are the same too. Bummer. Overal it's quite smooth but with TrackIR you do see stutters every now and then, specially when looking sideways.

8. I do love water reflections. Even though they look the same too...

9. Boy, do I still miss Global and my FTX regions.

10. I'd love to use my A2A planes now.

11. I think I need to see if my HDE clouds and sky will work in v3.

12. Hm.... what exactly did I just pay 200 bucks for...?

13. Performance seems ok, maybe better, but I can't tell until my favorite addons have been made compatible.

 

Well, that's about it. It's too soon so say anything decisive yet but er... well, it all looks and feels the same to me and I noticed I kept on thinking 'luckily I have 60 days for a refund'. But I do think that I will keep this one just to be on the right side of things for the future. But all in all the first impressions were a bit underwhelming. I mean, thinking 'It all looks the same' and 'What did I pay 200 bucks for' isn't what you hope to think during a first flight. I wasn't wowed. Not at all. Not even close. I'll visit the P3D site now to see what's new because I must be missing something...

 

EDIT

I'm back already from the P3D site. Well... a lot has been fixed but most things that have been fixed I never had problems with in v2. I am really wondering more and more what I spend 200 bucks on now. Hopefully some cool things will show up the coming days that make it worth the money. I mean, being able to change HDR on the fly (and btw also brakes on messages etc.) is nice but not worth 200 dollars. Yes, the VAS improvements are great but I fly GA and never had VAS problems. Hm................... As I said performance seemed maybe a bit better. Let's hope my favorite addons will be updated soon (and free) before my refund period is over.

[ryanbatc 12,835]

Yep that's kinda what I expect.  DISCLAIMER... No I don't have v3 yet.

[MarkW 1,491]

LM have mastered squeezing money out of the US Defense department....they may have transitioned this philosophy over to sims.  (disclaimer - I don't own any version of P3D).

[Bobsk8 12,679]

I have read two posts on Facebook which basically said the same thing about FPS  performance, same as 2.5. A least it isn't worse. Still, I can't see spending the money and time for just about zero benefit for me, and BTW I don't get stutters now. . 

[Guest]

P.S. One thing is for sure: I won't be spending any money to make my addons compatible until I am very sure this is a keeper. This is a shame because I already noticed dollars signs in the eyes of A2A while I'd really love to test them in v3. But if I keep the feeling I have now, I certainly can't justify the 200 dollars I spend.

 

Take note: those that know me a bit longer know that I can change my view on things very quickly LOL

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Thanks for the first impressions, Jeroen. Despite wanting those VAS improvements really badly, I am going to hold fire on v3 for the moment. Lack of compatibility with half of my addons is no use to me, so I need to know that all of them will work.

[GSalden 4,656]

Just did a short flight above Amsterdam in the Carenado.

The Sky colors and clouds look very good.

 

Nothing further installed so I cannot say other things at this moment.

 

Tomorrow I will add all my photoscenery and airports.

And hopefully my Ifly will work, but imho I think that it will.

 

Fsuipc will work too and I have ASN on a client pc...( fingers crossed )

[Guest]

The Sky colors and clouds look very good

What did you use in v2? Maybe they are better compared to default v2 sky and clouds but they can't touch the HDE Sky and clouds imho.

[FlyBaby 659]

Thanks for your first impressions; I also do GA flying and never had OOM issues. If LM really has not addressed the fps / stutter issues, then I think many v3 customers won't be happy about paying for the same (or slightly better) performance.

[Guest]

Thanks for your first impressions; I also do GA flying and never had OOM issues. If LM really has not addressed the fps / stutter issues, then I think many v3 customers won't be happy about paying for the same (or slightly better) performance.

I think so too. Fps may be slightly better but slightly isn't enough to warrant 200 dollar. Pity they didn't give us a larger LOD already. That would make an obvious difference. Right now I just don't see any obvious and positive differences. Some of the beta testers said we would be in for a surprise because LM didn't tell us all improvements and new options so maybe one of those testers can enlighten me and tell me what to look at?

[Bobsk8 12,679]

I think so too. Fps may be slightly better but slightly isn't enough to warrant 200 dollar. Pity they didn't give us a larger LOD already. That would make an obvious difference. Right now I just don't see any obvious and positive differences. Some of the beta testers said we would be in for a surprise because LM didn't tell us all improvements and new options so maybe one of those testers can enlighten me and tell me what to look at?

 

I noticed that very little was mentioned by any of the beta testers regarding issues like improvements in  FPS, stutters, and performance in general. Their  comments  were mostly confined to discussions of VAS and speed  trees and Avatars. 

[Guest]

I noticed that very little was mentioned by any of the beta testers regarding issues like improvements in FPS, stutters, and performance in general. Their comments were mostly confined to discussions of VAS and speed trees and Avatars.

Yes. Unfortunately VAS wasn't a problem for me and I totally fail to understand why Avatars are so great. The speed trees are nice but afaik mainly for addon airports and they aren't in the sim by default (apart from near the default location).

 

I think it was WarpD who said there was way more to v3 than the list with changes told is: would be nice to hear from him what I should be looking for because I simply don't see it. WarpD, are you out there?!

[GSalden 4,656]

My pc was capable of running v2 with custom autogen on top of photo-scenery but the OOM issue made me disable ag completely.

 

Tomorrow after having installed my photoscenery ( some with custom ag ) I will set Fsuipc to monitor VAS and I will know if c3 is way better in VAS handling....

[Juicehead 16]

Meanwhile at P3D

 

Should we improve FPS or stutter issues?

 

No, we will just add trees that look like a 70mph wind is hitting them.  We will call them speed trees and profit!

[Bobsk8 12,679]

Meanwhile at P3D

 

Should we improve FPS or stutter issues?

 

No, we will just add trees that look like a 70mph wind is hitting them.  We will call them speed trees and profit!

 

That's funny, and when you look at speed trees and it's windy you won't be able to tell if you have stutter, or it's just the jerky movement of the trees you are seeing.