I'm getting pretty close to jumping on board with P3D.  The $200 price tag has been limiting me before (I know about the Academic, but really don't want the watermark), but fortunately I'm starting to get settled in my career and can get past that.  I'm was wondering if I could get some comments though to confirm/fully educate me on what to expect over my FSX setup that works fairly admirably.  I am running a [email protected]/GTX770, so a good system, but a bit limited on the graphics card.

 

1. VAS/OOM's are my biggest issue with FSX.  I haven't had too many troubles with them, but that's because I stay out of problem situations.  I do like to fly over Orbx regions, with Orbx/FSDT/etc airports with PMDG or similar a/c, so I stress the system here.  In FSX I have been able to do 8+ hour PMDG 777 flights without OOM, but then have had OOM for instance flying PMDG NGX KLAS-KLAX over Orbx SCA.  My understanding is that P3D has made improvements on this.  Are they dramatic?  Will I really appreciate the difference?

 

2. FPS/graphics settings.  It is my understanding that with the new DX11 coding, and perhaps other optimizations, that P3D delivers smoother and better FPS at similar settings to FSX.  Can I expect to truly see either better fluidity/FPS at the same settings, or be able to increase my settings?  I can typically expect 15-25 FPS on the ground at a 3rd party airport in a complex a/c depending on my settings (water from mid- to high-2.0 affects me the most).

 

3. Graphics "eye candy".  I know P3D is supposed to have some nice graphics extra's such as cloud shadows.  Can anyone comment on what, if anything else, extra I can see?  I'm not hung up on graphics compared to systems and FDE fidelity, but I do like a good picture.

 

4. Add-on availability. Can anyone comment on add-ons that are clearly missing from the market for P3D vs. FSX.  I have quite a bit, but I believe all of the add-ons that I routinely use are there: ASN, Orbx (some need an "extra" installer purchase), PMDG (extra license), Majestic, VRS (extra license), FSDT, FlightBeam. 

 

Any other comments any one can give to help me finalize my decision?  It's seeming to me that the future of flight simulation is likely P3D at this time (with or without FSX).  X-plane is too slow developing right now and the "new" Dovetail flight simulator that's supposed to be coming I worry will be game like/DLC heavy like MS Flight.  An optimized FSX actually sounds pretty good to me.

What did it for me is that FSX is dead and, even with the DX10 fixer (which is good), there will be no advancements.  That really bothered me.  I was excited about the latest version of X-Plane.  But, after buying it, it didn't do it for me.  So, P3D was the only option which had a future.

 

I've had good success with P3D.  Yes, some addons may not work right away or it may take awhile to get others to work. But, it looks wonderful and the lighting and the shadows make a big difference in the immersion factor.  Fly around at dusk or dawn and you'll appreciate the difference.

 

I note that performance is better than FSX with the same or, in most cases, higher settings.  Plus, even when frame rates do drop, it doesn't seem to become a slide show as FSX used to do.

 

I don't have most of the addons that you mention except for Orbx which are all working for me with the new installers.  I use REX for textures and weather and they work fine as they did in FSX.  All of my planes (many Carenado, and some others) are also working fine.  I think that LM still has the refund program?   So, unless that's not the case any longer, give it a shot and see what you think on your machine - Rick

Well my friend,

 

What you need is Prepared3D for dummies… And of course that is right here.

 

But the problem is nobody here, including you, is a dummy.

 

So you can ask for the quick and dirty answers, but I guarantee you that an hour spent reading here will pay back tenfold, because everything you want to know is here but remember...About opinions, and I quote, " Everybody here, like the sphinctered termination of the ailementary canal, has one."

 

It's up to you to sort out the wheat from the chaff and do your homework.

 

Best accelerated P3d track?

 

....Read every post from Rob Ainscough...pay attention to those who have the most number of posts, look up their rep in their profiles and read their posts as well.

 

We welcome you!

 

chas

I'll just respond to one

 

The VAS savings alone is worth it to me! Those places you avoid ... You won't have to avoid anymore

 

 

I know about the Academic, but really don't want the watermark

 

Honestly, you never notice it.

From what you listed as must have add-ons you already know which ones will work and which one you need a new license.  I think the biggest challenge for you will be PMDG aircrafts, as you cannot get a refund for those.  For those, head over to the PMDG forum and search.  For me ORBX and PMDG don't mix.  Robert R. from PMDG commented that P3Dv3 has done a lot to provide better VAS management, and his team has recently gave us a gift of lower memory consumption with the new 777, but he warns that you still end up with OOM if you overload the sim.  If you like PMDG, my recommendation is to avoid ORBX and use only payware airports and UTX (much better than ORBX Vector).  I am into simpler setup these days, only use P3D for PMDG and that's it.  I still use FSX-SE (recently came back) for GA and ORBX stuffs.

FYI: The watermark can be turned off...

 

Regards,

Scott

Everytime I think about the possibility of having to go back to FSX, I have nightmares for 3 nights. 

Just three haha?

Some have sweet dreams, ask Bert :smile: It really depends on your setup, what you are looking for. For whatever reason the ORBX stuffs just does not work for me with P3D. I have high FPS but I keep having slight pause as the sim unloads sceneries, drove me batty. Did the same thing, same scenery location in FSX-SE, no pause, no stutters. Both sims use default cfg, no tweaks, no NI inspector change, nothing. Go figures. May be in two years time when I have a super computer and LM have 64bit?

FYI: The watermark can be turned off...

 

Regards,

Scott

Really? Search for "watermark" in P3d.cfg? Or *water*.jpg?

 

Chas

Really? Search for "watermark" in P3d.cfg? Or *water*.jpg?

 

Chas

In Settings - General - Information Text, untick  "Show Notification Text".  

In Settings - General - Information Text, untick  "Show Notification Text".  

I am going to have to give this a try. To be honest, I never notice it anyway.

In Settings - General - Information Text, untick  "Show Notification Text".

 

I hate to only give a thank you but I believe it's deserved, so I will add a tip...and that is;

 

if you use Radar contact V4 in WideFS mode, and your wide FS PC is physically distant from your flying PC, you can send the WideFs sound to your flying machine via http://www.streamwhatyouhear.com/.

 

Enjoy

 

Chas

In Settings - General - Information Text, untick  "Show Notification Text".  

 

Well that worked, watermark gone.  Only tradeoff is no pause, brakes or FPS text....