Returning to Flight Sims. What is P3D?

[ukplane1 37]

11 hours ago, felixflyer said:

Hi guys

I am returning to flight simming after many years out of it. Previously I used FS2004 and FSX with the PMDG stuff. I like to use study level sims and am a RW pilot also.

I am doing some commercial training and would like to use a flight sim to help with my IR procedures and checks etc. I stress I will not be using it for any kind of general handling practice as I am well aware of the limitations of sims but for IR procedures and getting familiar with cockpit layouts it can be beneficial and save ££'s in the air.

That said I am unfamiliar with P3D or Xplane and these seem to have become popular since I have been away.

I would like a sim that replicates the UK navaids and airfields well, either standalone or with add ons and has a decent DA42 with G1000 available plus PMDG 737. I was thinking of using FSX but is P3D a viable option?

I would be grateful for any advice.

 

Regards

the Flight 1 C510 Or King Air has a pretty decent G1000 much better than the alabeo however i don't think there's airways or vnav.

[MarkW 1,491]

9 hours ago, felixflyer said:

Thanks guys, I have been told by a few people now that P3D would be best. 

I will be doing some longer flights. airways routes in a DA42 and longer ones in the 737. 

I fly the DA42 in the real world so would like a sim that has a good G1000. I do have the Alabeo DA42 for FSX but is is pretty much unusable as the G1000 is very basic. 

I have been thinking of buying the Mindstar G1000 add on

I see myself using this to practice but I do also enjoy it as a hobby and plan to build a decent PC to run it. I just don't want to go down a particular route and spend lots on add-ons then end up regretting using a particular base system.

Based on this comment then P3D is the way to go.  Unfortunately no study level DA42. You are very lucky to be able to fly this in real world. The closest I get are the videos from jaunty17 on YouTube. 

[Gordon Hutchison 76]

13 hours ago, DJJose said:

The right choice right now is FSX-SE.

 

Go home, you're drunk!

[mtrainer 136]

I agree Gordon, not understanding DJJose's logic of going with a product that, besides some add-ons, is at its core essentially a dead product.   Lockheed Martin took the code base and has been adding to it for years - it's more advanced, stable, and has "longer legs" as far as the future goes.   And as someone else mentioned, this version has a training slant to it that MSFS-STEAM does not.  Prepar3d V4 is a nail in the coffin of MS FSX, God rest its soul it carried us well for nearly 10 years.  Time to wheel it out to pasture.

Mark Trainer

 

Edited June 7, 2017 by mtrainer
Corrected "it's" to "its"...I hate that misake when reading

[RancidViper 37]

We should have an official funeral service for FSX... I feel like it's too special to just box away and never look at again.. Imagine one massive multiplayer session with everyone flying at the same time?

Actually the network might OOM. lol

[felixflyer 0]

Thanks again guys.

I have decided on P3D and will use the mindstar G1000 with Eaglesoft DA42.

Now is the hard part on deciding whether to build a machine based on i7 7700k or Ryzen?

Are there any P3D specific comparisons anywhere? Most seem to be based on other games but this will only be used for flight sim.

 

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

28 minutes ago, felixflyer said:

I have decided on P3D and will use the mindstar G1000 with Eaglesoft DA42.

Make sure that these addons will be updated for P3D V4 before jumping in. V4 is no longer fully compatible to the earlier versions of this platform.

About hardware: P3D V4 has been released only a week ago, there are no usable benchmarks currently. Maybe in 2 months, when things settle down and the updated versions of the various mainstream addons have been used for a while, valid benchmark references will be established.

Best regards

[Jiri Kocman 20]

1 hour ago, felixflyer said:

Thanks again guys.

I have decided on P3D and will use the mindstar G1000 with Eaglesoft DA42.

Now is the hard part on deciding whether to build a machine based on i7 7700k or Ryzen?

Are there any P3D specific comparisons anywhere? Most seem to be based on other games but this will only be used for flight sim.

 

You can find some comparsion or experience via google, but not true testing as there is no testing scenario which will use exact same settings and will be executed exactly same on any computer and any run, so you cant find easily comparable results.

Anyway, if you want use that PC just for flight sim, then i7-7700k is no brainer and best choice which you can do a sthis CPU have best single thread performance on market and single thread is most important for good P3D run, and not just P3D, for example developers recomend 7700k for X-Plane as best choice too.

[SmokeDiddy 262]

10 hours ago, mtrainer said:

...is at its core essentially a dead product.

Meh...it's more like in a Zombie state, you know like the Walking Dead

[AirbusCG 52]

3 hours ago, felixflyer said:

Thanks again guys.

I have decided on P3D and will use the mindstar G1000 with Eaglesoft DA42.

Now is the hard part on deciding whether to build a machine based on i7 7700k or Ryzen?

Are there any P3D specific comparisons anywhere? Most seem to be based on other games but this will only be used for flight sim.

 

When desciding on a specific addon be aware that just because something is Prepar3D or Prepar3Dv3 compatible it must not necessarily be Prepar3Dv4 compatible.
It's hard to tell because Lockheed choose bad namings for their sim (they are basically calling each new sim just a new version number which can be misleading when buying addons).

Make sure that the addons you want to buy explicitly read "Prepar3Dv4" in the system requirements.

At this moment these are not too many. If v4 is not listed better send a message to the developer asking if his addon is compatible already.
Otherwise you might regret one or another purchase if it's not working.

[bonchie 2,305]

Anyone that starts from scratch with FSX right now just likes burning money if they have any long term ambitions for the platform and this guy is building a serious computer, i.e. I think he has long term ambitions past training for use.

Go with P3D v4 or XP11.

For him, the problem with P3D will be the lack of updated navaids. A lot of the approaches he wants to practice are not going to exist or be correct in P3D. This also includes runway's, which could be a degree or two off by this point.

An integrated (i.e. no extra cost) G-1000 is coming to XP11 this year and will be incorporated into an already existing DA42 addon that's available.

If you are going to build such a heavy system, just buy both platforms. I prefer to practice approaches in XP11 because their built in GNS530 can do full RNAV stuff. But I also like P3D for a lot of other simulations aspects.

 

 

[swiesma 625]

13 minutes ago, bonchie said:

Anyone that starts from scratch with FSX right now just likes burning money if they have any long term ambitions for the platform.

Go with P3D v4 or XP11.

For him, the problem with P3D will be the lack of updated navaids. A lot of the approaches he wants to practice are not going to exist in P3D.

Shouldn't this be fixable by fsAerodata?

[bonchie 2,305]

8 minutes ago, swiesma said:

Shouldn't this be fixable by fsAerodata?

For a yearly cost, sure. Then he'll need another $50 to get the Mindstar G-1000 so he has any GPS capable of real RNAV approaches.

If someone simply wants to train approaches, XP11 gives you a fully capable GNS530 and updated navaids out of the box and a G-1000 is coming soon as well. It's the more cost effective option (and it's a great sim in it's own right graphically).

That's why I said to just get both. What's $60 if you are going to drop thousands on a new computer and a bunch of P3D addons anyway? P3D is my go to for more comprehensive flying (if I want AI traffic, Orbx stuff, an ATC addon, etc.) but I use XP11 for procedures practice because it's more capable of doing so out of the box. I never ended up purchasing a GNS module for P3D as I typically use built in FMCs in that sim.