Flight Simming - The Hobby That Always Under-Delivered - Until Now

[fluffyflops 1,845]

3 minutes ago, ricka47 said:

I have v4 and switched back from XP11 for it.  But, it's really 64-bit FSX with some improvements that took place in the previous three versions.  If you didn't know that it was a new version and you made a short flight, you really couldn't see anything different on your screen(s).  That's not so bad; FSX was pretty good.  But, I hope to see some improvements in some basic things like ATC and other issues that haven't been touched since 2006.

He's right I could show you videos and screenshot and tell you it was v3.4 and you be none the wiser.   The trick is the oom elimination,  which for me is priceless and orgasmic

[CFIJose 5,485]

I reformatted my drive and only have one sim now. P3D v4. IMHO is the best sim EVER created! Punto Y Final.

[swiesma 625]

Did a flight from FT EHAM to T2G EDDM yesterday, in heavy weather, in the 777, with OTBX North Germany, Vector etc., the whole Europe covered by VATSIM ATC.

Smooth framerates, great visuals, heavy clouds, the sun going down....

 

I am more then happy with v4. All I nned now is FS2Crew for the 737 and I am still hoping for the QW 787.

[snglecoil 1,828]

4 hours ago, Chock said:

It's nice that we are seeing some movement and progression in flight swimming recently. Whilst it's not quite exactly the same, it reminds me a bit of (20-30 years ago) when you had Microprose and Janes making all kinds of dedicated combat sims (seemed like there was a new one every week lol)., and civil-aviation wise at that time you had Fly! Flight Unlimited, XPlane and MSFS, some of which started to see aircraft with FMC/CDUs and EFIS modelled, photorealistic terrain started showing up and PMDG knocked out their first aeroplane too. It was cool and exciting to be into flight sims then: When I finally got a decent simulation of a DC-3 with some good scenery and mesh, I remember thinking, yup, now we're starting to get there.

With quite a few choices for civil sims now: FSX-SE, FSW, P3D and XPlane, plus more esoteric offerings such as TOH, Condor and Silent Wings for choppers and gliders, and with DCS taking on the role which Janes and Microprose used to fill for military sim fans, it's almost like being back in those flight-sim glory days at the moment. it's quite a contrast from only a few years back when MS dropped FS development and we were stuck with very few options. That was a real bummer of a time to be into flight sims.

 

Late 90s early 00s was such a fun time for flight simming. Had all of the sims you mentioned above @Chock. Fly! had a particularly special place in my heart with Richard Harvey being such an active part of the Avsim community. And if memory serves me right PMDG really came into the scene with the Fly! series. And lest we forget one of the most die-hard communities here at Avsim for Sierra Pro Pilot. Ah good times....now get off my lawn you young punks 

Honestly it is pretty amazing what has been done with 3rd party help even over the near absence of major developers for a few years. My CFI in the late 90s told me to stay away from sims. I would develop bad habits. Wonder what he'd think now!

[WebMaximus 372]

12 minutes ago, swiesma said:

Did a flight from FT EHAM to T2G EDDM yesterday, in heavy weather, in the 777, with OTBX North Germany, Vector etc., the whole Europe covered by VATSIM ATC.

Smooth framerates, great visuals, heavy clouds, the sun going down....

 

I am more then happy with v4. All I nned now is FS2Crew for the 737 and I am still hoping for the QW 787.

FS2Crew for the NGX in P3Dv4 was released yesterday. 

[swiesma 625]

Yeah, just seen it :-) Thx!

[Guest]

4 hours ago, tooting said:

He's right I could show you videos and screenshot and tell you it was v3.4 and you be none the wiser.

Then you aren't using P3D V4 right.  Sorry folks, but if you can't tell the visual difference with these new features:

1.  HDR
2.  Autogen loading distances (MUCH MUCH further)
3.  Higher Terrain texture resolution further out (go to any mountain location at it'll be VERY obvious)
4.  Dynamic Lights - volumetric that actually light up objects, terrain, buildings and your aircraft
5.  Cloud Shadows
6.  Native support for SSAA
7.  Dynamic Reflections - airport building glass, water puddles, aircraft fuselage reflects the actual 3D world around it not some faked global map
8.  Improved visibility layers and clouds
9.  Volumetric fog
10.  Enhanced precipitation effects
11.  Tessellation 

and more ... 

I don't see how anyone could call that "the same as FSX" with a straight face?

Cheers, Rob.

[vgbaron 3,496]

Agree 100% with Rob! I notice it especially when I leave from my home base KBUR.  With my settings in V3 I never really had a problem with OOM's. I'd occasionally get one but that's it. My main complaint, having flown in that area IRL for many years was the visibility. 

NOW, in v4 I can see the LA Basin clear to the ocean. For the first time in a long while, this sim takes my breath away with some of the visuals. It's a FAR cry from FSX, even with  a bunch of add ons.

The lengthening shadows of the trees as the sun goes down, the lighting.... nope, the SAME as FSX?  NOT!

Vic

[CFIJose 5,485]

I tested most of the P3D versions and was not impressed with the performance or visuals. P3D v4 looks amazing and at airports like FlyTampa Toronto I can check all the boxes in the config and still maintain excellent performance without a CTD. Simply amazing and nothing like FSX.

[fluffyflops 1,845]

Simply amazing yes, once fsl comes out it Will be out of this world.... Come on FSL!!!! 

[Parping Couplet 117]

1 hour ago, Rob Ainscough said:

I don't see how anyone could call that "the same as FSX" with a straight face?

It really is a night and day difference isn't it. The stability is amazing, compared with anything we've seen before.

[Chock 17,769]

4 hours ago, snglecoil said:

My CFI in the late 90s told me to stay away from sims. I would develop bad habits. Wonder what he'd think now!

Yup, I experienced that too. Back then, practicing flying a sim on a PC wasn't really taken seriously by many instructors at all, at least certainly not any of the instructors whom I spoke to. This despite its usefulness, which clearly must have been the case, since I got sent solo three days after commencing flight training, this when I had a total of 7 hours and 15 minutes dual in my (then) brand new logbook. Now to be fair, I had been obsessed with flying for years before flight sims were ever available for use on home computers and read everything I could get my hands on about piloting, which will also have helped a lot, but even so, those old PC sims must have helped a bit.

[Steve Dra 7,574]

I cannot agree more that V4 may be the best thing that's ever happened to our community, at least in my personal experience.

I can echo what all have said above, and previously doing an approach into KLAX was always a performance issue, be it stuttering, slowness, OOM, etc with FSDT and ORBX SoCal.  

Now it's a pure joy to start the decent through the mountain gap towards SEAVU, seeing the gorgeous rendition of the mountains passing by both sides of you, downtown LA off in the distance and just a glimmer of the coast.  As you get closer, no more holding your breath as the FSDT KLAX scenery loads in (much faster)....waiting for a dreaded OOM.

As I zip by the In & Out Burger (modeled in the FSDT KLAX scenery) over the approach lights to 24R with no stutters and smooth as can be (in playback as a passenger on the right side), I'm overwhelmed at how much it looks just like the real thing I've experienced frequently in my real life flights to LA.

In versions before V4, I would never dream of doing a replay of this landing as I'd be at 3.9gb VAS on the cusp of an OOM.

As if V4's not epic enough, I recently made the hardware purchase of a lifetime, moving from my trusty 970 to this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487130.  You probably won't believe me and will be completely envious if you do, but I picked it up on Craigslist for.....$450.  Yes its fully functioning, not stolen and the guy selling it was legit.    Mind you I've never been in a place financially to shell out $1200 for a video card, and was looking to upgrade to a 1070 or even 1080....but goodness, when a 12GB Maxwell Titan is dangling in front of you for $450, you buy it! 

Anyway...V4....totally amazing, all others....pale in comparison. 

[CrownCityMisfits 58]

I totally agree, even having a 5 year old computer. 

[regis9 3,999]

P3d v2 and v3 were good (great?) improvements over fsx, but p3dv4 is really the true successor to fsx we've all wanted, i've never had so much fun and satisfaction flying a virtual aircraft.