General questions about P3D before I switch from FSX-SE

[simbol 5,819]

Hello everybody,

I am a Flight Simulator user since FS95, being a user of MS Flight simulators for a very long time you could say that I have a very good experience in configuring MS flight simulators in many areas: tweaks, ad dons, AI traffict, planes, etc.

Clearly PD3 64bit is the future and there is no doubt I will need to move to it eventually, special now that many developers are releasing news that they will stop producing software for the FSX / FSX-SE platform entirely.

I have been monitoring and searching recently the PD3 forums so I can asses when it will be safe for me to make the move from FSX-SE and there are a couple of things that I would like to ask to Prepar3D users regarding their experience with the sim:

1) Does airplane FSX/FSX-SE repaints work with Prepar3d V3 and V4? how you install these? same as you do with FSX? if not where you guys get your Pepard3D repaints from?

2) Does the Traffic 360 payware tool and AI models work with Prepar3d V4? if not what AI traffic software are you guys using or recommend?

3) I use a lot of payware airports which are being converted to Prepard3d V4 or are already compatible, however if I a particular Scenery that is only FSX-SE compatible are there any tool that converts them to PD3V4? any guidance would be appreciated.

4) I am using Re-shade with FSX-SE to improve the views of the sim, the results are very good and I am very pleased with it, is there anybody using re-shade with PD3 v4? if so I would appreciate any links with guidance how to install it, if it is worth it, etc. it would also interesting to compare how PD3V4 (no reshade) looks vs FSX-SE using Re-shade.

5) How good / bad is the default ATC on Prepar3D? does it behave as same stupid ATC behavior of MS FSX? I use PRO-ATCx anyway so this question is just because I am curious to know if Lockheed Martin has made any changes to the default ATC.

5) Occasionally I use Radar Contact (it handles things that PRO-ATCx cannot), any one has used this tool with Pepard3D V4?

6) Do you guys still experience AI go-around issues on Prepar3D? if so what utils you can use to address the problem? for example I use sometimes AISmooth or Traffic Board, etc.

7) Is anyone using Navigraph updates with Prepar3D addons? overall does it work without any problems?

Many thanks in advance to everybody regarding these questions.

Kind Regards,

Simbol

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

If you switch, be prepared (no pun intended) to start your learning curve all over again.

Addons are still being converted as we speak, and users are still trying to figure out the new lighting options etc.

Over time, P3DV4 will become the new standard, I have no doubt, but if you jump in now, you will be joining a bunch of folks who are still figuring it all out..

[vhufo 35]

Hello Simbol.

I've converted straight from FS9 over to Prepar3d V4, so a few of my answers will be based on that conversion, however so far as i can tell, FSX seems very similar to FS9.

1/ Yes they do. I have installed a few liveries from FSX over to Prepar3d V4, for example a few of the PMDG NGX repaints. And as far as installation processes go, you can do it "the old fashioned way", and this goes for sceneries as well. However understand that there is a new installation process that Lockheed Martin recommends, and this is for sceneries, new aircraft and ai aircraft using an 'xml method'. There is an extensive thread in detail about this, however i haven't delved into it yet, i've installed using the old fashioned method, and everything seems to have worked so far, touch wood.

2/ Don't know about Traffic 360, however i use 'Ultimate Traffic Live', made from the same mob who developed Ultimate Traffic 2. Works for me, gives me the aircraft i need.

3/ FSX compatible scenery does work in Prepar3d V4, however be aware that any FS9 models that are used within these sceneries, and in fact that goes for AI Aircraft as well, may cause problems, so be aware. However so far with the FSX sceneries i've used, including ORBX Australia sceneries, have worked well.

4/ Don't know about re-shade, sorry.

5/ Pretty much the same standard as previous versions of flightsim, so if your into ATC, then i would suggest sticking with the addon ATC versions. 

6/ AI still seem to act the same way as they did in previous versions in regard to go arounds, taxying.

7/ Navigraph does work well in Prepar3d V4. I have it for PMDG and TFDI  as well as the sim itself, no probs.

As a footnote, like i said i jumped from FS9 to Prepar3d v4. When i initially made the move, i prepared myself for a bit of a learning curve and to be honest was thinking i would be setting up the sim, tweaking etc for quite a while before i got used to it due to the difference and  how long it had been since i made the move to a new sim. 

However the transition was seemless, i was very surprised at how quickly i got things installed and was up and running and to be honest, i am having an absolute ball. The difference between the two, well its poles apart. And when it comes to tweaking, very little is needed to be done and the sim itself is incredibly stable. OOM's, a thing of the past!!!

Hope my reply helps you in your decision, but to be honest mate, the longer you wait, the more your missing out.

 

 

[simbol 5,819]

Guy many thanks for your answers, they are very helpful.

I think I will buy the professional version and install it along with FSX-SE so I can do the transition of my Add-on slowly and when I fell happy I can uninstall FSX-SE.

Regards,

Simbol

 

 

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I just installed P3DV4 yesterday.  Great experience so far.  I was surprised, my trike I developed in FSDS 2 works perfectly in P3Dv4.  It did not in FSX, it did not work at all in DXT10 preview, was just invisible and in DX9 the prop turned invisible against the clouds.  Works great in P3Dv4.  Don't know what they did to enable support for FSDS 2 since it was written originally for FS2002.  I like my ultralight trike (in the file library here).  It was my first "from scratch" project in FSDS 2.  I designed the XML gauges myself to model a real UL trike I had flown on, only the sound was copied from a man named Dean Scott who wrote them for his Weed Hopper UL.  He gave me permission to use the sound set with my trike with great results.  P3D worked without any tweaks.  It chose conservative slider values on install, I just increased them after install.  FPS were double my old rig running FSX.  I went from 2.3 GHZ to 3.6 GHZ on the new rig, so P3D is still cpu bound like FSX was, just to let you know.

John

[vgbaron 3,612]

1 hour ago, Cactus521 said:

  I went from 2.3 GHZ to 3.6 GHZ on the new rig, so P3D is still cpu bound like FSX was, just to let you know.

Not fully true. Many processes that were handled by the CPU in FSX have been offloaded to the GPU in P3D which frees up the CPU a lot more. But yes, there are still processes that will be CPU dependent and affect performance.

Vic

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I thought the gpu bundled with my system was rather low end, short on memory compared to my last gpu.  But it does not choke the sim or my other gaming app, No Limits coaster sim.  Also the valley benchmark from UIengine works well, coming in at 70 fps with the default aniso and anti aliasing settings in the app.  It came in at 25 fps on my old system.  I took a risk buying the new PC on the video card bundled with the system.  Must be better than my old one, which was middle of the road when I bought it.  It runs cool on my system, checked it with HWMonitor.  The cpu's run a little hotter than my old system but within range for their specs.  At idle they run in the high 40's, at load around 60.

John

[SmokeDiddy 262]

@simbolJust temper your expectations.  I recently made the switch from FSX-SE to P3Dv4.  I was pleased that many add-on airports, aeroplanes and a few add-ons were upgraded free and were easily installed.  Although, be ready to purchase FSUIPC5 and ActiveSky and ASCA if you used those in FSX-SE.  For me, those were the most expensive of my add-ons.  So, for the limited expectations part, don't expect an orgasmic (only word I could think of atm...hahaha) experience with P3Dv4. Outside of 64bit and dynamic lighting (which hits ya on frames) is really nothing more than what FSX-SE already is.  This is only my experience in my migration over to P3Dv4.  It is ultimately your decision and I am not trying to sway you one way or the other.  My FSX-SE has been uninstalled forevermore and I am using P3Dv4 along with XP11 and FSW, but for sure, P3Dv4 is currently the most complete sim offer IMO

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Seems to me I made the right decision starting with P3D.  Still trying to figure out how to set the wind layers.  I like the air a bit wobbly, makes the flying more realistic from my POV.  The FDE's of the Carenado add-on I bought seem to work well in the sim, what I would expect.  And my own trike FDE stayed true to the real experience of flying a trike, even though it was done way back for FS2002.  I downloaded my trike from Avsim's library and it flies wonderfully in P3D.  Nice to cruise low and slow once in a while over Colorado photo-real scenery.

The trike I love to hand fly, I feel very one with the air in it.  It may not be fast, but it can soar high and it looks beautiful with the Rogallo wing design.  I love the VFR flying experience, 1000-2000 agl, covering ground at about the pace of a car.  But able to travel straight.

John

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I finally figured out how to set the wind layers, just like in FSX but a different interface I had to find.  I overflew most of Colorado this afternoon out West to the Arizona/New Mexico border, taking in all the photoreal scenery I had of the state.  I may lock my fps down to 30 from the 60 I get now so as to give more power to rendering the photoreal textures.  I will see if that makes a difference, 30fps was my preferred lock in FSX for photoreal scenery.

John

[simbol 5,819]

9 hours ago, SmokeDiddy said:

@simbolJust temper your expectations.  I recently made the switch from FSX-SE to P3Dv4.  I was pleased that many add-on airports, aeroplanes and a few add-ons were upgraded free and were easily installed.  Although, be ready to purchase FSUIPC5 and ActiveSky and ASCA if you used those in FSX-SE.  For me, those were the most expensive of my add-ons.  So, for the limited expectations part, don't expect an orgasmic (only word I could think of atm...hahaha) experience with P3Dv4. Outside of 64bit and dynamic lighting (which hits ya on frames) is really nothing more than what FSX-SE already is.  This is only my experience in my migration over to P3Dv4.  It is ultimately your decision and I am not trying to sway you one way or the other.  My FSX-SE has been uninstalled forevermore and I am using P3Dv4 along with XP11 and FSW, but for sure, P3Dv4 is currently the most complete sim offer IMO

Smoke,

Thanks for your advise, I bought it yesterday and to be honest I am impressed by the following factors:

1) Loading time, the sim loads way faster than FSX-SE.
2) FPS, Using the same airplane (Carenado Phenom 300 / Carenado Hawker) + F1 GTN + EZdok + FGX Global +EGSS from UK scenery I get the following results:

    PD3V4 - Settings Max Out NO AI       60 to 110 FPS
    FSX-SE - Settings Max Out NO AI     30 to 40 FPS

In terms of graphics my FSX-SE with Reshade looks way better, but I solved this by installing Reshade on PD3V4 and transferring my effect settings from Reshade FSX-SE so now I have the same quality with the advantage of dynamic lighting which works great with my Reshade settings and bloom effects.

I still need to transfer lots of addons, ASCA + ActiveSky, PMDG 737NGX, lots of Airports, FSXPassengers, etc. it will take me months before I can claim that I am fully operational on PD3V4.

I would keep you guys posted about the progress, I will post tonight pictures of PD3v4 with Reshade and without so you guys see the difference.

Regards,
Simbol

[SmokeDiddy 262]

@simbol That is great to hear.  I will also try reshade.  I've never used it, but I've seen some videos of it being applied.  I'm still holding off on Activesky / ASCA and FSUIPC5 for the time being.  Anyway, keep us posted on your progress.

[simbol 5,819]

Hi Guys,

I have installed now Active Sky + Active Art Cloud and also ultimate traffic live so far everything is running fine.

As promised see below a set of screenshots showing how PD3V4 looks with reshade:

London City at night no reshade

With Reshade enabled:

London city at day, no reshade:

With Reshade Enabled:

Internal Views (Stansted) no Reshade:

With Reshade enabled:

Example of dynamic surface reflections effects with Reshade enabled:

Talk to you soon.

Regards,
Simbol

[JYW 2,980]

I don't know about others, but the pics above aren't displaying for me, and when I click on the image it takes me to your imgur but the images are showing as black.

[simbol 5,819]

5 minutes ago, JYW said:

I don't know about others, but the pics above aren't displaying for me, and when I click on the image it takes me to your imgur but the images are showing as black.

Hi JYW,

Sorry to hear that, I am not sure why, I followed the instructions about how to post images on this forums and I can see the pictures displayed in my post, so not sure what is going on.

I can email you the pics if you want, just send me a pm.

Regards,
Simbol