Switching to Prepar3d v4 - Advice Welcomed

[ArScAn 0]

Hi Everyone,

I am an old enthusiast of flight sim for more than a decade (coming from FS2000/2002). I have started training to become a real life pilot (as a hobby), but for now I mainly continue to be passionate to learn from the community and spend a few hours during nights and weekends doing my airliner flights on my PC. Lately, I have been flying in FSX:SE (moved from retail FSX), mostly with PMDG 737NGX and Aerosoft Airbus family. I am the type of person that take time to read the manuals, watch several tutorials and truly learn how to fly these jets. I do my flights offline, but following real airline routes/schedules and in order to reach a high level of realism, I have tons of addons in FSX:SE. My setup is pretty stable and performance is good as my PC is relatively new and high-end.

This weekend I attended the Flight Sim 2017 event in UK and between FSFX Packages and Dovetail presentations, to my surprise, I found myself  lagging behind the community in terms of platform. I discovered that the vast majority of the audience has already moved to Prepar3d or X-Plane 11. Therefore, having considered moving to Prepar3D before, this realisation made me rethink and research again. Therefore, I would really appreciate some expert advice from people who has already done this switch, considering all the doubts and costs involved. My simple question is, is it worthy to move to P3D v4 from a "stable" FSX:SE setup with ton of addons and without being "hardcore" user (not VA member / weekends flyer)?

My main points of doubt are the following:

• Moving from FSX:SE to Prepar3d v4 will cost me almost $500 USD between license and new addons (list below).
• Prepar3d has this policy that new versions cost a new license and I fear (a lot) having to pay for another license and worst, paying for addons upgrades every 2 or 3 years, when I have my current setup for FSX for a long time.
• I discarded X-Plane 11 as option, as it seems a very good 'out of the box' platform, but focused on GA and with very few addons (particularly from those I already own and usually fly with).

Addons I currently use in FSX:SE (impact of switching to P3D v4):

• Aerosoft - A320 Family (FREE but, will need to wait for v4)
• PMDG - 737 NGX (PAY $90, need to buy a entire new version for P3D)
• FS2Crew 2 Reboot NGX (PAY $35, need an upgrade)
• ORBX - FTX Global Base (FREE)
• FSFX Packages - Chaseplane (FREE)
• FSPassengers X (PAY, will take months to be ready for v4, probably move to FSCaptain as it is free upgrade)
• HiFi Simulations - Active Sky Next (PAY $30, need to buy newer version AS4 for v4)
• Navigraph - FMS Data Manager (FREE)
• Pete Dowson - FSUIPC 4 (PAY $44, need to buy new version 5)
• Pointsoft - ProATC/X (FREE)
• REX Simulations - Texture Direct HD w/ Soft Clouds (FREE)
• REX Simulations    - Worldwide Airports HD (FREE, but in development)
• A2A Accu-Feel v2 (PAY, still in development but need to buy a new version)
• My Traffic 6 (Not sure, probably would buy Ultimate Traffic Live for another $45)
• Navigraph - FMS Data Manager (FREE)
• FS Genesis - World Terrain Mesh for FSX (Not sure, probably would go for FreeMeshX or FS Global Ultimate Mesh for another $85)

Really appreciate some opinions if the (high) cost/benefit would be acceptable/worthy. I understand 64-bit would be a new world, but I am afraid if I should not wait and check 1-2yrs down the road if FSW or X-Plane take off and then move to a next-gen plataform, considering that based on everything I've read so far (please correct me if I am wrong here), P3D would give me a much similar experience to my current setup in FSX:SE?

Many Thanks!

 

[Chock 17,769]

If you are using all that stuff in FSX, then you absolutely should go for P3D V4, because FSX will likely OOM quite often with all that malarkey going on. 

Initially, I would just get something like Active Sky and ASCA for P3D so you have decent clouds and weather, and maybe something like Ultimate Terrain 2 for where you fly most so that it looks a bit better. Then what you should do, is take the opportunity to really think about which add-ons you actually use a lot, rather than really going for it on everything else.

[simbol 5,774]

I switched 1 month ago from FSX, you would not regret it.

Just Google Real Glass for PREPAR3D, it has also been announced on these forums, that shows you the power PD3V4 is starting to release.

And looking at their new SDK functions and potential more tools like that will continue to be available.

I bought UTL, just a personal taste as I like their AI models more.

Simbol 

[vgbaron 3,486]

I absolutely LOVE P3d. I got it the first day out and have been a steady advocate for years, even in the face of many nay sayers spouting the "FSX on steroids" mantra. That said - from your post it would seem you will be more interested in procedures than eye candy. If $$ could be an issue - I don't believe you'll get the dollar value out of P3D considering your addons, many of which would have to be re-purchased.

Paying for new versions is the same as FSX, minor updates are free, major versions are not.

*IF* you are dissatisfied with various things in FSX and want to improve the experience, then it might be worth it but if you are satisifed with what you are getting out of it, change for the sake of change is not necessarily a good option.

Note - JIC, discussions of the EULA and licensing versions of P3D is not allowed on Avsim so please don't go there.

Vic

[ms2 184]

Only one way to avoid a lot problems, install please only addon's you are 100% sure to be compatible v4.

On the web, I follow lists to do. One of the best, for me is on ...´http://www.theskylounge.tv/topic/5106-the-ultimate-p3d-v4-add-on-update-compatibility-list/

After a lot of OM, before.. With v4... I'm a HAPPY man 😎

Sure, some loved addons missing in mine v4, but have a older version to be able to keep mine invests.

regards and welcome in 64bits universe... A revolution

[rlashier 93]

Doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. Install P3dv4 on a separate drive (recommend SSD), and go easy on add-ons initially. See how the 64-bit experience suits you, while continuing to use FSX perhaps for much of your everyday flying. In time, you will want to add additional aircraft, scenery, Active Sky, etc., for reliability, performance, or eye candy reasons, or not. If and when you find you are spending more time on P3d, you will likely begin to invest more there and wean yourself away from FSX. But do that on your time based on your preferences. Good luck!

Rich

[Dean33 69]

LM offer a 60 day refund policy so you can try it out. 

[sanh 823]

Playing devils advocate I would recommend sticking with what you have. Go check out a video of FSX with add-ons and compare to V4 with add-ons. You might struggle to see the difference. If you have good performance and no OOM you should stick with what you have for now. Why pay 500 bucks and go through all that hassle for gain that is probably worth much less than 500 bucks worth. I am not suggesting staying on FSX for ever but if it's working for you don't feel the need to join the crowd.

[simbol 5,774]

It makes no sense keep investing in a technology that is falling behind.

You will feel the need soon or later to get  new sceneries or add-on's, either you will have less available to you or you will need to pay for them again when you finally move on from FSX.

Many developers (including me) are not planning to develop add-on's for FSX anymore as we want to focus in creating better products with better quality and sadly FSX is not providing the required platform to do so.

Google TrueGlass, that is something you will never see under FSX, just an example of many things ad why you should move on if you can afford it.

Simbol 

 

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

I would also caution against jumping into this..

Personally, I switched from FSX to P3DV4 a few months back and love it..   However, I mainly fly low and slow and really appreciate the improved autogen handling (no more popping of clumps of trees etc).  The cockpit shadows are kind of addictive as well.  Altogether , there are better lighting options all around.

Now, the cost, yes, the licence + the re-buying of airplanes (a2a is particularly bad at $100 per airplane..) and next on your list may be a faster video card (I just spent $500 on a GTX 1070)..

So, am I happy with P3DV4?  Yes.   Would I suggest that you take the plunge?  Not so sure.. your flying habits are different, and if FSX does the job (without OOMs).. maybe you should stay with it a bit longer..

[CFIJose 5,485]

I echo the advice to try out p3d v4. I predict that you will never go back to FSX.

[ArScAn 0]

Many thanks to everyone! Really appreciate all comments! I think I will follow the advice to start slowly with only P3D w/o many addons and keep my FSX:SE install for a while, until the transition becomes natural...

[sfgiants13 83]

Just a heads up aerosoft is charging for updates to the airbus. They said the cost will depend on how much new code is put into it. 

[ArScAn 0]

Hi, thank you very much everyone for the comments. I made the transition this week and I could not be happier! Another world! My PC is running P3D V4.1 with a much better performance (even with PMDG) and graphics/effects are far superior! Welcome 64-bit!

May I hijack this topic to ask another quick question, that maybe someone could answer easily? I am looking to a place to find key aircraft data from my PMDG 737 NGX in order to properly set the aircraft profiles in SkyVector, PFPX, Topcat and so on. I already  searched a lot in the forums, PMDG manuals, but I can only find some fragmented info. I am looking to things like Cruise Speed, Cruising Altitude, Cruise Fuel Flow, Fuel Capacity, Weights, Wake Turbulence Category, etc. Is there a best or most commonly know place to find such things (e.g. aircraft.cfg, any manual in particular,  any website to download profiles for PFPX, Topcat)? Mainly for PMDG, but also for Aerosoft or FSLabs aircrafts... I wonder if no one has created a databse, downloadable profiles, etc. It will help a lot!

Many thanks!