Is V3.4 usable or not?

[clocki 2]

Hey mates,

as in the title I'd like to know if its fine to upgrade to the latest V3 version available? I have read on release there where problems with OOM's and other stuff where users said they go back to another version. That's why I stayed till now on V3.2
So is it better to stay on my version or can I update without getting in trouble and getting problems?

PS: Going to V4 is planned but not yet...

[mdata 46]

Hi Eddi,

Personally I di not experience a big difference between v3.2 and v3.4. Depending on your graphics settings, installed scenery and aircraft add-ons you would see OOMs with both versions.

Some addon developers like FSDT have changed their way to install their scenery for v3.4 - beginning with this version and keeping it the same way in P3Dv4.x. The new way to install scenery as recommended by LM is to install scenery not into the sim's root folder (or any other sub-folder of P3D) but into folders outside of the sim. Which is a good thing IMO, but with that they have changed the way registering scenery for P3D. The scenery.cfg file is not the main "registry" for scenery anymore. Instead they use XML files located in a new folder in your User\Documents folder and register the addons from there. The drawback is - at least for the moment (there is long debates about that here on AVSIM and on the LM forum) - that as long as not all scenery developers stick with the new method, scenery layering by the user becomes difficult if not impossible, since scenery entries in the scenery.cfg and scenery added with the new method fight for the same layer numbers, i.e. priority in the scenery library.

As long as you update the P3D client only, this should not be of a big concern for you as all scenery installed in v3.2 will work as before. But as soon as you install a new FSDT airport, they will migrate every installed FSDT airport to the new installation method and they will become immovable in your scenery library - as long as you do not start to use external tools like for example Lorby's free Addon Organizer.

Other than that; if OOMs are not your concern P3Dv3.4 is fine.

Cheers
Frank

[WebMaximus 372]

I upgraded from 3.2->3.4 and never had as many OOM issues in my life and quickly reverted back to 3.2 since I wasn't even able to complete a flight in the NGX between airports I never had any issues with before such as Orbx ESSA and FlyTampa EKCH.

I wouldn't touch 3.4 if I was in your situation but rather wait for version 4 instead.

[Afterburner 374]

If one or a few more users experience higher VAS consumption with version 3.4 over 3.2, it doesn't mean that ALL users will be worse off with 3.4 on their system when it comes to VAS. On my system, for instance, the VAS with 3.4 is not worse than with 3.2 (I would actually say it's slightly better), but the performance on approach to big airports is measurably higher. Also, 3.4 gives you some other small features and bugfixes.

If I were you, I would make a back-up of your current system, install 3.4 and test it. If you like it, you are good to go, and if not, you can revert to the backup state.

[WebMaximus 372]

There was actually quite a huge number of people who experienced severe VAS issues going from 3.2 and 3.3 to 3.4 so unless you have a specific reason to upgrade to 3.4 such as having a scenery that is only compatible with 3.4 I would personally stay at 3.2 no doubt about it.

Of course you could give it a try and then revert back to a backup if you experience issues but I don't see any reason to upgrade just for the purpose of upgrading if everything is already running fine in 3.2.

Then when you have the chance, you can upgrade to version 4 which would of course be a clean install but well worth it considering all the improvements that have been made compared to version 3.

Just my 2 cents...

[Afterburner 374]

Yes, I remember the issues that some users had with VAS after the release of 3.4.9 last year. However, LM made some improvements with 3.4.18, but soon after, there was a number of users having VAS problems when using any Nvidia drivers newer than 376.33. This problem was attributed to the drivers and not so much to 3.4 itself.

If 3.2 works to your satisfaction with all add-ons, then surely there is no objection against keeping it. However, here is an example of the improvement of 3.4.18 over older versions when you use ASCA and AS2016 (quote from AS forum):

Quote

Cloud texture repetition: Since ASCA was released, this has been one of the main things that simmers used to criticize us . So, there are some things here that need clarification: This is a P3D bug (omission is a more accurate word). We've forward that information (what exactly is wrong) to LM and expect that it will be addressed soon(EDIT: This has been addressed in 3.4.18). This problem (that btw does not exist in fsx or P3D version 1.x) is present whatever texture/cloud model someone uses. It's more apparent with ASCA for a single reason: ASCA cloud models are larger in general by design (that's the way we achieve these huge TCU and thunderstorm clouds thanks to the work Diana made). So, this single bug in the geometry calculations may be more noticeable. But it is present with default clouds or other 3rd party ones too. Do you remember the long threads about "pop corn" clouds? The core reason is the same. We can hide the problem up to a point (by using softer textures), but the problem will always be there until fixed by LM. In ASCA SP1, the problem is still there, but hopefully it's now somewhat less noticeable.

https://hifisimtech.com/forums/showthread.php?7784-AS16-SP1-Open-Beta-B6191-Discussion

Should you decide to go with 3.4.22, it is a good idea to make a fresh install of P3D to make sure that no add-on leftovers will interfere with the update.

[Bobsk8 12,576]

Been flying 3.4 for a long time. never had an OOM or a crash. Wouldn't trade it for anything. 

[mdata 46]

It really depends on your kind of flying and the settings you apply. Low and slow works better than complex tube liners from and to complex airports.

With the possibility of observing the amount of free VAS with the help of FSUIPC I was able to tune my settings (LOD, autogen and shadows mostly) to sensible values that allowed me a good balance between visuals and VAS usage. Thus I could save my flights before running out of free VAS and resume them in an attempt to finish them halfway reasonable.

With v4, finally all this tinkering could be stopped, but I miss a lot many of my long time favorite 32bit aircraft. This is the flip-side of the v4 coin.

[Cargostorm 151]

P3D v3.4 consumes more VAS than 3.2 here too. Had my first OOM in 3.4 and went back to 3.3.5. Now happy flying aircrafts in 3.3 that are not available (and never will) in v4.

[clocki 2]

20 hours ago, mdata said:

Some addon developers like FSDT have changed their way to install their scenery for v3.4 - beginning with this version and keeping it the same way in P3Dv4.x. The new way to install scenery as recommended by LM is to install scenery not into the sim's root folder (or any other sub-folder of P3D) but into folders outside of the sim. Which is a good thing IMO, but with that they have changed the way registering scenery for P3D. The scenery.cfg file is not the main "registry" for scenery anymore. Instead they use XML files located in a new folder in your User\Documents folder and register the addons from there. The drawback is - at least for the moment (there is long debates about that here on AVSIM and on the LM forum) - that as long as not all scenery developers stick with the new method, scenery layering by the user becomes difficult if not impossible, since scenery entries in the scenery.cfg and scenery added with the new method fight for the same layer numbers, i.e. priority in the scenery library.

As long as you update the P3D client only, this should not be of a big concern for you as all scenery installed in v3.2 will work as before. But as soon as you install a new FSDT airport, they will migrate every installed FSDT airport to the new installation method and they will become immovable in your scenery library - as long as you do not start to use external tools like for example Lorby's free Addon Organizer.
 

Hey Frank,

thanks for the reply. I do not fully understand what you mean. Does it mean I can not use the same way with the tool Scenery Config Editor? Does that effect only the FSDT sceneries (I only have GSX and maybe a few others which I'm not using that often) or also the other big developers?
That's of course  a big thing and could lead to some trouble...

[mdata 46]

Hi Eddi,

Regarding addons for v4 there is more and more developers who are making use of the new way of registering scenery addons (xml-method). But, if I am not totally wrong it was only FSDT with their Addon Manager who migrated scenery from the old to the new method in P3Dv3.4.

Let's take an example and imagine you would migrate from v3.2 to v3.4. As long as you would not install any other FSDT addon everything would be fine. But as soon as you would install  a further FSDT scenery with an installer that was released or updated after the release of P3Dv4 it would migrate GSX not only to a new location on your hard drive but it would as well change the way of registering it - from scenery.cfg to xml-method. From that moment in time you would need to deal with two locations where scenery is registered for P3Dv3.4.

Now, this Addon Organizer from Lorby does in principle what Scenery Config Editor does. The tool from Lorby definitely works with v3 and v4 versions of P3D. Looking at the below post on AVSIM it seems like Scenery Config Editor is not yet fully compatible with P3Dv4. If this applies as well to v3.4 if one uses (or is forced to use) both methods of scenery registration I do not know, since I never used SCE.

If you are sure you would not going to install any new FSDT scenery into v3.4 then IMO you could upgrade from 3.2 without needing to fear this scenery registration hassle. If you will see a big benefit in performance, reliability, etc - not sure; this may depend very much on your system as well. If you experience a stable simulation environment now, then maybe you want to stick with 3.2 until you finally decide to upgrade to v4.

Cheers
Frank

[clocki 2]

I'm sorry if I'm asking double questions or maybe just too stupid to get it. Is the Lorby tool able to use both kind of scenery configs? I mean to migrate them in a kind of way so no scenery is fighting for a special place or so?

That's whats currently keeping me on 3.2 as don't want to waste much time on every P3D strt with fighting scenery and possible errors. As I'm working as paramedic 12hrs shift I'm not having that often time to fly. So wasting these days for getting the destination airport working is not a good thing.

Thanks again :)

[mdata 46]

18 minutes ago, clocki said:

I'm sorry if I'm asking double questions or maybe just too stupid to get it. Is the Lorby tool able to use both kind of scenery configs? I mean to migrate them in a kind of way so no scenery is fighting for a special place or so?

To be honest, only Oliver (alias Lorby) could answer that question a 100%. However, I have seen addons starting to fight for layers when adding a lot of scenery. I have OrbX scenery, freeware scenery and other commercial scenery, more than 150 in total. At some point I stopped trying to get their order under control because I found it was impossible doing that by hand (Scenery Library Editor) or with Lorby's tool.
At one point I may want to do this from scratch, but me too, I like to fly from time to time, and not only tinker with the Scenery Library...

Best Regards
Frank

[clocki 2]

Many thanks Frank for your support. I guess I will update to 3.4 and see what's happening. I'm not having so much sceneries enabled as I have my "must haves" like Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Dubai etc. and all others smaller ones will normally be removed after the flight. That to save space and reduce workload. I mean, why should I enable for example Mauritius if I fly there maybe 1 or 3 times a year.

Does it make sense to update everything to 3.4 or what should I do there? Only Content? Whats the better solution?

[mdata 46]

17 hours ago, clocki said:

Does it make sense to update everything to 3.4 or what should I do there? Only Content? Whats the better solution?

Hi Eddi,
Always happy to help. Regarding upgrading, the minimum is of course the Client. I do not recall the list of changes anymore, so you could go without updating Content if there was not a special bug fix or enhancement you would have been looking for.
When I did the last update from v4 to v4.1 I updated both, Client and Content and it went fine - without influence on my installed add-ons. However, if you wold update Scenery as well you would need to re-install add-ons that change default files such as default textures and default effects, like OrbX does it with their FTX Global series.

Before any update I took a backup of all my configuration files in the respective folders. Not in order to put them back after the update, but in order to be able to see if they have been changed by the update, and potentially to return specific modifications I added for the previous version.

It is good practice as well to remove all Shader files from User\you\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3d v4\Shaders (I think - I am not at my home computer currently) and let P3D rebuild them after the update when you first launch it.

Regards
Frank