I have 2 worries about such a move I'm hoping some you kind folks can shed some light on.

1.  Cost;  I'm a long time FSX'er with LOTS of add-on's.  Just duplicating my A2A and PMDG aircraft alone is over $1000 in new licenses.  I haven't checked into the many other sceneries I have (I know ORBX is free), utilities, and other aircraft, some of which come with both installers, I know.  Apparently, some of my favorite aircraft will never be P3D compatible.  (RealAir, DoDo sim, etc.) .  then there's the large amount of my time involved. 

Am I off base here, or is everyone else just sucking it up and paying/doing it ??

 

2. Continuing incompatibility:  When you say something is P3D compatible, it seems like you need to specify what version of P3D.  LM seems to release new versions with some regularity and I get the impression each one generates some incompatibilities. 

Again, am I off base ?

I realize eventually I'll have to end up moving away from FSX to some other sim, but am hoping I've over-estimated the cost and difficulty of going with P3D ?

 

Cheers

Jeff

Just consider the alternative, P3D as you point out continues to improve while FSX is unchanging.  The updates with P3D are normally accompanied with updates to addons at no charge by most major developers, so that isn't really an issue related to your issue at hand.

Speaking of incompatibility, many scenery developers have announced they have discontinued product updates for FSX.  The technology cannot work with the features afforded by recent improvements in P3D.

My guess is that the longer you wait is not going to make the transition any easier.

1)  Bite the bullet.

2) The big change was V3 to V4 when they wen't 64bit. There shouldn't be any serious incompats going forward.

Go for it - you will not be sorry.

 

Vic

1. Concerning cost and time: maybe you can pick the addons you REALLY like and only update and install those into P3D. That may save you a lot of money and time. You certainly don't have to do it all right away. You could install P3D, install one (base) addon scenery, one airliner and off you go. You can add other stuff over time. Of course this depends on how you like to use your sim. I usually fly one plane over one region for months and months so it's easy for me to say... 😉
Concerning cost of PMDG and A2A when it comes to upgrading: I am not a fan of how they do business. I think it's best when I leave it at that... 😐 But do you really need ALL those planes in P3D?

2. Point releases (like 4.2 to 4.3) usually only result in a few temporary incompatibilities that usually are solved for free quickly. No one knows what v5 may bring in the future though... but it won't be as big as going from 32bit to 64 bit. New graphical possibilities like PBR and raytracing won't mean current addons will stop working. But well, you never know what LM has up its sleeve.

 

 

Hi Jeff,

You can still keep FSX on your computer as you gradually build your P3DV4. You don't have to do it all at once. I filled my FSX with retro sceneries from the 1950-60 era and use it as a sim for reminiscing on old props.  I could have wrote this question myself a year ago but went ahead and jumped into Prepared last January and have no regrets.  Money and time for sure but only you know your personal situation. Good luck with what ever you decide.

1) Bite the bullet
2) If the bullet is too hard use your back teeth.

Regards
bs

Jeff,

I have to agree with these responses. I have, and I believe most of us have, at some stage pondered this very question before making the move.

Which ever way you choose to go, there are two certainties, one is that eventually will have to move due to a lack of further development, and, the second is that it could  be marginally exensive. There is another thread runnng concurrently regarding the value for money of simming. Worth a read if you have not already done so.

I said marginally expensive because I believe you can select an area (scenery/s) and an Aircraft. Realair has just updated the Beech Duke 60 and at least one other of their products, to P3Dv4 and this is a no cost update. Some other aircraft have been modded also at no cost for previous owners. You can opt to fly in those areas in those aircraft until you can afford the next scenery or aircraft.

I am doing just what you are contemplating and I am doing it from FS2004, and to iterate, we all know what you are going to go through in the coming months.  BUT .... in the long term, you must bite the bullet. 

I think we all, also wish you luck with the very worthwhile transition.

Regards

Tony

The longer you wait the harder it will be to convert. Try not looking at the cost as a whole and just chip away at it little by little as you can afford. There may be a year or so transition from your migration to P3D from FSX. Get P3D and transfer everything you can for free, then set yourself a goal of re-purchasing 1 addon per month (or something like along those lines). Then there will be a point that you can drag FSX into the trash and you'll feel great and free up some HD space as a bonus!

Edited September 27, 20187 yr by PWJT8D

Agree that you can keep FSX installed.  That is what I did.

The only mandatory things you would need for P3DV4 are Orbx Global and whatever Orbx regions you like to fly in.. all free.  AND possibly a video card upgrade if you do not have a GTX1070 or better.

Then an airplane or two.. depending on the vendor, that may cost..

Maybe also some GTN avionics or similar.. yup, that will cost.

But having done that, you can go flying in either P3D or FSX whenever you want.

My situation.... I still have FSX installed, but never fly it anymore..

ps.  I fly my RealAir aircraft in P3DV4.. no cost.

Edited September 27, 20187 yr by Bert Pieke

Thanx for the advice everyone!   much appreciated......

I will probably go ahead as many have suggested 

RealAir is still operating?  I had no idea

 

jeff

1 hour ago, Bert Pieke said:

Agree that you can keep FSX installed.  That is what I did.

The only mandatory things you would need for P3DV4 are Orbx Global and whatever Orbx regions you like to fly in.. all free.  AND possibly a video card upgrade if you do not have a GTX1070 or better.

Then an airplane or two.. depending on the vendor, that may cost..

Maybe also some GTN avionics or similar.. yup, that will cost.

But having done that, you can go flying in either P3D or FSX whenever you want.

My situation.... I still have FSX installed, but never fly it anymore..

ps.  I fly my RealAir aircraft in P3DV4.. no cost.

Hi Bert

Like you I trashed FSX for a few months. I started missing my a2a Connie but didn't want to throw another 70 bucks to replace it.Discovering a bunch of retro airport sceneries at California Classics I reinstalled FSX Steam and installed several of these and created a 1950-60 era sim for the Connie, PMDG DC6 and some other props. All these are easy on performance and FSX runs smoothly.

So P3DV4 is my present day sim with all my modern sceneries and aircraft. If I get the urge for some classic prop flying I go to my FSX retro sim. It's really fun to have AtL, Idelwild and several other airports the way they were back then. And they're free.

No, RealAir is still shut down and will stay that way but, you can update select aircraft from this webpage http://realairsimulations.net/

2 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

Agree that you can keep FSX installed.  That is what I did.

The only mandatory things you would need for P3DV4 are Orbx Global and whatever Orbx regions you like to fly in.. all free.  AND possibly a video card upgrade if you do not have a GTX1070 or better.

Then an airplane or two.. depending on the vendor, that may cost..

Maybe also some GTN avionics or similar.. yup, that will cost.

But having done that, you can go flying in either P3D or FSX whenever you want.

My situation.... I still have FSX installed, but never fly it anymore..

ps.  I fly my RealAir aircraft in P3DV4.. no cost.

So Bert. You can still fly with each. When I read about issues with P3DV4 seems issues are slanted toward high end tube liners.  I fly exclusively GA, and use a good deal of photo real scenery and a significant number of 3rd party and freeware airports.  My GPU is a high end 970. I look and listen and judge the price of a 1070 and ask myself what is the increment of difference, and what is the increment of price? For P3D itself, and for upgrades for a number of aircraft, scenery, weather and traffic upgrades, etc.  Surely there is a difference, but in GA what is the total increment, and what is the resulting increment of difference in experience?

 

1 hour ago, fppilot said:

So Bert. You can still fly with each. When I read about issues with P3DV4 seems issues are slanted toward high end tube liners.  I fly exclusively GA, and use a good deal of photo real scenery and a significant number of 3rd party and freeware airports.  My GPU is a high end 970. I look and listen and judge the price of a 1070 and ask myself what is the increment of difference, and what is the increment of price? For P3D itself, and for upgrades for a number of aircraft, scenery, weather and traffic upgrades, etc.  Surely there is a difference, but in GA what is the total increment, and what is the resulting increment of difference in experience?

 

Hi Frank,

I went from a 2GB 770 to an 8GB 1070 and that worked well for P3DV4.

You have 4 GB of VRAM, that is OK if you do not push the visual settings in P3D.  You are likely fine..

I do not know what the OP has installed though..

As for P3D vs FSX, I also fly exclusively GA, and do not fly FSX anymore.. the popping up of autogen alone is enough to drive me back to P3D. The visual experience is simply better..

 

Edited September 27, 20187 yr by Bert Pieke

Go for it. I switched to P3D v.4 and am not sorry.  I did not delete FSX until I had P3D running satisfactorily.  My only real problem was with 4 cananedo discs not working.  Got no support from them. On the whole, no great loss in the switchover.  Best of luck

Jim Elder