FSElite Exclusive: P3D v4.4 Releasing November 28th

[simbol 5,819]

Just now, Daedalus said:

Yes,  I'm sure I Will love it, especially when every add-on becomes PBR compatible. However, what I want to avoid is PBR artifacts on non-compatible aircraft, if that is a possibility. 

You have nothing to worry about.

S.

[ComSimPilot 623]

3 minutes ago, simbol said:

You have nothing to worry about.

S.

Thanks so much Simbol. That's sounds really nice 🙂 

[MarkW 1,490]

I wonder if LM will actually recommend a full reinstall in their release notes.  And if so and we all have to go through the process, is there a guideline somewhere?  I have many addons in the Add-Ons folder using the Lorbi tool but I also have a bunch of stuff that auto installs directly that would need to be dealt with....planes are easy but what about Orbx scenery, REX Airport Enhanced, etc.

[Christopher Low 5,341]

Quote

Removed all Beechcraft (Textron) related aircraft and scenarios.

[honanhal 1,420]

5 hours ago, GSalden said:

Now each scenery addon can have a scevery, texture abd autogen folder .

Result : each addon can use its own country / region / city specific  custom AG buildings / objects... 😀

 

Yes, but will they? The big players in this area seem to have fallen into a bit of stubbornness/arrogance on this already...will they really do the work to redo their installers this way?

James

[edpatino 1,960]

6 hours ago, GSalden said:

This is probably one of the best new features !

Up to now Arno’s Tool was needed to see correct AG objects from Orbx and other developers.

Now each scenery addon can have a scevery, texture abd autogen folder .

Result : each addon can use its own country / region / city specific  custom AG buildings / objects... 😀

 

I agree, Gerard. This is an important progress, as it would not be a need to merge different autogen description files from different developers.

+1 for LM!.

Cheers, Ed

[edpatino 1,960]

38 minutes ago, MarkW said:

I wonder if LM will actually recommend a full reinstall in their release notes.  And if so and we all have to go through the process, is there a guideline somewhere?  I have many addons in the Add-Ons folder using the Lorbi tool but I also have a bunch of stuff that auto installs directly that would need to be dealt with....planes are easy but what about Orbx scenery, REX Airport Enhanced, etc.

Read Rob A. post above about this.

Cheers, Ed

[jason99vmi 157]

When we say full reinstall, are we talking about uninstalling addons and completely wiping drive (format SSD)?  Or we talking just uninstalling 4.3 Client, Content and Scenery then installing 4.4 Client, Content and Scenery.  

I just did a full wipe of the drive a month or so ago and it was a nightmare getting back to stable flights with every addon working.  And yes all my scenery addons are installed outside the sim including all my AI etc.  

[Johnny19 344]

 

3 minutes ago, jason99vmi said:

When we say full reinstall, are we talking about uninstalling addons and completely wiping drive (format SSD)?  Or we talking just uninstalling 4.3 Client, Content and Scenery then installing 4.4 Client, Content and Scenery.  

I just did a full wipe of the drive a month or so ago and it was a nightmare getting back to stable flights with every addon working.  And yes all my scenery addons are installed outside the sim including all my AI etc.  

You can reinstall every component separately, without wipping the whole drive. Only addons that are installed inside the main sim folder will probably require reinstall. 

[MDFlier 2,031]

I'm new to P3D. Is this going to be a "new" version that we have to purchase, or a "point release" that updates what we already have?

How does LM usually do this?

[ComSimPilot 623]

Just now, MDFlier said:

I'm new to P3D. Is this going to be a "new" version that we have to purchase, or a "point release" that updates what we already have?

How does LM usually do this?

No, its not a new version. It is an update to the current P3D v4 version.

[kevinfirth 1,392]

56 minutes ago, honanhal said:

Yes, but will they? The big players in this area seem to have fallen into a bit of stubbornness/arrogance on this already...will they really do the work to redo their installers this way?

James

Not on day 1.  Some devs will be quicker than others to exploit this, but as products take advantage of it, it will become more widely adopted.  I hope the documentation around the PDK is transparent enough to make it simple to understand and easy to implement, otherwise devs may just file it away under "too difficult for now"

[Pete Dowson 558]

18 minutes ago, Johnny19 said:

Only addons that are installed inside the main sim folder will probably require reinstall. 

Only any which replace any effects or scenery files. Uninstalls leave all changed files in the main sim folder. I find I only need to enter and okay out of the FTX Central program so it can see to its autogen changes. Hopefully Orbx will be sorting that out now they can have separate Autogen files.

Pete

 

[jason99vmi 157]

4 minutes ago, Pete Dowson said:

Only any which replace any effects or scenery files. Uninstalls leave all changed files in the main sim folder. I find I only need to enter and okay out of the FTX Central program so it can see to its autogen changes. Hopefully Orbx will be sorting that out now they can have separate Autogen files.

Pete

 

Uh oh usually LM only puts out updates when Pete is on vacation.   He's here.  Something must be amiss.  lol.  

 

[virtuali 4,419]

12 minutes ago, Johnny19 said:

 

You can reinstall every component separately, without wipping the whole drive. Only addons that are installed inside the main sim folder will probably require reinstall. 

I want to better clarify this:

It's not "really" a problem if an addon installed INTO the sim. It IS bad practice, which could generally be prevented, but is still not the end of the world, and you CAN still Uninstall/Reintall the sim using the Full installer, and still not being forced to reinstall such addons. That is, of course, if you don't ALSO *manually* wipe the P3D folder yourself!

This because, like any standard installer, the P3D uninstaller will only remove things it has installed itself. It won't remove any of your preference, including any DLL/EXE.XML files which might still be used by those addons still using the legacy method (no add-on.xml)

An obvious example are PMDG aircraft. Yes, they don't install outside the sim, and don't use the add-on.xml method. But if you JUST Uninstall and Reinstall the simulator (without wiping any folders manually), they WILL continue to work as they were. This because the default Uninstall/Reinstall hasn't removed the DLL.XML file were PMDG added its own software module, and hasn't remove the Simobject\Airplane folders were the airplanes were installed. I did this full Uninstall/Reinstall dozen of times during the Beta cycle, and I never had to reinstall ANY of my addons. I always uninstalled/reinstalled using the full installer, never the Client only.

HOWEVER, if an addon replaces some of the default files of the sim, this is an entirely different matter, and it's very likely that addon will have to be reinstalled.

And, if you want to clean up all preference, trash the Prepar3d.cfg, wipe the installation folder and basically start from scratch, you will have to reinstall all the addons that don't use the add-on.xml method.