FSElite Exclusive: P3D v4.4 Releasing November 28th

[costamesa 88]

1 hour 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.

Orbx is "relatively" easy... REX (HD Airports, SkyForce), ASCA, ENVTEX, UT2, MTL packages are the time consuming ones. I have recently re-installed the 4.3 and now I will probably have to do it again.

[honanhal 1,420]

23 minutes ago, virtuali said:

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)

Interesting, Umberto. I’m most worried for a possible reinstall about addons that put textures in the global texture folder (eg T2G textures for city buildings). What you’re saying is those will be untouched, so on reinstall those textures will still work? No black buildings in T2G sceneries?

James

[virtuali 4,419]

35 minutes ago, honanhal said:

addons that put textures in the global texture folder (eg T2G textures for city buildings).

"put" or "replace" is the key difference here. If the addon added its own textures with their own name, even if they are in a folder inside the sim, they won't be removed when uninstalling.

if the addon replaced textures (or any other file) that belong to the simulator with its own versions, using the same file name, it will have to be reinstalled. Or, possibly, just reconfigured.

Case in point: GSX Level 2 patches the default airport_objects.bgl file to remove the default jetways. While it doesn't require a reinstall, it will be necessary to start the GSX Control Panel utility to repatch the default airport_objects.bgl, which has been restored reinstalling the sim, because this was a file that belongs to the sim.

Edited November 27, 2018 by virtuali

[Guest]

1 hour ago, 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?

As long as the number before the POINT remains a 4 the release will be free. So you won't have to pay anything in order to go from 4.3 to 4.4. The same goes for 4.5, 4,6, 4.7 and so on (if we ever get to see those numbers: probably not). We only have to purchase the sim again when the number before the POINT changes to 5. 😉 And 6. And 7. And 8. And...

Edited November 27, 2018 by Guest

[regis9 4,004]

I’ve recently been dabbling in X-Plane 11, and one part of that sim that has blown me away is the use of PBR.  Yesterday I was sitting at a terminal at night in the IXEG 737 just staring in awe at the night lighting reflecting off the aircraft.  I actually said “wow” out loud.  It really didn’t seem like I was looking at a computer program, it’s that impressive.

So having experienced that I’m really excited to see what PBR will mean for P3D and what our community’s talented add-on creators will be able to do with this new feature.

Any early rumours of who is already working on PBR updates or any upcoming releases?

[GSalden 4,656]

Here I will only be updating the Cliënt as no Content/Scenery fixes and improvements are important to me...

V4.3 was already a Full Install.

Edited November 27, 2018 by GSalden

[UAL4life 237]

3 hours ago, ckyliu said:

If P3Dv4.4 has fixed the photo scenery blurry issues we might see some announcements from Orbx as regards additional TrueEarth products for P3D

I hope so, as from a disconnected observer (I may be missing something) but it seems Orbx has really toned down their development for p3d

[Nyxx 6,993]

5 minutes ago, GSalden said:

Here I will only be updating the Cliënt as no Content/Scenery fixes and improvements are important to me...

V4.3 was already a Full Install.

Having read thought I agree, client only for me to. 

[MDFlier 2,031]

I suspect that they are going to need some time to get the new features incorporated into their existing products. Surely, they've had (some) access to LM's roadmap. They might be stuck in limbo waiting for something (possibly PBR?) to be an official thing before they can proceed any further. 

[Johnny19 344]

1 hour 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

 

True, i omitted that. Although all my scenery addons are on a separate disk, with respective .../scenery, .../effects, .../autogen, .../simobjects, .../texture folders also on that drive. Just a few addons unfortunately are inside the main sim folder.

[Johnny19 344]

1 hour ago, virtuali said:

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.

Thank you Umberto for explaining it thoroughly 🙂

[GSalden 4,656]

52 minutes ago, UAL4life said:

I hope so, as from a disconnected observer (I may be missing something) but it seems Orbx has really toned down their development for p3d

PR scenery is looking better already in 512 mode in V4.4.

In 1024 mode it looks even better.

But you have to check for yourself if you need 1024 .... 😎

Edited November 27, 2018 by GSalden

[cnc3 14]

I thought the following were interesting in the SDK section:

Quote

• CIGI Custom Packets
• Linux Simulation Integration

CIGI allows for externally generated images to be inserted into the simulation (assuming I am reading the wikipedia page correctly)

The Linux point seems to allow conversation with the simulator from a non-windows platform.

The release note entry says that the change was for better examples but I was not aware of this capability prior to this.

[ark 1,288]

2 hours ago, GSalden said:

Here I will only be updating the Cliënt as no Content/Scenery fixes and improvements are important to me...

V4.3 was already a Full Install.

What does it mean to only update the Client -- how do you do that?

Thx,

Al

[Johnny19 344]

2 minutes ago, ark said:

What does it mean to only update the Client -- how do you do that?

Thx,

Al

Go to Control Panel in windows, Uninstall a Program, click on Prepar3D v4 Client and then click Uninstall. You might have to reactivate the application once you install the new version.