17 minutes ago, roesti said:

the remaining stuff that can't be plugged into the sim this way).

Thanks for this info. Been using Lorby but some scenery wont work outside p3d.

2 hours ago, Sparkrite said:

But they all don't do they?

FTTF, ChasePlane, EnvShade, ASP3D, etc., to name a few.

However I agree that most sceneries and airports should be ok with a point (.) update.

Those are NOT add-ons. They are programs which need updating. Add- ons are airports and scenery.

7 minutes ago, reecemj said:

Been using Lorby but some scenery wont work outside p3d.

To be fair, I manually converted many of older scenery stuff that doesn't come with add-on.xml support on my own. Usually, it's not that of a big deal because scenery stuff uses a common structure. But it can take some time, it's work you have to at least to do once. But I promise if you invest this time, you'll never have issues again.

This is something that most of the time only applies to "older stuff" so it probably doesn't get updates anymore. So after you've done it, you take it from one P3D version to the next one and never have to deal with it again.

I did this work years ago and still enjoy the benefits. Feel free to tell me which kind of scenery you refer to, maybe I've got it as well and already have done the work or if can offer some help if you're interested in "tyding up" your scenery libraries 😉

Edited January 29, 20224 yr by roesti

1 hour ago, roesti said:

A full reinstall of P3D does only take some minutes for me and everything works like before, but of course it depends on what you actually use

Agree fully with what you have said and I, personally, do not in any way hesitate to update when one is available.

 

1 hour ago, roesti said:

Then update / reinstall the remaining stuff:

FFTF: Install the update and run it, done (usually up to a week waiting)
ChasePlane: Update and run it, done (usually within a couple of hours)
EnvShade: Update, start EnvDir, Re-Apply to the Sim, done (usually within a few days)
ASP3D: Install the Update, update the connector if it asks for it, done (usually within a couple of hours)

( my comments in BOLD )

 

However, as you state, depending on your addons, the full update procedure to bring you back to 'everything works like before' may not be as quick as some have inferred above.

Edited January 29, 20224 yr by Sparkrite

20 minutes ago, IanHarrison said:

Those are NOT add-ons. They are programs which need updating.

Without getting into semantics, I would term them 'add-ons' .

I certainly would not use them as stand alone programs if I did not have P3D or similar, so hence, as far as I am concerned, they are indeed an add-on to my flight simulator.

But whatever you choose to term them, the simple point I'm trying to make, is that even a point (.) update can take a lot longer than a 'few minutes' to have all back as before.

( Obviously only if you use the above named 'additions' )

P3D only removes files the installer has added. I’ve updated several times for v4 and v5 without having to reinstall any addons. Client, Content and Scenery - no problems at all.

You only need to reinstall addons if you run the nuclear option - Delete Generated Files.

Never but never run that unless you’re having serious problems and P3D won’t run. It’s total overkill and rarely needed.

When I first shifted across to P3DV5 (I was all FSX before that) I found the general architecture of the sim familiar but somehow different. I struggled to make a few early things work using the XML method. I initially thought thats neat and tidy. now the installation instructions via LM are also not quite clear except follow these steps. The update process was always fast and comprehensive - then I would forget that some older installers still were stuck in the FSX or pre V5 software architecture and would then inevitably mess something up or change something then there would be hours of needless work trying to find the culprit or cause!. Some pre V5 installers are diabolical and don't even install correctly to the folders they should particularly scenery or alternatively aircraft where the developers were being clever with anti-piracy trips. 

So what well here is what I have discovered with P3DV5 (++) the architecture of the sim program is designed deliberately to be a hub and spoke or bolt in/out process and operation of all addons. I have a Professional edition and the considerable additional functionality in that version gave me the clues that the aim is for a user or user group (organisation) to develop their own simulator vehicle (using well known programming methods and language) and instead of putting it in the sim the sim program brings it in to use it and will run it accordingly while the sim program does what the sim program does. You can see how this approach works by thinking about how LM have introduced EA and True Sky and Nvidia wave motion all externally developed graphical processes that are kept within the sim program but are in fact standalone processes. This is another reason why they have addressed the HT and Affinity Masking or core utilisation issues in the most recent changes. This is very smart computer programming and reflects a well thought out approach to developing training systems and particularly a one size fits all military vehicle simulation program (Land vehicle or water vehicle or air vehicle).

Now a well know scenery developer accidentally led me to this insight and the solution to my self inflicted woes by completely screwing up my scenery config file and hence causing the sim to fail to load because it was stuck in an endless loop looking for files that were not where they should be! (The MY SIM WON'T START SINDROME) 

So I went the nuclear option right back to deleting everything and anything P3D from the PC (making backups of all my key stuff first). Then I did a fresh installation and then I set about placing every addon outside of the main sim program either as proper addon using the xml method or in the case of scenery stuff (that was not xml compliant) into and  onto a separate drive altogether. All the good addon developers who do stuff for P3D by the way (non models) properly follow the addon xml method (FSUIPC, AcuFeel, Active Sky, FSL Spotlights etc). 

I reinstalled all of ORBX onto the separate drive (ORBX actually does write in xmls when you do that) all my older and newer scenery onto the drive for scenery and all my aircraft or vehicles into the V5 Addons Folder each as a discrete package with an xml. So the complete P3D program is pristine and complete with no changes other than the indexes and tag process that the program creates for it to find stuff as you want it or the sim program calls for it. 

This means any update is fast and efficient and nothing gets changed or altered the V5 P3D program except what LM changes. 

So I have an extensive collection of aircraft models (over 100 because I have ported across a lot of older stuff from FSX days) all alone as addons (some 200GB) I have all the scenery on a discreet drive referenced via the xml method or simply linked via the scenery library editor (Lorby will do that for you) that is another 600GB and probably some 700 different scenery packages from airports to LC to mesh etc etc). 

So how does it go - perfectly - if the model or scenery has no coding or bugs then P3D will find it load it and run it. How does it run beautifully at 30 fps using only 45% of the GPU for graphics with no glitches stutters or problems. 

Took me a while to catch on this the way you do P3D and ditch the MS mentality of crazy daisy chains of dlls and data links! The other very clever feature of the program if you tick the box to create a content error log on the main program features at the end of each sim session P3D will generate a comprehensive error or bug report telling you exactly where something was not quite right or missing or duplicated. what is not to like about that. That log identifies very quickly which part of which model or scenery package has a problem, what it is and hence can I fix it or do I need an update or fix from the developer to do that! 

The latest update to HF2 took longer to download than it took to install and refresh the program all up probably 15 minutes. 

In case you wondering I only have a 6/12 core I7 processor with an NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super card and SSDs for the drives. P3D seems to have no issues running the whole scenery world off the external drives or the model from the addon folder and all the other processes the same way. Updates from here on in will be a minor problem to be done now and then.

 

 

Edited January 29, 20224 yr by coastaldriver
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