Hi all,

Currently transitioning from P3D to MSFS. My goal is to fly the study level aircraft like Fenix/PMDG etc...But before I get to my first true flight, are there any things that I should look into to help ease the transition for those already experienced with simulators?

Are modules like FSUIPC needed? Where can I find performance tips and tricks etc...

My main ask is should I treat this sim as something new and need patience for, or are there shortcuts for those more experienced with flight sims to get to my first flight?

best advice I can give would be to spend some time watching youtube tutorials.  The biggest ones I'd focus on would be camera system.  The camera system isn't the best in MSFS.  When compared to chaseplane.  But it's serviceable.  Just has a bit of a learning curve. Would highly recommend the addon linker to manage your scenery.  I have FSIUPC, but mainly use spad.next now for all that.  

I literally bought MSFS plugged in my joystick, throttle and pedals and that's it. 

The transition from Prepar3d isn’t that hard. Basically because they have the same base. Like said above, you can watch some tutorials, but you can also learn the details by using it.

Just make the jump, there's no real transition. Just gotta get used to the UI, get controls set up, turn off a few accessibility features and then slowly get into the rhythm. 

33 minutes ago, DANEQ99 said:

Are modules like FSUIPC needed? Where can I find performance tips and tricks etc...

Although I did buy FSUIPC early on for MSFS, I have not found a need for it and ended up deleting (I fly mostly PMDG 737, WT CJ4 and Fenix 320).  Other than that, just go for it.  The interface is of course different and also the cameras in the aircraft take some work to get set up and working right if you want custom views (Chaseplane was so much easier!).  Setting up your controls is pretty intuitive and you can set up a profile for each aircraft.  Other than that, enjoy!  You won't go back to P3D...

Edited July 12, 20223 yr by Flic1

I believe some programs or mods use FSUIPC, but you can get it for free on their website, so no big deal. 

1. Install MSFS on a drive that is not your C Drive. 
2. When updating MSFS it is recommended to empty your community folder (Where all of your addon reside) 
3. Use Addon Linker and use it from Day 1. https://flightsim.to/file/1572/msfs-addons-linker Addon Linker will help you keep your community folder in order. As you get more and more downloads it becomes harder to keep things in check. It also allows you to empty your community folder and then use pre-sets to load it once again.
4. Get to know Flightsim.to it is where almost all of your freeware is located.
5. You will need either, FSUIPC, AxisAndOhs (AAO), or Spad.next to map your hardware for complex addons, I prefer AAO but many prefer the other two. I also have FSUIPC7 but it is very hard to use for the hardware.

2 minutes ago, jjeffreys said:

1. Install MSFS on a drive that is not your C Drive. 
2. When updating MSFS it is recommended to empty your community folder (Where all of your addon reside) 
3. Use Addon Linker and use it from Day 1. https://flightsim.to/file/1572/msfs-addons-linker Addon Linker will help you keep your community folder in order. As you get more and more downloads it becomes harder to keep things in check. It also allows you to empty your community folder and then use pre-sets to load it once again.
4. Get to know Flightsim.to it is where almost all of your freeware is located.
5. You will need either, FSUIPC, AxisAndOhs (AAO), or Spad.next to map your hardware for complex addons, I prefer AAO but many prefer the other two. I also have FSUIPC7 but it is very hard to use for the hardware.

I have done of this, and my MSFS works perfectly, no CTDs or problems and good FPS. 

Edited July 12, 20223 yr by Bobsk8

take an hour or two and go mehthodically through all the options.

There are numerous 'beginner friendly' flight control assists actvated by default, you propably want to turn those off right from the start.

Get familiar with the camera system and consider an Xbox controller (or cheap similar knockoff) to use with the drone cam.

41 minutes ago, DANEQ99 said:

Hi all,

Currently transitioning from P3D to MSFS. My goal is to fly the study level aircraft like Fenix/PMDG etc...But before I get to my first true flight, are there any things that I should look into to help ease the transition for those already experienced with simulators?

Are modules like FSUIPC needed? Where can I find performance tips and tricks etc...

My main ask is should I treat this sim as something new and need patience for, or are there shortcuts for those more experienced with flight sims to get to my first flight?

If you are already experienced with the likes of a pmdg 737  or an fslabs A320, the MD82  from Leonardo in P3D , I don't see any problem transitioning to the parallels in MSFS. If anything, they have somewhat less features at this point in time so you wont have any issues there.

The camera system, as mentioned above, is more cumbersome and less user friendly than what you'll get with chaseplane or ezedoc but one can get used to it too.

FSUIPC is not as pivotal as it might be in p3d as you can create various controller profiles in the sim. Those are not automatically assigned to the appropriate aircraft though as is the case with a registered version of  FSUIPC in P3d

20 minutes ago, DANEQ99 said:

Hi all,

Currently transitioning from P3D to MSFS. My goal is to fly the study level aircraft like Fenix/PMDG etc...But before I get to my first true flight, are there any things that I should look into to help ease the transition for those already experienced with simulators?

Are modules like FSUIPC needed? Where can I find performance tips and tricks etc...

My main ask is should I treat this sim as something new and need patience for, or are there shortcuts for those more experienced with flight sims to get to my first flight?

Beyond a couple of quirks in setting up controls and understanding how cameras work in the new GUI, if you're experienced in P3D they do have a common ancestor in FSX so it's going to be somewhat familiar.  To help get you started w/ the camera system...

• The "Drone" camera can be brought up by hitting the keyboard's INSERT key when in the typical virtual cockpit view.  It can deliver views independently from the plane's orientation so is a stand-alone infinitely moveable camera.  From there...
  • W moves it forward
  • S backwards
  • R up
  • F down
  • Numpad 4 goes left, 6 right, 2 down, 8 up
    • Numpad 5 resets to the default Drone camera view
• An exterior view of the plane, which responds to mouse move/zoom is brought up by hitting the END key.

 

One of the main advantages to MSFS over other simulator platforms is there isn't a need for addons to get a great experience.

You can, as others have said, install MSFS and just go. The tiresomeness of other platforms is the endless trail of addons needed to 'get there'; scenery, airports, FSUIPC and so on.

I use Lorby Axis and Ohs to modify the trim wheel responsiveness and that's it. I have purchased many handcrafted airports and many aircraft, but that was not necessary, I just like pretty airports and aircraft.

I haven't flown any other platform for at least  6 months now.

1 hour ago, RichieFly said:

One of the main advantages to MSFS over other simulator platforms is there isn't a need for addons to get a great experience.

You can, as others have said, install MSFS and just go. The tiresomeness of other platforms is the endless trail of addons needed to 'get there'; scenery, airports, FSUIPC and so on.

I use Lorby Axis and Ohs to modify the trim wheel responsiveness and that's it. I have purchased many handcrafted airports and many aircraft, but that was not necessary, I just like pretty airports and aircraft.

I haven't flown any other platform for at least  6 months now.

This is so true, and so foreign if you came from the older sims, and I really value this piece.

Setting up the peripherals was a bit of a pain but other than that it‘s all pretty straightforward. I‘d also recommend using Addon Linker as it saves you a lot of hassle during updates, especially if you have many addons.