Hello everyone!

This is a rant, but I am looking for some advice from anyone who felt this way before completely moving to MSFS after using FSX/P3D for the last 15 years, like me. 

I'm having the hardest time getting myself to make the big switch from Prepar3dv5 to MSFS2020/24. I have MSFS2020 downloaded and ready to go in its out-of-the-box state, but everytime I load it up, it feels like it's just a game. I think I'm just too used to the way FSX and P3D were, in that they were just raw flight sims that cared about nothing other than flying airplanes and making the world your own. At the same time, the visuals in MSFS are simply too gorgeous to ignore and not smile at. I'm also annoyed at how different the keybinds are as compared to FSX/P3D. I also put so much money into all the addons that make P3D feel life-like, so moving away from it feels pointless, in that regard. 

Does anyone here resonate with what I am saying? What was the switch like for you all? I think I speak for a lot of us when I say we put a good amount of money into the prior generations of flight sims, so switching is easier said than done. I do recognize that MSFS is meant to be cheaper overall given the amount of freeware and stunning sceneries. 

 

Thanks all for reading my incoherent rant. I appreciate any and all responses! 

Were you using P3D Out of the Box these past 15 years or were you using 3rd Party Software? Well MSFS2020 is the same if you want to achieve maximum realism, you have to buy sceneries and aircraft from external developers.

There are no shortcuts.

2 minutes ago, Amrick615 said:

. I think I'm just too used to the way FSX and P3D were.

This is the answer you're looking for.

There is pain in changing. No doubt. I'm old and it was hell for me to switch from 2020 - 2024 only because I had to learn a new way of doing things. Let alone going from P3D to 2020.

As far as what you've spent before; forget it. It's called the "sunk cost fallacy". Holding on to something because of what has been spent before. Just forget all that and set yourself free. All your old peripherals will work and you don't really need any add-ons to have fun.

1 minute ago, RichieFly said:

As far as what you've spent before; forget it. It's called the "sunk cost fallacy". Holding on to something because of what has been spent before. Just forget all that and set yourself free. All your old peripherals will work and you don't really need any add-ons to have fun.

+1 on that.

I've owned every flight sim since "Aviator" on the BBC Micro and always keep my old version(s) - but invariably delete them after a while without even revisiting them. My backup HDs are full of ancient/out of date addons - but at least my current setup is clear of them.

For instance - I still have MSFS 2020 installed but haven't used it since installing 2024. 2020 vs 2024 isn't the subject of this topic, but I agree: whatever [new] sim you install will have heaps of default content that will keep you enjoyably occupied.

2 minutes ago, Adamski_NZ said:

+1 on that.

I've owned every flight sim since "Aviator" on the BBC Micro and always keep my old version(s) - but invariably delete them after a while without even revisiting them. My backup HDs are full of ancient/out of date addons - but at least my current setup is clear of them.

For instance - I still have MSFS 2020 installed but haven't used it since installing 2024. 2020 vs 2024 isn't the subject of this topic, but I agree: whatever [new] sim you install will have heaps of default content that will keep you enjoyably occupied.

I wish I knew how to make this reply ping all 3 of you who have discussed the topic so far, but does MSFS 2020/2024 feel like a game rather than a sim? I'm much more interested in using my home 'cockpit' as a tool to learn how to fly for when I start flight training at some point. FSX and P3D seemed to have done a great job at this. Do flight dynamics and immersion feel study-able in the new sims? Also, if I haven't even really switched over to MSFS2020, do you suppose I am better off just jumping ahead to 2024, then? 

Get a good payware like the A2A Comanche, if you want something that flies realistically. You don't have to buy any scenery like you had to in P3D, MSFS looks fine right out of the box. That will save you a ton of money. 2024 is still a work in progress with many bugs, 2020, is pretty reliable the way it is. 

30 minutes ago, Amrick615 said:

I wish I knew how to make this reply ping all 3 of you who have discussed the topic so far, but does MSFS 2020/2024 feel like a game rather than a sim? I'm much more interested in using my home 'cockpit' as a tool to learn how to fly for when I start flight training at some point. FSX and P3D seemed to have done a great job at this. Do flight dynamics and immersion feel study-able in the new sims? Also, if I haven't even really switched over to MSFS2020, do you suppose I am better off just jumping ahead to 2024, then? 

I would start by keeping P3D installed... until you decide you do not need it anymore... that is what I did, and it took a year.   So buy a new SSD if you need the space, and install 2024.   Then focus on one or two airplanes, the 152 and 172 if you are getting ready for training.. or the Bonanza if you like retractable gear.    Using the G1000 for your flights, gives you something real to practice and get proficient with.   No sim is going to handle like a real airplane, but navigation and situational awareness are key skills that can be practiced!  🙂

Then fly p3d - no one is forcing you to fly MSFS.

Or just load up 2020 with the understanding that it's totally different than p3d and you'll have to rebind all your controls, adapt settings to your liking, and probably watch a few tutorial videos on YouTube.

And spend money on addons haha!  Actually there's a TON of excellent freeware over at flightsim.to

You won't have a superb sim overnight it'll take some time to set it up how you like.

My two cents: you've probably read all the cautionary tales about 2024, so be forewarned, but the way I use it (not using career mode, not using 3rd party aircraft that aren't compatible yet), it's been perfectly stable and reliable. Until the first few updates come out, you should factor in your own tolerance for surprises. I built a new computer (which needed doing anyway, regardless of simming) and I didn't install 2020 on the new machine, just 2024. I'm happy with it. It looks fantastic.

All of that said, there's no reason to become familiar with 2020 unless you don't want to be an early adopter of 2024--there's no point in using 2020 just as a stepping stone to 2024. If you don't mind the still-evolving nature of 2024, go straight for that. If you want more guaranteed stability, go for 2020. 

I think the game vs. sim experience depends 100% on what you do. You can make it feel "game-like" by engaging in challenges and pre-built sight-seeing routes (2020) and Career Mode (2024), and by using all the assistance features and putting a HUD up on your external views... or you can ignore all of that, and just do free flights. Just because they both offer game-like experiences, doesn't mean you have to engage with those parts of the sims. I'm like you in that regard, I think, I don't use any of the game stuff. It totally doesn't bother me that it's there, because I never have to look at it. It's only there for those who enjoy it.

Hey everyone, these are all real helpful responses. I think for about another year or so, I’ll end up slowly switching to MSFS. I think there’s value in keeping up with the times, and also using my higher-end pc on a platform that’s optimized well. I notice my temperatures are high on P3D and doesn’t efficiently utilize the CPU/GPU as well as MSFS does, which makes total sense. 
 

I appreciate everyone’s replies and wisdom. If there are any help guides on how to fast track the switch, that would be great! The more people engaged in what’s current, the better it is for flight simming in general 😁 blue skies, everyone 

Do you need to switch? I mean, I have both, and I fire up the sim I need depending on what I want to fly. Sometimes is a 747-400, so I go with the PMDG one in P3Dv5. Sometimes I feel like flying the 380 or doing some VFR with the Comanche. The planes to go with that I have (FBW A380 or A2A Comanche) are in MSFS. Same if I want to fly over an area I know very well. An extreme example: what if I want to fly a 727-100 or a 747-200? Sometimes I think about reinstalling FS9 just for that.

This is my point of view, but there are other people that like to manage only one sim, and neither them or I are wrong.

31 minutes ago, Amrick615 said:

I notice my temperatures are high on P3D and doesn’t efficiently utilize the CPU/GPU as well as MSFS does

I guess you have SMT/HT on, and not the most adequate affinity mask for P3D. I get similar CPU temperatures in both sims. GPU, well, definitely I see more usage in MSFS than P3D.

Edited February 10, 20251 yr by Luis Hernandez

10 minutes ago, Luis Hernandez said:

Do you need to switch? I mean, I have both, and I fire up the sim I need depending on what I want to fly. Sometimes is a 747-400, so I go with the PMDG one in P3Dv5. Sometimes I feel like flying the 380 or doing some VFR with the Comanche. The planes to go with that I have (FBW A380 or A2A Comanche) are in MSFS. Same if I want to fly over an area I know very well. An extreme example: what if I want to fly a 727-100 or a 747-200? Sometimes I think about reinstalling FS9 just for that.

This is my point of view, but there are other people that like to manage only one sim, and neither them or I are wrong.

I guess you have SMT/HT on, and not the most adequate affinity mask for P3D. I get similar CPU temperatures in both sims. GPU, well, definitely I see more usage in MSFS than P3D.

I figure I'd be doing the same thing for quite a while, but more transitionary while developers continue to provide new and better airplanes for MSFS. But I still need to take the time to actually memorize the "MSFS way" while also enjoying the fruits of P3D. 

Also, I don't use hyperthreading, I run P3D on all my physical cores. I have a Ryzen 7950x3D. Because of its architecture, single core loads on v-cache cause higher temperatures, which is something that is meant to be improved on the 9000 series. If I run P3D on the non-3d cores, then temperatures get better but I lose out a little bit on the lack of v-cache (the higher clock speed makes up for this. I also suspect the temperatures in P3D vs MSFS are the result of having more addons in P3D and only running stock in MSFS). 

2 hours ago, Amrick615 said:

Hello everyone!

This is a rant, but I am looking for some advice from anyone who felt this way before completely moving to MSFS after using FSX/P3D for the last 15 years, like me. 

I'm having the hardest time getting myself to make the big switch from Prepar3dv5 to MSFS2020/24. I have MSFS2020 downloaded and ready to go in its out-of-the-box state, but everytime I load it up, it feels like it's just a game. I think I'm just too used to the way FSX and P3D were, in that they were just raw flight sims that cared about nothing other than flying airplanes and making the world your own. At the same time, the visuals in MSFS are simply too gorgeous to ignore and not smile at. I'm also annoyed at how different the keybinds are as compared to FSX/P3D. I also put so much money into all the addons that make P3D feel life-like, so moving away from it feels pointless, in that regard. 

Does anyone here resonate with what I am saying? What was the switch like for you all? I think I speak for a lot of us when I say we put a good amount of money into the prior generations of flight sims, so switching is easier said than done. I do recognize that MSFS is meant to be cheaper overall given the amount of freeware and stunning sceneries. 

 

Thanks all for reading my incoherent rant. I appreciate any and all responses! 

IMHO that's a completely understandable position position. 

I flip back and forth between several major sims, and each one simultaneously pleases and annoys me, and all for completely different reasons. 

Stick with it - like exercise, you get used to it. :)

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT start with MSFS 2024.  I am very experienced for 4.3y and 5000 hours in MSFS 2020 and FSX/P3Dv4 for ages before that and I was so thankful I was familiar enough with control setup in 2020 to get thru 2024 but it really was a challenge, many hours worth.  Many videos i would watch would not get to what I was stuck on.  ChatGPT helped with specific questions.  MSFS 2020 is more friendly to set up and will be ample challenge for you.  You will keep P3D up and running if you're like many.  I kept it for a good 6 months but really only used it a handful of times.  Performance is stellar in both 2020 and 2024, shockingly so.  Serious magic!

As for Game-o-Phobia, yes its interface looks like it belongs on a console which it does but no should judge this book by its cover.  The sim itself is mature and fabulous especially with BATC + Self Loading Cargo and more.   Def pick up the Premium version as several planes are very decent.

I just started w/ 2024 two days ago and did my first flight from KBJC>KTEX in the Citation Longitude, a fabulous default plane.  The landing was very sweet and I noticed a very different feel in the right direction, and I'm barely set up and fine tuned, but a lot is familiar once again from 2020.  My first impression is very good so far and I'm not even in the SU1 beta.  

Edited February 10, 20251 yr by Noel

7 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

IMHO that's a completely understandable position position. 

I flip back and forth between several major sims, and each one simultaneously pleases and annoys me, and all for completely different reasons. 

Stick with it - like exercise, you get used to it. 🙂

Sounds like someone has too much time on their hands other than flight gaming.