Tim_Capps

I think it's good. Lots of custom buildings, colorful, some decent area around it, looks like it's carved out of the forest... makes a nice companion to MMGL: close to the border for shorter international flights and a decent domestic route to Guadalajara, which is even better.

I picked up several South American v4 airports (and a couple of v5) and have a couple of general observations. There are colorful and really cheap little airports that work fine in v5, even though their sold as v4. The easy ones are the ones without jetways, and I can't wait to try out the new feature of GSX.. I found one dev who supplied the files for GSX integration, but most of the others pose problems. Mostly the jetways won't work or they don't even appear. Clearly they need SODE jetways and the GSX files, but these are not mainstream enough to find these in the usual places. SAEZ Buenos Aires and SLVR Viru Viru airport are good examples of something gone wrong.. Also, when there is an effects folder, do those effects get placed in the P3D Effects folder? What about textures in some of the effects folders? (Lights, I presume.) The experiment is promising, but I'm a bit over my head, and any help would be appreciated. Oddly, most South American countries have no third-party airports at all, which is a shame. Columbia is simply overrun with nice little airports. Some really high ones in Chile and Bolivia.

This topic is meant to be not as technical as the other similar one that is pinned. These are for those of us with more basic skills and prefer something as close to off-shelf as possible. So here are a couple to start with. I'm not going to review these, just mention whatever I find interesting (good or horrible) as briefly as possible. Obviously, some may be limited vis-a-vis their v5 proper counterparts. And my methods are pretty simple. Others may prefer voodoo like XML files and the like. CYTZ Billy Bishop Toronto from Skyline. Installed without any problems and is vastly more detailed than its default version. I had just mentioned how useful the coming GSX2 gate walkout feature would be for the Majestic Dash-8-Q400 and what do you know! That feature was released this very day! MMMY Monterrey Mexico by MagSoft. This was a bit trickier. If you just point the installer to the Addon Scenery folder in P3Dv5, you get the individual folders scattered about. Not very useful. I dragged the actual folder from the "SimMarket" one it installed there, and deleted the latter. Then I separated the Scenery and Texture folders from the Data folder so they were directly beneath the MagSoft MMMY folder in Addon Scenery, and added it through the Addons--> Scenery Library method. But I discovered my work wasn't done because the jetways were messed up. So I went to the MagSoft site and found this page with these fixes. There are instructions in Spanish, but it wasn't hard to figure out what went where to get the jetways right and working with GSX. Now it's perfect. Latin VFR's SLVR Viru Viru is an interesting airport smack in the middle of South America with a challenging approach. If you just try to install to the Addons folder in P3Dv5, you're going to get scattered folders again. I created an SLVR folder there to collect them into, used the Addons menu in the P3D options again, and it looks just fine. HOWEVER, I have not been able to find files that will make the jetways compatible with SODE / GSX. So as of writing the jetways don't work. I'm sure someone will come along with an easy solution.

This is great news, and thank you. I'm very happy this was prioritized over lavatory service LOL

Heigh-Ho SLVR! First attempt I pointed the installer toward Add-Ons in P3Dv5, but it just put the separate folders there, which obviously didn't work I created an SLVR folder and consolidated the relevant folders under it, added it through the Add On menu, and it now works fine. I'm a bit savvier now about P3D than I was when I originally installed it. I always liked SLVR and am glad to have it back (especially since I paid for it.) The only problem is that GSX does not find any jetways (assuming they are not SODE) and CTL+J won't work either. CYTZ installed without any drama. The only thing is that the Majestic Dash-8-Q400 is a bit awkward with the gate setup--there's not enough room for the GPU. The next major GSX update is supposed to be able to send pax from ground gates, which would help, but for now things will probably work better just loading it away from the gates. Even so, CYTZ is remarkably detailed compared to the default scenery, with all sorts of custom buildings, 3D cars and traffic, some surrounding scenery, and well worth the price. I suppose I'll try out a Venezuelan airport, because I'm not sure there are any supported for v5. One reason I'm interested is because there are so few repaints for the Coolsky / Flight1 DC-9 Classic I haven't found any South American repaints other than Aeropostal. I've been in more of a Douglas than a Boeing mood lately. EDIT: The only thing I find for Venezuela is FSX Caracas SVMI, and I'm not risking $20 on an FSX airport. Columbia is so very well represented--Venezuela got no love at all!

One thing I learned that may be obvious to everyone but me, is that FSDT airports were advertised as one or two for P3D (when you click the P3D button, vs the FSX one). I thought this was confusing. But it turns out I have not installed an FSDT airport that has not worked in v5. PHNL, KIAH, KDFW and KLAX all work fine. I'll probably pick up Memphis and Charlotte. They may not all be "state of the art," but sure beat default. I think the descriptions have been clarified since I raised this issue, but the navigation is still confusing. A pet peeve is when requirements list "v4+" as a requirement, because I'm not really sure what that means from dev to dev. So much simpler to say v4 then explicitly mention v5. I understand why FSDT wants to highlight their two v5 specific products, but to get to the other goodies you have to find the fine print at the bottom of that page: "This page indicates only those products that have a P3D4/5 Native version and don't work in FSX or older version of P3D ( 1, 2 and 3 ). On the FSX Products page, you'll find many other products that were originally made for FSX, but the installer supports all P3D version, including P3D V5.x" Yep, you have to go to the FSX products page to find a slew of P3D v5 compatible airports. I have even emailed devs: "Hi, does Billy Bishop Toronto work in v5? If so I'll happily buy it." Never heard back. Guess it doesn't, huh?

Exactly my idea, only the other way round: ones that work would be more useful. And I'm still interested in South American and other out-of-the-way places that aren't represented in v5. With all the talk about devs abandoning P3D, I think we need to come together over issues like this. I did it with all the v4 classic jets I could find that work great in v5, if you'll recall. Still so many good airplanes out there. Just thinking it would be nice to do the same with scenery.

I re-entered the hobby at v5, and my only experience with v4 scenery was Viru Viru which actually Langoliered the whole thing right down to bedrock. Even the default was no longer an option! So I'm disinclined to gamble. I'm not clever enough with computers to learn ADE. I know it's easy for a lot of people, but in decades of flight simulation, I have learned to hear "it's easy" as "Tim Capps will certainly screw this up." I was really looking for off-the-shelf examples. At some age our ability to learn even easy things is less than it used to be, and my currently COVID-ravaged brain cells rebel at the thought of even cracking the BAe manual I managed to print out. (I have the "mild" version, so may deserve only a drop or two of virtual sympathy, but I think "mild" is the same as "easy" when it comes to me and v4 airports.) At 150+ airports, I certainly don't need any more, but there are always a few gaps to plug, and sometimes I just need some retail therapy.

Nor do I. But I'm not sure the FS9 argument is quite the same. FSX was a development from FS9, as most of us here (I mean likely to read this) remember. I think the difference is we are seeing a true bifurcation in the hobby and a split of, as you observed, a small niche hobby. I understand your argument from one perspective and agree that there are similarities. But I own MSFS. I don't see it as a development, but something more like the difference between FSX and X-Plane. And it's not every dev. Definitely some more than others. And I still think we should consider the interests of anyone who comments on the viability of P3D. If you're betting the farm on MSFS, that's fine. Stop gaslighting about P3D and move on. But here I am, sucked into yet another discussion by a handful of people who are driving it. Maybe a "developers on the dismal future of P3D" subforum could be opened and we could read about P3D here, rather than what somebody says about P3D's demise. I think I'm done with these discussions. Maybe I'm living in a pretend world where everything is great. It would fit in with pretending to be a mighty airline pilot who is this very moment plying the skies between Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo--from the right seat, no less, because for some reason if I look at my mouse wrong my CAPTAIN FLOATS OUT OF THE AIRPLANE and watches safely from the port wingtip. I think that remains to be seen. It will either mainstream it (I don't think so, but maybe) or just split that "VERY niche market" into two less profitable branches. And I agree 100% (except C------ S--- could trigger people, too.)

Despite a surfeit of v5 airports, there are still a few that didn't make it. I don't even know if any work. BUT if anyone has any v4 airports that work fine in v5 (and are not represented in v5) I'd like to hear about them. Especially South America destinations or otherwise off the beaten airy path. I tried Viru Viru--nope. Haven't tried any since. Anything is better than arriving at the same default airport wherever you go.

This is a real question, because I may not have considered something, but how does whatever LM does in the future impact me? I have everything I need in a platform that is more than I ever expected to see. I'm standing pat on 5.2, not because I don't believe people who say 5.3 is a bit better, but because it's just not worth whatever effort and small risk upgrading entails. I don't anticipate anything down the road that would be big enough to demand I upgrade if it meant losing something I enjoy now. Most of the stuff I fly isn't going to see further development. The little that probably will--I can think of the iFly 737NG and nothing else--is still just fine the way it is. I understand other people have other priorities and are willing to keep up with the latest. This has always been part of flight simulation. I can't speak for them. If Microsoft decided to root around in their couch cushions for the loose change to buy LM (yes, Microsoft is that big) and end P3D, I don't see how that would effect me playing with more airplanes and airport combinations than I could ever finish if I lived to be 100. What will affect me is the loss of talent in freeware and repaints, but I think that's inevitable anyway. And it won't affect me much, given everything I have. Guess I may have to learn to live without that Austral Lineas Aereas BAC One Eleven 400. We act like we live and die by developers. Not now. There's too much loose already in the wild and P3D is a mature platform right now. Who doesn't love a good horse race? Especially if you've bet a bundle on the 20-1 P3D pony heh heh heh

Because some of us have limited skills with computers. I was a big fan in the day, but wasn't easy to get to work in v5 for me. P3D ATC isn't the greatest, but it does work well enough to get me vectored to the right runway in a classic jet. You can certainly do procedures using radio navigation, but it's not a hassle I usually take on by myself in a cockpit. It occasionally does weird stuff, but I give it due credit.

Deleted repeat of post. Fortnite... LOL. Probably a higher percentage of lawyers or at least those familiar with logical fallacies use P3D than play Fortnite. What is Fortnight other than "two weeks" in England? (A rhetorical question--lawyers love those, too.)

I sometimes revert to my native tongue, legalese, but you got the gist. And an interested witness is someone who may have a dog in the fight. I think there are more reasons than relate to PMDG (whose products I have greatly enjoyed in the past; in fact, I recently bought their DC-6 to use in v5). I suspect there would have been a slowdown in P3D sales even without MSFS for several reasons, not the least that P3D was probably not attracting a lot of new tubeliner fans I think those of us who aren't into glass are probably older and have whatever we're ever likely to have. Even Captain Sim abandoned gauges long before MSFS--I think that's just the market. And, yes, many who already had P3D probably have what they want. (There, are, after all, a ridiculous number of compatible airplanes and airports for P3Dv5.) So, I think it is reasonable to develop for a brand new, non-saturated market and wish them well. Personally, I might hedge my bets (which wouldn't require amazing PR skills) but that's just me. Has Navigraph chimed in on all of this? Is Navigraph going under too, with P3D's demise, or are they making all their money off of MSFS like everyone else? I don't doubt MSFS sales are doing well in some segments of the market. And I'm not denying its arrival dampened P3D product demand. When developers who have shifted resources away from P3D to MSFS never seem to tire of repeating just how dead P3D is, I'm just saying I don't buy it at face value. And I think there is a lot of psychology going on here. I don't think it's going to take 40 years of wandering in an MSFS wilderness (should that happen, who knows?) before a lot of people recall the fleshpots of P3D with fondness.

Post Hoc meet Ergo Propter Hoc via Interested Witness.

That's very well done 🙂 Do you think he has an entire wall filled with ejection handles in shadow boxes in his den? I knew a lawyer reserve pilot who had one of those in his office. Not sure why you would be proud of that, since he managed to crash not only his Phantom, but another one in a midair collision. The morbid joke was that he downed more U.S. aircraft than the Iraqi Air Force.

I never studied female aggression for fifteen years, but I do recall a saying of New York's famous socialite Mrs. Astor: "If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right her beside me, dear." Peterson is an interesting fellow who became sort of a guru for Millennial males. Chances are if you're over fifty and know about the guy you heard of him from one of your sons. I think the attractively dressed redhead interviewer was just trying to be provocative and Peterson seems to be slightly bemused by having to interact with a lesser being. He did get his book plug in, though, which is why any writer does any interview. Remember Robert Bly, and Iron John? Bly was a Jungian; not sure what Peterson is, but I doubt that. And if you're fifty or over, you might have discovered Bly on your own. But I thought some of his stuff was weird.

I picked it up and first impressions were favorable. Much better than the ancient TriStar Professional in appearance, so that's promising. Manual is 247 pages without much fluff. I'll be printing that out and going over it, because this is obviously not just a pleasant joyride like their DC-8 or BAC One Eleven (both Aeroplane Heaven developments). The FMS reminds my of the one in the Majestic Dash-8-Q400 in format (can't comment on capabilities yet). That's definitely a different take and has been hard for me to get used to. Lots of variants and liveries, as you would expect from JF. If they're capable of this sort of development, I'd really like to see their 747, but that has probably been pushed to the back burner or off the stove entirely for reasons that are discussed with tedious regularity here. Thanks very much for the advice. A British four-engine short-haul jet that looks like a toy C-17. What a blast!

At the JF store, it's $86 US and cheaper at SimMarket even with a few reward points I have with JF. I'm guessing this is not one of their Aeroplane Heaven developments that have historically brought plenty of issues to be fixed along with the usual stuffed Christmas stocking of JF variants and liveries. It says it was released in 2021 and doesn't look bad. (Their TriStar Pro was really dated, I thought, eventually got deleted.) As a sucker for weird old jets and not one to turn up my nose at JF, the question is not so much as "is it worth that much?" but, assuming I would be willing to pay that for an oddball pocket quadjet to add to my collection, any significant, specific caveat emptors?

I'm happy with P3Dv5.2 and unless updates become mandatory, I don't see a problem. If P3D eventually evolves into some can't miss upgrade experience I'll reassess, but I think that is always going to depend on what you want from the sim. Frankly, I don't see classic jets in the future of any either P3D or MSFS. There's just not the interest as the hobby ages. So I'll probably sit tight.

...P3D is looking better than ever! I like their C-47/DC-3 (which I purchased) and will be happy to try whatever else they offer that looks interesting. Like Liberace, I'll laugh all the way to the bank while everyone is crying from the dust in their eyes carving the gravestone for P3D.

The C2 works fine in 5.2. I haven't tried the others yet.

Not in my neck of the woods ;-) Let's see any sim represent the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

Yes. Go to the scenery folder for the airport and locate a group of 12 .bgl files starting with "PhotoDetail" and change the extension to .bak or just cut them and tuck them away in a safe place like I did. That allows the airport to be used without crashing..

I was looking at the short amount of runway apparently available while it looked like a landing was still being attempted. I am not criticizing, just curious what more knowledgeable folk here might think. I had not heard of a "balked landing." Had a horse once that balked at mailboxes. Never learned what bad news he feared.