-Stark-

You would have a hard time placing liability on a simulation product. It would be similar to you failing to pass the bar in which you file suit against your text book publishers for not properly preparing you for the exam. A2A's change in licensing seems to just be a move to match P3D licensing to their own. It keeps it affordable enough for end users to continue to buy but allows them to gain more revenue on someone using it in a school. Which brings me to another topic, has anyone ever heard or seen a flight school use FSX/P3D in an official capacity? I've seen some GA simulators that were FAA certified but they were a bit more robust than what I have sitting in front of me and the software didn't look like FSX.

I will second this. It took me a bit to get it working on P3D but Keith posted new instructions and once I did that I was able to use it. I like the practice element and as it translates to real flying so if that's what you're looking for then check out their free trial. If you want to fly over the world instead of in a particular airspace then it wouldn't be the best option for you.

I recently bought a desk mount dual monitor stand and am a bit annoyed at my mismatched monitor set up. Luckily the 24" Asus Proart I have is still for sale so I just ordered a second one of those. I'm interested to see how it goes. I only fly around on GA style airplanes in VC mode so I'm hoping I can get over the bezel. We'll see.

I've flown in both military and commercial simulators. They are far more robust and do a decent job of actually simulating a flying experience and controls, they do less of a better job with graphics. I jumped in a T-38 trainer at Vance AFB a few months ago and while the graphics looked like crap the true cockpit, force feedback/resistance on the control surfaces were outstanding. That said I landed the T-38 crabbed in a manner that would of ripped my gear off and probably popped my tires... but the sim said I did it fine. I play P3D, I like flying, I like my Saitek Yoke and Pedals and it is what it is... it's a flight simulator game with a few of the controls being emulated.

I 'think' I resolved the issue. Seeing that it only crashed when I didn't run it as an admin I decided to start chasing down file permissions. This is Windows 7 so I can't vouch that this will work in other setups. In the Installation directory under Program Files there's a 'as_srv' directory (For me C:\Program Files (x86)\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2\as_srv) Under that folders properties > Security I adjusted the Users (computer\Users) permission to include Full control, Modify and Write. No clue if this opens up any other issues but now I can start ASN and P3D without running everything as the admin.

A number of months ago I installed Active Sky next Beta for Prepar3d and the install went smooth and I didn't seem to have any issues at the time. Can't can't pinpoint exactly when it happened but sometime between P3D 2.1 and 2.2 patch and a few ASNext installs later I started receiving crashes when trying to load P3D. Below is an example of what the crash looks like. --------- Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: Prepar3D.exe Application Version: 2.2.10437.0 Application Timestamp: 533d6c08 Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.18247 Fault Module Timestamp: 521ea8e7 Exception Code: c0000005 Exception Offset: 000222d2 OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48 Locale ID: 1033 Additional information about the problem: LCID: 1033 Read our privacy statement online: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409 If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline: C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt --------- I tried to run P3D without ASNext and received the same error. Not to be bothered with it I ran P3D as an Admin and it loaded right up. I exited out tried to run it normal... same crash. I loaded up ASNext and ran P3D as an Admin and had no issues. From then on I've been playing P3D as an Admin and not really worrying about it. A few times tried to reinstall P3D, ASNext and some other things but I would get pulled away and forget about it. A few days ago while logged into a separate profile I tried to start P3D NOT as an Admin and it ran fine. I knew at that point it wasn't an issue directly with the windows ntdll.dll file and that I could probably attempt to figure it out. Logged back onto my profile I knew the only difference would be in the Appdata folder. So I backed that up and cleared it out. P3D ran fine as a normal user! So I started moving files over one at a time like controls, settings, log, ect and then running P3D and waiting for the error which never happened. I then ran ASNext and noticed some extra files got thrown in. At that point it crashed just like before. I ended up pinpointing it to the dll.xml file located in the P3D appdata folder. If I delete it then P3D runs fine, however every time I start ASNext it puts it back in and it will crash. The work around is still run P3D as an Admin and all is fine. Here's what the dll.xml looks like not sure what this file does or what these tags are. ----- <?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?> <SimBase.Document Type="Launch" version="1,0"> <Descr>Launch</Descr> <Filename>dll.xml</Filename> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Launch.ManualLoad>False</Launch.ManualLoad> <Launch.Addon> <Name>as_connect</Name> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <Path>as_srv\as_btstrp.dll</Path> </Launch.Addon> </SimBase.Document> ----- So my question is does anyone know how to solve this issue? I was thinking it's a permission issue but I do not know what permissions to change, or maybe it's something specific in this file. Not sure.

The 172 is a solid aircraft and fun to fly. I figured since we were torquing it around a bit we knocked on of the wires loose but since it's in the shop now was probably the alternator itself. Of all the in flight emergencies I would take electrical problems (Minus an electrical fire) over anything. Because you know you have 15-20 mins to get the plane safely on the ground before the battery runs out and even if it runs out the plane will still fly. I just recently started flying again and even being rusty I was able to solo fly the 172.

Welcome to the world of computers and software. As software get more complex with more lines of code and hardware gets more robust with variables in itself there are going to be issues. I always say that Microsoft could make a flawless Windows product given the resources. But then the more it costs to produce, the more they would need to charge to recoup their costs. Who is going to spend $23,000 for a impenetrable, crash free, ******* endorsed copy of Windows 8? I work for a competitor (sometimes partner) of Lockheed. It's no different in our industry there's a balance of quality and costs. Flight simulators are not an inelastic good and price plays a factor. So be it FSX, Xplane, War Thunder, World of Warcraft - there will be crashes, there will be problems and it's up to YOU to decide whether or not you enjoy it enough to overlook it. You'll find yourself very disappointed in life always looking for perfection. I flew a friends 172 Tuesday and broke the alternator doing steep turns... I am disappointed that I didn't get to fly it again yesterday because it's in the shop... I should quit flying.

X-Plane to me felt 'arcadey' but that's strictly my opinion on playing with the Demo when I decided to find a flight sim to mess around with. I ended up picking Prepar3D because it's similar it FSX which I have played on since a kid but yet it's still supported. I'm about 5-6 months into playing with P3D and have had very few issues. I do wish there were a few more aircraft but I'll manage with what I have.

I'm not even sure what all that means. I know FSUIPC is a tool that helps external programs interact with Prepar3D but that's about the extent of my knowledge.

I've been using a Saitek Pro Cessna Pedals and Yoke for about a month or so now (P3D maybe three months). It's been fun messing around with them and comparing video game flying to real flying. I'm curious to what people who use these peripherals have in their settings. I thought mine was semi realistic and a relative that was over who currently flies F15s thought they were way off so we adjusted them again. This is what I have right now and I really only fly General Aviation stuff C182, 206.. things like that. Pro Flight Cessna Rudder Pedals Brake Axis both are at 65 with a Null zone of 5. Rudder Axis is 20 with a Null zone of 1. Pro Flight Cessna Yoke Ailerons axis is 127 with 5 Null Elevator axis is 90 with 5 Null Apologize I didn't get fancy with screenshots!

I like it. But to be honest my frame or reference of FSX is from about 10 years ago.

Last night I downloaded 'Flappy Birds' on a tablet. There is no opposition or any winning or losing.... you are graded based on how many pipes you fly between. I think it's the best Bird Simulator on the market....

Meant that to be funny. I don't actually believe there are people sitting down to play this game wearing a flightsuit and helmet.

In full disclosure I starting playing these games in order to get some of my basic flight skills up to par after many years of zero flight time. That being said I the only true value is maybe walking through some check lists or getting the basic feel of the avionics. In that aspect it has some simulator qualities but in the end it's still an open ended sandbox game of planes. I can do some maneuvers with fake planes that would cause me to pass out or the wings to rip off the fuselage. I can descend at 2000 feet per minute, flare at the end and safely land on a highway... All this with full realism maxed out. I originally wanted to use it to test fly a plane prior to spending the time looking at the real ones but outside of maybe a cockpit layout I don't get the true feeling of flying. You don't and can't simulate that on this game. So I guess from a learning standpoint today I learned there are people that take this game and themselves far too seriously. I've joked about putting on an old flightsuit and helmet while sitting at my desk with my plastic yoke & pedals... however reading through these posts there may just be some people actually do that this very moment.

My assignment in P3D with a Saitek Yoke is 'Hat Switch 1'.

I realized that I hadn't updated what I previously posted. I now have this scenery working, I apparently had not installed it correctly as suggested. I corrected this by uninstalling everything related to my previous scenery install. I then downloaded the suggested auto-installer which just installed each of the 21 files at once. I received errors on every disk stating it couldn't change the config file. I assume it's because this is made for FSX and I have P3D. After it was done I just went into scenery library and manually added the path. That was it. Now it looks I assume how it should because I can follow streets, find landmarks, ect...

I think Lockheed's intent in not selling it as an 'entertainment' product has more to do with NAICS codes than what they are pushing. I do think they're trying to market it more as a simulator for professional use and may function as a decent platform but manufactures of aircraft often make the simulators as well. That said, prior to settling with P3D I looked at FSX as well as the XPlane demo. FSX I threw out early given that I wasn't hell bent on a lot of mods and the product isn't even supported. So between the two go with P3D just on that. Since we put XPlane into the mix I found flying in XPlane to feel 'arcadey'. I was doing stuff that I just know isn't possible in a general aviation aircraft. This could of been a setting issue as well, but for safe measure I had my father who has been flying since they invented aircraft and he agreed with me. Then again he's had some version of MS Flight Sim since it came out and as a kid I remember him making flight plans and throwing his airport directory's around his office only to sit infront of a 16 color 13" Monitor and make me watch him fly.... On P3D I have realism maxed and have crashed on crabbed landings, coming down to hard... I can't fly upside down 10 feet from the ground and I personally think stalling is fairly accurate... without the gut wrenching. Do I equate it to actual flying which in reality is my purpose for starting to play this game anyhow? Not really. The main differences is spatial awareness, motion and general movement in the cockpit, I tend to look at my gauges more since I can't tell if I'm level or not. I also know I've done some landings which would of destroyed my plane but I survived even on full realism so obviously it's not 'real life'. Translating this to a real pilot I think it offers some muscle memory if you're playing with a yoke and pedals, or a stick and pedals. You can work through checklists and learn the layout of cockpits. You can also get acclimated with an ILS and the other avionics of an aircraft (G1000) for instance. Either way there's no real way to replace actual flying with a simulator and the stuff I mentioned above can probably be done on any of them.

I'm used to judging everything by FPS... much like how people try to judge fitness with bench press weight.

With your current set up what type of FPS are you getting? My current computer is solid with the lowest component being the older GTX570 video card. I currently run at around 40 FPS with high to ultra settings, nominal traffic and 1 scenery addon (Mega earth). I'm newish to Flight Sims so just getting spun up on what I think I need to have. Bought a Yoke and Pedals a few weeks ago... got Megaearth for my state and a few planes last week. Now looking into some additional scenery addons but wasn't sure if I need to update my video card to make it worth it.

I appreciate threads like this immensely. I combed through similar threads and reviews to determine which Yoke & Peddles had the highest probability of meeting my expectations. After a week or so of off and on research I ended up with the Saitek Cessna Yoke and Peddles and which it doesn't exactly match real flight dynamics I think for moderate realism they work great. Looking for the same in any additions to P3D, not perfection but some moderate realism. My first purchase was a Carenado PA46 which seems to be a high quality, well thought out addon. My next purchase was some scenary and I picked up Megaearth for my state which was half off. I'm not sure if I actually installed it correctly but it seemed to add the photorealistic textures and I have no issues with it. I'm now looking to update the realism with some additional scenery and texture. So reading through this helps to make sure I get a product I'll be happy with.

Okay I'm looking at my Scenery Library now- I have 126 objects. Looking at the scenary.cfg I only have 125 entries, it's missing the manual one I put in for the Mega Scenery path. Question on how P3D handles addons. Should I just put the scenery files into the 'Addon Scenery' folder under the 'Prepar3D v2' installation path? I previously ran the MegaScenery installer which dumped it into a directory off the root into it's own folder. (That's what I linked the scenery library too). Thanks for your help on this.

There's a high probability I didn't install it correctly. I double checked the Scenery Library and moved the priority of the Mega Scenery path to right above Default Scenery and Terrain. No change... do I need to turn off the #### Base scenaries? Or maybe the North America ones?

I'm doing this now. It's my first venture into some type of Payware I guess it's called. They have a sale going on till the 2nd so I picked up my home state for a little over $20. ----- Easy download and easy install. Question though to those that use it. I think I was expecting basically a Google maps overlay with some topology. While it is photorealistic it's not an exact correct? For example I tried to find an amusement park and located the cross highways and couldn't find it. Also seems like some street were overlapping other streets ect. But the basic highway design was in place and easy to follow, just other things didn't match... Is that normal or do I have something messed up? I still think for $20 it's a good deal and at actual operating airspace it looks great.

Not enough throttle or engine failure?