Mainlander

Thanks for clarifying about using the virtual cockpit. I am using 1080p monitors, so I'll probably use reduced graphics settings until such time that I upgrade. Here's a very useful Youtube video I found about setting up triple monitors with PD3: I assume this is the virtual cockpit you were talking about.

Thanks for all your replies. Mikealhpa, that's an awesome cockpit. I doubt I have the resources to build something like that, but if I go down the home cockpit path it will probably be something more like a simpit as Rob_Ainscough puts it. I too, like to fly more than one type of aircraft and don't want to be locked into one. Your simpit build is incredible, my one will be much simpler. When you mention using the virtual cockpit for the views what are you actually referring to? The beauty of VR is you can experience any cockpit you want in complete immersion. It's just a pity that interacting with the controls fall a little short and reading flight charts is awkward. That Orbx scenery looks fantastic. I often fly in south-east asia, particularly the KL - Jakarta route, but unfortunately it seems there is no Orbx scenery for this region. I also fly in the Australia and New Zealand regions, which is supported by Orbx, and going by the images on their website it looks very impressive. Regarding my hardware, it's modest; I run an i7-7700 with a Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics card. Would this setup run PD3 v5.3 adequately with triple monitors? Currently I have a racing sim rig setup, but want to modify it so I can convert it to a flight sim whenever I want. I'll look at upgrading eventually, but atm it's rather low on the priority list. Going by the comments, it seems PD3 v5.3 is the best option atm and it certainty does look good with the add-ons.

Thanks for your very informative replies, certainty has made me reconsider my options. I did actually try the trial version of Xplane a while ago (version 11, I think), but wasn't particularly impressed with it. For me it seemed that the flight model was a little too "bouncy" with the larger airliners. Has anyone else found this? It seemed better suited to smaller aircraft, and as I prefer the larger airliners I decided to give it a miss. Maybe they have improved the flight model since then? Interestingly, I do have a VR headset, it's just a first generation WMR, and I have used it with FSX using the Flyinside add-on. I have to agree with you John, that VR is a vastly superior experience, but the biggest issues I had was using the controls with the mouse and looking at flight charts. How do you get around these issues? Having physical controls in a cockpit with triple monitors would be easier, although somewhat less immersive than VR. One of my favorite aircraft is the Just Flight DC-10 HD, which is apparently compatible with PD3 versions 4 and 5 (as well as the older 32 bit versions). Flying this in VR with its old-school steam gauges is truly amazing. This reason alone would almost tip the scales toward PD3, and I don't believe that MSFS2020 has a DC-10. Your comments jcomm about PD3 v5.3 is reassuring. Do you use it with triple monitors? So it seems that I am favoring PD3 atm, and will seriously look at MSFS once it matures. Once again, thanks for your inputs.

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but here goes. I know this question has probably been asked a gazillion times before, but my situation is a bit unique. I've only ever really used FSX and haven't invested in any 3rd party add-ons. Now I want to try a more advanced sim and there seems to be two main contenders: Prepar3D and (obviously) MSFS2020. Although MSFS2020 may seem like the obvious choice, I have read that it's not so good for setting up a home cockpit with triple monitors, whereas Prepar3D excels in this area. So is Prepar3D still worth it for someone who isn't tied to any particular flight sim yet and wants to use triple monitors? Also, it seems that using Orbx add-ons with Prepar3D will give scenery just as good (or perhaps nearly as good) as MSFS2020, which I'd buy if I go down the Prepar3D path.