FSX vrs Prepar3d v.4

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janice
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Joined: 19 Apr 2014, 19:27

FSX vrs Prepar3d v.4

Post by janice »

Hi all

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere in the forums, but I can't find it. Please direct me to the discussion if it is out there . . .

I'm wondering what benefits there might be to moving to Prepar3d v.4, and what the costs will be. I've watched a video by frooglesim on P3D v.4 He seems to be of the opinion that v.4 is taking some advantage of a 64 bit operating system in rendering scenery, and that P3D works without all the tweaks, fiddling, and OOMs in FSX. I understand ORBX products work properly without additional purchases. I wonder how that works, though? I have them installed in Steam. Would they need to be installed someplace else to work with P3D? And, frooglesim discovered that the RealAir Dukes install, which is great (with some lost click sounds), and FSUICP works. However, do I understand that I would have to repurchase my A2A products (any discounts)? I also fly a couple of Flight1 products. In short, I'm confused about what add-ons I'd have to repurchase.

Anyhow, what kind of experience have people had with switching? Are there opinions about advantages / disadvantages of switching? Recommended? Not?

Janice

Buffy Foster

Re: FSX vrs Prepar3d v.4

Post by Buffy Foster »

Once you install your P3D v4, and also update your FTX Central 3 (only Orbx sceneries bought from Orbix Direct can shift over- not ones bought on Steam), then when you go to install the sceneries through FTX Central 3, it will find your FSX installation and copy files from there whre it can. It will still download updated stuff.

The RealAir Turbine Duke V2 has a P3D v4 installer made by Sean from RealAir that you can get from their web, so you won't lose any features. \o/

A2A planes you'll have to buy P3D versions for though.

I have the Flight1 GTN Complete; that will work without rebuying it, just grab the newest one from their web.

Active Sky has a new version just for P3D v4.

:)

janice
Airman First Class
Posts: 59
Joined: 19 Apr 2014, 19:27

Re: FSX vrs Prepar3d v.4

Post by janice »

I've now had a chance to try P3D v.4. For me, it's a much better experience with an aircraft that has a complex GPS (like King Air B200 with G1000), which using P3D, I've been able to fly into Vancouver without blurries or OOMs, including with the copilot's PFD on (previously a guaranteed problem for me). However, I have also found something to use that basically kills all the background clutter when I start FSX, and that with the new SSD seems to be making flying in FSX more enjoyable with aircraft that doesn't have the complex GPS equipment, like the G1000 in the B200. Other than A2A, the main aircraft I fly (the B200 and the Duke) come with dual installers, so I've been able to install them in P3D at no additional cost along with Orbx, which sets up easily in P3D without additional downloads. I fly five A2As, three of them quite a lot, and would miss not being able to fly them. So, I guess, for now, I'll keep FSX for A2A.

J.

n421nj
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Re: FSX vrs Prepar3d v.4

Post by n421nj »

Prepared looks and runs better on my machine. I think it’s the future of flight Sim. Could take a while to re-purchase all the add-ons you once had in FSx but in the long run I think it will be worth it .
Andrew

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WB_FlashOver
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Re: FSX vrs Prepar3d v.4

Post by WB_FlashOver »

I moved from FSX to P3Dv4 when it came out. I have only flown FSX twice I think sense then. Even though my B-17 is not available in P3D yet I just cannot bring myself to fly in it. I just don't feel like going through all the trouble to tweak everything that I once had tweaked to get FSX to fly smoothly and satisfactory. FSX feels almost arcade to me after spending so much time in P3Dv4.

Dynamic lighting is nice in P3D. Dynamic reflections are a nice touch. The ability to take advantage of modern hardware is a huge bonus. P3D UI gives so many graphical options that tweaking the config file is almost a thing of the past. Tweaking Nvidia Inspector is a thing of the past. OOM's are a thing of the past. Random crash-to-desktop is a thing of the past. P3D has not crashed once in all the time I have flown in it.

As well as purchasing the 64bit versions of A2A aircraft there may be other expenses.
You mentioned FSUIPC. You will need to purchase FSUIPC5 to work.
If you like real world weather you will need to purchase a 3rd party weather engine. This would be a good investment anyway even if staying in FSX but the 32bit and 64bit versions are not compatible.
If you like AI traffic P3D does a much better job handling them than FSX does.

Keep in mind that FSX is a game/simulator that launched 13 years ago. Do you realize just how old that is in 'computer years'? And it hasn't changed much at all in those years. Yes, Dovetail Games tweaked it a bit when they launched it on Steam but all they really did was tweak multiplayer settings and hard-coded some of the tweaks that users have had to do for years.

Here are two snapshots over the Himalayas. Same Longs/Lats. Both have ALL Orbx Global sceneries. Both have FreeMeshX 3rd party mesh. The first is in FSX-SE with Real World Weather. The second is P3Dv4 with HiFi Simulations Active Sky for P3Dv4. The difference is amazing.

Things are different like the UI and how you navigate menus and such but it doesn't take long to figure that out.
When updates comes out there are specific steps needed to get them installed. And there is the chance of something going wrong during this process but that is rare.

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Good luck on your decision.
Roger
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