Prepar3d V2.3 out!

[Kevin Farnell]

Poor performance with Clouds? There is a workaround available detailed in the LM forum. Requires a bit of editing to reduce the size of clouds (LM made them too big for 2.3) but seems simple enough.

Regards,
Chris

Absolutely awesome

I now have the best performing sim that I've ever experienced. Previous versions of P3D have knocked FSX for six, but this just blows it away.
My system is below par for P3D (1.5Gb GPU where 2.0 is recommended), but it now runs silky, silky smooth and is ultra, ultra stable. Far more than can be said for FSX on the same system.
Even the 'volumetric fog' works wonderfully following the cloud workaround.
If you haven't dabbled your toes in P3D yet, now is the time to do so!

Kevin

[DogTailRed2]

Thinking of upgrading and wondering what sort of FPS and overall performance increase I would get over FSX?
I have a high end Quad Core machine with all the bells and whistles. From memory a dual slot 2gb Nvidia.
Will there be any issues with Earth Sims VFR scenery or add on aircraft such as A2A?
Is there anything from FSX I should save to port into P3D such as aircraft?
Thanks.

[Chris Sykes]

Depends, your best bet is either go for the normal P3D packages or a dev which is a lot cheaper per month to trial it. Without knowing what model your GFX card is we couldn't say if you need an upgrade or not. A lot of add-ons are cross compatible and some manufactures are now cross building for the different platforms. So most likely if it works in FSX it will work in P3D.

[DaveG]

Apparently V2.4 will be released on Monday 29th. And Pete Dowson is on holiday again, so no FSUIPC for a while
You can time P3d releases by Petes holidays.

[Paul K]

Apparently V2.4 will be released on Monday 29th. And Pete Dowson is on holiday again, so no FSUIPC for a while
You can time P3d releases by Petes holidays.

Any word on what's new, changed or fixed in 2.4 Dave ?

[DaveG]

Copied from a post by Rob Ainscough over at Avsim:

Change list:



The Prepar3D v2.4 update brings general bug fixes, rendering updates, as well as several requested features and enhancements to the SimDirector mission creation tool.

This v2.4 is an incremental update to fix a handful of outstanding issues present in v2.3.

The full listing of improvements, fixes, and requested enhancements is listed below.
General Platform Updates

Fixed a crash when saving/loading scenarios due to corrupt object configuration files
Custom camera orientation will now load correctly when multiple views are open
Saving the Internal Vehicle Cast setting with setting profiles
Fixed issue of blending between unlimited visibility layers
Resolved an indefinite hang when selecting the observer role in multiplayer missions

Rendering and Performance Updates

Corrected issues with batched objects and airport lighting on systems with multiple graphics cards
Fixed an issue with BGL objects that were causing a memory leak and crash
Fixed an issue with clouds being rendered quadruple the intended size
Fixed an issue with particle effect scale being larger than intended
Fixed an issue with multiple texture entries in panel configurations not being rendered
Fixed issue with vertical geometry spikes
Corrected an issue with cursors causing issues when HDR was enabled
Added transparent panel support for auxiliary windows
Fixed issues with custom camera post process settings not properly loading
General fixes to terrain shadow artifacts
Fixed issues with material z-bias level behavior not being consistent

SimDirector Updates

Added a backstage file menu to help configure the scenario, open recent files, change settings, and other useful operations
Added hotkeys for common interactions
Changed the behavior of actions so that if an action is unreferenced, then it will fire when the scenario begins
Improved the object catalog by adding extensive filtering for new users and helpful key shortcuts for power users
Improved and simplified the controls to navigate the world and manipulate objects
Added the ability to use the Time Preview window and toggle Weather Visibility while editing scenarios
Added the ability to preview text-to-speech for the DialogAction
Fixed an issue where the application would hang when creating a scenario while the Mission Incomplete message box was open
Fixed an issue where undocking windows would freeze SimDirector
Fixed an issue where the VI Sessions window was not able to be used after resetting the scenario
Fixed an issue where Panel objects would not respect the panel that they were referencing when previewing the mission

SDK and SimConnect Updates

Added preliminary Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 (DK2) integration sample
Added support for 3ds Max 2015
Added SIMCONNECT_CAMERA_SENSOR_MODE to the C# SimConnect headers
Corrected an issue with exported attach points being placed with the wrong orientation

[Paul K]

Lovely, thanks for that, Dave. There doesn't seem to be anything major that affects me. I've done a couple of their recommended edits ( cloud size, and particle effects scale, I think ) and this patch incorporates those fixes. However, P3D is running very well at the moment, so I think I'll hold off updating until there is word of whether V2.x development stops here. It might be straight on to V.3 now !

[Kevin Farnell]

Thinking of upgrading and wondering what sort of FPS and overall performance increase I would get over FSX?
I have a high end Quad Core machine with all the bells and whistles. From memory a dual slot 2gb Nvidia.
Will there be any issues with Earth Sims VFR scenery or add on aircraft such as A2A?
Is there anything from FSX I should save to port into P3D such as aircraft?
Thanks.

Hi DogTailRed2

At first glance, your system would appear to be OK for P3D. However, a little more detail would be good. Your graphics card for instance must be DX11 compatible.
My system for comparison is as follows -

Intel Core i7 920 O/C to 3.8GHz
6Gb DDR3 Memory
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB O/C to 835MHz
Windows 7 Pro 64bit
2 x 1Tb hard drives C (Operating System) & D (P3D + other sims)

I have great success with P3D with features such as cockpit self shadowing and cloud shadows enabled - usually getting around 50-60FPS with default scenery and weather. Ai traffic, upgraded scenery and weather will obviously affect this.

If you are not a qualified pilot and are using the sim for learning (e.g. learning instrument flying, navigation etc), then my understanding would be that you qualify for the 'Academic' version. This equates to around £30 and for that you will also get Carenado's excellent A36 Bonanza. You will however get a small 'Academic Licence' tag in the top right of your screen. But in honesty I never notice this.

Pluses (compared with FSX) -

a much improved world - self shadowing cockpits (VC), cloud shadows and a much, much smoother sim.
Many add-ons work fine. A2A - just point the installer to you P3D installation [EDIT] - you need a copy of FSX.EXE in your P3D folder for this to work. Carenado, JF and others work, but may require a little extra effort (I can help you, but check EULA's).
Regular bug fixes and an excellent forum, with regular comments from the P3D development team.
Free upgrades within a version (e.g. 2.2 to 2.3 - note V1 went to 1.4 before 2.0 was released).

Negatives -

Anti-Aliasing not quite as good - FXAA great for external views, but blurs instruments (VC).
AFCADS currently require a little work with Airport Design Editor, but is very easy.
Some favourites designed for FS9 don't work - HS748, One-Eleven, Trident have no functioning 'Click spots' (VC).
Upgrade between versions (e.g. V1.X to V 2.X) requires a new purchase, but in reality this is no different than going from FS9 to FSX.

If you take the plunge, I recommend that you keep FSX installed - it's useful when copying across add-ons to P3D. Also, if P3D V2.4 is out in the next few days, I'd hang on for that.

I hope this has answered some of your questions and enables you to make your decision.

Regards

Kevin

[J0hn]

Something very weird going on here.

I downloaded v2.4 this afternoon and installed it this evening.

Same directory as always, ticked the box and told it to install, which it said it was doing - took about 20 minutes or more , then finished with the statement that the program had been successfully installed.

However, (cue X-Files music...) it's nowhere to be found on my PC!

Not only is the sim itself AWOL, but there are no Lockheed Martin folders anywhere, either.

Ooer!

I'll try again tomorrow...