FSX vs Prepar3d - What's your experience?

[jring2]

I did a search here and didn't find much on this topic so paid for a month of P3D to test it out. I am curious if my experience is similar to others. I did watch the core usage to see it use all four cores at max. . but all that didn't seem to help. My frame rates in FSX run a pretty steady 20-24 with all the add-ons functioning and my framerates in P3D ran a pretty steady 6.0 to 8.5 with the same graphic settings and no add-ons. Graphics also didn't seem much better though the stock VC's were better. The terrain choices were considerably better for regions I'm familiar with. Would love to get their terrain addon and use it in FSX. In all I am very happy they offer a month to month purchase (@9.95) so I didn't have to dish out the big bucks to be dissappointed. FSX is still the best in my book. Will not renew my one month of P3D and probably not use it much for the rest of the month.

I am curious to find out if other's have found it to function better for them though. If you have used both please post your experience.

[billie]

I tried the above and found no difference. I found that items for FSX worked well with P3D. So I came to the conclusion that I didn't need it. As you say there was little difference. With FSX I can get over 50fps.

Billie

[vgbaron]

Initially, I had the sam experience and I cancelled my subscription. Decided to give it another chance and, this time, applied the same tweaks that I used in FSX and wow! - what a difference. I have P3D on a q9650 system clocked at 3.88 and FSX on a 980X system clocked at 4.43 and P3D maintains the same smoothness and frames as FSX. I lock mine at 30 so as long as it stays there AND is smooth, I'm a happy camper. I have P3D set up with most of the same add-ons that function in FSX.
So I'd venture a guess that you need to retry P3D and adjust the settings the way you did in FSX.

Vic

[torkermax]

Yes. P3D will run as well as FSX with the same tweaks. Perhaps the graphics are a smidgit better? (Different shaders).There are some stability issues with P3D also. Worth the price to switch, not IMO. I just had to try it and it is nice that a company devoted to the aerospace industry is developing it. Current build is 1.4. LM is working on a DX11 version 2.0 but it will be a whole new platform and could cost $$$$ big bucks.

[arclight]

I have it and there is a slight difference in performance and visual clairity. The main thing I would say is keep an eye on P3D. With the support and upcoming fixes and improvements that LM is doing may make it an alternative to FSX.

Just my 2 cents.

[vgbaron]

I have it and there is a slight difference in performance and visual clairity. The main thing I would say is keep an eye on P3D. With the support and upcoming fixes and improvements that LM is doing may make it an alternative to FSX.

Just my 2 cents.

And a BIG 2 cents worth, IMHO. This is the real name of the game. LM is going to continue developing and rewriting the code, which is something that MS should have done. FSX is not dead by a long way, lots of new development in add-ons BUT we are still limited by the inherent flaws in the code that are not going to be addressed by MS.

So, keep an eye on LM - I think it will be the way to go down the road a bit. Although there has been no announcement of V2.0 pricing, I expect it will be the same as current. It will not be a free upgrade to current users much as going from FS9 to FSX wasn't free either.

Is it currently worth the $199 for the pro version? Not to me but the academic ($50) or developer ($10/mo) are worth it to get the feel of the program.

SO to be fair, most of us who are running FSX, have spent quite a bit of time tweaking and changing until we finally got it where we like it. Do not just install and start P3D and expect it to even come close to FSX right out of the box. At least run Bojote's cfg tool and see how it goes..

I always hate to sound like a fan-boy but I am really impressed with LM's commitment and progress.

Vic

[dannyh73]

I've been using FSX for awhile, and I have to admit that even though it's development is not supported by Microsoft any more, I'm amazed by what "normal folk" have been able to achieve - check out the DX10 fixes that work http://stevesfsxanalysis.wordpress.com/

I've also got a huge amount of hope in Prepar3d. Current version is 1.3, with 1.4 by the sounds of it going to be released very, very soon. New shaders give it a better look, and some stability fixes already are going a long way. You have to also remember that the default settings arent the same in FSX - LOD can be set and saved in the menu at 6.5, rather than FSX's 4.0, and textures are being set at 4096 in Prepar3d rather than 1024 for FSX. So if you're doing some comparisons, you actually cant just assume the slider positions are the same for both sims.

My personal experience has been slightly better framerates, better use of memory, high resolution images for stock and photosceneries, and just a better feel. I'm also using all my FSX sceneries and aircraft with only one causing a problem - Airbus X with the FMC. Becuase of that I've been happy to move to Prepar3d full time now.

Lockheed Martin are committing man hours and effort in to developing this for commercial purposes. Opening up the academic version for anyone not using it for those commercial purposes has given them a larger test bed to identify issues needing to be fixed. Sometimes they get it a little wrong - 1.2 provided very smooth flight, but 1.3 brought them back - but they listen and are on about a 6 month cycle for .x upgrades. I personally can't wait for 2.0 (which I have a feeling won't be seen for another one or two intermediate releases after this next one) and the introduction of DX11 will most likely finally start making use of newer PC components.

There's been quite a bit of work done with building relationships with add-on developers, which is good because DX11 may break backward compatability, but at least LM are conscious that developers will make it an even better eperience for users - something MS forgot with Flight. The whole idea of LM is to give developers a platform to build, adapt and develop on. And that's my idea of a good platform that can grow very quickly and address every flight enthusiast, trainee, and pilot needs. Actually, that can only be a great thing ....

Danny

[fxsttcb]

I am curious to find out if other's have found it to function better for them though. If you have used both please post your experience.

Spent the $10 a few months back and my experience is pretty much a duplicate of yours. I am watching the forum comments though.
When their all new release is ready, I'll pop for another development month, and go from there. Definately looks promising...Don

[vgbaron]

Jring - attached is my P3d config file - changed it to txt for upload.

[jring2]

I would like to thank everyone for their input and Vic for a copy of your cfg file. It was helpful.

I for one am VERY grateful there is a high-tech committed-to-flight company working on a simulator for pilots with some of the same skillful programmers who developed FSX. I am delighted where FSX and those who developed the add-ons have taken us but as technology advances its nice to know someone out there is working on a product for real flight enthusiasts. I have wondered in my mind, "where do we go from here?" as I watched Microsoft move towards an arcade game. I will be watching Lockheed with great interest as they develope the P3D 2.0.

In the meantime I will enjoy the fruits of my tweaking in FSX and forego learning a whole new set of tweaking skills until Prepar3d has had a time to mature. I have no doubts it will become my wings of the future and I will be excited to see them develop it. It is awesome that it is backward compatible to legacy products for FSX as it means all the money I have put into the amazing add-ons people develop will not be wasted (not to ignore the amazing freeware some have given to our community).

Thanks again everyone who weighed in on this. Its nice to be part of all of you who share the same passion for cyber-flying as I do. And as far as forum communities, this is one of the most helpful.