P3D V4- What are your thoughts?

I know it just got released about an hour and a half ago, but I'd love to hear some initial reviews on the new version. I'm downloading it later today...

I looked on some facebook sites re this and looked like some griping about black screens on the vehicles/planes and but not a lot of details as yet as you mentioned perhaps too early for much information.

I know it just got released about an hour and a half ago, but I'd love to hear some initial reviews on the new version. I'm downloading it later today...

 

There hasn't been time for anyone to actually review it -- the most they could do would be initial impressions, and it may be too early for that, for most folks.

So far so good. Incredibly fast frame rates. Looks like it was made to work smoothly with Windows 10 64-bit.

This is what I've been impressed with so far- The aircraft skin textures are amazing! the level of detail and reflections just off some of the default airframes are incredible. Also, the weather, or the rain and snow are done very well. The sound is also much improved. I am waiting for PMDG and ORBX to drop their installers so I can try out those as well. I have most of the graphic sliders all the way to the right and am getting 38 FPS at KLAX with traffic set to 40%.

I am on an older computer. An i7-3930k 6 core OC to 4.2Ghz with an EVGA Titan and 16 gig of ram. I have every slider cranked except water and traffic. Traffic is at 20% aircraft and 15% road traffic. I am still seeing in the 30FPS at large airports by FsdreamTeam and Flightbeam in the default FSX 737. This was a test and so far it passes with flying colors. I have yet to get ORBX products installed. Waiting on the installer.

 

So far it is looking to be very promising and most developers are upgrading their products for free. :)

I've set it up on two different systems and am impressed. Very smooth but seeing autogen detail out to the horizon is amazing.

 

Vic

Porting over aircraft from FSX tends to work very well. I made tons of XML gauges for FSX that don't work at all in FSW, but seem to be fine in P3D4. The only problem planes are the complex ones from people like Alabeo or Carenado. They insist on burying gauges in the MDL file and those aircraft don't seem to port over well.

I sure miss FSUPIC. PD3 offers on a few of the switches I use. Have been unable to get trim to work, either with POV on stick or sing three extra axes. After ORBX Open GL the default scenery seems a giant step backwards.

 

I do love the loading speed compared to V3. Of course once I add 2002 add-on files....

It took me a while to get on the site, but once downloaded and installed. WOW!?!

I have run it with the included F-16 and F-35. So far I have installed Lightning T5, Bac 1-11, and most of the default FS Steam aircraft. Very impressed. Better than FSW.

I'm hoping FSTramp will be ported over or an equivillent moving map as flying with 1 screen blank is ike flying with one eye shut!:pilot:

How do you add the default steam aircraft to P3D v4?????

Back to the OP's question, my thoughts are wow-Wow-WOW!

 

First, I wasn't even sure if my system would be able to run P3Dv4. I don't even meet the minimum specs for FSW. In short, good 'ol Intel 2600k at 4.5Ghz, GTX 780 with 6GB on board, and 32GB or RAM. Boy was I surprised.

 

Did a stress test flight for fun landing into my hometown of San Diego (KASN): Custom .30m photoreal with maxed autogen out to the horizon (18-20miles?), at dusk so loading both day and night textures with custom lighting, 100% AI traffic (WofAI), 100% 3rd party ships, 25% road traffic. Ported over a Project Airbus A319 for the landing and this was into the default KSAN.

 

Running three 27" 1080p displays across I was getting 30's on approach and on final it never dipped below 20! I would have hovered at 9-11fps with v3 stuttering all the way down. But this was sooooo smooth. Usually have a huge stutter about midway down the runway as scenery loads but not this time.

 

Granted, a simple aircraft compared to PMDG and default airport, but I could tell this was a huge performance increase. I could have never done this test in v3.

 

One thing that surprised me was the dynamic lighting. Was not expecting this with this aircraft. Ya know how the default landing lights are usually a big white triangle of light on the ground. Gone! Now a night blending of light onto the runway and then when I pulled up to the gate it was lighting up the terminal and airport vehicles as they passed by.

 

After landing I just sat back for a moment a reflected how immersive it was... this is what I have been waiting for.

 

Clutch

How do you add the default steam aircraft to P3D v4?????

 

Don't

Hi Clutch,

 

Sounds promising - I've got the 2700K looking forward to trying it... I've seen some reports of Sandy's not doing so well...

 

Regards,

Scott

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"According to Pete FSUIPC v5 should be out very soon"

 

The free version is available now!

 

http://forum.simflight.com/topic/80977-updated-modules/

 

The registered version is supposed to be available sometime today at SimMarket.

 

 

Russ

How do you add the default steam aircraft to P3D v4?????

 

The same way you add any aircraft to P3D.

The same way you add any aircraft to P3D.

 

Sorry Jin but that is NO LONGER the recommended way. v3 introduced a new folder called Prepar3D V3 Add-ons and recommended but did not enforce that addons go in that folder. For v4 that recommendation is now supported by the SDK, so the installs are different.

 

And in any event `default steam` means FSX or FSW aircraft and these should NOT be ported to the new sim.

Here's my initial reaction to Prepar3d v4

 

Well its a definite apples to oranges comparison speed wise version 3 to version 4 since the detail of v4 autogen is so much greater. Not a noticeable frame rate difference out of the box, but the quality of auto-gen is way better in v4. Their HD graphics are very good. The trees are amazing and their branches actually move in the wind, but their 3 dimensional effect does draw on resources. Install OrbX with its old type trees and frame-rates double. Fly through the volcano gap on Maui brings my system to its knees using the original v4 install because of their amazing trees, but with the lesser 2 D trees from Orbx its a smooth as silk flight with frame rates more than doubled over the v3 with the same add-ons.

 

Processor efficiency is greatly improved. Watching on my AMD Overdrive, the use of the 8 cores is much more load balanced. Very smooth. They have upgraded the 3D imagery to such an extent that the 64 bit advantage is not that noticeable in frame rates . . . unless of course you install the Orb X. They also seem to have thinned out the auto-gen, more sparse, I am guessing to make way for the 3d detail and still maintain the frame rates. Its a definite win over v3. The loss of v4 3d detail by installing OrbX is offset by the increased speeds and the denser foliage, which OrbX provides.

 

Comparing it to FSX or v3 or X-11, its a definite gain. I like the OrbX products enough I may be willing to lose the v4 better looking objects in favor of greater coverage and detail in the OrbX products and the way higher frame rates in v4 once installed.

 

Still a lot to see and discover, but atm I think it was a good investment.

Getting fantastic frame rates with a GTX 1080ti, Increased all the setting and getting 130 fps @144hz love seeing the game pushing my video card at 99%

The thing is, it's still FSX, more than ten years later. Look at the difference between FSX and FS95, there was a huge amount of advancement.

You're welcome to think that, but it's not so. Even v2 had some hefty improvements, but in a different area, things that FSX couldn't tackle, such as making use of the graphics card to get shadows, water, volumetric clouds and improved performance, to name only a few things.

 

But you're sure welcome to stick to FSX.

The thing is, it's still FSX, more than ten years later. Look at the difference between FSX and FS95, there was a huge amount of advancement.

 

That statement is so far from the truth it's laughable. Anyone paying attention to the development of P3D will know why that is not true.

 

Even from the beginning there were people saying it was fsx with extra stuff. It was not, is not and never WAS FSX. It was based on ESP. FSX was based on ESP and there were a lot of similarities but under the hood, it was quite different. Now, since version 2 there have been major advancements that FSX cannot even come close to and now with 64bit,,,,,,,,,

 

No your statement is completely wrong, sorry of you can't see why - means you are missing out big time.

 

Vic

Yes, vgbaron, I definitely agree!! P3d V4 is the best yet. I can't wait for the the plane creaters to catch up with 64-bit.

Yes, vgbaron, I definitely agree!! P3d V4 is the best yet. I can't wait for the the plane creaters to catch up with 64-bit.

 

And therein lies the rub. OF COURSE P3d v4 looks like v3 whn you use the non-optimised portovers and quickly-modded installers available at present.

 

It's the POTENTIAL of the vast new overheads, and what the extra RAM/VRAM usage will mean for development of new and more detailed products going forward. Its precisely why P3D will succeed where FSW will fail as the developer path is laid out, understood and clear and simple.