P3D

[Nick C]

So, ello, it's been awhile. Job, children etc.

Can I say "P3D, whats it all about and what do I need to know"? Ta. Oh and what's a reasonable expectation for a machine that can handle it these days?

Cheery bye.

(Pearson, still lurking here I see?!)

Edit: Sorry just seen the P3D forums, they didn't used to be there.

[blanston12]

You can think of P3D as a natural evolution of FSX. When Microsoft shutdown FSX LM bought ESP, the commercial version of FSX and hired a bunch of the developers who worked on the FSX/ESP team and continued to develop it. The changes the have made have not been radical, the biggest change is the move to 64bit with V4, most FSX native aircraft and scenery will work in P3D as long as they don’t use any 32 not dll’s or gauges. Mostly the have continued to fix bugs, stability issues graphics engine, added vr support etc

now its my go to sim, only occasionally do I open FSX and that’s usually because I need to test something.

[Creepy847]

I agree with Blanston12. I still have FSX installed but its more for testing portovers. I ran P2d2.5 for a long time knowing the 64bit would come along. When it did I made the jump and I think its worth the money. FSX caused me a lot more work as it was rather buggy for what I was using it for. Not very forgiven if you know what I mean.

2.5 was better but still had many of the same issues as FSX. 4.0-4.2 is a different story. Much more stable and fluid and I seldom get any issues with it that are worth mentioning. Its my go to sim for that type of sim otherwise its DCS.

Im not planning on removing FSX but I never fly in it anymore. Its 4.2 only.

[Penzoil3]

» System Requirements

System Requirements – Prepar3D v4

	Minimum	Recommended
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit) [N editions require Media Feature Pack]	Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)
Computer Processor	2.2 GHz	Quad Core 3.5 GHz (Per Core) +
Computer Memory	4 GB	16 GB DDR4/2666MHz +
Hard Drive Space	40 GB, with at least 15 GB on C:\ (3 GB for the SDK) M.2 or Solid State Drive (SSD) is strongly recommended
Graphics Card Video Memory	2 GB	8 GB +
Graphics Card Other	Full DirectX 11 Support
Other	Administrator Rights (for installation only) Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0 Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2 DirectX 11 1024×768 minimum screen resolution for primary display

[Daube]

To make the "computer requirements" a bit simpler, you should think about P3D as "FSX plus graphic card".

This means P3D is as demanding as FSX when it comes to CPU power. P3D needs high frequencies and at least 4 cores, just like FSX. The more cores, the fewer ground texture blurries.
But, P3D requires also more power from the video card, especially for P3Dv3 or P3Dv4. That being said, unless you fly with VR googles or with a 4k screen, you don't need a top-end video card. For example, my GTX970 gives me good results.

And last but not least, since P3Dv4 is FINALLY a 64 bits simulator, it can use more than 4 Gb or RAM. IF you are running a 64 bit OS like Windows 7 64b, Windows 8.x 64b, or Windows 10, you want to ensure you've got at least 12 Gb or RAM on your computer. This will give enough room for your OS, you applications, AND your simulator :P

[Daube]

Ah, another remark, might be important depending on what addons you use:

In P3Dv4, you have to forget about anything from FS9. FS9 addons will not work at all, they won't even display. Also, for FSX addons, any gauges (.gau or .dll files) in 32 bits will not work in P3Dv4. XML gauges will be fine, though

In P3Dv3 (at least the version 3.3, I don't know if the statements below are still true with version 3.4...), which is still 32 bits like FSX, FS9 aircrafts will mostly work like in FSX, with the following similarities or differences:
- 2D gauges in virtual cockpit will not be clickable anymore. So, it you have a FS9 plane with a VC with 2D buttons, these won't be clickable anymore.
- However, any button or lever modeled in 3D will still work and be clickable
- You will still get the transparency problems for props or canopies, but this can be adjusted by editing the textures, same as in FSX.
- you will NOT get any "props/windows disappear behind the clouds/autogen" problems, contrary to FSX
- you WILL get self shadows in the exterior model
- you WILL get shadows in the virtual cockpit !

That being said, the nicest freeware planes from FS9 are constantly being converted to FSX-native models with XML gauges, which means they become fully usable (even when they have 2D buttons) in P3Dv3 or v4, so you might want to search for the latest version of a plane before taking any decision.