Questions about p3d?

[XLR8]

Hi all been a while. I have some questions about p3d vs5. I have v4, but have opted out us8ng to use MSFS. The main reason is the eve candy in MSFS. So this is what I would like to know. Is p3d v5 as pretty as MSFS out of the box with no addon stuff? My biggest criteria is I like to fly low slow and fast. Thanks.

[Bradburger]

The simple answer to that question is no!

You will, like FSX and previous versions of P3D, have to purchase or use freeware scenery addons to get P3D v5/5.1/5.2/5.3 looking 'nearer' to MSFS2020.

I'm using all three volumes of Orbx True Earth England and the Netherlands (with autogen OFF) and Active Sky/Active Sky Cloud Art (Enhanced Atmospherics off/HD Graphics off) for the weather, and am pretty pleased with how it runs and looks.

I'm not running the GFX settings at their highest as I only have a GTX 980ti on a 32" monitor, but as I said, it looks fine and is way better than running a vanilla P3D!









There are various shader mods available as well (not using any of them at the moment) which can be used to enhance the sim, but you'll never get quite the same visual experience as MSFS.

Cheers

Paul

[Scorch00]

Short answer is no. V5 is marginally better than v4. But since P3D at it's core still is based largely off of FSX's base framework, the scenery is still non-comparable to the likes of the Ai assisted building of MSFS and such. However, if you've spent a decent amount of money into photoreal sceneries, sky, weather addons, there really is no need to move from v4 to v5. I am in this category myself. I have spent a considerable amount of money and time into making my v4 sim look pretty good and therefore, didn't need to move to v5 as there wasn't that vast of a difference between the two with all the addons I had amassed for V4. I suggest to those going from FSX into P3D to just start with v5. But if you have a moderately built up v4 already, in my opinion, there is no real reason to move to v5. The only exception I'd think is if you were developing things specifically for v5. Other than that, I don't think it's worth purchasing another license to move over to v5. And to add to this, I do use Orbx, but the vast majority of my land and sky/weather enhancements to my sim are freeware.

[XLR8]

Hey thanks for the info! I love MSFS just are not many good planes. Most have some crazyi issues.

[Spad54]

Hey thanks for the info! I love MSFS just are not many good planes. Most have some crazyi issues.

That is why GAS will not build for MSFS. Simply it a scenery simulator and it flight model is totally inaccurate especially for the models we develop. Hang in there with P3D. It’s here to stay and I’ve seen the future and it’s bright. I can say this I have been assured backward compatibility of existing compatible models will be part of that future.

[centuryseries]

Sounds great

I'm keeping my fingers very crossed for backwards compatibility!

[Spad54]

Sounds great

I'm keeping my fingers very crossed for backwards compatibility!

What folks don’t understand about P3D when they state that LM is simply reusing the FSX engine is that the re-engineered it completely. It’s not the same simulator. I was in conversation with a CFI from Homer Alaska who stated that while he uses MSFS for entertainment; he uses P3D for student training because of the flight modeling.

[Scorch00]

This was exactly my experience when I attended Embry-Riddle. The entire flight program of ERAU now uses P3D for flight supplemental instruction and "sim" time in their 172 and DA42 sims for instrument and basic flight training. MSFS is not used on campus or at the flight line except for the on campus entertainment labs for students. Between Daytona and Prescott, where I attended that yielded something to the tune of close to 2,000 flight students across both campuses. So it's used considerably as a supplement when weather conditions are bad or additional instruction is needed.

[XLR8]

So how far out is this new p3d ?

[Penzoil3]

P3D v 5 came out last year.

[Bradburger]

P3D v 5 came out last year.

With P3D v6 supposedly not to far in the future it would seem!

Cheers

Paul

[blaunarwal]

P3D v 5 came out last year.

5.0 came out April 14, 2020
5.3 HF2 came out December 1, 2021
So according to my maths, it is a bit over 3 years now, since P3D5 came out. Even the last update is more than 17 months ago. That long we never had to wait before.

Dan

[Scorch00]

There is also talk of V6 being under Unreal Engine for it's graphics processing. Which will drastically change the sim in how it looks. The consensus is though, if that change happens, it's probably a whole new internal makeup. So we'd probably be dealing with the same thing in terms of lack of aircraft in MSFS.

[XLR8]

Thanks everyone!

Now that I have decided to look into p3d more in depth, I need to find another joystick and throttle. I have been looking at 3 different ones. I dont know much about these so looking for some feedback.

1, thustmaster hotas worthog (throttle and stick combo.

2, KVB Gladiator NXT EVO ‘Space Combat Edition with the GNX WWII Throttle Combo (I like the throttle layout.

3, wiwing Orion2 HOTAS Metal (throttle and stick combo.