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Author	Topic: Why Prepar3d over FSX?

DogTailRed-
2

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Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 24, 2012, 09:13

Hello,

Long time Sublogic -> FSX Flight simmer here

I've been looking at Prepar3d as an alternative, well not alternative but maybe successor to FSX now that FSX is no longer being developed.
From the screenshots it looks similar and I was wondering, apart from the obvious development advantage what the stock Prepar3d has over FSX. In other words why would I use Prepar3d over FSX? Does it fly better for example?
I have just upgraded to a Quad Core 4ghz i7. Does prepar3d utilise the power of a 4 (8 dual thread) cpu?

Many thanks and ATB,

Ted.

Canuck

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 24, 2012, 15:42

In a word, nothing. But the future looks rosie. Some claim it is smoother and that may be the case with older equipment, but with a fast PC I cannot say I notice any difference. Lockheed have yet to eliminate a number of annoyances maybe they will advance the sim with version 2 but at the moment FSX has the advantage, and its 6 years old.

gandy

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 24, 2012, 17:54

P3D works better out of the box where fsx will not, in one of my tests i do to check the base install of any sim i see how fast i can fly before the ground textures struggle to catch up. I dont tweak the config files.. just go through the normal options menu.

with p3d v1.4 it was 619 knots and fsx i believe it was somewhere between 300 and 400 knots with the Iris F-16 flying at 250 to 350 agl. To get fsx to keep up it can be a struggle of mass tweaking.

I do think that p3d has better behind the scenes performance over fsx and the way it handles ground textures is a vast improvement over fsx when you don't want to tweak the config. When you start to install your addons thats when you tend to notice the different between the two as some addons are 100% compatible and others sit around the 95% mark and its that 5% difference that could mean a nice 30fps locked or an ok 20 to 25fps. Like in fsx its the addons that can cripple the sim and its performance.

Some people have asked for a comparison between the two but it is very hard to do as you don't realise the difference as we tend not to push the sim unless we install fps killing addons.

My speed test is the main one i care about as i dont want ground textures getting out of shape when im flying at 300kts in some heavy payware addon.

BobbyHippe-
rson

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 25, 2012, 13:34

Quote from DogTailRed2 on August 24, 2012, 09:13
In other words why would I use Prepar3d over FSX?

Right now, today, your FSX might look better but FSX is no longer being developed by Microsoft. Third party devs continue to give it life but FSX itself is not being worked on.

Lockheed Martin is actively working on a Flight Simulator TODAY that just happens to be derived from the FSX engine. I bought, use, and will continue to pay LM for their ongoing development of a product with a very promising future.

This is not directed at you DogTailRed2 but rather a personal observation that the Flight Sim community ought to be supporting active development of a great product rather than trying to get something for free or comparing it to a product that was kicked to the curb by Microsoft.

The short answer to your question? To help LM pay the people TODAY who are developing a product. Try the product. if it doesn't appeal to you, then ask for your money back. If you see potential, then support their efforts.

In my personal and humble opinion, of course.

Bobby

Undergraduate student

Valiant

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 25, 2012, 16:04

+ 1
great Bobby

Arismac

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 25, 2012, 20:18

+1
Spot on Bobby. Great answer.

learlife

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 26, 2012, 11:41

That's it: we have now great people trying to make it better. That's the main reason to buy it. And Bobby, we can only agree with you.

campospint-
o

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 27, 2012, 22:03

+1
I full agree Bobby

João Alfredo

Gil

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 28, 2012, 11:39

I couldn't agree more. Prepar3D is now the sim we always wished FSX to be. That said, I still fly FSX because of the ATC window, which I find extremely distracting. If they could give us the option to use the fsx ATC window instead, I'd finally put FSX to rest. Thanks LM for reviatalizing our hobby!

cj3737

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 29, 2012, 01:39

Quote from BobbyHipperson on August 25, 2012, 13:34

Quote from DogTailRed2 on August 24, 2012, 09:13
In other words why would I use Prepar3d over FSX?

Right now, today, your FSX might look better but FSX is no longer being developed by Microsoft. Third party devs continue to give it life but FSX itself is not being worked on.

Lockheed Martin is actively working on a Flight Simulator TODAY that just happens to be derived from the FSX engine. I bought, use, and will continue to pay LM for their ongoing development of a product with a very promising future.

This is not directed at you DogTailRed2 but rather a personal observation that the Flight Sim community ought to be supporting active development of a great product rather than trying to get something for free or comparing it to a product that was kicked to the curb by Microsoft.

The short answer to your question? To help LM pay the people TODAY who are developing a product. Try the product. if it doesn't appeal to you, then ask for your money back. If you see potential, then support their efforts.

In my personal and humble opinion, of course.

Bobby

While I totally agree with you Bobby, concerning support for a company that is actively working know issues to a defunct program that we all know and love, I dont think the question was about continuing support or getting something for free... It was more about what makes prepar3d "better" than fsx and what the advantages are to purchasing the new program versus keeping fsx and tweeking it like we all do.. I know my questions are the same and am still on the fence as to wether or not I should get prepar3d or stick with FSX. I know the support for prepar3d is alive and kicking and there are plenty of users out there that have the fixes for this and that...but...I have read many a post that the current version of prepar3d still has its issues and there really isnt much of an advantage over fsx at the present time.

I will make the switch because there is a support system in place and an opportunity for future updates is an awesome thought. I would just like to know the advantages of Prepar3d over FSX

Gil

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 29, 2012, 08:46

In my humble opinion, Prepar3D is finally the sim FSX never was. It's smooth, it's powerful and it looks like developers are starting to support it. I believe it is the future, though I still use FSX because I don't like the Prepar3d ATC (non-transparent) and its start up process (needs a setup page). But as far as the flight performance and visuals go, it's a big step up from FSX. I support the earlier comments, buy it and support them - afterall, the price is less than some developers want for their aircraft, which most of us will gladly pay.
Cheers,
Gil

vgbaron

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 29, 2012, 11:50

cj3737 - the main point is - no matter how much you TWEAK FSX, you can not overcome built in code deficiencies with out changing the underlying code. THAT is what LM is in process of doing with P3D. Easy way to check if you have access to a spare system. Install FSX bare bones and run it. Install P3D and run it. Right out of the box P3D is superior to FSX. On many systems it is superior even with FSX running many add ons. It is still a work in progress while FSX is a stagnant old platform being held together by spit and bailing wire and some inventive programmers.

You want words - faster, smoother, sharper, less trouble but MOST important - STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT.

Vic

cj3737

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 29, 2012, 13:09

Quote from vgbaron on August 29, 2012, 11:50
cj3737 - the main point is - no matter how much you TWEAK FSX, you can not overcome built in code deficiencies with out changing the underlying code. THAT is what LM is in process of doing with P3D. Easy way to check if you have access to a spare system. Install FSX bare bones and run it. Install P3D and run it. Right out of the box P3D is superior to FSX. On many systems it is superior even with FSX running many add ons. It is still a work in progress while FSX is a stagnant old platform being held together by spit and bailing wire and some inventive programmers.

You want words - faster, smoother, sharper, less trouble but MOST important - STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT.

Vic

I completely understand what you are saying, but, none of us runs FSX bare bones....Developer add ons are the key to making FSX look "realistic". I do believe P3D is going to demolish FSX in the future

My major question is, is Prepar3d worth the money right now with v1.4? I've read a bunch of posts that it still has glitches and bugs and then there is the FSX addon upload issue that seems to be a headache all on its own. And no known release date for v2.

Im really excited about getting Prepar3d.. I just want to make sure it will be worth the effort to install everything to match my current FSX quality...

vgbaron

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 29, 2012, 15:53

Since I've been there and done that, I can honestly say yes. Without violating forum rules, I can say that most of my favorite add-ons install w/o issues and make P3D even better. I use AS2012 for weather and it is superb and the developer has no problems with a P3D install. The A2A accusim products, ditto. My scenery and terrain products work as well.

Most important, I found it easy to install and didn't have to apply all the tweaks I did in FSX to get comparable or better results.

Do you NEED to buy it right now? Not at all. Would you benefit from waiting? Might save a few bucks over the upgrade when v2 is released but you'd be missing a helluva lot of fun.

Either way though, you come out ahead.

Vic

cj3737

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Re: Why Prepar3d over FSX?
on: August 29, 2012, 16:08

I would really like to get it as soon as possible but I have 2 hang ups..
First is, I finally have FSX running smooth, no CTDs, scenery looking wonderful..so its hard to break away from something that works....
Second is, I am planning on dedicating a solid state drive to P3D but don't have the drive yet. Not too concerned about saving a few bucks with the upgrade.. I just dont want to have to do a lot of tweaking or multiple reinstalls like fsx is notorious for...

Do the current updates that LM gives out just overwrite the previous versions or do you have to reinstall components to make it all work ok?

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