Thinking of buying P3D...

[daniel1234]

Hi everyone this is my first post on the forum. After searching the forum I couldn't quite find the info I was looking for.
I am just a little confused. I currently sim on Microsoft flight simulator and have for years. This sim is glitchy and keeps crashing and freezing. So I am tempted to buy P3D professional license for 199$ just wanting to know.

Is this a simulator ?

Can you fly any plane at any airport in the world ?

Can you play this on computer with a simple joystick controller ?

If I pay 199$ is that the full license. Are any other costs required ?

Are there any addons required to maximise this game?

Is this game a free world play? For example can you fly where ever you want without having to set routes or can you take off and land without creating a full IFR flight ?

Also as this game I think is open world. Are there other aircrafts flying around in the air ?


Basically I'm wanting a new sim with great graphics and realism. I plan on starting flight school next year so I am looking for something that is fun I can learn from with great graphics etc.

Also some of my computer specs are

4G ram
2TB hard drive
ATI Radeon 5500 graphics card
Intel I3 3.2 GHZ I think...
obviously wanting to max the graphics.. hope
You guys can help. Thanks

[elmucki]

The sims are the same Academic and Professional... read about the additional features in the pro version on their site. However, keep in mind, per their EULA, this is not for entertainment purposes like FSX. The concept of this sim is the same as FSX and its structured very similarly folder wise... Most addons work.

Your pc specs seem to meet basic requirements, but dont expect maximum quality and performance with those specs.

[maxam]

You can spend thousands of dollars on addons depending on what you want to acheive. I noted that you want to maximize the graphics. Prepar3D is based on Microsoft ESP and traditionally ATI Radeon cards have done horribly with this platform. nVIdia 980 or better card would be the way to go.

[robystar]

Do not think no more!
I have purchased a P3Dv4 Academic licence and I must say that it is not a waste of money at all.
It starts up faster than FSX, the frame rates are better (once you have your -Nvidia?- graphics card updated) and even the environment without any addons looks much better.
Even on a mediocre PC like I have, it gives much better results and shows my 'students' something that is more like reality than it was in FSX.
I like to fly in a real world environment and that would cost you some bucks or a lot of searching for updated AI models and repaints.
The shadows on the AI, buildings and user aircraft work fine without any noticeable frame rate hit.
The only things that remain to be done by them (IMHO) is to get dynamic lighting reprogrammed so as to cause a less heavy burden on the FPSm explain the effects changes in a better way and have a free real weather site added.

Cheers,

Roby

[nealmac]

Is this a simulator ? Yes

Can you fly any plane at any airport in the world ? Yes, within reason. P3D comes with many different types of aircraft but you can get many many additional aircraft types, both freeware and payware to make P3D more versatile.

Can you play this on computer with a simple joystick controller ? I'm using a stone age Microsoft Sidewinder 2 joystick without any issues.

If I pay 199$ is that the full license. Are any other costs required ? The $199 licence is the professional licence, and yes, that is the only cost, unless you buy any addons from third parties. You can read up on the different types of licences and you can't choose the one most suited to your needs by clicking http://www.prepar3d.com/product-overvie ... comparison

Are there any addons required to maximise this game? None are "required" but yes, many addons can greatly enhance your simulation experience. Addons vary from airports to aircraft to weather engines to ATC applications to scenery. Some are freeware while others are payware. Try to think of P3D as the operating system, and the addons as applications. The base application of P3D can look very boring and bland in places. But it's what you do with it to make it "better" by way of addons that makes it a true simulator. Also, it's not a "game". It's not for entertainment purposes. It's a training sim.

Is this game a free world play? For example can you fly where ever you want without having to set routes or can you take off and land without creating a full IFR flight ? Yes, you can. But as it's a training sim it makes more sense to do things as accurately as possible.

Also as this game I think is open world. Are there other aircrafts flying around in the air ? Yes there are. You can also get addon traffic packages which make things a lot more accurate.