Prepar3D Version 4.0 Announced

[jfuenmayor]

Hi all:

Well, I have installed P3D v4 side by side with V3, which is the one I use regularly. My rig includes the main machine with an i7 Quad Core, 3.50 GHz, 32 GB of RAM, NVIDIA GForce 980 running under Windows7 and 5 clients, two of them running WinXP for the CDU's (one machine for each CDU), the other 3 clients also run Win7. One of them is used for SIOC driving my RV TQ comnected to it, and vPilot as a client, the second one runs the main Displays and the third one EICAS and  the lower MFD. I will be getting rid of the two XP machines since they cannot run the latest .NET Framework which is needed for the latest versions of ProSim.

I have not installed any addons except for FSUIPC5 latest version 102a.
No tinkering has been made with the settings. The program adjusted itself automatically as per hardware capabilities detected. Axis setting and calibration were done via FSUIPC. The PFC 737Yoke, a Butanro card driving the Tiller and a FDS FC1 card driving FDS Rudder Pedaals were all recognized and work without a hitch. Also, Topcat and ProsimUtils work with it as well.

No change was necessary to my TQ settings. The SIOC Script that I had modified in the past, worked the same and flawlessly. Only the trim needed to be adjusted since it moved all the way to the UP position when the program was first run. This was corrected with the trim control on the Yoke. The Prosim 737 Winglets model installed correctly after indicating the proper directory. All controls and switches from ProSim worked without changes to the config file. In summary, it was quite easy to make the transfer.

Now my initial experience:  P3D V4 loads a lot faster. The frame rates in this rig are 60 fps or higher, the aircraft is able to be flown manually without problems despite minimal lag in the controls, the Autothrotles work the same as with V3 and the CPFlight MCP Pro with EFIS performs despite a lag that is noticeable. I attempted a manual ILS approach with a light headwind and it was quite difficult due to the lag on the displays,  which translated into a very erratic control input from my part. On the other hand, the Autopilot was able to fly the approach to DH very precisely.

There is no question that the main issue is the lag on Prosim. Since i do not know the inner workings of either ProSim or FSUIPC, I cannot be certain at what level of communication the bottleneck occurs. For sure, the packets of data transmitted from ProSim to FSUIPC an then P3D v4 have a delay which can easily be discerned by observing the lack of fluidity on the displays. This has already been reported by others. Some people have said that the latest version of FSUIPC5 has shown an improvement. That version (.102a), is the only one I have tried, so the initial one must have been even worse.

My two cents: For simmers with full  Cockpits using ProSim, P3D v4 is not ready for prime time yet, but, once this hurdle is overcome, and I have very reason to believe it will be, there probably will be no returning to V3. Sixty four bits is native in the CPU's we run today. I like this upgrade very much and I do not feel that I have wasted my money. Certainly, the cycles between major versions of P3D are a concern but is the only one maintaining the MSFS base code, and it shows. Other options such as X-Plane are even more difficult to adopt using ProSim. And I have personal experience on that too.

I will continue to test and will report accordingly.

Life is good.

Cheers

[jfuenmayor]

Hi guys

Just to let you know that I have just upgraded to version 4.1 without any problems.
Only the client and content parts have been updated. Both must be uninstalled first and registering the software  again is a must. FSUIPC5 latest version, 121b,  must also be installed. The good news is that there is absolutely  no lag with ProSIm and it loads quite a bit faster than V3 too.

In my case, FSX belongs to history, I am sure that once Luciano works out WideWiew, and I think he probably will (shhhh is a challenge...), many people will be happy.
A note on the bgl compiler for version 4.0 and 4.1, Scruffyduck ADE AFCAD files will not compile, but, the V3 compiler can be used and the scenery will run perfect on versions 4.0 and 4.1

Cheers.

[Trevor Hale]

Great Information Joaquin, Thanks for updating us. I haven't made that Jump yet.  Maybe after Worldflight LOL

Trev