Making Prepar3d V2.5 mine

[OldAirmail]

The Good

My download of V2.5 went MUCH better that previous downloads.

WHAT A RELEIF!

Not that it hasn't always been that way.


There was a minor file permission problem causing ANY view outside of the cockpit to be totally black or blue.

This won't be a problem for most people, and was easily resolved.


CPU core usage.

I have a widget (if you don't know what that is, don't worry) on my desktop that shows CPU & memory usage.

I ran FSX and P3d and I can clearly say that something is probably happening.

Yes, P3d seems to be using the full CPU, more so than FSX did anyway.

Just what it's doing I, personally, haven't a clue. BUT, so far, P3d is running faster/better.

Just remember that this is after a complete "NEW" install.

As I screw around add more stuff that may change.



More Good

Or not so good, depending on your viewpoint, was that it's a FULL install, as I said, and not an upgrade.

This is actually a good thing in that updates & problems will be easier to resolve in the future.



Not So Good

On the other had I have to set up all my hardware & software add-ons. P.I.T.A.

But that's life, I'll live.

Probably.



And on that note: Software

With the new file structure, a lot of software will take some ingenuity to install.

If you wait for the software companies to update their installers - Good For You.


If not: Good Luck.

Expect problems now and then, along with some of the successes.


Orbx FTX Global

To install this, I took one of those unauthorized shortcuts.

It popped up an error saying that it couldn't install because "terrain.cfg" was missing.

Well it wasn't missing in FSX so I copied it over to P3d.

Really. What kind of damage could it do? This was a new install of P3d. If it screwed it up I could just reinstall Prerar3d. No big deal.

It worked!

Who knows: Deep in the heart of China is the village of Hug Wan Chi. That village doesn't look good. BUT EVERYWHERE ELSE LOOKS GREAT!

What I'm saying is that I didn't notice any problems.


Orbx FTX Global Vector

No problem at all

The same is true of the rest of the Orbx scenery that I've tried.

Yosemite National Park




FSUIPC

No problem at all, just make sure that you have FSUIPC 4.939.


SPAD

No problems at all.


Plan-G

No problems at all.


Opus FSI

No problems at all.


TrackIR5

No problems at all.


REX Essential Plus Overdrive

Didn't bother to try.


MigrationTool

Gives an error, but installs FSX programs (scenery or aircraft) without problems




"Addon Scenery" Scenery Folder

It ain't there.

You CAN add it, but it doesn't behave the same.

So far, the only way that I found to select & load new scenery is to do it the regular way....

AND THEN close/reopen Prepar3d.

Go to the scenery location and it'll be there.

If you've already loaded it, you'll be able to easily switch to it - no problem.


Death Valley by Blue Sky Scenery






Water is a bit better



Fog looks good



Snow is better than before.



Rain is pretty much the same.



New to V2.5 is particulate drift!


So there's good, bad, ok, and just different news.

More time will be needed, but so far I haven't run into any significant problems.

[OldAirmail]

Just a note on the last picture.

If you have any rain, smoke, or exhaust coming off of your plane AND it's windy you may see it blowing away.

That's what happened in that takeoff from Philadelphia Int. Airport (KPHL).

It's been VERY windy here with gusts up to 52 MPH!

[OldAirmail]

Another note - I was killed while flying this Whittaker MW6 out of KPNE (about 10 miles from my home).



Due to excessive winds (form OpusFSI) my aircraft exceeded it's design limits and failed about 300 feet AGL.

On the plus side, I did take off into the wind is less than 5 feet.

[OldAirmail]

BACK TO BUSSENESS

Although, on the whole, Prepar3d V2.5 is working very well, I have noticed that there's a micro hesitation/stutter occasionally.

This only happens when I'm over a High Def city, or airport, flying with a "spot view" and spin around the aircraft. Also this "stutter" is only seen in the rotation of the aircraft, and not the background scenery.

Not something that most people do in a "real" flight, of course.

This is new to V2.5. It never happened in FSX or Prepar3d V2.4.

Again, no biggie. In "normal" flight this doesn't happen.

[OldAirmail]

It is recommended that you uninstall v2.4 before installing v2.5. Additionally, if you have any issues running v2.5 it is recommend that you clear all files found in the following folders:

%PROGRAMDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2
%APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Prepar3D v2

I did that before I installed V2.5, but there are other reasons that you may want to go to these locations.


So how do you get to these locations?

Highlight one of the lines. Copy and paste it into "my Computer", or Internet explorer.







And there you are.

PS - notice that I mage a backup of the original EXE.XML file. Good idea.




Why would anyone want to do this?

To locate this file.


The EXE.XML file is where you can add programs that you want to auto start with Prepar3d. Or for FSX too for that matter.

Read Starting programs along with Prepar3d V2 for more detail.

At the moment there are two programs that I want to ALWAYS run with P3d. And both of these work without any problems in P3d V2.5.




Ignorance is a hard thing to live with.

If you're willing to learn just a little bit more, you can make your life better.

[mrplanecrazzy]

Thanks OldAir for all the instructions and tips.
I just downloaded V2.5 and have been hesitant to install just yet.
After all My V2.4 has been working flawlessly for the most part, and
I spent so much time porting all my addons.
I'm probably gonna just do a clean W7 install and go from there.
Meanwhile, here's a couple of shots.












MPC

[OldAirmail]

Obviously you're having FUN!

Great pictures.


REMEMBER to save a copy of terrain.cfg before you uninstall V2.4.

Orbx FTX Global

To install this, I took one of those unauthorized shortcuts.

It popped up an error saying that it couldn't install because "terrain.cfg" was missing.

Well it wasn't missing in FSX so I copied it over to P3d.

Really. What kind of damage could it do? This was a new install of P3d. If it screwed it up I could just reinstall Prerar3d. No big deal.

It worked!

Speaking of uninstalling V2.4, most people are having it work best by running the P3d V2.4 instillation software, and selecting to uninstall it.

I did a windows uninstall and manually deleted:
%PROGRAMDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2
%APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Prepar3D v2

[G.K.]

Nice screenies guys......Looking very nice.

[OldAirmail]

On behalf of us all, thank you.

[OldAirmail]

There is one thing that I'm beginning to get very annoyed at -

HAVING TO RE-START THE SIM EVERY EFN TIME THAT I MAKE A CHANGE IN THE SCENRY!


A great many are simply concerned with getting the aircraft that they want. It's nice, of course, to have a place to fly it, but the main thing is the aircraft.

I have no problem with that, everyone has their own take on what makes flight simming great.

I don't think that it's even important if you can fly well of not. TRUST ME - no one wants to hear me say "Welcome aboard, I'll be your pilot for this flight".



What I like is scenery that lets me feel like I'm flying SOMEWHERE.

The Problem?

I like to play with the scenery.

For instance: here are two screen shots. I want to compare them and see what I like.

The BASIC mesh that comes with Prepar3d.


And then the mesh from a Spanish website.

Yeup. There is a difference.


Simple.

Before 2.5, the scenery would just update on the fly. But now with every change, I have to shut down & restart Prepar3d V2.5.

If this ticks me off, I can just imagine what the scenery developers have to say.