Simviation Forums

Never ending story, uptade before end of year:

http://www.prepar3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6312&t=116090

Aaand it's available

I'd recommend users to read carefully the forums and the readme(s).
It seems it's possible to update only a part of the sim, which is split in client, scenery, planes and SDK.
The client would be the sim engine, the program...
The scenery is content. That's the heaviest stuff that didn't get anything important anyways, so you'll be glad you don't need to download that again

With the new update logic, it is possible to update ONLY the client to 3.1, which will bring all the benefits of the new version. But you'll have to uninstall the 3.0 client first, then install the 3.1 client.
I don't know what will happen to the addons installed in the traditional way (all directly inside the sim folder).
The addons installed in the "new" external way should be safe, in theory... but of course I went for the traditional stuff, because I am a lazy monkey... Right now I'm just waiting to read a bit more feedback on the forums prior to try to update.

Or, of course, one could simply wait for P3D-X...it will still be buggy but the sim world will have figured out how to work around that, and it will be abandoned by the developer who will have made scads of money selling versions 1 thru 9 to unwitting beta testers...

I have to admit that the new installing system is good. But the program the same.

FlexibleFlier wrote:Or, of course, one could simply wait for P3D-X...it will still be buggy but the sim world will have figured out how to work around that, and it will be abandoned by the developer who will have made scads of money selling versions 1 thru 9 to unwitting beta testers...

100% right!.

Let's wait and see wich Flight Sim Dovetail can make, without Microsoft license constraints, and we could return LM in his core business...

At the same time, X-plane is improving and improving with no extra charges.

You guys can wait for the new sims.
In the meanwhile, I'll continue enjoying the improvements made to P3D along the versions. Just because it is so far so much improved compared to FSX, and just because I'm glad it continues to be improved.

I have updated my sim to 3.1 this morning, so here is a bit of feedback:

- I only had to download the file "update_client.msi" from the "Downloads" section of the Prepar3D website. The file was only 123 MB
- I uninstalled the 3.0 "client" from the Windows Control Panel (the client is just one of the 5-6 lines for P3D). This took only a few seconds and released automatically my P3D licence. The rest of the files of the sim, including my addons, remained untouched.
- I installed the 3.1 client, which took a few seconds or minutes.
- I launched P3D, and got a window for activating my product (using the licence ID and password I got by email when buying the 3.0)
- I got some popups asking me if I wanted to enable the Orbx ObjectFlow modules, which I refused because they are not compatible with 3.1 yet.
- That's all. All my addons are still there and working, excepted ASN. But the ASN guys have already released a beta updated to make ASN compatible with 3.1

I couldn't test the performance yet, because I lacked some time for a real test flight. However, I could test two graphical improvements introduced with the updates:
- the dynamic reflection: it's a new setting in the graphic options, a slider. Instead of using the traditional envmap texture to draw reflections on the plane, the sim can now directly draw the real environment on your plane ! I made a test with the default R-22 after setting the reflections to maximum, and I could see the terrain, the hangars, the clouds, the autogen and the taxiways accurately reflected on my canopy window !! However, this high setting is quite expensive on the FPS, so you might want to test lower settings first.



- the wake effect on 3D water: in the past, the wake effect could not be displayed correctly on 3D water... because the wake effect was flat and horizontal, and the water was not. Now, you can edit the wake effect to add a new parameter "Ground Decal=1" to each [Particle.x] section in the .fx file, and the effect is not painted directly on the surface of the water, instead of a flat polygon As a consequence, the wake now displays perfectly even with big waves:

On this shot, you can also see the reflection on the prop cone: for that shot, I had set the reflections to "low", so I don't get any details but the sky and the terrain. No clouds, no effects, no objects. Only the blue sky and the dark blue sea (which is already a nice change compared to the mountains and conifers I was getting over the ocean in the past).

- I don't have a screenshot of it, but now the seaplanes will move according to the waves if you set the water setting to "Ultra". No more big waves with still aircraft. Landing or taking off from water with some winds (and waves) is now quite challenging, I have to say

Many thanks for this info. Regards.

Thanks, Daube. I'm running behind times this week, and appreciate the update.

Prepar update INFO

LINK : http://prepar3d.com/news/2015/12/113372/?refmtb


Added dynamic reflections on objects by replacing the static environment map with a dynamic cube map (No 3rd party products need to be updated unless they use custom reflections), Enhanced visual quality of water offering greater fidelity at high altitudes and better wave dynamics with high winds and also many other fixes and new additions

Just downloading it now. V 3.1.3.** - 9GB so will take some time. (I did have v1.* but lost it with a HD failure)

Looking forward to seeing what it's like and also how it performs with Google Earth View - which is a step towards virtual reality flying in a real world environment.

As a real world VFR pilot - you don't spend time looking at your plane apart from pre flight check. You glance at your instruments periodically to monitor altitude, heading, engine temps and pressures, fuel quanitity, etc -

But most of your time (more than 95%) is spent looking outside and the views - the ground features - and this is what GEView gives you like never before. - like I say - in a real world environment.


I will let you know how I get on and what I think of P3d 3.1.*

Been flying with P3D 3.1.* and I have to say I am exceptionally impressed - with the exception of some payware listings without aircraft that I wish weren't there like Carenado - I will remove those.

I have been using it with default setup and Google Earth View -- and work on getting those 2 working well together.

This combination has me more impressed and enthused than I have been for more than a decade.

Now just looking for a way to pan around in GEView ..... hoping to find .....

Welcome on-board Pete
I have also been quite pleasantly surprised by the version 3.1 (or 3.0). Most of my planes work well, both freeware and payware, with very few exceptions.

Just out of curiosity: why did you want to get rid of the Carenado airplanes ? Or did I misunderstand your remarks ?

Pete, it seems the 3.2 patch has just appeared
Downloading the client update as I write, it's 123 Mb (megabytes) only.
The update process is the same than I described earlier in this topic.

I'm hoping it's cheap too ......

(I'm just going to delete those taster planes -- there seem to be some that want you to buy a full version which I won't do. If it's not a complete model it's binned .... - I will explore that area when I get the chance ..

Hmm I don't think there is any incomplete model in the default aircrafts.
I made a few flights with the Carenado planes included in the sim, and they are quite nice. Although they are some of the most aged Carenado models, they are still far superior to the average quality. I mean, graphically.