Simviation Forums

Hi everyone,

So I finally dove back into the world of flight sims after a hiatus of a few years... Parenthood does take its toll on one's hobbies ahah! Anyway, since I left P3D came down hard on FSX and it looks like it stole the spotlight. I figured I'd start fresh and bought v4 today. What a change, so much smoothness compared to FSX! Just lovin' it!
Anyway, I used to have a bunch of payware for FSX, and I'd like to start my P3D collection. I would like to know what are must-have addons for this new beast please. Also as far as cloud textures/weather engines, what are the main differences between REX and AS16? I used to have REX for FSX and was quite happy with it.
Thanks for the help, and damn it feels good to be back! =)

I thought that I recognized the name, Welcome back.

The first thing to know about Prepar3d V4 is that V4 is far less compatible with FSX than V3 was.

If you've already started installing FSX scenery you've may have noticed that already - Prepar3d V3 won't start.

It's a little more forgiving of aircraft IF you install them to a folder, and then manually copy them into P3d V4.

In all, it'll be a bit worse than going from FS9 to FSX was, especially with FSX scenery.

One exception to that is Blue Sky Scenery. Even then, manually place it in P3d V4.


I hate to send you off to another site, but you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY need to read some of the posts on AVSIM, starting with this one - Prepar3D v3 & v4 video Tutorials.

The videos are short and to the point. They will save you a great deal of time, and help you recover P3d V4 when you go too far.

Other than that, I wouldn't trade P3d V4 for anything. (Except, maybe V5 )


One piece of scenery that I bought for FSX was New York City X.

The scenery is incredible detailed. Unfortunately, even with all of the sliders far to the left it would crash FSX within minutes.

Now, with P3d V4, I have most of the sliders to the right and can fly it as long as I want without crashing to the desktop.


There is a mad dash to produce, or convert, software for V4. Some is already out, but some, I think, will never be made compatible.

We're in the early days yet, so be careful what you buy. And, again, the wrong scenery will probably crash V4. That AVSIM link will help you to recover, often without the need for a full re-install. Trust me, I've already done it a few times.

The wrong aircraft will crash V4 too, but (so far) it's easier to recover, just remove the aircraft. Basically, If it doesn't have an picture when you go to select it, DON'T try to use it.


As to the weather I switched from OpusFSI to Active Sky for P3Dv4 (open Beta). Your choice of cloud textures is up to you.


As to the choice of scenery, it comes with a basic version of Orbx Global. Other choices are becoming available, but I've been hooked on Orbx for the past couple of years and couldn't give you an unbiased view.

Is it good? Absolutely!

This is Prepar3d V3 with Orbx scenery.



And this is the BASIC Prepar3d V4 scenery of the same area.



You've come back into flight sims at the right time.

I do actually prefer the default scenery in your shot 100%!

Are you sure it's not the other way round? 1st shot is default?