So now that you guys twisted my arm into upgrading to P3D v3, I thought it would be good to have a thread that relates to P3D other than the screenshots thread.
I’ve had good success with installing the following:
ORBX Sceneries - FTX Global, FTX Vector, and FTX regions are all installed and working fine since they now come with P3D v3 installers. Just be aware that you will have to download the newer files from wherever you bought them since older archived ones may only have installers for FSX, FSX:SE, and P3D v1 and v2. Even if the download name hasn’t changed, the installer has (ie: OrbxFTXNABluePFJ140.zip might not have changed in name, but it has a new installer, but some of the numbers have changed too PFJ120, PFJ130, etc.) The point is - get the latest version and don’t forget the latest ORBX libraries.
JustFlight Traffic 360 - Finally got this working, but use caution because it does require some tweaking. Normally this will only install to FSX, FSX:SE, or P3D v1 and v2. You can force it to install to P3D v3 by creating a registry entry that tricks installers into directing the install process to your P3D v3 file location. I used this helpful guide - HERE - but changed all the references to P3D v2 to v3 and it worked great. Plus use at your own discretion though - if you screw up your P3D install, don’t say you weren’t warned. The guide says it’s for ORBX, but it worked fine for installing Traffic 360 too. You will need to do one thing in order to get the traffic to show up in P3D v3 after you have installed it:
- Navigate to your SimObjects.cfg file, which in P3D v3 now resides at %PROGRAMDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v3 and add the new entry (the number after the period is whatever number is next in the sequence of your particular .cfg file):
[Entry.9]
Path=SimObjects\JFTraffic360
If you don’t do that, the traffic will not show up in your P3D. This is what my P3D looks like now:
FRAPS - Doesn’t appear to work reliably in P3D v3. It works until you access a menu bar I think, then it quits monitoring the active window. I’ve been using the “V” key to take screens which are then found in the /Pictures/Prepar3D v3 Files directory.
Air Hauler 2: Early Access - Version 131.exe was working fine yesterday, then they released version 132.exe and now it isn’t working, so I might revert back to 131. It is made to work with FSX/FSX:SE/P3D v1/2/3, so it is technically P3D v3 ready.
Active Sky Next - I bought this back in 2014 or so and it has been continuously updated even though they have come out with a new product (Active Sky 2016). Installers for ASN work fine with P3D v3.
Carenado & Alabeo - I’ve manually moved my Carenado Cessna 185F, Alabeo Chieftain, and Saratoga II to my P3D v3 install and everything seems to be working. You can just copy the files from your FSX SimObjects directory to the P3D SimObjects directory. You will also need to move the aircraft specific files from the /gauges directory. Fortunately, these aircraft have pretty distinctive gauge naming conventions, so they are easy to find. Just copy the gauges to the Prepar3D v3/gauges directory. I’d caution overwriting anything in that directory.
Lionheart Quest Kodiak - I’ve been informed there is actually now a P3D v3 version available, but I did successfully move that from my FSX SimObjects and gauges directory as well. One quirk is that once you move it, you need to go into the SimObjects/Airplanes/Kodiak/soundBackup directory and copy those files into the SimObjects/Airplanes/Kodiak/sound directory. I don’t know why, but it worked.
I’m only 24 hours into this install, so I’m sure I’ll discover more things as I get up to speed. Feel free to add your own performance tweaks, install tricks, or other information.
BeachAV8R
I do think that FRAPS takes a superior screenshot in X-Plane though, for whatever the reason. Could be my settings. Edit: I use the keys [Print Screen] for screens and [Application] for video capture, FWIW.
