FSX vs. XP11 vx. P3Dv4

[Michael Blakely]

I now own all 3 major simulators (I think). FSX, X-Plane, and P3D.

FSX has been my workhorse simulator for years, and I have invested in a lot of payware to improve the experience with traffic, environment, and aircraft.

X-Plane is something I pull out once in a while. The graphics quality is better than my FSX, but I struggle with the different keyboard layout and the pan-scan works much different from FSX, so sometimes I find it hard to use, but it flies and looks great.

Both FSX and X-Plane have lots of freeware options to improve the experience as you slowly build up payware over a period of years.

P3D looks fabulous, and because it's a sibling of FSX, it has a familiar look and feel, including the keyboard layout.

Here is what I didn't expect: P3D has almost NO freeware available, especially aircraft. Also, there are no modern commercial aviation jet aircraft included with P3D. So I expect there will be a long overlap with FSX as I slowly buy a new PMDG or Aersoft plane every 2-4 months as I save my quarters and convince my co-pilot (wife) to let me spend a little of my mad money. First up will be my workhorse PMDG 737. I probably won't be flying more obscure aircraft like the Quality Wings BAE-146 or Flight Sim Labs Concorde on P3D until 2021.

[Theodore Martin]

I totally understand you position. I made the move from FSX to P3D and was able to purchase some of my previous a/c at a discount (FeelThere Ejets, Majestic Q400, iFly NG737). Carenado provides a free upgrade to P3D for most of the FSX a/c I have. However I miss having a heavy a/c (i.e. 777) and my Airbus 320. PMDG wants me to purchase another 777 for my P3D at $100 or so and I need to repurchase the Airbus. So like you I am saving my dimes to purchase those as well as a CRJ.

Luckly the C-130 I from Capt. Sim and the F/A18 from Vertical Reality are pretty much duplicated in the standard a/c that come with P3D.

[Rafael Fonseca]

Believe it or not, my go to sim is still FS9. I've managed to resurrect that old dinosaur and keep all of my old payware aircraft. A few of the payware utilities won't work with Windows 10, but there are some nice modern utilities that will still work with FS9. I'm building my commercial aircraft collection for FSX and P3D is on the horizon for me sometime this year.

[Theodore Martin]

Believe it or not, my go to sim is still FS9. I've managed to resurrect that old dinosaur and keep all of my old payware aircraft. A few of the payware utilities won't work with Windows 10, but there are some nice modern utilities that will still work with FS9. I'm building my commercial aircraft collection for FSX and P3D is on the horizon for me sometime this year.

I'm totally amazed you got FS9 working with Windows 10. You must be a real PC guru. I tried everything to get FSX to work with Windows 10 but with no joy. It would run for a short while then freeze for up to 5min. or so, then work for another few minutes and freeze again. Had to go back to Windows 7.

[Rafael Fonseca]

Ted, I got it to work using a tip from Volke Heine, author of Flight Sim Commander. In the process of setting up FSC10 to work with FSX I learned that where you install the simulator effects how the sim reacts to other programs and utilities. By default, the program wants to install FS9 and FSX into the Program Files (x86) folder. For many "legacy" programs, that's fine. The problem with the x86 folder has to do with administrative permissions.
I installed FS9 in its own folder under the C: drive. After that, I installed the "no disc" update and it ran fine. I then installed FSX on the C: drive as well and any utilities for either sim also went on the C: drive. Both sims work fine now. The only issue is there seems to no longer be support for the real world weather via Jeppesen. The fix for that was to install FSrealWX Pro. It took a bit of time in researching all of this and a little trial and error testing...mostly error! lol
I hope that helps.

[Theodore Martin]

Ted, I got it to work using a tip from Volke Heine, author of Flight Sim Commander. In the process of setting up FSC10 to work with FSX I learned that where you install the simulator effects how the sim reacts to other programs and utilities. By default, the program wants to install FS9 and FSX into the Program Files (x86) folder. For many "legacy" programs, that's fine. The problem with the x86 folder has to do with administrative permissions.
I installed FS9 in its own folder under the C: drive. After that, I installed the "no disc" update and it ran fine. I then installed FSX on the C: drive as well and any utilities for either sim also went on the C: drive. Both sims work fine now. The only issue is there seems to no longer be support for the real world weather via Jeppesen. The fix for that was to install FSrealWX Pro. It took a bit of time in researching all of this and a little trial and error testing...mostly error! lol
I hope that helps.

Thanks for the info Rafael. I have installed my simulator software in it's own folder outside of the Program Files (x86) ever since I upgraded Windows 7 years ago. Actually I installed FSX on a separate drive and not on the C: drive. Did the same thing when my system automatically upgraded to Windows 10 but still had problems with FSX. Could not get it to run consistently, keep hanging up for 3-5min.