Prepar3D V3.1 is out!
- Thread starter roger-wilco-66
- Start date
Crusader
SOH-CM-2022
Just curious if you have had a chance to check out Instant Scenery 3 yet ? It just became compatible with 3.0 a few days ago .Installed and moving in as I post this.
Mannnnnn...I do like the interactive cube map. This is a huge step IMHO.
Doing the usual re-install shuffle, but well worth it. Can't wait to explore the other improvements.
Rich
gman5250
Charter Member
First thing I checked. No joy on my end, but I'm running 2.5 on a separate drive for IS placements. Kind of a PITA, but tolerable.
gman5250
Charter Member
It's pretty brilliant actually Rick, the cube map can be either traditional via the GlobalEnv map maps or enabled by a slider for the camera generated cube.
The active map uses cameras that read the surrounding, then project them in real time on your object.
My main curiosity was how alphas, spec etc. interact with the live map. From what I can see at first look, existing alphas/specular/bump and bump alpha will represent very closely to previous uses with GlobalEnv map.
This opens up a huge new canvas for developers....IMHO.
Bump Update:
ASN is throwing a sim connect error...needs to be updated by the dev.
OPUS live weather booted with no problems.
REX TD and Soft Clouds loaded right in without any issues.
TM Warthog stick and throttle booted right in and recognize my previous profiles.
Checked my scenery WIP projects I'm not seeing any need to make any mods. Always a relief.
Looks like the basic sim is going to be good enough for me to use as primary sim while the devs update the peripherals.
gman5250
Charter Member
Correction Rick, not a tick...its a slider.
Settings/Lighting/Dynamic Reflections Slider
@Gman5250 HIFI ASN has a beta patch out addressing V3.1 here
[h=2]Service Pack 4 OPEN BETA - FSX AND P3D[/h]http://www.hifisimtech.com/downloads/
[h=2]Service Pack 4 OPEN BETA - FSX AND P3D[/h]http://www.hifisimtech.com/downloads/
Dangerous Beans
SOH-CM-2022
Has anyone with ORBX scenery installed tried the update yet and has it caused any problems ?
gman5250
Charter Member
TuFun
Charter Member
Interesting comment by Rob (beta tester).
If the dev set the flag originally in their product (Global Environment map reflection) then you'll see it ... what it would do prior to this new P3D feature is just reflect a generic static scene (think it was landscape mountains or something), now with Dynamic Reflections enabled it will reflect the surroundings as you move thru the world, whatever those surroundings maybe.
Dynamic Reflections can be enabled for ANY texture/surface, so yes a metal plane IF the developer enables Global Environment map reflection. Be aware that developers could still do their OWN custom dynamic reflections, but now it's just a lot easier.
Best way to see what does and does not have Global environment map reflections is to turn dynamic reflections on/off in P3D and see if you notice a difference in the aircraft/object. As has been pointed out, PMDG windows, Q400 windows will show dynamic reflections as they set the Global Environment map reflection even thought they knew it would just reflect a static image when they original created the aircraft ... but it looked like a reflection back then even if only static, so they used the flag. Now it will be a real dynamic reflection of the world one is flying in.
So expect more 3PDs to start using the Global Environment map reflection in future products (or some may even update existing products) now that they know it works dynamically.
Dynamic reflections is a "huge deal" IMHO and when 3PDs start using it more our FPS will be impacted (if we enabled dynamic reflections), hence my warnings. So save up for that next gen GPU and CPU if you want to claim you can max everything out and get 1000 FPS
Yes, it's progress and hardware will always need to catch up ... "as real as it gets" will always mean "open your wallet".
Cheers, Rob.
If the dev set the flag originally in their product (Global Environment map reflection) then you'll see it ... what it would do prior to this new P3D feature is just reflect a generic static scene (think it was landscape mountains or something), now with Dynamic Reflections enabled it will reflect the surroundings as you move thru the world, whatever those surroundings maybe.
Dynamic Reflections can be enabled for ANY texture/surface, so yes a metal plane IF the developer enables Global Environment map reflection. Be aware that developers could still do their OWN custom dynamic reflections, but now it's just a lot easier.
Best way to see what does and does not have Global environment map reflections is to turn dynamic reflections on/off in P3D and see if you notice a difference in the aircraft/object. As has been pointed out, PMDG windows, Q400 windows will show dynamic reflections as they set the Global Environment map reflection even thought they knew it would just reflect a static image when they original created the aircraft ... but it looked like a reflection back then even if only static, so they used the flag. Now it will be a real dynamic reflection of the world one is flying in.
So expect more 3PDs to start using the Global Environment map reflection in future products (or some may even update existing products) now that they know it works dynamically.
Dynamic reflections is a "huge deal" IMHO and when 3PDs start using it more our FPS will be impacted (if we enabled dynamic reflections), hence my warnings. So save up for that next gen GPU and CPU if you want to claim you can max everything out and get 1000 FPS
Yes, it's progress and hardware will always need to catch up ... "as real as it gets" will always mean "open your wallet".Cheers, Rob.
Thanks Gman, didn't realize that it was a slider! somehow I missed it yesterday!! How is that possible!?? haha It was the only thing I was really looking for! Can't wait to try it!
Shouldn't have a huge impact on FPS, if it was implemented correctly...plus P3D already handles stuff like this very well. TacPack features already utilize cameras with much higher resolution than I bet is going into the reflections. But we shall see, I might end up eating my words! As is often the case...my wife can attest!
Shouldn't have a huge impact on FPS, if it was implemented correctly...plus P3D already handles stuff like this very well. TacPack features already utilize cameras with much higher resolution than I bet is going into the reflections. But we shall see, I might end up eating my words! As is often the case...my wife can attest!
DaveWG
Charter Member
Yep, it does work along those lines. I read a post about it somewhere, but I can't find it now.
I found a fairly heavy FPS hit with it turned up to max, although it was a very quick test due to lack of time. My GPU is a bit on the weak side compared to the latest models, so better cards should handle it better.
TuFun
Charter Member
Here's the break down per Rob...
Dynamic Reflections Makes reflections more realistic by replacing the static global environment map with a real-time environment map based on the camera. The resolution of the environment map doubles each quality step starting at 128 and ends at 1024. The types of objects that reflect at different settings are outlined below.
Low: basic world features (ex: terrain, sky, water)
Medium: taxiway and runway features)
High: autogen buildings and air features (ex: stars, clouds)
Ultra: details (ex: particles, vegetation)
Cheers, Rob.
Dynamic Reflections Makes reflections more realistic by replacing the static global environment map with a real-time environment map based on the camera. The resolution of the environment map doubles each quality step starting at 128 and ends at 1024. The types of objects that reflect at different settings are outlined below.
Low: basic world features (ex: terrain, sky, water)
Medium: taxiway and runway features)
High: autogen buildings and air features (ex: stars, clouds)
Ultra: details (ex: particles, vegetation)
Cheers, Rob.
gman5250
Charter Member
Everything functions the same, but I was curious if alpha would need tweaks to compensate for the "live" reflections now that they change rather than referencing a static cube.
I looked hard at the F7F metal skins for any changes needed. I didn't see anything needing to be tweaked. I think your metal skins should be OK without any changes.