P3Dv5 is here.

[TimC340]

There are a great many graphics issues atm with v5. Particularly, but not exclusively, with AMD 5600/5700 GPUs. VR is also not working properly, and - Joseph29 well spotted! - cloud shadows aren't working. Probably worth holding off a few weeks on this till the teething troubles are sorted.

[Victory103]

Sorry for the thread rebirth, wanted to see the state of V5 now with the recent 5.3 regarding MAIW packages. A long awaited add-on (VRS Tacpack, F-18E Super Bug) has finally come to P3Dv5. Although I do most of my mil flying in DCS now, I still fly mil aircraft in P3D while spotting AI packages. I also recently got into MSFS, so bouncing between the 3 sims.

[jetpilot1980]

...and thus starts a long migration process for me

[Victory103]

Well I got it. Since my initial P3Dv4 install involved Matrix, I'm assuming I can change the folder locations to v5 without any massive movement of large AI files? I was running the external add-on method for flyable aircraft as recommended on v4, again should just able to change directory. Oh it is nice to see the start-up/loading speed of a vanilla sim install!

[Greg]

Indeed Chris, you can simply copy the Matrix add-on structure in "\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons" to "\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons".

[TimC340]

If you're going to keep v4 installed, you may want to duplicate the Matrix folder structure and retitle it so that any changes you make to the v5 version of Matrix don't screw up the v4 version. One of the reasons for this is that there are several changes to ICAO codes in v5 - they've updated lots where old military airfields have become civil airports, and reused old codes on completely different airfields (often for specious reasons). You'll also need to run your traffic files through the latest version of AIFP which will pick up the various changes and apply them to the traffic files - for this reason, don't use P3Dv5 traffic files in earlier iterations of the sim!

There are quite a lot of changes to the scenery mesh, and many adjustments to airfield elevations. It becomes a bit of trial and error, but you may need to change the elevations of some of the MAIW airfields to get them to sit properly in the landscape. If you have a reasonably comprehensive installation of Orbx global and regional scenery, this may obviate this requirement.

[Victory103]

Tim,
Just downloaded the beta ADE from ScruffyDuck to check v5 ADEs. Any particular method you are using to convert older FS9/FSX MAIW files to fit in the sim? Glad I re-read John's recent Ft. Campbell Little Bird package for the included v5 files. I'm somewhat familiar with the basics of ADE as I run R. Smith's FSX-only large international airports through to work in P3D, most of the time everything checks.

[TimC340]

The basic process of converting FD9 airfields to v5 is similar to doing so for FSX-P3Dv4. You'll need to get rid of the VTxx files and replace them with a CVX. However, exclusions in the pre-V5 airfields may well not work for v5 - especially v5.2/5.3. To tackle this, open your airfield in ADE 1.79 in P3Dv5 mode, then 'import stock data'. That will give you an option menu as to exactly what you import; usually you can get away without importing taxi signs, approaches and navaids, but you want everything else. You can then delete anything that you don't want to appear (those damn masts that appear just about everywhere, for example!) and spot exclusions will be created by ADE. You can't see them, but they're there. This is also the best way of getting rid of default buildings, which seem to be more persistent in v5.

If the real-world airport is now defunct or has become a civil airport, v5 may well have re-allocated or changed its ICAO. If that is the case, you'll need to search out and deploy Scruffyduck's technique for deleting a stock airport. The bgls you create in that process can be added to your airfield scenery folder. If you subsequently look closely in the in-sim map (or, for more detail, in LittleNavMap) you'll see the deleted airport is actually still there, but will not be visible on the ground. Beware that any AI flight plans that go to the deleted airport will still be active and may cause issues, so update them using the flight plan text file and text-replace the up-to-date ICAO for your historical one. You may also need to add the airfield data to AIFP if you are creating or editing flight plans for use in v5. This all sounds like a lot of work, but it's pretty straightforward and quick to do. The resultant flight plans may however be unique to your system, so make notes and share them with any flight plans you distribute. Just as you can with converting FS9 plans to FSX, you can bulk-convert all your flight plans to P3Dv5 once AIFP has all the airfield data.

Updating the airfield library for v5 is quite a task, and is one that I've done a good deal of. Many of the FS9-era MAIW airfields can look ok at a distance in v5, but - as has been noted ever since FSX came along, 'Z-fighting' of flickering superimposed FS9 textures can be really bad - and annoying - in v5. Just to take one airfield, I'm working through John Stinstrom's FS9 Navy Jacksonville and replacing both the old AFD and every building that is no longer accurate or causes issues. That's pretty much every building, and I'm having to create maybe 1-200 more! It's a real rabbit hole of work (several months at least!), so beware what you take on!

[Victory103]

Any v5.4 users yet? https://www.prepar3d.com/news/announcem ... 05/121206/