Prepar3D v2.3 is released out by Lockheed Martin.
and they also announced “several new and exciting features for Prepar3D v2.4“.
check out their developer blogs in the future.
Download size
Update from v2.2: 144MB
Full Installer v2.3: 10GB
The Prepar3D v2.3 update highlights include:
- Dozens of rendering and performance optimizations and updates
- The inclusion of the v2.2 ‘hotfix’ that caused the Flight Planner to crash
- Several new features in the multiplayer system
- An update to the ‘ultra’ 3D water libraries that increase immersion and realism while improving performance
- A new panel serialization feature that saves the state of your panels and gauges when you save a flight or mission, so that you can resume training in the same conditions that you left with
- Three new tutorial missions that highlight the flexibility and power of SimDirector as a virtual instruction tool
- Several new updates to SimDirector to further it’s position as the industry leading desktop virtual instruction suite
Reference the full listing of performance improvements, fixes, and requested enhancements broken out below.
Three new SimDirector Virtual Instruction Sample Missions Added
- Learn how to properly start up and run through the pre-flight checklist of the Bonanza A36
- Next test your abilities with a timed and graded exercise of the A36 startup procedures
- Finally, learn how to taxi, takeoff and land with assistance from the Prepar3D SimDirector Virtual Instructor
General Platform Updates
- Added a new panel (.PNL) file that is saved when a mission saves. This allows users to save their vehicle’s gauge and panel states and settings and is transferable between workstations
- Fixed an issue with the value being written to the MUTE_ON_LOST_FOCUS variable in the Prepar3D configuration file
Rendering and Performance Updates
- Updated 3D water and terrain and improved performance
- Added new higher-resolution textures to the 3D water as well as sea foam
- Optimized GPU particles for higher visual performance
- Added more show/hide options to camera definitions
- Fixed an issue where the Render to Texture (RTT) would disappear after closing and reopening 2D panels
- Fixed an issue where specular maps for buildings could become corrupted
- Fixed an issue where airport parking detail markings could float off the ground
- Fixed a rendering issue related to the context menu causing 3D water not to render
- Fixed an issue where ultra water was not updating in certain conditions on AMD video cards
- Fixed an issue where anisotropic filter would not respect user configuration settings
- Fixed an issue that caused boat wakes to be placed above the water surface
- Fixed an issue where the TextureMaxLoad configuration variable was not being respected
- Fixed an issue where some library object effects would not appear correctly
- Fixed issues with camera views becoming motionless
- Fixed cases where attached effects rendered incorrectly in virtual cockpit views
- Fixed an issue where particle effects would occasionally render with the wrong texture
- Fixed issues relating to scenery objects disappearing across a multiple monitor environment
- Improved clouds near camera to make them look more volumetric
- Added functionality to allow more than one window plugin for add-ons
- Added bathymetry support to GPU (tesselated) terrain
- Fixed an issue where water textures would pop when changing altitudes
- Fixed Sea-Tac environment buildings that were covered with environment maps
- Fixed several issues with trees rendering on multiple video cards
- Fixed the BGL line list and point list from crashing AI aircraft.
Lighting and Shadows
- Improved performance and speed with changing the shadow settings
- Created consistent lights on aircraft
- Enhanced performance related to cloud shadows
- Fixed an issue where the lighting page would sometimes display incorrect data
- Optimized lighting at airports that improved performance
- Improved stability issues with HDR luminance
- Fixed an issue where lighting on 3rd party aircraft carriers would not display
- Fixed an issue where clouds and weather would not appear on first flight loads
- Fixed an issue with shadows being cast on objects that were set to be invisible
- Fixed an issue where the shadowing of the sun and moon was broken at dawn or dusk
- Added visibility support for cloud reflections
- Fixed an issue where landing lights could draw behind clouds
- Fixed an issue where airports below sea level could have their clouds appear black
- Fixed an issue with light scaling at high zoom levels
- Made PreFS9 AI aircraft now cast shadows as model type
Radar
- Fixed an issue where Air to Ground radar’s cursor would not correlate exactly with the radar
image - Fixed radar issues relating to target range and zoom level precision
- Fixed an issue where airport surfaces and runways would show up bright on the radar
User Interface and Controls
- Fixed an issue where when resetting the flight, locked spot cameras could appear to be much closer to the user vehicle
- Consolidated temporary files in the User AppData that is deleted on shutdown and startup
- Fixed an issue where loading Prepar3D with a controller connected would reset saved views
- Fixed an issue where joystick control and button assignments would not register properly
- Fixed an issue where double-clicking an airport from the Select Airport screen would not work consistently
- Fixed an issue where drop down menus did not always appear while spanning across multiple monitors
- Fixed an issue where control setting changes would not be saved when changing modes, such as entering multiplayer
- Fixed an issue where labels would pop when new objects were created
- Fixed an issue where if Prepar3D was set to full-screen, the window would span across all available monitors upon restart
- Fixed an issue where searching in the Select Vehicle screen would not display all available options
Multiplayer
- Enhanced functionality of shared cockpit
- Improved overall functionality and capability of the multiplayer UI
- Added functionality to allow checkpoints during multiplayer missions. Users will
be able to select roles at a checkpoint and load in a synchronized state - Renamed Scoring Categories to Entity List since it now holds additional multiplayer player names and container titles
- Fixed an issue with switching roles or vehicles in multiplayer sessions
- Fixed an issue with multiplayer panel serialization
- Fixed an issue where missions were not being cleared when selecting Free Flight mode
- Removed duplicate data that displayed in the multiplayer UI
- Fixed an issue where multiplayer incorrectly swapped SimObjects of different categories
- Fixed an issue where default fake airport objects would cause a crash during multiplayer sessions
Professional Plus Weapons Capabilities
- Fixed an issue where the time on rail property is not respected when a missile was guided
- Fixed an issue where buildings and trees were unable to be targeted via mouse clicks
- Improved performance issues with the first weapon hit
- Fixed an issue where weapons hitting auto generated buildings do not trigger a hit effect
- Fixed an issue where the positioning of weapons would be incorrect when the aircraft loaded
- Fixed an issue where weapons would not fire when first loading a mission
- Fixed an issue that would not allow weapons to fire immediately after reloading
- Fixed simulation variable issues
Flight Recording and Playback
- Fixed an issue where “Reset Weapons” did not work correctly in the flight recorder
- Fixed an audio issue with engine sounds during playback
- Improved speed and functionality of the load recording screen
- Improved overall performance with playing back multiple AI objects
- Improved flight segment recording and playback performance
- Fixed an issue where the time preview window would not automatically close when starting a new recording
SimDirector
- Updated general SimDirector UI with new options and appearance
- Overall performance improvements when loading large missions
- Several improvements and enhancements to object interaction in the mission visualization window
- Added capability to tab through mission objects, flight file editor, catalog, and visualization
- Added extra validation capability to improve mission creation experience
- Added capability to save and load missions in all three SimDirector modes
- Added a prompt that asks to save before exiting
- Added the ability to create focal points on 2D panels
- Improved zooming capability while using the Mission Visualization window
- Fixed an issue where play animation actions would not work with Mobile Scenery objects
- Fixed an issue where recording a new flight segment while in SimDirector would continue to record while you exit SimDirector
- Enabled the settings menu during Flight Instructor Mode that allows you to enable and disable failures while recording flight segments
- Allowed the start and end times for flight recordings to be automatically set when a (Flight Segment Recording) FSR is selected
- Fixed an issue where AirplanePlaybackAI would not be resumed when saving during flight recording playback
- Fixed an issue with renaming Virtual Instruction sessions
- Fixed an issue where the conditional logic operator could change when switching modes
- Fixed an issue where actions were being bidirectionally referenced and added a validation warning to help further clarify this issue
- Added capability to reorder references in any object reference list
- Fixed an issue with the main Prepar3D window resizing incorrectly when exiting SimDirector
- Fixed an issue with the simulation rate slider not being in sync with the simulation
- Fixed an issue where some invalid property data would save in your mission if changed in SimDirector
- Improved Flight Recording graph capabilities and performance
- Fixed an issue with setting the pitch, bank, and heading of objects
- Added sorting to the comprehensive failures list in a FailureAction
- Improved performance with loading a large amount of Flight Recordings and Flight Segments
- Fixed an issue with centering after adding and removing mission objects
- Added extra editing options for recording options in Virtual Instructor
- Added abilities to enable and disable focal point and view change properties
- Added a mission state status in the status bar
- Updated the reset mission option to include drop down to select which kind of reset the user wants
- Updated logical conditions to ensure correct windows are enabled and disabled at the correct points
- Added a settings file to the SimDirector options file
- Added specific settings to ensure Virtual Instructor options persist
- Added the zoombox as default when entering Mission Visualization
- Fixed errors in controls, mouse clicks, and scroll wheel
- Fixed maximization issues upon startup
- Fixed OnScreenText position offsetting error
- Fixed an issue where creating a new scenario while in a mission does not reset the mission state
- Fixed several mouse scroll and dragging issues
SDK and SimConnect Updates
- Fixed flickering issues when changing weather through SimConnect, most noticeable when using 3rd party weather addons
- Fixed an issue with the METAR string of temperature without altitude not setting correctly
- Fixed an issue with the SimConnect_ChangeVehicleWithExternalSim that prevented legacy ExternalSim simulations from working
Resolved the Following Crashes that Could Occur
- Fixed a crash when entering SimDirector when a Flight Segment is playing in Prepar3D
- Fixed a crash that occurred in SimDirector when deleting objects with the same name
- Fixed a crash in SimDirector that would occur when un-grouping a large number of objects
- Fixed a crash in SimDirector with ViewChangeAction on exit
- Fixed a crash that would happen when using a vehicle that implements HelicopterAIService
Learning Center Documentation Updates and Additions
- Added extra documentation relating to Air Traffic Control
- Updated and improved SimDirector tutorial documentation
- Fixed attachments.cfg in the Learning Center