Hi All, I have been building a Boeing 777 flight simulator for nearly 20 years, and was faced with a similar challenge recently. I wanted to use the MSFS graphics, but I use PMDGs 777, which is not available on the new platform yet. I went with Option #4 on Ron's list, and so far I have been quite happy with it. It was actually fairly simple. I use 2 computers: WideView calls this mixed mode. The key is, you have to buy BOTH versions of WideView. One version for Prepar3d and one for MSFS. It's been a long time since I've done this, but I recall this is spelled out in the WideView user manual. I set MSFS and WideView to start automatically on Computer 2, so once everything is loaded, it syncs up automatically. The newer versions of WideView use interpolation to keep things smooth even if data lapses. I get some jitters from time to time, but my computers are both underpowered. Computer 1 is about 7 years old, which I'm sure is contributing, and the network router they are connected to is not as fast as it should be. I strongly recommend a hard-wired connection to a fast switch to handle the high frequency data sent between the machines. I am happy to answer any questions that I can. Photos below show my sim running P3D / MSFS in mixed mode. Absolutely takes the experience to the next level. Regards, Robert Prather (Right click to enlarge) Hi Robert, Thanks for sharing this information and confirming for us that this works! I have now heard from two different sim builders, (you being one of them) that they are going this route. I imagine that more and more of us will have no choice but to go this route unless FS2020 resolves some of the challenges we face. This looks like a great way to "bridge the gap" to when or if MS2020/2024 makes the necessary moves to bring full scale sim builders, like us fully into their fold. It has been a while since I have purchased a WidevieW license. Looks like they are around $70 each, not bad considering it solves our problem for the meantime. The link to WidevieW can be found HERE Thank you again Robert for sharing your experiences and awesome photos with us! You are one of the first that I am aware of to do this with high success! Thank you for resurrecting this thread! I just bought and installed wideview (64-P3d and 2021) and it works beautifully out of the box! I installed it on the same PC that runs both P3D and MSFS2020 and performance is good. If you have a PC that is good enough to run MSFS2020, I don't think you would need a second PC to run P3D. I've set all of the graphics settings on P3D to minimum and there are no stutters in either sim. I'm happy as can be with this solution until someone wants to pay a developer 100k to develop a native aircraft. Wow, this is outstanding news Jason! I thought we would resolve this in 2024, now what are we gonna do? LOL I have been saving this fun snip for a moment like this: For your visuals, are you just using one LCD screen for now? I am wonder what the performance is if we have three LCD screens like Robert is using but with two machines. Either way, it sounds like this will work just fine with a nicely built main sim machine and a bad @$$ video card. Worse case, two machines like what Robert is doing is our safety net. Maybe the reason this works so well on one machine is that the work load is split near perfectly. P3D and add on programs get handled by the CPU while the FS2020 graphics, the only thing we are asking from it, gets handled by the GPU! Awesome news Jason! MSFS is very CPU heavy. And from what I’ve read, is not currently capable of running across multiple cores. So even on my ryzen CPU the sim is CPU limited. While this did work for a bit, the two sims eventually lost communication with each other and I could not get them to reconnect. The Wideview manual does say that you should not run in this hybrid mode on the same PC, but it did work. Probably best to run across 2 machines though. I’m only running one screen for outside visuals, 65”. I would be concerned about running two processor-hungry sims on the same computer. My framerates are marginal even running on two machines. Also, I need a total of 8 video outputs (5 for avionics, 3 for outside visuals), so splitting the load between two machines helps. I was using a Matrox TripleHead2Go for a long time, but found it added unnecessary complexity and the screen resolutions made it challenging when using different resolution LCDs for each of the avionics. Hi Robert, Yes, that is our plan as well, splitting the sim's workload among several computers. As of right now, most of us plan to use a total of four computers, one power house computer with a big time GPU for the main sim engine that generates the outside visuals, (three LCD screens or projectors) and the other three standard strength computers for the other six LCD screens inside the cockpit, similar to what you are doing. If it is possible to run both P3D and FS2020 on the same power house computer, then the total number of computers will remain at four. If we need to separate P3D from FS2020, one on each of their own computers, then we might have to add an additional computer or experiment with which one of the three other computers P3D would be most suitable on. If we do have to split P3D and FS2020 up, then maybe we would put a little extra cash in the one computer running P3D. Either way, what you have done and now Jason, this proves we have viable options! I do have a couple quick questions for you. Do you have to have a flight model, like a 777 model running in FS2020? We know you are running your favorite 777 in P3D. Shane and I are wondering about things like your taxi and landing lights, how do they look in FS2020 being that they are being controlled from P3D? I know you are choosing to use P3D because the flight characteristics and modeling are better than what FS2020 has to offer currently. In our case, we don't have a Lear45 to compare to in FS2020. And if we need to have an aircraft loaded in FS2020 to generate things like taxi and landing lights, the closest thing we have is the stock CJ4. Also, in P3D, other sim pilots would see your P3D generated 777 I assume. In FS2020, do sim pilots see a FS2020 generated 777 or a P3D generated 777? Thanks Robert for all your help with this and getting us up to speed! Agree, splitting up the SIM PCs would be best, especially if we can't reliably connect Wideview client/server on the same PC. To answer Ron's question about what is seen inside MSFS, they would see whatever A/C model you have selected in MSFS. For instance, I was flying the L45 in P3D, but had the CJ selected in MSFS, so that is what would be seen there. My plan is to run BeyondATC (https://www.beyondatc.net/) in MSFS and at least have a barely functional L45 visual model, but everything else running in P3D. You can relatively easily, import the Legacy L45 into MSFS but you will get sim crashes randomly. All fixable problems. > Do you have to have a flight model, like a 777 model running in FS2020? I am using the default Dreamliner in MSFS, which is not ideal (i.e. cockpit height, view placement, etc), but it's pretty close. We know you are running your favorite 777 in P3D. Shane and I are wondering about things like your taxi and landing lights, how do they look in FS2020 being that they are being controlled from P3D? If I remember correctly, WideView sends lights, landing gear position and a few other things that need to be in sync. Also, in P3D, other sim pilots would see your P3D generated 777 I assume. In FS2020, do sim pilots see a FS2020 generated 777 or a P3D generated 777? I assume you are talking about connecting to a network like VATSIM or PilotEdge? P3D is the sim that is doing the work, and MSFS is ONLY an image generator, so whatever you have configured in P3D is what others would see. Thanks Robert for all your help with this and getting us up to speed! My pleasure! Thanks Robert and Jason, I think all my questions are answered for the time being. Jason, I am looking into creating a nice looking Lear45 model that is native to FS2020/2024 that we can select for the purpose of giving other folks (outside of our aircraft) in the game something to look at. This is one of my goals next year coming up. Thank goodness for YouTube tutorial videos! From what I have seen so far, it's a manageable process, I just have to get geared up with knowledge. Eventually, I would like to model the whole Lear45, inside and out, but that won't happen until I get most of these remaining sim chores finished up. (RMU, EFIS, WX Radar panel, AOA gauges, curved TQ plate, CB panels, etc....) If nothing else, the work I do on the Lear45 model will be a good starting point for a complete model in the future......unless someone else beats me to it. I won't be mad! LOL Robert, thank you for all the help and guidance on this subject. If you discover anything new you think we should be aware of, please don't hesitate to jump in here and share.Learjet45 in FS2020 Solutions
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2017-10-10