I couldn’t think much the last few days. I’ve been too preoccupied with the thought of adding another sim to my collection: Prepar3d (P3D).

Basically, I’ve been flight simming for years, since I was about 13. I started off with Flight Simulator 98, then 2000, then 2004, then FSX, and now I’m simming with X-Plane 11.

I stopped flying with FSX mainly due to the low frame rates I was receiving (11-15 FPS on a system with a GTX 1080!) and the graphics weren’t something to brag about.

There became two new sims out in the market utilizing the same FSX engine: Flight Sim World and Prepar3d. I picked up Flight Sim World thinking it would be the next best thing…it wasn’t. The developers as of last week pulled the plug on the sim, ceasing all further development and removing it from the Steam store.

That left me with just X-Plane. It’s a great sim, and I consider it my primary sim. But there’s a few things that I’d like to see that I couldn’t get with FSX.

• High Fidelity 737
• Accurate C172
• Custom Pacific Northwest Scenery
• Accurate Dash Q400

So a few days ago someone brought up that there are some sales going on with some addons I’ve been eying. I gave it a few days…only thing holding me back is the cost of all the addons to bring it up to par with X-Plane 11.

I decided to cancel all my game preorders (I had a lot!) and just go ahead and get it.

This does mean I’ll be cutting back on gaming, which is a good thing. I want to work on tackling my backlog.

The biggest problem I think is the problem of choice. When you want to fly, say…from Port Angeles to Shelton, WA. Which simulator do I chose? X-Plane looks gorgeous at times, but P3D can also look equally as good. The C-172 I have in X-Plane is great, but the one in P3D is better.

It’s questions like that I will have to tackle, but at least I have choice now.