Prepar3D v4.2 is available now!

Prepar3D v4.2 continues to improve on the groundbreaking Prepar3D v4 simulation platform. The new v4.2 release welcomes three new user controllable helicopters, new rendering techniques for improved virtual reality (VR) performance, countless legacy bug fixes, and even a couple new exciting experimental features to give users a feel of where the platform is heading!

This is the first release to feature new helicopter capabilities, including scenario controllable artificial intelligence (AI) and autopilot functionality. Additionally, many developer requests were addressed, and we look forward to the Prepar3D ecosystem continuing to create high-end content that pushes simulation boundaries to new limits.

For developers, we have introduced the ability to add autogen grass on airport backgrounds, added interfaces to create custom voice commands, and refined our support for complex vehicle models. Multiple Scaleform panel samples are also included better showcasing some of the newer advanced panel features that available.

All of these enhancements are available now in Prepar3D v4.2!

The Prepar3D v4.2 update is available now and can be downloaded from the Downloads page. If you currently own a valid Prepar3D v4 license there is no charge to update to Prepar3D v4.2. To purchase Prepar3D v4, please visit our online Store.

Prepar3D offers separate updates for the Client, Content, and Scenery. This will make updating faster and easier than ever before. Please be sure to read the Prepar3D v4 Download and Installation Instructions for more details on how to quickly update to the v4.2 release. Please refer to the What’s New below to see what each installer contains. Most users will only want to use the Client installer to update.

You can find a full list of What’s New below.

Release Notes

The following list of updates has been categorized based on the installer required. The Client installer is required for Prepar3D v4.2, however the Content, Scenery, and SDK installers are optional. You must first have Prepar3D v4 installed to utilize the Client only installer. To install the Prepar3D v4.2 Client, you must first uninstall the previous Prepar3D v4.0/v4.1 Client through Programs and Features in Windows Control Panel.

The Prepar3D v4.2 Client update will require you to reactivate your product – with an internet connection it will be automatic.

Please view the Prepar3D v4 Download and Installation Instructions for more information.

Prepar3D Client

General Platform Updates

New Features

Added Single-Pass VR support for improved VR performance.

Added headset selection to the VR menu

Added helicopter AI capabilities

Added helicopter autopilot functionality

Added support for ground based waypoint and wingman AI

Added Voice Control (experimental).

New Features (Professional Plus Only)

Added Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) Collision PDU support

Fixes and Improvements

Fixed crash that could occur when moving windows across different GPUs

Fixed issue in VR where the red top-down cursor would only show in the left eye view

Fixed issue that could cause AI to jitter when viewing recordings

Fixed flickering issue in VR when changing to a sensor view for the first time

Fixed bug preventing graphics profile names from saving correctly

Fixed issue with the crash view being misaligned in VR

Fixed issue in the flight planner screen where altitude units would not sync with user preferences

Fixed issue with full screen not correctly blacking out monitors with certain resolution settings

Filenames containing a ‘.’ character are now supported

Added additional VR error messages to assist in debugging common issues

Specified content errors will now only be reported once

Added pop-up message that is shown when graphics driver crashes allowing scenario to be saved before shut down

Fixed issue preventing navigation visual ribbons from properly appearing in instant replay and recordings

Fixed issue where invalid ATC options were assigned to ground vehicles

Fixed issue where commands assigned to numeric keys with modifiers (i.e. shift + 1) would not execute when the ATC window was open

Fixed crash that could occur when having the ATC window open for an extended period of time when using a ground vehicle

Fixed Scaleform crash occurring in various third party add-ons

Corrected time zone processing so the date changes correctly when switching to an airport in a different hemisphere

Fixed several time zone issues including updating GMT references to UTC, updating daylight savings time dates, fixing default time zone locations, and fixing international date line behavior

Added “Message Text” option to enable or disable additional information text messages including opening the aircraft canopy

Fixed issue where Air Traffic views would not correctly sync in VR

Fixed issue preventing HTC Vive headsets from being used on machines with Oculus Software installed

Fixed crash with Ultra Water when using third party add-on aircraft

Fixed crash in Scaleform sound playback

Fixed Unicode error with CustomAction payload strings

Fixed crash that would occur when deleting the last assignment in the Controls user interface

Fixed several issues with the recording system including objects spawned from a SpawnList not appearing, avatar animations not playing, and bookmarks not saving all data

VR settings can be now set to persist

Fixed issue where base AI could overwrite AI behavior states

Fixed issue where heading would be lost when AI tug was turned on

Fixed issue that could cause incorrect or corrupt textures to load when having several scenery add-ons installed through the Add-on Package setup

Updating vehicle airspeed in the map UI no longer causes the pitch and bank to reset back to 0

Autopilot airspeed increment and decrement can now be mapped to keyboard commands

Fixed bug where desktop resolution would not revert to its original value when exiting in some cases

Fixed issue with sky color being incorrect when volumetric fog was disabled

Fixed issue with focal points being incorrectly colored in IR Black Hot camera mode

Minor improvements to terrain paging performance

Camera definitions now use content pathing when loading Scaleform movies

Gauge events and scripts are now processed by the user object when the avatar is detached

Scaleform overlays can now be set to source data from a camera’s target object

Corrected frustum offsets for cameras. Fix corrects Roll being incorrectly handled across the platform for cameras.

Fixed issue with loading third party dlls on Windows 10

Undocked windows now correctly persist their maximized state when application is restored after being minimized

Fixed left-eye lag seen in Oculus Rift VR headsets

Fixed performance and stability issues with Ultra Water on Nvidia 10 series cards

Improved AI waypoint following

Fixed issue where cameras would save incorrect field of view values in some cases

Fixed issue where batched objects would have incorrect positions at high altitudes

Fixed tab order in Fuel and Payload UI and Failures UI

Fixed small freezes that would occur when using the SimConnect text menu

Fixed issue where Scaleform panels would flicker in SLI when undocking views

Fixed issue where F-22 ground radar would flicker in SLI

Improved performance for render-to-texture (RTT) views and plugins in SLI

Improved Dynamic Lighting performance by filtering lights based on distance and size

Adjusted the size of stars in reflections

Fixed crash that could occur when certain jetways would animate

Fixed issue where opening the context menu in undocked views would cause a slight delay

Fixed incorrect tooltips in the Information options page

Fixed issue that would cause text added through SimConnect to draw twice each frame

Fixed cloud lighting inconsistencies between multiple views

Fixed issue that could prevent certain model parts from becoming visible after switching between views

Fixes and Improvements (Professional Plus Only)

IP address of machine is now automatically detected in the DIS menu configuration

Fixed issue that could cause weapons to draw in the incorrect location depending on viewing angles inside the Virtual Cockpit

Fixed issue that prevented the avatar from reloading weapon systems on a scenario load

SimDirector Updates

New Features

Added support for configuring new helicopter AI capabilities

Entities and Mobile Scenery now support AGL altitudes

Fixes and Improvements

Fixed issue which caused scenario cameras to disappear when renamed

Fixed issue where resize cursor would incorrectly appear in certain locations in the Selected Properties view

Fixed crash that could occur when importing object groups

Fixed crash that could occur when playing a flight recording

Fixed incorrect terrain origin with scenario cameras

Fixed issue that would cause objects to disappear after deactivating their corresponding waypoint list

Added validation for missing object references in AI behaviors

Fixed crash that would occur when setting the current waypoint of an object to a value out of range

Fixed issue that prevented focal points from drawing after switching to an external view

Fixed issue where translate and scale gizmos would incorrectly activate when dragging the mouse over them

Fixed issue with drag selection not deselecting appropriate objects

The waypoint window is now opened when creating a waypoint list

Clicking a selected object now deselects all other selected objects

Fixed selection issues seen when dragging icon clusters

SetGaugeActions now persist their values when changing variants of the same vehicle

Fixed issue where scale gizmo could be selected for the user ownship

Fixed crash when running Comprehensive Scenario Validation

Fixed driver crash caused by dragging multiple SpeedTree objects

Fixed issue where moving objects would snap to their original location when moving while the translate gizmo was active

Fixed issue where the rotate gizmo would jitter when selecting certain axes

UI elements no longer lose focus when mouse moves over the 3D map view in Windows 10

Reduced SimDirector loading time

Fixed issue where SimDirector would hang on shutdown with third party add-ons installed

Fixed serialization issue with the ScaleformPanelWindow

Moved mode change buttons to a separate ribbon tab and refactored base ribbon tab layout

Snap to Ground is now set to off by default

Prepar3D Content

New Features

Added CH-53E Super Stallion Marine and Navy variants as default selectable vehicles

Added MH-60R and MH-60S Seahawk variants as default selectable vehicles

F-16A and F-16AM HMD reticles now display in VR

New placeable scenario objects added: Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1 Generic Jet Fighters Special Forces Boats Container Ship Ro-Ro Cargo Ship Transporter Erector 6×4 Truck M901 Patriots M777 Tanker Truck Yellow Lowboy Semi-Tractor Trailer Desert Hawk 3.1 Indago UAS



Fixes and Improvements

Updated default avatar cameras to use the avatar as the data source for Scaleform overlays. This corrects errors with the compass when using multiple views.

Improved F-16 HUD readability

Moved UH-60 default eyepoint to center of the seat

Prepar3D Scenery

Fixes and Improvements

Fixed large trench running through Syria

Fixed coastline dips in Guam

Fixed runway Z-order issues at KNRB

Prepar3D SDK

New Features

Added Voice Control PDK plugin and service to add custom voice commands to the system (experimental)

Added Voice Control SimConnect sample

Windows and panels can now be placed in 3D space using the PDK

Added AttachPointService providing location and orientation of attached objects

Grass can be added as autogen on airport backgrounds

Added SimConnect camera type to create external AI cameras

Added ability to listen to SimConnect_Text messages with SimConnect_SubscribeToSystemEvent

Scaleform panel samples for: Airspeed Indicator Altimeter Instrument Artificial Horizon Indicator Autopilot Control Display Unit Cyclic and Collective Heading Gauge Magnetic Compass Multi-Function Display Vertical Speed Indicator



Fixes and Improvements

Fixed bug preventing VK_NUMPAD keys from being handled correctly through SimConnect

Add-on dlls now automatically search current directory for dependent dlls

Fixed issue where SimConnect_RequestFacilitiesList would not return the complete list of relevant facilities in some cases

Fixed incorrect pointer type in GetParameter function in gauges.h header

Unified SimConnect and simulation variable functionality by providing the same capabilities in each system

SimConnect_RequestAttachPointData now correctly returns the requested object id and also supports SIMCONNECT_OBJECT_ID_USER

Fixed Unicode bug when exporting models with duplicate parts

Fixed bug preventing the ExternalSim sample project from building in debug.

The Lockheed Martin Prepar3D team loves hearing about your experiences with Prepar3D at our Forums. The forums also give us an opportunity to listen to your feedback as we continue Prepar3D development. We’ve partnered with our forum users and with several featured developers to continue to bring added features, enhancements, and optimizations all while enabling additional backwards compatibility, making bug fixes, and improving stability.

Thank you for your continued support for Prepar3D.

We hope you find that Prepar3D v4.2 continues to be the most immersive learning, simulation, and training platform available.