P3D ADD-ON INSTALLATION

Prepar3D® has the capability of being enhanced by adding add-ons of Aircraft, Scenery, Missions and more. These add-ons can improve your Prepar3D experience. Prepar3D is fully compatible with FSX SP2 add-ons, including freeware and payware applications.

Aircraft Add-On Installation Steps
To install aircraft add-ons for Prepar3D, a number of files must be copied to existing Prepar3D folders. In most cases, it is not appropriate overwrite any files (i.e., if a file with the same name as one being copied already exists in the directory, do not overwrite the existing file with the new one).

Most aircraft add-ons come with the following folders:

An ‘Aircraft_Name’ folder named according to the aircraft’s name (e.g., F-35 Lightning II)
A folder containing Prepar3D Gauge files called, “Gauges”
The Aircraft_Name folder and all of its contents should be copied to the following folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D\SimObjects\Airplanes

Only the contents of the second folder (usually *.cab, *.dll, and/or *.gau files) should be copied to the following folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D\Gauges

Some aircraft add-ons include *.fx files (usually located in a folder named “Effects”). For such add-ons, the contents of the “Effects” folder should be copied to the following folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D\Effects

Scenery Add-On Installation Steps
There is a great deal of custom scenery available on the Internet, created by third parties. You can use the Scenery Library to find, add, delete, and organize scenery, or to add, delete, or modify the cache of the scenery files that load as you fly between scenery areas.

To access the Scenery Library from inside the simulation:
On the World menu, click Scenery Library

The Scenery.cfg file stores the changes you make to your Scenery Library through the Prepar3D User Interface. You may also manually edit this file using a text editing program such as notepad.exe.

Path to Scenery.cfg on Vista or Windows 7:
C:\Users\(user name here)\AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D

Path to Scenery.cfg on Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D

A detailed article about adding scenery is available in the Prepar3D Learning Center under the article titled ‘The Scenery Library’.

Note: The Scenery.cfg file at the root directory where Prepar3D.exe is located should not be edited and that any manual editing of the Scenery.cfg file could result in unwanted scenery configuration errors.

Troubleshooting Add-On Installation
While most add-ons developed for FSX and ESP will install and run without issue, there are certain install packages which are hard-coded to only install into a FSX installation folder dictated by a FSX installation registry key on your computer. There are several tools available online (one by TweakFS titled ‘FSX Registry Utility’) that will allow you to add a FSX registry key to your computer pointing to a location of your choice. You can add a FSX registry key pointed to your Prepar3D installation folder using one of these tools so that the FSX-specific installers will now be able to be installed into your Prepar3D installation folder.

Note: Before installing any add-on it is important to check its legal terms, conditions and license agreement to ensure you can install and run the add-on in the environment and deployment that you are planning to.