AI Traffic Lacking - Is Ultimate Traffic worth the price?

[yellow5 0]

Greetings fellow simmers. I am looking at getting ultimate traffic for FSX. I am taking a pole... Is it worth the price? I know there is tons of AI freeware out there WOAI, etc. However it is a lot of work to load these files individually. And some don't work correctly, etc.

 

Anyway, looking for tips on making my AI traffic more realistic without overloading my sim world to where I am always number 10 in line for takeoff.

 

Thanks all for the replies...

 

Kevin Jessee

[ryanbatc 12,820]

If you do go with UT2 they've got a 30-day return policy... I should have gone that route instead I went with MTX.... it's decent not quite what I was hoping for though. I think the UT2 models look nicer, and the UI is more user friendly than MTX.

 

Depending on AI traffic % and the airport you're at you still might be #10 for departure. You should try AI Smooth (freeware in the library) before you buy any addon pack.

[Paul J 349]

You should look at both UT2, from Flight1, and MyTrafficX Pro 5.4a from SimMarket. . Both are very good addons, and are very well supported.

 

Either product is well worth the price. These addons are used by the sim every time you turn it on - and you get to enjoy them for years and years. They're not like the "latest and greatest" aircraft from JustFlight, which you might use for four weeks. They become part of the background experience: they contribute to the immersion in an enormous manner.

[duckbilled 310]

I have been using some version of Ultimate Traffic for almost 9 years. I can't compare it to other traffic programs because it is the only payware product I have every used. I do, however, use a lot of freeware stuff with UT2.

 

UT2 has a nice GUI and it is easy to add in more aircraft. The main negative to UT2 is it only included the aircraft that were available in the original version (2009 I think). Yes, they have updated flightplans but additions to fleets and new paint schemes are not included. In addition, even in the original version, all aircraft were not represented. They only did repaints for major airlines. For most of the flightplans that didn't have repaints, they use generic liveries (the airline is Daedalus). For example, if Israir wasn't painted, the Israir flights would occur with the correct types but in the Daedalus livery. You can the default liveries off but then the flights won't appear at all. For some airlines that have aircraft that were not modeled, AN-32 for example, the flights will may not appear.

 

This has not been an issue for me but I am telling you this so you can manage your expectations.

 

UT2 will give you a repaint list in .csv format that will show you the aircraft and the livery that everything is assigned to. You can go through it to determine what is missing, head to the AVSIM library, World of AI or any number of sites to find the aircraft. Then you install repaints in to FSX manually (or use the World of AI installer) and assign the repaints to the flightplans with the UT2 GUI.

 

This process takes a really long time but most of the time is spent install the repaints in to FSX. Once you are done, however, the results are wonderful. I can fly anywhere in the world and see interesting traffic. I do have the default liveries turned on but I can't remember the last time I saw one in the sim. I do a complete traffic every two years or so. Each overhaul takes about 40-60 hours.

 

So, I guess the point is you can use the UT2 out of the box and it will do the trick but its real power is its flexibility. You can get a lot out of it if you want to invest some time. It also has some cool settings. One of my favorites is its FPS limiter. You set a minimum FPS and it will remove traffic to maintain that minimum. You can also clear all traffic on approach with a key press.

 

BTW, I also have over 400 traffic.bgls for obscure airlines and ones that aren't included in UT2 (Las Vegas Sands, United Nations Charters in Africa, charter airlines in Europe and the Caribbean...). You can import the airlines in to UT2 or you can go old school - install the aircraft and drop the traffic.bgl in to FSX.

[RWFeldman 159]

I've never regreted having UT2 and have used it for 3 or 4 yrs.

[Luis_KMIA 242]

I've been loyal to UT2 since the old days. Yes, their liveries are as of 2009, but the guys who made the liveries continue to push out freeware ones. You will need to download models from AI makers like Aardvark, Alpha India, DJC, The Fruit Stand, and others to get some of the more current liveries It requires some time, but it's worth it in the long term. PowePack also allows you to add schedules that are not in UT2, FedEx and UPS for example. UT2 also pushes out schedule updates every 4 to 6 months.

 

I hope UT2 starts thinking about X-Plane 10 for the future since FSX is really the last MS Flight Simulator.

[twharrell 38]

Actually, WoAI takes little work and almost no time to install. The installer does all the work for you. You just have to download the airline or GA packages you want to use. The only negative is some of the liveries are outdated and the flight plans are old. WoAI also works well with RC4. If you fly online, AI is automatically inactivated, which is nice. If you are like me, I don't pay a lot of attention to whether the flight plans are up to date or not. I just like having AI traffic. The free part is nice, too. Anyway, just a positive plug for WoAI.

 

Todd

[JRMurray 214]

I've had UT2 for years. I first started with Traffic X a number of years ago, but I wasn't satisfied with the frame rates I was getting or the coverage at certain smaller airports. UT2 gives me great frame rates (at 100% for both airliners and GA) and excellent coverage.

[TheRedBaron 0]

WOAI is just fine...The models are very nice, and so are the liveries. If you don't want to spend the money, go the freeware way! Also, installing WOAI packages is actually really easy and fast. It *might* take you 20 minutes or so to install AI packs--If you are doing a whole bunch of airlines. I run around 15 (I think), and it took me around 5 or 10 minutes to install.....

[bonchie 2,305]

Only problem with WOAI is it'll take you all day to download all the packages.

 

There are places to download all the packs together (up to a certain point) if you search. I'm not sure if it's illegal or not for people to package them all together and upload them that way. I'd think it technically isn't since it's all freeware (may be against the wishes of the developers though).

[Boeing or not going 578]

I spent over a month adding missing repaints and a few cargo carriers to UT2. But it's a great base ai system

[TheRedBaron 0]

Only problem with WOAI is it'll take you all day to download all the packages.

 

I should have mentioned that.....I have pretty fast internet, so a large package may take as long as a minute. But that is with like 3 others downloading at the same time.

[bonchie 2,305]

I should have mentioned that.....I have pretty fast internet, so a large package may take as long as a minute. But that is with like 3 others downloading at the same time.

 

When I used WOAI I ran about the same. Up to 4 at a time.

[redthunder 0]

I have just purchased UT2 after using another product and one issue I have to bring up is a problem I have found with multiple short hop flights with a single aircraft. I am running local flights in the UK and trying to simulate a single aircraft returning to the base airport before flying out on its next flight. The problems lies in the fact that UT2 sees them all as separate aircraft and fills the airport with all these flights waiting for their turn. I haven't found a way to get around this and from my point of view I would probably be better off with FST. Other than that it works vey well.

[FIVE-BY-FIVE 453]

UT2 :good: