More realistic ATC rather than the standard.

[Gregg_Seipp 568]

 

 

By the time RC v5 is released it will be left in the dust by others that are constantly working and improving their software.

 

I don't think anybody's going to be left in any dust.  ATC is very difficult to do.  It takes years to get it done.  Personally, I wonder if AI and ATC will have to be combined into a single product before they get it right.

[tf51d 284]

I don't think anybody's going to be left in any dust.  ATC is very difficult to do.  It takes years to get it done.  Personally, I wonder if AI and ATC will have to be combined into a single product before they get it right.

It already is, VOXATC is the only program, right now, that replaces the FSX AI system. How well it does, is a question though. Last time I tried it (Granted was a while ago) AI was injected randomly and did not obey parking space assignments in AFCADS. Not sure if that is corrected in the current version. I use PFE now, as it has the best features of the others. RC was good, but I didn't think AI interaction was to good, also the voices were very robotic sounding. I didn't choose XOXATC, for the above reasons, PROATC/X looks promising but it's not there yet, as it doesn't have AI interaction yet. The other problem is voice vocabulary consistency. Since the developer has provided a tool for users to create new voices, made available to the community, by it's nature there is a lack of quality control, especially with callsigns. You will find some voices addressing you correctly, while others will not.  Until PFE I used default, but with FSeditvoicepack mods, as well as my own (Available in the library.) You can see some sample videos on my channel. I ultimately chose PFE, as it has pretty good AI interaction. It has the most realistic and the most voices divided by region of any of the ATC programs. It also has many user adjustable settings, for example you can set trafic alert distance and altitude separation. It gives ground instructions, and has a taxi guidance aid both visual and/or audio. Visually it uses a gauge that will show direction to turn. Audio is voice instructions telling you where to turn. Much better then arrows on the tarmac. You can fly SIDS/STARS, but you have to set them up in your flight plan. To my knowledge PROATC/X is the only program, that will assign a SID/STAR dynamically. You can get a change in runway assignments due to weather change, or traffic, as well as speed reduction instructions. The 3 main issues with this program though, is one it is no longer being developed, so it is what it is! Second, it takes multiple steps to build a flightplan, It not too complicated though. Third, which is it's biggest problem, Since FSX AI is vectored, and it only interacts with the AI not control it, you will hear vectoring instruction at cruise, same as you would with default. Of course this is not realistic, as AI should fly their own flight plans, same as you are. Other than that it's not that bad!! My latest videos demonstrate PFE, the latest being with the Majestic Q400!

[Steve Cannell 4]

I've used them all.

They all have their pros and cons.

However for my tastes I prefer ProATC X with atc chatter.

 

Cheers

[_ben 0]

VoxATC controls its own AI with ATC.

 

It has multiple free voices when you purchase the program.

They are not superb quality, but that's not so bad for AI realism :mellow:

you can individually set volume and speed levels for those voices.

For high quality voices you can purchase them (not inexpensively )

from 3rd Party to use as ATC controller/s,

(the seperately purchased voices can also be changed phonetically

if you find PA28 is pronounced pa twenty eight instead of P A 28.

 

You can fly IFR or VFR-

if you just want a Pattern at Airport, if it's Controlled, it will give ATC without a Flight Plan.

 

It has been around for along time, you can download for a week (I think) free ,

to make sure you can come to grips with MS voice recognition, etc

 

A fly in the ointment is that a new version was released 6.06 recently,

which some people have had voice recognition problems

( the dev says a new version is coming to

overcome that (I don't know when).

SO I'd highly recommend it; but just not at the ^_^ moment

 

There is a support forum here at AVSIM

[HansRoaming 73]

I use VOXATC as a training environment for VATSIM and for when there isn't ATC online for where I want to fly. Nice combination.

[tf51d 284]

Is VOXATC injection still random, without obeying parking assignments defined in the AFCAD? That was my biggest problem with it.

[fwerff 70]

Radar Contact has been in the community for years. It was co-devloped by a real world FAA Controller. There are many aspects of ATC that most in the community don't even have the vagust understanding of the "tons" of rules. Yes there are things that we want the next version of Radar Contact to use such as STAR and SID reconition. But for the present, NO program comes as close to real world ATC than Radar Contact. I use it on EVERY flight.

 

Yes we have promised that we are working on the next version and that has been a very long promise, but it is coming. This is one aspect of the flight sim community that I don't understand. When someing is working and is correct, why do people still look for somehting else.

 

Bob

 

Bob, I also am a RC4 user and I am quite satisfied with it. There are however a few shortcomings which are increasingly annoying. SID/STAR recognition being one, but also no taxi instructions on ground, robotic voices, lack of spoken airport names in stead of the ICAO code and some small bugs like for instance when RC4 wants to send you back to the previous waypoint when it thinks you're no longer on the airway.

 

It's because of shortcomings like these AND the total lack of prognosis when to expect RC5 (personally I think (fear...) it's still a few years (2 at least) before release), that make people start looking for alternatives.

 

Personally I am closely following the developments around ProATC. I haven't jumped on that wagon yet, but for now (also because I have not a single clue what and when RC5 will do) they look the most promising.

 

 

Frank

[Ray Proudfoot 8,954]

Before development on v5 was halted quite a few improvements had been made over v4.3. I won't / can't go into those for confidentiality reasons. John Dekker is due to make an announcement on 1 July so we should know his intentions then. I am aware of alternatives to RC and as a keen flyer I want to use the best package available. Just bear in mind when comparing products does the one you're looking at do the following?

 

• Aborted take-off
• In-flight emergencies
• Spoken airline names. i.e. Speedbird and not 'British Airways'
• Nearly 300 spoken airport names
• ICAO and FAA rules adhered to

 

I'm aware that many people don't like the 'robotic' voices in RC but I've never had a problem with those. Realistic procedures are far more important to me as they are to many of you I'm sure. There are always pro's and con's with any ATC package. It's probably the most difficult FS addon to write which is why there have been so few over the years.

[SierraHotel 981]

Nobody uses the phonetic alphabet!!!!!!

I Do! They Do! He Does! Nobody Does!......So do you mean "Nobody Uses The Phonetic Alphabet" or "Nobody, uses the phonetic alphabet"? If however you are implying that within ProATC, nobody, uses the phonetic alphabet, you should add "at the moment" because I have it on good authority that it "is" in the pipeline.

[tf51d 284]

For PFE

Aborted take-off

 

Not sure about this, it's not documented, but you can declare an emergency, so it may work, I'll have to try it to see what happens.

In-flight emergencies

 

Yes, also with MCE like RC4 you can give reason for emergency.

Spoken airline names. i.e. Speedbird and not 'British Airways'

 

Yes

Nearly 300 spoken airport names

 

Not for clearance delivery, but radio centers, ground, tower, etc...  including those for airports are spoken

ICAO and FAA rules adhered to

 

Yes though maybe out of date since development has ended. (Same as RC4.3) Example does not support FAA adoption of "Line Up and wait" (Neither does RC4.3, that I'm aware of)

[vololiberista 205]

I Do! They Do! He Does! Nobody Does!......So do you mean "Nobody Uses The Phonetic Alphabet" or "Nobody, uses the phonetic alphabet"? If however you are implying that within ProATC, nobody, uses the phonetic alphabet, you should add "at the moment" because I have it on good authority that it "is" in the pipeline.

How long is the "pipeline"? As long as RC5?????

 

For PFE

Aborted take-off

 

Not sure about this, it's not documented, but you can declare an emergency, so it may work, I'll have to try it to see what happens.

In-flight emergencies

 

Yes, also with MCE like RC4 you can give reason for emergency.

Spoken airline names. i.e. Speedbird and not 'British Airways'

 

Yes

Nearly 300 spoken airport names

 

Not for clearance delivery, but radio centers, ground, tower, etc...  including those for airports are spoken

ICAO and FAA rules adhered to

 

Yes though maybe out of date since development has ended. (Same as RC4.3) Example does not support FAA adoption of "Line Up and wait" (Neither does RC4.3, that I'm aware of)

PFE does say "line up and wait" certainly for the "Rest of the World"

[tf51d 284]

How long is the "pipeline"? As long as RC5?????

 

PFE does say "line up and wait" certainly for the "Rest of the World"

 

Yes it does!!

 

 

"Nearly 300 spoken airport names"

 

Not for clearance delivery, but radio centers, ground, tower, etc...  including those for airports are spoken

 

Need to correct this statement, only centers are spoken.

 

Another thing that PFE can do is handle Position reports with SELCAL identification for Transoceanic flights!

[HansRoaming 73]

Is VOXATC injection still random, without obeying parking assignments defined in the AFCAD? That was my biggest problem with it.

Not sure what you mean but there was a lot of work put in to the ground traffic for the latest release, big stuff spawns at big stuff locations and GA at GA locations and you have to hold an wait etc. Works well.

 

Would suggest trying out the demo for a week to see if it meets your expectations.

[cbd80 3]

Is VOXATC injection still random, without obeying parking assignments defined in the AFCAD? That was my biggest problem with it.

 

VoxATC now obeys the parking assignments in the AFCAD and has done for some time.

 

The latest version is 6.16, and the latest ground handling improvements are impressive.

[wims80 121]

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