Well, in all honesty… for your kind of use I think default ATC is the best by far… All ATC add-ons focus on airliners and if they work with GA they focus on longer trips. I own ProATC/X and only used it with the PMDG 737NGX. Since I am back to flying GA only again, I only use default ATC (well, IF I use any ATC at all, that is) and it has imho the best natural voices (imho all ATC add ons sound bad) and for GA it's great. If you don't want to pay for features you don't need, you shouldn't buy an ATC add-on at all. Imho. 

 

Thanks! That's what I began to wonder, after visiting some of the recommended ATC addon sites.

 

And I am going to see what I can do with P3D's SimDirector . . . I make huge mods for some popular RPGs and I'm currently wrapping up my final updates, so maybe I'll get into sim "modding."

 

It looks like I would be much better off investing in 3rd party scenery or aircraft (I've had my eye on A2A's Cessna).

No, but I do not care as I fly at vatsim exclusively.

(I've had my eye on A2A's Cessna)

 

Which is the most immersive and realistic GA ever imho. It replaced the RealAir Legacy as my default aircraft, even though I usually prefer low wing planes. It's a must have imho. As it is now the installer isn't P3D 2.0 ready but you can (and may) install it into P3D manually (I hope to find out tonight or tomorrow how to get this done).

 

Anyway, I think you are indeed way better off by buying the A2A's C172 than getting some ATC add-on! 

You are correct about the Flight Unlimited series, ADamiani. I used Flight Unlimited 3 exclusively (ie. no MSFS whatsoever) between 1999 and 2008, and I have fond memories of my experiences with it. The Flight Unlimited series was light years ahead of MSFS in so many different ways, and one of those was ATC.

Which is the most immersive and realistic GA ever imho. It replaced the RealAir Legacy as my default aircraft, even though I usually prefer low wing planes. It's a must have imho. As it is now the installer isn't P3D 2.0 ready but you can (and may) install it into P3D manually (I hope to find out tonight or tomorrow how to get this done).

 

Anyway, I think you are indeed way better off by buying the A2A's C172 than getting some ATC add-on! 

 

I think so too.  I'm going to be like a kid in a candy store once I start shopping around for P3D addons ... but like most kids, I really have to watch my pennies.

I've owned A2A's Piper Cub since early 2010, so I'm hoping that I can get that to work in P3D as well.

The best thing would be if LM released the ATC/AI Traffic SDK so developers can really get into the core code instead of creating programs that sit on top of the sim.

 

 

+1000 B)  For this post.  If we get to a P3D version 3.0 at some point, I would really like to see this:

 

1) 64-bit code for the OOM's!

2) ATC and AI traffic do-over or

3) As stated above, ATC/AI traffic SDK release so third party developers can fix the issues.

 

As shown by the amount of downloads on AVSIM and other sites, AI traffic is one of the areas that does not generate a ton of discussion, but is tremendously popular from users updating their flight sim world to make it realistic when flying. 

 

FSX (and FS9) where not developed to handle a full world of AI traffic based upon real-world flight schedules.  Reggie Fields and Jim Vile were some of the pioneers looking into how MSFS works with AI traffic and can explain most of the technical aspects and limitation of FS.   

 

AI aircraft do not maintain proper separation from user aircraft or each other, along with the issue of multiple AI aircraft all going to the same approach runway when other parallel runways are available.  Approach altitudes for AI aircraft are wrong and often do not follow proper airways.  For instance, AI aircraft approaching KLAX often fly level at 2,600 ft for 40 miles + on approch until hitting the marker.  Ugh!  As a AI junkie and member of the Alpha India Group testing team, this is a must for me.  Someday maybe, someday.......