TO GET THE MOST REALISTIC EXPERIENCE

[Guest Dasher7]

I'm very new to both online sites (VATSIM and IVAO) and my experience setting it up was the following:GETTING STARTED: For those not already in the know, just realizing the difference between IVAO and VATSIM is one step. Then getting the required software, setting it up ect. is really a bit of work. Not that the programs are not simple, they really are, and you only need a couple of progs. But neither website make it easy on the newbie (I mean newbie to online), to understand what is going on and where.. If someone (not me, too green) would just make a VERY simple link on the frontpage of the main sites to a download PACKAGE explaining in just a very few words what each program do and why you need it, - well that would help a lot right there. Those websites, (please, no offence here, I'm VERY happy that someone undertakes these tasks), should really consider the fact that extreme simplicity in the download and registration process would help immensely in attracting pilots. Eg. IVAO talks about your VID after signing up. Yeah, I found out it was just my reg-number, but those small "insider"-words or acronyms can mean a lot of painful investigation on the newbie's part. Why call it a VID when its just your reg. number, or why not call your reg. number VID if that is the terminology used? Apart from that, it truly is quite simple once you have downloaded and registered. The process until that point needs to be simplified, in my opinion, on both sites. And finally: Why IVAO and VATSIM? What a bugger its not just one thing.. I tried hooking up on VATSIM, only to find that those in departure area were on IVAO, those on arrival were on VATSIM. THAT sucks... I still don't really understand the difference, except the different software?Still, it's a great concept, and to me its much more realistic that any AI software thing. See you there, folks!- Dasher7

[Guest NC101]

I registered for VATSIM and frankly had not *dared* to go online for fear of mucking up other people's experience. It doesn't seem to be one of those activities you can learn by doing - you must learn first then do.I would like to see a "ghost" mode where one could fly on the network, listen to ATC and see/hear others but be invisible to them. I think this would promote uptake!

[Guest cactus]

I do agree that the traffic would increase immensely with vatsim and ivao merged. but this topic has been beaten to death and i guarantee it will never happen. i am not sur ewhy they don't but probably because they cant agree on how things should be run. personally i think they should try and work together and attain a common goal. flexibility is the key. but going back to the topic at hand. pilot wont come online unless there are controllers (as some of you have stated) and controllers won't come online unless there are pilots. I have been on the latter side of things. my participation as atc dropped immensely because i would come on for a couple hours to control 3 planes. and guys a controller just sits there, nothing else. at least the pilot can start the engines, taxi away and take off even if there is no controller. nope, the controller just sits there. so i can understand more so why a controller waits for pilots to come online. i will neve understand why people prefer that program based ATC. it jut doen't offer the real world end of things. i wont beat that one to death. besides vatsim is free. as for JWENTING, i understand where you are coming from when you dal with contollers like that. as a rw pilot atpl i can usually deal with controllers as such. a usual reponse is "unable sir". no pilot has to accept a STAR.....period. or just to get them going you just declare an emergency and basically then you get to tell them what you are going to do. i can not relate to people that insist on flying from a CERTAIN airport to another CERATIN airport. i always just look on servinfo to see where the traffic and atc is on vatsim and go there. if it because you have scenery installed for those CERTAIN airports, i can not relate to that either because i am not a scenery man. i use FS to practice the things it was meant for and that is to fly a plane not look out at the window at mountains. i do that in my real life job and doing it on the computer surely will never replace or even come close to the real thing. i will never understand why some people complain to add-on comapnies "why is there no wing view". WHO CARES! thats not relevant. but to some i guess it is. the order i put it in when it come sto flying online is:1) where is the traffic2) where is the ATC3) where is the bad weatherAs you can see if i look for the bad weather than scenery really os not a factor. I think it is pretty neat in the real world that we have the technology so that a pilot can rotate his aircraft when the visibility is 600 feet and never see the ground again until they are basically touching down at another airport. to some that isn't appealing but i find it amazing how far we have come in technological advances. anways i think we established why people do not go on vatsim. seems to be mostly because of the lack of atc and/or traffic. we also looked into why the traffic participation is not on a rise. so now what can be done to solve these two problems. i stated that getting the msfs dev team to package a one little sheet of information in the new packages of fs10 would send the message out. would they do this? not sure. maybe the BOG team could bring that up to them. any other ideas out there?

[michal 44]

>i can not relate to people that insist on flying from a>CERTAIN airport to another CERATIN airport. well, I can. Some folks have particular good looking scenery - say FlyTampa or FlightScenery and obviuously having invested some good money they want to utilize it.I tried to install servinfo - it doesn't even install on my PC. I find their documentation to be less than helpful. I am a pretty savy PC user and I get frustrated when I have to get to some forum to learn how to do basic things. I downloaded the servinfo since it promised to be a completly standalone application - apparantly it is not, it only works as some sort of a gauge together with your FS9. I don't want it. I want a simple program outside of FS9 that would tell me where I can get coverage at this moment. Or even answer a simple yes/no - can I get ATC while flying out/into KPDX at this moment?Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

[Guest dolb]

>>I registered for VATSIM and frankly had not *dared* to go online for fear of mucking up other people's experience. It doesn't seem to be one of those activities you can learn by doing - you must learn first then do.--Don't worry about it! as long as you understand ATC, Can use the default ATC (IFR), And fly SIDS/STARS You'll have no problem, I personally downloaded a vatsim flight tutorial in the Pilot's resource center for my first few flights!

[Guest TWVA395]

As for being afraid of controllers or messing up someone else... keep in mind: we all had to start somewhere! Even if you don't even know what a SID or STAR is... who cares? Just request radar vectors or if you want to, ask the controller to explain the chart. I (most controllers too) will be glad to help out someone.http://www.kthxdone.com/images/kw_ft.jpgKen Weik [link:maam.org|MAAM-SIM][link:library.avsim.net/search.php?CatID=root&SearchTerm=kenneth+weik&Sort=Added&ScanMode=0&Go=Change+View]My AFCADs

[ErnieAlston 33]

>I tried to install servinfo - it doesn't even install on my>PC. I find their documentation to be less than helpful. I am a>pretty savy PC user and I get frustrated when I have to get to>some forum to learn how to do basic things. I downloaded the>servinfo since it promised to be a completly standalone>application - apparantly it is not, it only works as some sort>of a gauge together with your FS9. I don't want it. I want a>simple program outside of FS9 that would tell me where I can>get coverage at this moment. Or even answer a simple yes/no ->can I get ATC while flying out/into KPDX at this moment?>I think you're confusing ServInfo with the 'add-on' gauge package tat come included with it.ServInfo 'is' a standlone program that tells you where the Vatsim or Ivao coverage is at any time.I run it on a separate PC than FS9, it is completely standalone.http://www.avsim.com/hangar/utils/servinfo...reensh/smap.jpgTo be honest I'm lost as the difficulty you have having with it. My experience is it installs like any other program. you run the install .exe, select the folder to install it in, then start it up.Press the Vatsim button and a few seconds later, there is the information.There's nothing more to it than that really.Regards.Ernie.

[aerdt 0]

Servinfo does not "install" at all. Extract the files into a folder of your choice and run servinfo.exe... that's it

[Guest bobsk8]

>>i can not relate to people that insist on flying from a>>CERTAIN airport to another CERATIN airport. >>well, I can. Some folks have particular good looking scenery ->say FlyTampa or FlightScenery and obviuously having invested>some good money they want to utilize it.>>I tried to install servinfo - it doesn't even install on my>PC. I find their documentation to be less than helpful. I am a>pretty savy PC user and I get frustrated when I have to get to>some forum to learn how to do basic things. I downloaded the>servinfo since it promised to be a completly standalone>application - apparantly it is not, it only works as some sort>of a gauge together with your FS9. I don't want it. I want a>simple program outside of FS9 that would tell me where I can>get coverage at this moment. Or even answer a simple yes/no ->can I get ATC while flying out/into KPDX at this moment?>>Michael J.>WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB>Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2>http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpg>http://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpgFrankly, I am surprised that you work on a Beta Team and find Servinfo too complicated to install. Just about the simplest install I have ever done ???? Comes with a read me file that tells you exactly what to do........... whoops.... I guess that does make it complicated, doesn't it :)

[Guest cactus]

Michael J Servinfo is easy. Download it. Now create a folder on your desktop and call it servinfo. Extract all the files from you servinfo download into the newly created servinfo folder. now look in this folder and double click the servinfo.exe file. thats it. when servinfo open click the VATSIM icon on top left. then it loads all info. after that you can set up the program to suit your needs. any questions? just ask me.

[michal 44]

>Servinfo does not "install" at all. Extract the files into a>folder of your choice and run servinfo.exe... that's itThanks. If only the readme file said something like that. Instead it starts to explain in 2+ pages how to install it.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

[michal 44]

>Frankly, I am surprised that you work on a Beta Team and find>Servinfo too complicated to install. Just about the simplest>install I have ever done ???? Comes with a read me file that>tells you exactly what to do........... whoops.... I guess>that does make it complicated, doesn't it :)and I am surprised that you don't see how this README file can be confusing. Now I know that in fact I did not have to install anything (for what I am trying to use it for) but unless this little tidbit of information was burried somewhere deep inside this file I did not see it. It takes a bit of imagination while trying to put even a simplest documentation together.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

[michal 44]

>left. then it loads all info. after that you can set up the>program to suit your needs. any questions? just ask me.Thanks for the offer, most obliged.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

[Guest bobsk8]

>>Frankly, I am surprised that you work on a Beta Team and>find>>Servinfo too complicated to install. Just about the>simplest>>install I have ever done ???? Comes with a read me file>that>>tells you exactly what to do........... whoops.... I guess>>that does make it complicated, doesn't it :)>>and I am surprised that you don't see how this README file can>be confusing. Now I know that in fact I did not have to>install anything (for what I am trying to use it for) but>unless this little tidbit of information was burried somewhere>deep inside this file I did not see it. It takes a bit of>imagination while trying to put even a simplest documentation>together.>>Michael J.>WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB>Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2>http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpg>http://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpgOK .. Here is the readme file instructions on installing Servinfo2.1 First Time UsersJust unzip the contents of the zip file into a folder of your choice and run ServInfo.exe. Make sure you have the "use folder names" option checked in WinZip. A subdirectory named "Logos" will be created in the directory in which you will unzip the zip file. If not, then create it yourself and move there all files with extension .bmpFor the installation and usage of the ServInfo gauge read the readme-sigauge.rtf document. The servinfo.gau file must be copied to the gauges folder of your FS directory. If you are going to use the provided installer (sigi.exe) to install the ServInfo gauge then this is not necessary, as it will be done automatically when you run the installer for the first time.???????? ThAT'S HARD?????

[ErnieAlston 33]

>>Servinfo does not "install" at all. Extract the files into>a>>folder of your choice and run servinfo.exe... that's it>>Thanks. If only the readme file said something like that.>Instead it starts to explain in 2+ pages how to install it.>I thought it had an installer too, But my recollection was wrong it doesn't.Maybe the readme file was updated recently ? I just looked in the readme file. The current one anyway, It does appear to make reference to extracting the data from the zip file.Regards.Ernie.