I loaded up into the tower view and notice that the actual screen of the computer actually works and shows aircraft information along with other clickable stuff. Do ppl who ATC on VATSIM/IVAO and so forth use this mode in FSX/P3D to handle traffic or is their some special software involved?

53 minutes ago, captain420 said:

I loaded up into the tower view and notice that the actual screen of the computer actually works and shows aircraft information along with other clickable stuff. Do ppl who ATC on VATSIM/IVAO and so forth use this mode in FSX/P3D to handle traffic or is their some special software involved?

VATSIM and IVAO Controllers used dedicated software for controlling traffic Captain420. I believe each P3D/FSX client installs the relevant VATSIM/IVAO software which plugs into simconnect but connects ultimately into dedicated VATSIM / IVAO servers and nothing to do with P3D/FSX as such.

On vatsim  http://www.euroscope.hu/  and it's more complex.

http://www.euroscope.hu/mediawiki/index.php?title=Installation

On Ivao https://www.ivao.aero/softdev/IvAc/home.asp

 

VATSIM is without doubt the best ATC experience you will have.  I know people will chime in saying, 'but ATC logs off when I  log on', but that's just the nature of the online, voluntary beast.  Either choose to fly where ATC is or enjoy the randomness of it.    Either way the experience is alot better than any canned ATC package.  I've tried them all.

On Vatsim 

 

If you fly in USA there's about 6 events a week

If you fly in Europe there's about 20 events a week

If you fly in the Middle East there's a few events a month

If you fly in Australia there's about 1 event a day

There's tons more events in Russia , South America and Asia ( normally in the regional language but with English speaking ATC 95% of the time )

Plus ATC normally log in at peak hours even if there isn't an event at that airport

 

So Vatsim really is the best.

It's very subjective and each to his own. You need to try to see what works for you.

I believe IVAO is the best.

When I used IVAO, the standard and quality of controlling was higher than VATSIM and I, me personally, I believe that the software was more intuitive and functional.

Anyway, the message is give it a go.

10 minutes ago, Cloudrider said:

It's very subjective and each to his own. You need to try to see what works for you.

I believe IVAO is the best.

When I used IVAO, the standard and quality of controlling was higher than VATSIM and I, me personally, I believe that the software was more intuitive and functional.

Anyway, the message is give it a go.

The only problem with IVAO is that they don't have VHF distortion, so it sounds like you're talking to everyone on skype which is an immersion killer.  It's not a realistic (sounding) environment

Seems like it would be a no brainer if both Vatsim and IVAO would set aside their differences and merge as one, so the coverage is alot better both in controllers and users. 

47 minutes ago, ErichB said:

The only problem with IVAO is that they don't have VHF distortion, so it sounds like you're talking to everyone on skype which is an immersion killer.  It's not a realistic (sounding) environment

My experience from real life is that the VHF audio quality depends on many factors. If there is no interference and you receive a strong radio signal, there will be no audible VHF distortion. Of course you can hear microphone distortion or background noise from the pilots, which is not VHF distortion however.

In the Sim I have enough audible background noise coming from the air condition, engines, air flow etc., so I am happy that you get a quite clear ATC that overlays that noise.

But if audio distortion is important, there is also software such as "VoiceMeeter" that can interfere with the audio card in your PC.

2 minutes ago, Cargostorm said:

My experience from real life is that the VHF audio quality depends on many factors. If there is no interference and you receive a strong radio signal, there will be no audible VHF distortion. Of course you can hear microphone distortion or background noise from the pilots, which is not VHF distortion however.

In the Sim I have enough audible background noise coming from the air condition, engines, air flow etc., so I am happy that you get a quite clear ATC that overlays that noise.

But if audio distortion is important, there is also software such as "VoiceMeeter" that can interfer with the audio card in your PC.

Although I agree with you Chris regarding RW, it still doesn't sound like you are talking to someone on Skype which has been my experience of IVAO. It killed the immersion completely.   As we are all flying our desks as opposed to actual aircraft, the audio detailing to suit a simulated environment is a massive part of the experience. 

Erich, I fly exclusively on IVAO, so I do not know about VATSIM. Is there a option in the VATSIM software to add distortion / noise to the audio signal? Would be interesting to know.

4 minutes ago, Cargostorm said:

Erich, I fly exclusively on IVAO, so I do not know about VATSIM. Is there a option in the VATSIM software to add distortion / noise to the audio signal? Would be interesting to know.

Yes, in the VATSIM client (VPilot) audio settings there is a checkbox to have VHF distortion enabled. 

Good to know. It might well be that I switch over to VATSIM if there is not P3D V4 compatible update of the AI MTL library in the near future. Textures of AI traffic in IVAO are not displayed properly in V4 because most of the aircrafts contain FS9 code.

5 minutes ago, Cargostorm said:

Good to know. It might well be that I switch over to VATSIM if there is not P3D V4 compatible update of the AI MTL library in the near future. Textures of AI traffic in IVAO are not displayed properly in V4 because most of the aircrafts contain FS9 code.

This is still generally a problem with online AI models on VATSIM which requires attention - for much the same reason  - so regardless of which client you use, it's the models  themselves  that need updating