Jason or Mike (hope I got the names right),I understand that there will be improvements with the multiplayer side of FSX. While I know you all can not go into any particulars, will we finally be able to use AI planes while flying online? Sometimes flying on Vatsim can get pretty lonely. It would be great to have AI planes to use when no ATC or other online traffic is present. Other options would be so us online guys can use the AI planes as static planes at airports (by using AFCAD we can assign a plane to a gate and schedule it to leave only once a week in the wee hours of the morning thereby giving us instant static aircraft for all our aiports). Thanks.

I think all the human pilots and ATC would need to use the same flight plans for the AI planes. But then what about the problem of human ATC directing AI planes? Probably need a voice recognition system? or text?However the multiplayer system works, just let there be one network.John.

Yeah I don't think there would be a way to have human and ai interaction mixed on one of the big networks. Also the networks will never combinewhich sucks but can live with it.What would be cool if we could hook into a buddies pc and fly withinhis ai setup with the default ATC, but guess we would need the same AIthere too. Oh well.At least from what's been read between the lines that we may be gettingpilot/copilot connections. That would be cool.

It would be nice to have the gates.to functionality so that pilots and co-pilots can join a session online and fly together. Hopefully MS would create such a thing so that it can also allow for STATIONS with an aircraft (ie Pilot, Co-Pilot, Engineer and X number of passenger stations). The passenger stations would be something that I would like as I do like to see the scenery and graphics but do not necesserily want to fly.

<You seem to have answered your own question, no?

I have a slightly more far fetched idea, but it would require a commitment from Microsoft or another partner and a fair number of servers, and maybe subscription, or funded by Bill himself :) Sorry for any dis-jointedness in this idea but I am typing it as I think...How about an on line world - similar to VATSIM/IVAO where folks can control or fly as they wish but extended. A+I aircraft are provided in the simulated world by the world server itself. The AI aircraft would need to be either voice recognition capable for interaction with ATC or behave correctly to text commands, or even simple commands like we have now would suffice from an ATC point of view.All traffic is passed between the servers so that its available to all connected. If you consider such games as Everquest by Sony On Line Entertainment, where the user base connected to any given machine at any time is pretty huge, it wouldnt need that many servers to be honest. Anyway I digress. Unlike EQ or its ilk, the server only has to provide data for traffic in say a 40nm radius - covers TCAS then, Human controllers would be able to control both A+I aircraft and Human piloted aircraft. A+I controllers would control the rest of the world where Humans are not on line.It would need:-Booking system for ATCParser to cater for textpossibly voice recognitioncapability to let tower controllers see traffic visuallycapability to let say ASRC or any other radar client see trafficlots of processing power maybeMoneyDeveloper :)Thoughts on a postcard hehehCheers n beersIan

That would be cool Ian. I would think there would be some seriousmaintanace costs for human hours. Say what if some tard comes online and switches to each artcc or even just one artcc and orders all theai planes direct KORD or any other major airport. Think this would beone heck of an mess to clean up everytime it happened. But hey if wehad a system like that, it would be kicking rad though.Heck I would like a simple system say allow me to control in my own game. Tired of flying... let's go Tower at KMDW and control. Nowthat would cool. Unfortunately the downside would be less people on Vatsim.