Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think there's been a single enhancement to ATC since launch.  Yet ATC, at least for me, is one of the most frustrating aspects of the SIM and an immersion killer. You're either forced to ignore them or follow their nonsensical directions neither of which is NOT immersive in the slightest.  ATC is a HUGE part of aviation and yet it seems to be one of the most neglected aspects of the sim.

Does anyone else wonder why it's being ignored?

Edited October 29, 20205 yr by Virtual-Chris

Unless you are not filing a flight plan, ATC wont have any plan to route you for. This video shows atc clearing and assigning me alts just fine and even acknowledging my arrival i specified, you can alternate and set arrival to automatic and input the procedure they give you as well.

I agree about default ATC.

I would look at the video above. Even back in FS9 and Fs2004 there

were also good add-ons such as RC. Made a big difference with

immersion and audio chatter.

22 minutes ago, Virtual-Chris said:

I don't think there's been a single enhancement to ATC since launch.

Virtual-Chris.

Mate to put things in perspective, Look at P3D what significant changes to default ATC have occurred on that platform in the last 10 years.  As usual, I believe that it will be the 3PDs who will take care of this for you. In the meantime, rest assured that there is NO really good default ATC on any platform.  There is really very little change to MSFS ATC from the original FSX or FS2994.  They have added of course an annoying (for me) instruction to keep speeds below 220 knots when I am flying the G36 and when I set the altitude to any height ATC never follow it and tell you to climb to even heights (ie 8000 feet) flying south.

I use it to get clearance for take off and until I am given an alternative and wrong height, at which point I cancel IFR until close to my destination and then use the "nearest airport" to get landing approval. 

Sad, but I do not expect anything different from MSFS particularly in light of ATC history in flight simulation.  

Tony 

I wouldn't say it isn't a priority, but I'm sure it's a beast to work on. They mentioned last month on the Q&A that they are working on something cool with Microsoft Asia and didn't provide any particular deetz, but I'm hopeful it'll be something worthwhile. 

Edited October 29, 20205 yr by Drumcode

1 minute ago, Drumcode said:

I wouldn't say it isn't a priority, but I'm sure it's a beast to work on. They mentioned last month on the Q&A that they are working on some cool with Microsoft Asia and didn't provide any particular deetz, but I'm hopeful it'll be something worthwhile. 

Either way, and I am sure it is annoying or frustrating for some, I remain in a happy place with no real expectations for default ATC.  If they improve it,  everyone wins.

Tony

1 minute ago, Drumcode said:

 

 

It drive me crazy the fixed TA & TL at 18000/FL180. I only fly in Europe...

Edited November 26, 20205 yr by igorbischi

1 hour ago, igorbischi said:

It drive me crazy the fixed TA & TL at 18000/FL180. I only fly in Europe...

You should look at the European ATC mod on the FS forums.  I usually only fly USA so I won't use it.  But for you it might be awesome.

Its on the list.... so whatever that means 🙂

The ATC is alright. It could be worse, could be better. I really like having the AI control the radio so I dont have to push buttons every 30 seconds for a handoff to yet another Chicago Center when departing O'Hare.

Hopefully a third party develops a well made ATC if Asobo won't do it. I'll gladly give them my money.

Edited November 27, 20205 yr by NightOfDreams

I dont bother with default ATC.  If I want to fly IFR I use VATSIM or IVAO 

11 minutes ago, wan2fly99 said:

I dont bother with default ATC.  If I want to fly IFR I use VATSIM or IVAO 

I used to use VATSIM but anymore I don't always feel like being at the PC the entire time, and of course there's often gaps in coverage anyway. The default ATC isn't tooo bad, just needs some work. Today it gave me a silly command to "descend to 11,000", "climb to 12,000", "descend to 11,000" for no reason....

'Not a priority' is not the same as 'never going to be addressed'. As it stands, the default ATC is reasonably okay, certainly no worse than the defaults in other sims and in large part considerably better since it does at least handle SIDs and STARs. So there really is no reason not to believe that it will be a target for third party developers and really, that probably suits MS and Asobo, because for one thing they can stick any add-on ATC programs through their marketplace and profit from them anyway, and in the interim the default ATC is probably good enough for most users of the type MS want to attract.

I gave up on IFR flight planning. Of all the past flight sims, this is the worst. I think it worked well for me once so I have to wonder if there are certain conditions that must be met in order to have it work correctly. Usually, ATC are ok getting me to cruise level. But decent and vectors are buggy. So, for me, MSFS is a only a VFR and scenery sim. When I’m in the mood for IFR, I fire up FSX. While not perfect (and is limited), FSX IFR consistently gets me to approach every time. 

 

 

On this week's Twitch Q&A they specifically mentioned one of the upcoming Sim Updates (3 or 4, I don't remember which) in Q1 2021 will be focused on ATC improvements.