The lack of useful utilities

[Noel 4,483]

There's very little future for many Devs in payware airports--the default ones are already excellent. I totally agree what's really lacking are new airplanes, and utilities that add real value.  My top two:  FSCaptain and Ground Services X.

[omarsmak30 4,061]

16 hours ago, virtuali said:

So yes, GSX, which is not even a dedicated "Camera utility", uses the Camera API quite extensively in P3D, so hope to be able to do the same in MSFS too.

Did you guys get info from Asobo if they will ever add these APIs?

[himmelhorse 1,276]

6 hours ago, Noel said:

There's very little future for many Devs in payware airports

Noel,

Whilst I do agree that the airports look good, even great sometimes, I think that Most if not all default Australian airports are highly inaccurate. Sydney may be an exception in the super deluxe grand version of MSFS.

I just bought Axonos YBCG for XPlane 11 and it bears little or no resemblance to the MSFS YBCG airport. YBTL has no jetways and YBBN has had parallel runways for at least two years which are not shown in MSFS. These are just some examples of just how dated the Australian airports are in this sim.  They all look great though, and that is indisputable.  

There are numerous community "Devs"  who are working on, and have released a considerable number of airports, but in general, the major airports are being ignored or are too complex to play with.

ORBX, an Australian company, has a lot of work to do here, but they seem to be concentrating on the US, England and Europe, which is where the money is.  Understandable but very frustrating for me because I only fly in Australia.

This is however, a little off topic and, getting back to the utilities,  there is quite a bit lacking in MSFS.

1. Real and/or realistic AI aircraft, Payware ATC is available though

2. ATC ... recently revised in an update and I don't see much difference that makes a great deal of sense. To my knowledge, there is no payware available for this as yet.

3. Pushback and a really decent camera system and a replay utility. ...  Pushback has been addressed by a few community freeware devs, as has been the replay function. These have been adequate and FREE. The camera system takes a bit of getting used to but in the end it is adequate (some may say "barely")

There is so much that is available for free from the community that we have had to pay for in the other sims.

I believe in all sincerity, that we are on a real winner with MSFS ... if only we can get the bugs fixed and a problem free system of world and sim updates.  I am really looking forward to the first one of those LOL

Tony 

[Noel 4,483]

7 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

Noel,

Whilst I do agree that the airports look good, even great sometimes, I think that Most if not all default Australian airports are highly inaccurate. Sydney may be an exception in the super deluxe grand version of MSFS.

Tony 

I know what you're saying for sure but I for one, and most assuredly one of a vast majority, don't really have anything to compare to in terms of knowing how accurate or not a default airport is.  I flew from YBBN to YMHB the other day and it was great, even if completely inaccurate as I would have absolutely no idea.  Plus, and this is huge IMO--they were both just wonderful in their own right, at least in contrast to the garbage default airports we had starting decades ago that hardly improved and became the driving force to get you to shell out money to improve on them.   I have spent some effort w/ Orbx to get them to fix what they did to KSBA I bought from them and after 9 months they tell me in late May it's gone to testing and should be in my hands soon.  It's just hardly worth it plus often payware airports are often poorly optimized--which may really mean are just too complex to be worth the performance hit, especially when one doesn't have a working knowledge of their real world counterparts.

Amen on realistic payware AI that's missing in-sim, a really good GSX and FSCaptain I look forward to.  ATC has improved meaninfully though needs a lot of work.  I was astounded at how it handled a very busy Zurich this morning and was quite impressive.  Plus gone of the yo-yo calls we had for months early on thankfully.  I just don't care for the pilot voice with the Azure option the dude is 'affected' as we say!

 

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Noel,

All of what you are saying is true. However, I know that YBTL has jetways (five at last count) and these were depicted in FS2004. They simply do not exist in MSFS and YBTL is generally auto gen buildings etc. It is, I believe, simply a case of outdated satellite imagery and at worst simply frustrating.

I agree that a good GSX is a requirement but I have never used FSCaptain so I cannot comment on that.

Cheers

Tony

[Mace 1,896]

49 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

This is however, a little off topic and, getting back to the utilities,  there is quite a bit lacking in MSFS.

1. Real and/or realistic AI aircraft, Payware ATC is available though

2. ATC ... recently revised in an update and I don't see much difference that makes a great deal of sense. To my knowledge, there is no payware available for this as yet.

Pilot2ATC works with MSFS I do know that. It's a nice cross-platform utility the OP should check out.

As for AI -- I think there's a real opportunity for some designers who might normally design airport buildings, to design AI aircraft models instead, at least for a while until we have a more complete AI fleet to work with.

49 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

3. Pushback and a really decent camera system and a replay utility. ...  Pushback has been addressed by a few community freeware devs, as has been the replay function. These have been adequate and FREE. The camera system takes a bit of getting used to but in the end it is adequate (some may say "barely")

There is so much that is available for free from the community that we have had to pay for in the other sims.

I believe in all sincerity, that we are on a real winner with MSFS ... if only we can get the bugs fixed and a problem free system of world and sim updates.  I am really looking forward to the first one of those LOL

Tony 

Yes-- as for what I want -- I'm wanting a RAAS utility!  Would go great with the WT CJ4 in MSFS.

I downloaded a pushback util but I haven't installed it yet.  Supposedly it can let you use the old SHIFT-P key command.

I'd like a "fly-by" camera view and I haven't figured out how to do that yet.  Maybe that will require some utility as well...not sure.

[himmelhorse 1,276]

58 minutes ago, Mace said:

Pilot2ATC works with MSFS I do know that. It's a nice cross-platform utility the OP should check out.

I knew that mate, I must have had a senior moment or its those dammed dyslexic typing fingers at it again LOL Certainly not my fault LOL

Tony

[Target71 115]

5 hours ago, Mace said:

Pilot2ATC works with MSFS I do know that. It's a nice cross-platform utility the OP should check out.

PF3 by On Course software also works with MSFS and it integrates with Multi Crew Experience. I prefer P2ATC because I find it easier to use and has native voice recognition. PF3 is a good program but I struggle with some of its complexity and getting MCE to interact with it consistently. P2ATC I just call up ATC and they respond, simple as pie. I don't even have to enter a flight plan for VFR flights, just call the ATC and go. There are some limits to what it can do, but for my type of flying its aces and considerably better than stock.

[Gazzareth 808]

1 hour ago, Target71 said:

PF3 by On Course software also works with MSFS and it integrates with Multi Crew Experience. I prefer P2ATC because I find it easier to use and has native voice recognition. PF3 is a good program but I struggle with some of its complexity and getting MCE to interact with it consistently. P2ATC I just call up ATC and they respond, simple as pie. I don't even have to enter a flight plan for VFR flights, just call the ATC and go. There are some limits to what it can do, but for my type of flying its aces and considerably better than stock.

Yeah the VFR option is great, I quite often just cancel IFR at the end of the flight and just go do the last part VFR if conditions allow.... anything complex though I normally get the co-pilot to ask / respond....

 

G

[Ricardo41 5,935]

On 6/9/2021 at 10:36 PM, Alberto Zanot said:

Too much toxicity. 

As expected. 

You made a trollish comment and got blowback. No toxicity here.

As for available utilities, the sim is out barely a year, give it time. As I've said before, do you expect your daughter who has just taken up ballet to already be fielding offers from the Bolshoi?

There are several very good freeware utilities available already.

Apart from the base sim, you can literally spend 0 dollars and have a fully working, immersive flight simulator.

Edited June 11, 2021 by Ricardo41

[Target71 115]

On 6/9/2021 at 6:40 PM, virtuali said:

Some examples of what a SINGLE add-on ( GSX in this case, of course...) does with the Camera API that is available in P3D:

 

I think this is an interesting conversation in regards to specific utilities...GSX came out in what 2013? I could be wrong but maybe six seven years after FSX? P3D is, as I understand it, an updated version of FSX so the code FSDreamteam had available had already been picked apart extensively (their code is nonetheless pretty amazing). I have GSX with Level 2 for FSX and it is very nice but also quite expensive and, for me, things that GSX does, like calling services and working jetways are cool... I can do those things natively in MSFS.  I understand that there is a general consensus that with all of the modern technology and tools that we SHOULD be able to do the same things that we can already do in other platforms. MSFS is differently coded  software, albeit sharing some of the "genetics" of its predecessor. I am excited for what the platform will look like in six or seven years even if my bank account isn't. That is not to say that the desire to have the cool toys now is without merit but the vibrant mod community and the rapidity (comparatively) with which 3rd party add ons have come to MSFS has me with a much more glass half full attitude.

[Ricardo41 5,935]

1 hour ago, Target71 said:

 the vibrant mod community and the rapidity (comparatively) with which 3rd party add ons have come to MSFS has me with a much more glass half full attitude.

To be honest, the mod community has me a whole lot more excited than the announcements of commercial 3PDs who are basically trying to reheel and resole their worn out addons they've been selling since FSX.

Think about it: in  a couple of months we'll have what will be a fairly advanced G1000nxi - in the base sim for free.

I can't remember the last time I was more excited about the development of the base sim than I was about any payware addon.

Edited June 11, 2021 by Ricardo41