ATC Is OK With Me

[MDFlier 2,031]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:48 AM, regis9 said:

It’s good enough that I use it nearly every flight.  While a total ground up redo (ie to actually control / separate traffic) would be great, there are some more basic improvements I’d like to see:

- provide climb/descent clearances earlier, not right as you’re arriving at the previously cleared altitude. Agreed - the 200' delta used now is too small for planes that climb / descent faster than a C152.

- a fix for the issue where the initial descent clearance never comes of comes very late Yeah. Occasionally, it gives me descent clearance right on time. Other times, I hit 3 and then 9 to request 10,000' lower after I start the descent. If I do it before ATC notices that I've left cruise altitude, it usually works and I get descent clearance.

- on a STAR with stepped descents, just clear me to descend via the STAR to a certain altitude instead of clearing me to each stepped altitude This is 50/50 as well. Sometimes, it will clear me to a lower altitude while on a STAR, and will then clear me to higher altitudes above that based on what the chart says at the various waypoints anyway.

- after takeoff, give me a vector or clear me direct to my first waypoint instead of just telling me to proceed on course.

- provide actual vectors and/or other useful guidance on the path to final approach

- utilize proper air pressure units depending on where you are in the world.

There’s more, but even this list would improve the quality of life in using the ATC system.

I use it every flight as well. Not that I really like it, but it does an okay job of setting the phases for each flight. You have to use your imagination quite a bit for sure. Comments in red.

On 1/19/2023 at 10:37 PM, Noel said:

This was the case w/ FSX ATC.  I've just requested an increase in altitude and it usually grants it so can override the descend to X first.  I can't recall if it always happens but it does happen.   Sometimes I overshoot a flight level change and it tells me to go back to X but again override it with permission to ascend to X+

This is another 50/50 item for me. It does not always do the same thing in the same situation. Sometimes, I want to go lower while it is trying to get me to climb. I ask for a lower altitude, and it will give it to me. Other times, it keeps insisting that I climb to the higher altitude first. 

14 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I’ve seen very little on vectoring. Does it give you vectors to a 30° intercept heading for an ILS approach where appropriate? And of course you should be below the glide slope at that point.

LOL.. Uh, no....

14 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Then it can hardly be called Air Traffic Control. Good grief! It fails the most important aspect of what such a program is required to do. Not fit for purpose springs to mind.

What is Asobo’s attitude to the complaints?

I honestly think that this has been an intentional back burner item the entire time. They probably had no intention of fixing ATC until other things got taken care of. I think that they are at the point where they can start working on getting AI and ATC working properly. AI needs to get fixed before they can even consider looking at ATC. They've acknowledged the information that @Kaiii3 provided to them, and I believe that I heard Jorg mention it a 2nd time later on so at least they have a clue as to the big issues. They've been hammering away at the big issues in the sim, and I think there will be time for them to look at the secondary level issues like AI and ATC soon. Fingers crossed. 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,954]

1 minute ago, MDFlier said:

They've been hammering away at the big issues in the sim, and I think there will be time for them to look at the secondary level issues like AI and ATC soon. Fingers crossed. 

Good luck! I suspect you’ll be waiting a long time.

[Noel 4,499]

27 minutes ago, MDFlier said:

They've been hammering away at the big issues in the sim, and I think there will be time for them to look at the secondary level issues like AI and ATC soon. Fingers crossed. 

Absolutely they will be focusing on ATC and other areas left in placeholder status until they get there.

[NismoRR 191]

9 hours ago, Kaboki said:

Yeah well for me there isnt, so im waiting for asobo to improve it.. 

Of course there is, and your choice is default ATC. And as ‘they’ say, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” 

Edited January 23, 2023 by NismoRR

[Lord Farringdon 493]

I'd like to think Asobo can now put more focus into AI/ATC this year. As always they say things that are a bit non-committal. Still, it is all about market share and I can see their focus has most certainly been on grabbing market share away from other simulators like P3D, Xplane and even FSX  but more importantly opening MSFS to the world through X-Box. So World updates, Reno Air races, Maverick and 40th Anniversary and more recently air flow dynamics that allow glider and helicopter operations to commence in earnest are all worthy projects to assist market share development . All this work of course required  Sim updates to provide the necessary capabilities and of course to fix the invariable "íssues arising". Their work has been pretty cut out for them I would say. World updates are particularly important because MSFS's scenery is the shop window display inviting people throughout the world get a taste of their home town from the air. For example, I am particularly excited for the next world update which is I believe is New Zealand! I feel confident it wont disappoint. 

But perhaps a sign that things are settling a little bit and allowing them to focus more on the core sim issues includes things like and Aircraft & Avionics Update 1 (AAU1). 

There are so many things we all want but my thoughts are that if they don't seriously add to the prospect of more sales and increased market share by virtue of their inclusion, then they are not going to get high priority, so we shouldn't hold our breath on AI and ATC just yet. Still, I feel they are getting closer to this and are not dismissing it.   

Cheers

Terry

   

Edited January 23, 2023 by Lord Farringdon

[BrammyH 447]

6 hours ago, MDFlier said:

This is another 50/50 item for me. It does not always do the same thing in the same situation. Sometimes, I want to go lower while it is trying to get me to climb. I ask for a lower altitude, and it will give it to me. Other times, it keeps insisting that I climb to the higher altitude first. 

How do you do this? I had a fight with the ATC this weekend where it was insisting I expedite my climb but I knew it was going to tell me to descend a few min later. I could not see an option to ask for a lower. Is that because I had it set to auto answer the ATC calls?

[MDFlier 2,031]

1 hour ago, BrammyH said:

How do you do this? I had a fight with the ATC this weekend where it was insisting I expedite my climb but I knew it was going to tell me to descend a few min later. I could not see an option to ask for a lower. Is that because I had it set to auto answer the ATC calls?

Open the ATC menu,  pick option 3 to request a lower altitude, then pick the number corresponding to the decrease on the next menu. Sometimes ATC will insist that you climb even after doing so. In those cases, I ask for a 1,000' increase, which it will grant, and then I request the lower altitude again. This seems to make it forget the original altitude that it was trying to get me to go to.

Sometimes it's just really stubborn, and will not let me have my way no matter what I do, so then I just fly my flight the way that I originally planned it and it will eventually give me clearance to land at the end. LOL

[Sky_Pilot071 580]

52 minutes ago, MDFlier said:

Sometimes it's just really stubborn,

Just removing the stubborn part would be a major update.

sp

[MDFlier 2,031]

15 hours ago, Sky_Pilot071 said:

Just removing the stubborn part would be a major update.

sp

It's not so bad. I use the AI flight assistant for comms, so I just sit back and navigate and aviate while the the 2 women word not allowed at.... errr... complain to each other. Feels just like any other place I go...  

 

[BrammyH 447]

I was pretty impressed with the AI ATC last night. I flew out of KSJC with FS injector. There were a TON of outbound Southwest Air flights. The AI in general and the ATC did a good job at queuing is all up and out the runway.

 

I didn't finish the flight due to time constraints so I don't know how well it would have done on the rest of it.

[Tuskin38 6,491]

I only use the ATC for taxi directions.

[Dave_YVR 973]

32 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

I only use the ATC for taxi directions.

And even then you need to double check them as so many airports don't even have the taxiways labeled correctly or they have broken links underneath that you cant see so the ATC tries to give you a detour around.

[Dave_YVR 973]

3 hours ago, BrammyH said:

The AI in general and the ATC did a good job at queuing is all up and out the runway.

The issue there is how long did it take to get the departures out? Instead of a realistic 1-3nm in trail or the needed wake turbulence they are more like 10-15nm in trail as the ATC doesn't really know what its doing. 

[BrammyH 447]

34 minutes ago, Dave_YVR said:

The issue there is how long did it take to get the departures out? Instead of a realistic 1-3nm in trail or the needed wake turbulence they are more like 10-15nm in trail as the ATC doesn't really know what its doing. 

I didn't time it, but it wasn't bad.

The night before was kinda funny where it told me to stop and wait, and then kinda forgot about me. After about 10 min of seeing nothing happening on the runway I moved out. It then cleared me.

Behind me was a massive lineup on planes now stuck in the queue.

[Tuskin38 6,491]

5 hours ago, Dave_YVR said:

And even then you need to double check them as so many airports don't even have the taxiways labeled correctly or they have broken links underneath that you cant see so the ATC tries to give you a detour around.

oh I use the progressive taxi arrows.