ATC AddOn Recommendations

[Sonosusto]

On 5/10/2023 at 9:53 AM, russianspd said:

Nope. I don't care what people ultimately use. I'm just point out the flaws that I see in P2ATC, the biggest one being no ATC support for other traffic which by this stage in the game of FS should be a standard feature of any ATC product. I can give examples from FSHud if it would make you feel better. 

Meh. That is a flaw in your opinion. For some (or many) of us that have Pilot2ATC....its absolutely feature-rich program keeps us from moving to a different offline ATC program.

Pilot2ATC works for those that have it. It vectors you efficiently, handles your SID/STAR and altitude restrictions and you can speak directly to ATC. I have added voices from IVONA etc since I use text to speech anyway and I got them on sale. They are not terrible. I can directly import my flight plan from simbrief.

Dave, the developer of P2atc is one of....if not one of the most helpful developers I have ever encountered. And no I am not paid to say this.

FSHud also looks like a good option from the sounds of it.

Everyone should get off the internet and fly a plane. 😁

[WestAir]

Does FSHud play well with AIGTC, or should it be used with only the models / flightplans?

Does it drastically reduce the traffic at airports or can you find long 10+ airplane queues for departure?

[Fiorentoni]

29 minutes ago, WestAir said:

Does FSHud play well with AIGTC, or should it be used with only the models / flightplans?

Does it drastically reduce the traffic at airports or can you find long 10+ airplane queues for departure?

It should not be used with AIGTC, it uses its own traffic engine and only uses the models and flightplans from AIG.
In my experience it does reduce traffic at every airport (even smaller ones) by about 50-70%, even with all settings maxed. The developers say otherwise, but me at least I was unable to get a EDDF or KJFK or KDEN that is even half full (with all AIG flightplans available installed).
There's a 30 day trial period (that is: you can refund within 30 days), so no harm in just trying out for yourself.

[Mace]

3 hours ago, Sonosusto said:

Everyone should get off the internet and fly a plane. 😁

Yeah I know.  I'll be able to in a few hours...

I really posted earlier today in this thread, so that the FSHud developer could see that and get some ideas.  It would be so cool to have an ATC option that I could talk to AND could control AI.  I'd be in heaven.

[Bigbluss]

I tried fshud and it was okay but like most of the ATC offerings it's fairly gimmicky/arcady in my opinion. No offense at all to those that enjoy them, I totally understand why people use them, but they're also so far from reality that it's just far better to jump on Pilotedge (if you're happy to pay) or Vatsim (if you're not) for me. There's so many things that can happen with dynamic interactions with real humans that people miss out on with this deterministic ATC Software.

 

Really interestingly (to me at least), Falcon BMS has the best implementation of ATC I've seen. It's really fluid, natural and behaves realistically. 

[Sonosusto]

2 hours ago, Mace said:

Yeah I know.  I'll be able to in a few hours...

I really posted earlier today in this thread, so that the FSHud developer could see that and get some ideas.  It would be so cool to have an ATC option that I could talk to AND could control AI.  I'd be in heaven.

Yeah, that would be great to have. For now, I am enjoying what p2atc has to offer along with AIG, atc chatter (that is used within pilot2atc) that adjust to where you are in the world and it's features. I'd rather see decent traffic from AIG and not be always bothered by planes getting in my way for a flight. I have a toddler so my time is limited when I fly....ie: I don't have time for vatsim or to spend several minutes waiting for a queue of planes waiting to take off.... that's just me. Pilot2atc lets me call ahead for clearance, push back, taxi and take off so I can get into cruise etc. Not being vectored into a mountain is also great haha.

[tup61]

9 hours ago, Sonosusto said:

I'd rather see decent traffic from AIG and not be always bothered by planes getting in my way for a flight.

Yes, we often seem to forget that everyone has his or hers own way if flightsimming and preferences may differ a lot. So an ATC addon that is great for one may not be great for someone else. That doesn't necessarily make that addon bad (as people often seem to think because they can become quite defensive when it concerns their favorite addon) but it simply is not the right addon for that person. To each his own! (I sometimes think I might as well end all my posts with that sentence LOL)

[Sonosusto]

9 hours ago, tup61 said:

Yes, we often seem to forget that everyone has his or hers own way if flightsimming and preferences may differ a lot. So an ATC addon that is great for one may not be great for someone else. That doesn't necessarily make that addon bad (as people often seem to think because they can become quite defensive when it concerns their favorite addon) but it simply is not the right addon for that person. To each his own! (I sometimes think I might as well end all my posts with that sentence LOL)

True. I still have FSHud as on my to-buy list someday. Especially if my current program doesn't hold up but so far it does the job. Besides. It's just a hobby.

[Bobsk8]

PF3 has been around for years, and i have used it for at least  7 years. It gets the job done, I fly multiple airline flights almost every day, and PF3 performs flawlessly. It's updated a couple of times a year, the voices sound like a real person, rather than a robot, and vectoring is good if needed, as well as varied step climbs, and descents. Regarding Sids and Stars, it lets you fly them without micromanaging every move you make. All I have to do prior to taking off is specify where the Sid ends, and where the Star begins ( two mouse clicks)  which is easily found from charts or Simbrief. Problems with AI are pretty rare, usually on approach only, where I have an aircraft fly by me, while I am on the ILS, which is not a big deal. I don't have to edit flight plans, I load them from simbrief, and am good to go. I haven't been rammed once, by an AI aircraft so I don't understand why so much emphasis is made regarding an ATC aircraft controlling AI flights, with the window of interaction with AI is so small, a minute or so on departure, and on arrival, and that is pretty much it. If I am waiting to take off, PF3 tells me to hold in position until any arriving aircraft has cleared the runway.  For the past few months I have use FSLTL for AI, and problems I have had on flights using that app controlling the AI traffic  have been minimal at best. I don't have to call up an on screen UI in order to change things, I set it up for the flight prior to departure , and never see the UI again, until after I land. I set up around 5 key strokes on my controls for memory items, and that is sufficient for about 99% of my flights.  My motto is and has always been, " If it ain't broke, don't fix it" . 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Bobsk8

[russianspd]

I checked out a video of PF3 on YouTube out of curiosity. Sounds horrible.@ 00:30 the order of the clearance is non-standard. Cleared to airport, altitude, squawk, frequency.  Listen to any ATC clearance delivery and it's airport, route, altitude, frequency, squawk. You MAY get some controllers who decide to do it differently but that's not the way it's taught.  @ 7:30, sounds like someone running a teleprompter in the background with a dying frequency at the end of the transmission. @ 9:30 United says clear of the active runway. Commercial aircraft wouldn't use that because it doesn't designate which runway which is kind of important. More applicable for GA aircraft. @ 10:50 tower can't make up its mind which direction to clear the aircraft, north departure approved...northeast departure approved. If you like listening to 80's based distorted ATC transmissions I can see why you would like this product. Unimpressive for supposedly 8 years of development. 

 

[Bobsk8]

Now let's hear the fantastic voices in FSHud.... Oh wait, nobody seems to have a video of the "improved" voices in FSHUD. 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Bobsk8

[rob0203]

🥱💤……………………………

[RALF9636]

You gotta love the positivity in this thread...

[tup61]

People should emphasize the good of the product they like and not the bad of a competing product. That would make the world a better place. 😉

[WestAir]

16 minutes ago, tup61 said:

People should emphasize the good of the product they like and not the bad of a competing product. That would make the world a better place. 😉

The fighting is what gives AVSIM its charm. We've got a reputation to uphold, of course. 🤣