Does MSFS have the best non-aircraft addons for a flightsim?

[abrams_tank 7,426]

So I was reading some flight simulator forum discussions, and someone commented that MSFS had some of the best non-aircraft add-ons out there for a flight simulator. At first, I hadn't even heard of the term "non-aircraft add-on" used before so it was a new term to me. And when I figured out what that person meant my "non-aircraft add-on," my initial impressions was that was a bold statement that person made, but when I thought about it, maybe that person was correct.  I assume when that person mentioned "non-aircraft" add-on, they were referring to add-ons where it's not primarily an aircraft, but it may still involve aircrafts. For example, I assume that person would classify AIG as a "non-aircraft" add-on since it's not primary an aircraft, even though AIG still uses aircraft models.

For some of the best non-aircraft add-ons, MSFS has GSX, AIG, FSLTL, and some upcoming add-ons like SayIntentions.AI and BeyondATC.  While SayIntentions.AI is not officially released yet, I believe anybody can enter the beta if you become a subscriber, so in effect, it's a tangible non-aircraft add-on that you can experience right now.  I know P3D has GSX and AIG too, although I'm not sure how often they are being updated now for P3D.

Did I miss any other stellar non-aircraft add-on for MSFS besides the ones I listed above? And do you think that MSFS has some of the best non-aircraft add-ons for a flightsim?

Edited March 25 by abrams_tank

[martinboehme 494]

"Non-aircraft addon" seems like a confusing term to me -- surely, any scenery is a "non-aircraft addon", but this is apparently not what that poster meant?

You could go with "non-aircraft, non-scenery addons", but that becomes a real mouthful. I'd suggest that maybe simply "utilities" is a better term for this category of addons.

In addition to what you have above, I would mention FSiPanel, though it's not exclusive to MSFS (but then GSX isn't either).

[abrams_tank 7,426]

17 minutes ago, martinboehme said:

"Non-aircraft addon" seems like a confusing term to me -- surely, any scenery is a "non-aircraft addon", but this is apparently not what that poster meant?

You could go with "non-aircraft, non-scenery addons", but that becomes a real mouthful. I'd suggest that maybe simply "utilities" is a better term for this category of addons.

In addition to what you have above, I would mention FSiPanel, though it's not exclusive to MSFS (but then GSX isn't either).

Yeah, that's a weird term, I hadn't heard of the term "non-aircraft add-on" before. But I assume it probably means any add-on that isn't primarily an aircraft.

Anyways, that's cool to know that FSiPanel is also a stellar add-on for MSFS!

Edited March 25 by abrams_tank

[Fielder 3,683]

https://tinyurl.com/Not-a-Plane

[Fielder 3,683]

Or, a bit more sensible than my offering above:

 

[abrams_tank 7,426]

18 minutes ago, Fielder said:

https://tinyurl.com/Not-a-Plane

This wasn't my original definition of a "stellar add-on" but maybe I should expand my definition because this is certainly stellar 🤣

[Petraeus 147]

Whilst MSFS may have some of the best non-aircraft addons, a big gap in its portfolio compared to other simulators is a camera addon such as ChasePlane.

[pommy80 82]

1 hour ago, abrams_tank said:

I know P3D has GSX and AIG too, although I'm not sure how often they are being updated now for P3D.

FYI, AIG still create new models for P3D. 

Edited March 25 by pommy80

[abrams_tank 7,426]

1 hour ago, Petraeus said:

Whilst MSFS may have some of the best non-aircraft addons, a big gap in its portfolio compared to other simulators is a camera addon such as ChasePlane.

For sure. ChasePlane has a very good reputation. Having said that, if you have an X-Box controller and you use your X-Box controller for the camera only in MSFS, the camera system for MSFS is not so bad.

[qqwertz 789]

I am biased, but IMHO FSCaptain in FSX/P3D is better than what career addons we have for MSFS right now. Also, I think GSX was better in P3D than it is in MSFS since I could always get it to do what I want. And PFPX was more difficult to use but also more interesting than Simbrief. I guess for all these addons you needed to invest a bit of time to get the most out of it, but you learned a lot on your way. I like that.

[JBDB-MD80 1,476]

Where is Chaseplane, EZdok , Active Sky etc. as an option? Those were popular addons in FSX/P3D and would certainly sell well today in MSFS.

Edited March 25 by JBDB-MD80

[Noel 4,513]

1 hour ago, qqwertz said:

I am biased, but IMHO FSCaptain in FSX/P3D is better than what career addons we have for MSFS right now. Also, I think GSX was better in P3D than it is in MSFS since I could always get it to do what I want.

I was an avid user of FSCaptain and so hoped they would get here some day but I think that agenda seems to have stopped to really isn't going to make it.  I agree GSX must have been so hard to program for MSFS it's ridiculous how often it "screws up" which seems to come from not having much sense of the proximity of objects and buildings it's so nasty to have the pushback terminate in running into something.  Oh it does work okay most of the time but again to start pushback and suddenly have the plane instantly rotate 180 degrees is just about as immersion-destroying as it can get.   I'm sure Virtuali has done as good as can be done within the confines of the SDK for something like this so I blame it on just difficulty working with MSFS.

Have you taken a deep look into Self Loading Cargo?  It is a masterpiece in many ways, is slowly being advanced further in development, and if you liked FSC's scoring piece SLC beats it hands down and there will be more to come.  Its user-interface is stellar and has added massive immersion to my airliner piloting as well as teaching me about the whole role of pilot/1st officer in addition to *simply* flying the plane.  I use it along with A Pilot's Life and those two combined far exceed what FSC could do.  These two combined really make me stay engaged during the entire flight though can break away for shorter periods along the way.  My flight earlier today:

https://www.selfloadingcargo.com/flightlogs/view/709499/09849397-5926-47c2-93c9-3f3909eee76e

[JYW 2,984]

So if we're talking "non-aircraft addons", (which also does not sppear to include scenery), are we therefore referring to utilities?

I'd say MSFS has more utilities than any other platform - mostly because of the plethora of free utilities available on FS.TO.

Addon Linker, Map Enhancement, Better Toolbar, etc, etc, etc.  There are dozens.   Do miss one of two of the old utilities I had with FSX. 

[qqwertz 789]

4 hours ago, Noel said:

[1]  I was an avid user of FSCaptain and so hoped they would get here some day but I think that agenda seems to have stopped to really isn't going to make it.  

[2] Have you taken a deep look into Self Loading Cargo?

[1] There may be some news from Travis about FSCaptain in the next 1-3 months.

[2] Yes, I tested it. It is good, but not exactly what I want. I don't care too much about unruly passengers, and when it comes to flight analysis, I prefer Newsky over SLC. What I miss most about FSC is the flexibility. I could set up my own airline and tell it which airports I want to fly to; I could have several airlines; it was just about piloting, not management of admin staff or flight attendants needed. A Pilot's Life, Newsky, On Air, Neofly are all good programs, but they all have at least one feature that ruins the experience for me.

 

[verbal 106]

11 hours ago, Petraeus said:

Whilst MSFS may have some of the best non-aircraft addons, a big gap in its portfolio compared to other simulators is a camera addon such as ChasePlane.

 

4 hours ago, JBDB-MD80 said:

Where is Chaseplane, EZdok , Active Sky etc. as an option? Those were popular addons in FSX/P3D and would certainly sell well today in MSFS.

I too used to campaign for Chaseplane or something similar to be implemented in MSFS, then realised the default camera options work just as well. 

For example, for the PMDG 738, all I did was move my views around to where I want them, press CTRL+ALT+ corresponding number and it saves it as a custom camera view. I also changed the keybind from whatever it was (I can't recall exactly) to numbers 1 to 0, so now all my camera views are bound to the top row of my keyboard.

1 - Captains view
2 - Overhead panel
3 - FMC
4 - etc. etc. 

It's exactly how I had Chaseplane set up in P3D prior to moving across to MSFS. Would be handy to have the cruise cinematic cameras though 🙂