BeyondATC Released (EA)

[SierraDelta]

So, true to AVSIM form a BATC release thread quickly takes a turn with 2 members each promoting their favourite ATC add-on and obviously badmouthing the subject app. Yawn …

[Fiorentoni]

2 minutes ago, techman said:

No problem paying for this. The dev was very clear about the functionality. He had a somehow stellar marketing campaign running and all this stuff, but after the discord-survey it was pretty clear what you will get for your money. The "installation as admin" is a clear problem though.

So at the end - he did a lot of work in advance and now he has to make some money - no problem with that. Nobody of us is working for nothing.

Really, give it some time at least. Both SI (for IFR) and FSHud were an utter mess when released, barely usable at all. What matters is how things improve during early access and on full release.

[ailchim]

This isn't a swipe at BeyondATC in particular and I wish it every success but I can't help wondering whether recent releases like ActiveSky FS (which I've bought) and BeyondATC (which I probably will buy at some point) will be overtaken by MSFS 2024.  Similarly, how compatible will payware airport add-ons be and who pays for any updates?

Possibly likely compatibility has been covered in the Development Updates but I have enough trouble finding time to fly without ploughing through all that.

In the end it doesn't really matter because I'll continue impulse-purchasing but would a more sensible person wait 6 months? 

 

 

 

 

[bennyboy75]

From my (very very limited) time with it today then it does seem like a pretty polished and very useable product.

I’ve been using FS products for years and some are a basket case on day 1 and remain that way forever. On first look this is very promising indeed. 

[Cpt_Piett]

Initially some hiccups with getting it to connect to the sim, had to dig around discord for answers. When finally up and running, it worked surprisingly well (it’s a paid beta after all). The only huge thing I noticed was a “turn left heading 060 and climb FL160” when I declared a missed approach. Quickly after it was told to maintain 5000ft and got vectored around for another approach.

Initial impression:

• I was positively surprised. Especially by the speech recognition (I have an accent). Was even able to read back relatively lengthy instructions correctly on first attempt. 
• Instructions “made sense” except for the missed approach altitude
• Pretty easy to setup and get used to the UI

Is it worth the 30$? Too early to tell. I had not intended to use push to talk, but decided “what the heck, I’ll give it a go”. I’ve never been on VATSIM or used any voice-based ATC. So despite being a complete noob, I did feel it added to the immersion - and even stressed me out a bit, I might add 😅 

[Ray Proudfoot]

4 hours ago, techman said:

This "Install as admin" or "run as admin" is not working for me. I think we should give the dev some time to harden his piece of sh.. erm.. software. 

Be careful with your language.

[abrams_tank]

52 minutes ago, Rocky_53 said:

If an early access is effectively a BETA product and incomplete with bugs and issues, then sure, in my opinion I don't think you should be paying. Is that an odd way of thinking? Maybe it's me...

We pay for things we get value from.  If people get enough value from this early access, enough to justify what they are paying, then it's a win win for the vendor and the customer.  Personally, I can deal with some bugs, as long as the bugs aren't too distracting, if it's ground breaking software, and I think I would derive overall positive value from it.  MSFS had a lot of bugs too in the first few months of its release, but I got to say, I enjoyed it immensely when it was first released back in 2020.

Edited May 5, 2024 by abrams_tank

[boez]

PSA: Make sure you have an active flight plan in your SimBrief account as otherwise you'll just get a generic 'SimBrief cannot be reached' error message from BeyondATC and be plonked back at the enter SimBrief ID screen. Then probably spend an hour trying to work out how you could logon to SimBrief using a browser but BeyondATC seemingly couldn't. Ask me how I know 😉 

Edited May 5, 2024 by boez
correct error message

[ConairMSFS]

Is it possible to buy it just by using credit card? Or is it mandatory to have chashapp too?

What about speech recognition? Even though I'm quite a grown up, I'm wearing braces, so I speak english more like a drunk irish guy with italian accent. 🤣 Will it understand me anyway?

Will wait a little for things to settle down, and to read some honest revies, but quite curious to try it.

[abrams_tank]

29 minutes ago, ailchim said:

BeyondATC (which I probably will buy at some point) will be overtaken by MSFS 2024. 

The way I see it, even if MSFS 2024 had a better ATC system than BeyondATC, BeyondATC was only $30 USD so I don't mind using BeyondATC for maybe 5 to 6 months, before moving onto the better ATC system in MSFS 2024.

Keyword there is "if." We really don't know if MSFS 2024 will have a revolutionary ATC system like BeyondATC that uses AI and understands general voice recognition and ATC phraseology like BeyondATC, until they announce what work they have done for ATC in MSFS 2024.

[Fiorentoni]

39 minutes ago, ailchim said:

whether recent releases like ActiveSky FS (which I've bought) and BeyondATC (which I probably will buy at some point) will be overtaken by MSFS 2024.

I can guarantee you it will not have any remotely useful ATC. It will be just as bad as in MSFS 2020, maybe slightly better. That's for sure.

[abrams_tank]

24 minutes ago, Fiorentoni said:

I can guarantee you it will not have any remotely useful ATC. It will be just as bad as in MSFS 2020, maybe slightly better. That's for sure.

Hmm, we really don't know. I think Jorg said there is a total of 700 people working on MSFS 2024, including work they contracted to outside companies like iniBuilds, etc.  Perhaps some of those 700 people are also working on MSFS 2024 part time, and not full time.

But with that many people working on MSFS 2024, I would guess MSFS 2024 has a lot of changes that's not in MSFS 2020. IMO, if MSFS 2024 were just another "Sim Update" in terms of the volume of changes and complexity of changes, I don't think you need some 700 people to for a "Sim Update."  So if I were to guess, MSFS 2024 is probably much more substantially advanced than MSFS 2020.

I would guess that the ATC system in MSFS 2024 should be better than MSFS 2020.  But whether MSFS 2024 has something as advanced as voice recognition and communication with ATC like BeyondATC, it's still to be seen.

Interestingly, on the BeyondATC Discord channel, there are like 2 developers there? And I also heard that BeyondATC recently hired a developer that worked on FSLTL. My overall impression is that BeyondATC isn't a very big team, probably less than 10 people if I were to guess?  If Jorg really wanted better ATC in MSFS 2024, I think they can afford to hire 10 people that are similar in skill set to the ones that worked on BeyondATC, especially if 700 people are working on MSFS 2024.

Edited May 5, 2024 by abrams_tank

[ailchim]

9 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

The way I see it, even if MSFS 2024 had a better ATC system than BeyondATC, BeyondATC was only $30 USD so I don't mind using BeyondATC for maybe 5 to 6 months, before moving onto the better ATC system in MSFS 2024.

Keyword there is "if." We really don't know if MSFS 2024 will have a revolutionary ATC system like BeyondATC that uses AI and understands general voice recognition and ATC phraseology like BeyondATC, until they announce what work they have done for ATC in MSFS 2024.

 

I'm not expecting the default ATC to be a radical improvement.  Generally speaking, going back over the generations of flight simulators, the best payware add-ons in any area have improved on the default.   It's more a general question of how radical a re-write is MSFS 2024 likely to be and the level of disruption to add-ons we've already bought for MS 2020. 

Having waited to purchase MSFS 2020 until PMDG in particular had made the jump, I've come to it relatively late and have spent quite a bit on it in a short space of time.  Do I continue on that path or wait for 2024?  I'm sure we all came a cropper with certain vendors charging us several times for virtually the same thing (no names no pack drill Aerosoft) as we moved from one generation of FS or P3D to the next.   Nobody knows the answer I guess as the compatibility devil is in the detail. 

[Bond]

Well Asobo still hasn't filled the ATC positions....
https://jobs.eu.lever.co/asobostudio/7abe037b-e9d4-4af2-84ba-5a5c0e1de752

[GCBraun]

Even though I've also had some issues getting the software to work initially, my problem was caused by SimBrief in the end.

Now that thing's are up and running, I am currently climbing from LFPG towards ENGM.

Experience so far is pretty good. Great UI, believable voices, even when basic is selected, and mostly correct ATC instructions, with some issues here and there. This software has a lot of potential!