Finally! 

 

**Major Update 1.2.35.Experimental**

 

```**Traffic Alpha!** 

 

- Initial information regarding the traffic alpha release is available here... [⁠BeyondATC⁠Traffic FAQ](https://discord.com/channels/1082413096045391915/1280808584808108052)

- Supporters have a dedicated forum for reporting issues and thoughts on traffic here... [⁠BeyondATC⁠traffic-alpha-feedback](https://discord.com/channels/1082413096045391915/1280653893570658325)

**VR Toolbar!** 
- Toolbar available to be installed in MSFS community folder.

- Provides access to ATC message log, frequencies and BATC action options.

**Airports**
- Active runway assignment considers runway length for all aircraft compared to a type specific takeoff and landing distance.

- Active runway assignment (outside of existing low wind ops) will now included runways that have a slight crosswind even if there is a runway that has perfect headwind. This is particularly important at airports with many non-parallel runways
GA classified aircraft will try and using the shorter runways that are active to avoid landing on runways for airline use
Arrival parking is based on the full traffic data set and will allocate the player a gate that best matches their aircraft from Simbrief, considering the tail number, callsign and operator /type (in that order) of the flight. If multiple options exist from these selection criteria randomize the value returned for variation from flight to flight.

- Improvements to runway turnoff logic for direction and timing.

- Where airport scenery has very long taxi segments split them up for better handling and traffic separation.

- Updates and additions to our airport ops list.

**Aircraft** 
- Aircraft type meta data has been expanded for more aircraft and to include data such as the average takeoff and landing distances.

- Vectors now use per aircraft type values to configure as base and final leg value to help managed vectors being too short for some aircraft, biz jets for example.
 
**ATC Comms** 
- Further fixes for not being handed off to Tower.

- Fix for no assigned parking at destination airport when you weren't handed off to Tower but contacted them yourselves
Speed to detect comms change or xpndr update made in aircraft has improved.

**Voice Recognition**
- Massive fixes across the board to all recognition failure points, significant improvement to handling of numbers, linked number words, niner and all manor of phraseology.

**Voice** 
- Significant increase in the variation of phraseology.

- Non-English voices generation response time nearly doubled or tripled for a significant number of existing and new voices.

- Many new premium voices to provide lots of variation to traffic.

**Misc**
- More improvements and bug fixes than can be listed here!```

 

 

Please remember traffic is in ALPHA. That means bugs, crashes, weird (and sometimes hilarious) behavior is expected. We are releasing this to supporters in an attempt to find and reconcile these issues. We believe despite the oddity here and there traffic should be in a stable enough state to get a ton of enjoyment out of it. 

Separation and issued speed commands are disabled for traffic as we continue work on them. For now, it may be up to the player to slow or speed up to maintain separation. Our intention is to have ATC do this in the coming weeks/months. 

This update represents one of the most challenging undertakings we have encountered and as such we greatly appreciate your patience, help and feedback as we work to resolve the issues that will no doubt arise. We are a very small team, and as such we tested traffic at as many major airports as possible, but there's no way we could have tested them all. There's bound to be unforeseen issues in airports we couldn't account for and we appreciate your understanding of this.

If you are not a supporter, traffic will be coming to the main branch in time as a FREE update. 

Thank you!

 

Edited September 6, 20241 yr by rutrA

Delete

 

Edited September 6, 20241 yr by Langeveldt

Exciting times - really keen to hear some impressions from early adopters. Holding off on upgrading to the supporters pack until I've seen some reviews/feedback. Reading the initial notes it seems like traffic only appears for AI that departs/arrives at the same airport as the user and speed instructions to traffic are not yet implemented so it's up to the user to manage speed. Transition shortcuts also not yet implemented...still some way to go!

Not sure if there's an update to non-supporters that incorporate the non-traffic fixes? Good to read Vectors were worked on, I hope that fixed the carrier style landings in a 777 with a 2nm turn to threshold.

Does VR toolbar mean in-sim panel or is that different?

Shame they still haven't implemented an option to select arrival gate before landing. Always a mess when using button control to scroll through the list after vacating the runway and find the gate I want to use...be so much neater to be able to do that whilst still in the air, or just sync it with GSX.

Been following them a while ... They've been plagued by bad sim data and it sounds like the traffic will be just as affected by it ... Couldn't fly out of some of my favorite airports because of it. 

im curious how is the performance  to compare with other a alternatives, ill wait  to see reports before upgrade support version.

Oooh, this is gonna be interesting.

All the hype that was created over a month ago only to release an Alpha AI control update. I wish them success despite their slow progress.

I think I'm going to give FSHUD a try. I don't want to wait any longer for decent AI control. They are also dragging on with the release of v 2.0.

First impressions are good.  Performance doesn’t seem too bad at all.  There is a basic traffic slider and I have it halfway up.  
 

really cool interacting on the ground.  They don’t profess to have separation sorted yet but I was told to hold position for other aircraft.  They were taxiing intelligently using different arrival and departure taxiways.  There were logical aircraft at Berlin for its location and time of day.  A United 777 and some easyJet, Lufthansa and aer Lingus.  
 

I was cleared for takeoff as an incoming aircraft touched down.  
 

I do get an annoying audio issue where when I push the PTT it sort of stutters and the volume changes.  Like it’s trying to select a new audio channel or something.  I have always had this with BATC.  I use a Bluetooth headset so will try old school analog next time.  
 

things seem to be quiet high over the centers at flight level 340.  I don’t know if they only inject the traffic from your departure and arrival airports.  Berlin airport was busy.  Silence over France though.  
 

I have a descent in about half an hour so let’s see how that goes.
 

I’m a hardcore FShud user and it will take a lot for me to switch to BATC, but it’s 2024 and decent ATC is taking years and years and years.  So I’m trying to grab whatever gets released, and giving these guys a try.   

Edited September 6, 20241 yr by Langeveldt

Now if they can just fix the approach vectoring, which is terrible. Every approach is a PIA. 

Competition, a good thing.  This is like the space race.  Hopefully this will jolt FSHud to get their 2.0 release out.  

1 hour ago, Langeveldt said:

I do get an annoying audio issue where when I push the PTT it sort of stutters and the volume changes.  Like it’s trying to select a new audio channel or something.  I have always had this with BATC.  I use a Bluetooth headset so will try old school analog next time.  

Thanks for your impressions!

The headset issue has nothing to do with BATC, it's a known Bluetooth limitation and there's not enough bandwidth to stream high quality audio output and microphone input over the existing protocol. Nothing BATC can do about that unfortunately, it's a Windows Bluetooth protocol issue that's been around for ages. The solution is to plug in your headset and it no longer cuts out or changes to lower quality output while you're transmitting.

They said on their discord that it's only populating aircraft that arrive/depart at your arrival and departure airports, so there won't be much enroute traffic until they expand this.

How was the separation in the air and on approach?

Just now, Speedbird 217 said:

Thanks for your impressions!

The headset issue has nothing to do with BATC, it's a known Bluetooth limitation and there's not enough bandwidth to stream high quality audio output and microphone input over the existing protocol. Nothing BATC can do about that unfortunately, it's a Windows Bluetooth protocol issue that's been around for ages. The solution is to plug in your headset and it no longer cuts out or changes to lower quality output while you're transmitting.

They said on their discord that it's only populating aircraft that arrive/depart at your arrival and departure airports, so there won't be much enroute traffic until they expand this.

How was the separation in the air and on approach?

Yeah i've since plugged in a normal headset and don't get the problem.  I had the same thing on Hunt Showdown.  

Yep, I see, Palma airport was fairly quiet, maybe 8 aircraft waiting, Easyjets and Ryanair.  There was a Eurowings coming into land well ahead of me, and a Ryanair departed.

It was all fairly uneventful, which is nice.  I dont think it was busy enough to really know what the separation would have been like. I assume there isn't any. I had to manually control my speed. 

At about 10 miles before TOD I called ready for descent. I was descended down in stages and handed over logically.  I was given a STAR.  On passing FL 140 I was told to route ILS 06Y, MJV transition at 3,000 feet or above.  I was given a QNH.  I reported established and was then cleared to land with not a lot going on around me.  I vacated on N2 and was told to vacate on N1 afterwards.  But then they adapted, gave me an arrival gate.  The overhead map is great to see which taxiways you are on, but it lags a little.  Not frame rate wise, it is just a few seconds behind.

I would also like it if the AI traffic spoke a little faster.  On FSHud there is a setting to change this.  It takes a good few more seconds to hear a call than it would IRL. 

All in all, 9 out of 10 and very uneventful, which is clearly a good thing when it comes to ATC!  I will do a flight later tonight with the traffic density increased a bit. 

How do you become a supporter? Just buy the product for $30?

7 minutes ago, RobJC said:

How do you become a supporter? Just buy the product for $30?

Go to the account page and on the right hand side click on the dropdown menu and select experimental. You need to have upgraded first to the Supporter version of course.

Buying an additional 29.99€