I used fs95/98 an insane amount when I was a kid, and then I hit puberty and just became uninterested. Fast forward 25 years and I was curious if there was anything new, and sure enough fs2020 had come out, and it looked freaking amazing when comparing it to the last version I played. Now I'm on fs24, and it seems the wrinkles are being ironed out -- I've got pmdg 777, and think it's fantastic. I just purchased scenery for egll, and I'm amazed at how awesome the game overall is, its pretty close to feeling real.

 

Some things that really bug me though, is the default traffic, how they'll just completely get in your way and I just end up ignoring them and driving through them. Another is the ground crews, same thing, some guy will just walk across the apron, or there'll be a car on the runway or something. The last thing, and I think if this worked, then the AI traffic would also work because they could tell you where to hold short, enter runway, etc, is the ATC is pretty freakin brutal. I pretty much don't use it, it's just way too unrealistic for me.

 

I've disabled most things like ai traffic and ground crew, but that makes the game feel a little dead 

 

Just wondering if there's some programs that address these problems, and if there's some products that everyone uses just because they're essential and improve the game a lot? I don't really want to throw money at things that aren't worth it -- I'm a little out of the loop.

 

I also think I'll get set back up on vatsim and maybe that will help liven the place up.

GSX Pro if you want ground services. FShud is good for ATC, some prefer Beyond ATC or Say Intentions.. all very differnet pricing models, look up YouTube for more.

FSltl is free and injects traffic. Or you can try JustFlight FSTraffic (paid). AIG Traffic is also an option. 

1 hour ago, kemilss said:

I used fs95/98 an insane amount when I was a kid, and then I hit puberty and just became uninterested. Fast forward 25 years and I was curious if there was anything new, and sure enough fs2020 had come out, and it looked freaking amazing when comparing it to the last version I played. Now I'm on fs24, and it seems the wrinkles are being ironed out -- I've got pmdg 777, and think it's fantastic. I just purchased scenery for egll, and I'm amazed at how awesome the game overall is, its pretty close to feeling real.

 

Some things that really bug me though, is the default traffic, how they'll just completely get in your way and I just end up ignoring them and driving through them. Another is the ground crews, same thing, some guy will just walk across the apron, or there'll be a car on the runway or something. The last thing, and I think if this worked, then the AI traffic would also work because they could tell you where to hold short, enter runway, etc, is the ATC is pretty freakin brutal. I pretty much don't use it, it's just way too unrealistic for me.

 

I've disabled most things like ai traffic and ground crew, but that makes the game feel a little dead 

 

Just wondering if there's some programs that address these problems, and if there's some products that everyone uses just because they're essential and improve the game a lot? I don't really want to throw money at things that aren't worth it -- I'm a little out of the loop.

 

I also think I'll get set back up on vatsim and maybe that will help liven the place up.

Mainly I suggest  AddonsLinker (free) to manage addons 🙂

On 10/11/2025 at 4:11 AM, kemilss said:

I also think I'll get set back up on vatsim and maybe that will help liven the place up.

Welcome back Kemilss.   BATC is an inexpensive ATC program that offers its own traffic injection and management and does a fair job overall.  You can set traffic density and it will take care of the rest.  It excels in the quality of the voicings and you can interact with it with your own voice or have it essentially manage itself in terms of changing frequencies etc so no need to use a mic if no desire to.  You will need airline livery models and for that I can heartily recommend FSLTL which is free though w/ BATC you can use a few other sources.  And if you'd rather not do ATC at all, just use FSLTL for AI traffic.

GSX Pro is a commonly used addon which I used for years then decided it was a net loser due to persistent issues with it.  I plan to retry again soon as I do miss some of its actions.

Since you're enjoying the PMDG 777 I can strongly recommend the Fenix A320 which I favor  over the 777.  And since you're doing airliners I can heartily recommend Self Loading Cargo, which does a few big things to enhance your experience as an airline pilot:

• Provides ambience and if set up well, per airlines in terms of crew management and crew communications w/ you the pilot in command.
• Scores your flights according to a big set of criteria looking at both flight management AND crew management.  This really helps keep my head in the game and as you know flight sims come without real meaningful consequences, and the scoring piece helps with this aspect.  See screenshot below...

See the attached screenshot of its various windows I have setup on a 2nd display.  Note the popup where I am letting crew know we will be descending in 20 minutes and will also let PAX know.  The plane I am in is the Asobo/Working Title 787X and its one of 3 default planes I use regularly.  I also can recommend Aerosoft's CRJ V2 series in MSFS 2024.  I-Fly's 737 Max 8 is decent, but not as good IMO as PMDG's in 2020, nor Fenix's A320 which I fly using a Boeing Pendulum Yoke, not a stick as is the case in the RW A320.

Here is a small sample of all the aspects you're scored on:

 

 

Awesome, thanks everyone. I decided to try fshud. I imagine it's pretty similar to batc. It really improved the busy airport feel and eliminated the random encounters with air traffic. However, I did 2 flights and it absolutely botched the vectors to final, which was pretty disappointing.