I'm still using 2020, but I am thinking about finally moving over to 2024.  Before I did I had a couple of questions:

1. In Career Mode, can you use third party ATC programs (like P2ATC, Beyond ATC, etc.) with it to complete missions?  Or is it limited to only using the default ATC?

2. I understand that passengers are visible in Career Mode.  But are passengers also visible in Free Flight?  I realize some 2024 airplane addons include visible passengers, but does 2024 allow them to be shown in the default planes and 3rd party planes that don't include visible passengers by default?  

Thanks.

1. I never use the career mode, but from what I read you cannot use all planes in it. Some 3rd party developers have readied their models for career mode, some did not.

2. Again, a mixed answer. Some 3rd party planes show pax, others do not. For instance, Blacksquare generally do not support passengers, but for some models, users have published a mod on Flightsim.to that make passengers visible. I tried to do that myself for the Starship, but it was impossible since boarding passengers also messes with the airplane weight: it always tilted backwards until the tail hit the ground.

From what I heard, the passenger system is fairly limited in adaptability and still quite buggy. I conjecture that many 3rd-party developers stay away from this until Microsoft/Asobo have created a more reliable version of it.

Hey qqwertz, thanks for responding.  Appreciate it.  But you didn't really answer my questions.  I know that some planes cannot be used in career mode.  And I know that some 3rd party planes show pax and some don't.  Specifically, what I am trying to find out is 1) are you forced to use the default ATC in career mode? and 2) can you show passengers in 2024 planes even if the developer didn't include that option by default? 

Thanks.

59 minutes ago, TexasGary said:

Hey qqwertz, thanks for responding.  Appreciate it.  But you didn't really answer my questions.  I know that some planes cannot be used in career mode.  And I know that some 3rd party planes show pax and some don't.  Specifically, what I am trying to find out is 1) are you forced to use the default ATC in career mode? and 2) can you show passengers in 2024 planes even if the developer didn't include that option by default? 

Thanks.

1) I don't know. I got MSFS 2024 early on because I was really interested in the career mode, but initially it was a really poor experience. However, I tried it long enough to understand that it (still) is similar to Neofly in the sense that you have to work your way through various stages before you can fly larger planes. That's not for me, I want to fly all my favourite planes right away.

2) No. To show passengers, developers must include a file navigation_graph.cfg (for details see https://docs.flightsimulator.com/msfs2024/html/5_Content_Configuration/CFG_Files/navigation_graph.htm ) in their model. It appears that, since that file can have an adverse effect on other aspects of the airplane, not many developers chose to do that right now.

I am pretty certain that you cannot use third party ATC in career. 

I only do small aircraft career missions but on those passengers show in the default aircraft when doing sightseeing missions for example.

Career mode is very limited and there are a lot of complaints about it. However, whether you find it of any value depends on what you are looking for. If you have a very fixed idea of what you want it to be then you are likely to be disappointed.

Here is an example of someone flying a 3rd party aircraft on a cargo mission and going beyond the basic format to make it a more interesting experience. 

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/pseudo-bush-trips-with-career-or-how-to-stop-worrying-and-love-flying-cargo-missions/756579

Thanks bailout and qqwertz.  I guess to know for sure I will just have to load up 2024 and see how it goes.

Look for career mode improvements as all current bugs get fixed.

dd

Re: Career mode. I don't use any 3rd party ATC, but career mode is heavily scripted into the build-in ATC, so I would be surprised if a 3rd party solution would work. For instance, you get penalties for runway incursions if you don't ask for clearance first, mission tasks for altitude changes, and there are scripted passenger-related events (announcing ready for departure, announcing cruise/descent for landing, etc) that all use the default ATC interface and affect your final mission score. And similar to the default ATC, this is all great when it works and ranges from annoying to mission-breaking when it bugs out. Expect to regularly have your IFR terminated above the clouds in the smaller transport missions because ATC can't vector you to smaller airports that don't have ILS.

If you are planning to mess with the career mode, plan for a lot of patience and annoyances that are balanced by flying to airports you've never heard of and maybe learning some new things about the more niche careers in aviation (crop dusting, banner flying, skydiving, etc).

Thanks Funky.  When I go to 2024 I think I will stick with FS Economy until they fix the bugs.

1. No. Only default ATC. Doesn't matter much really. I use BATC and FSHUD in free flight, and I dont' really miss it in Career Mode. 

2. Yes, but it needs to be enabled via the EFB or something. It's somewhat non-obvious what triggers it. Not sure what planes it works with, sorry. I have used GSX for passengers.. 

@TexasGary

Hi:

I’ve attempted to display visible pax in many default airliners e.g., the pretty good iniBuilds ones such as the A321, A310, A330 etc., but finally had to give up, because I never could get such result. 

I’m aware from on-line queries, that some default a/c may be able to support this, but it has never worked for me. 

I’ve tried Gate start, loading pax via the a/c EFB, talking to the default ATC (via the MSFS EFB), but never had any luck…

Edited March 7Mar 7 by P_7878

If career mode is the only reason to update you will ne very disappointed.

I too was excited when I first read about it, but it is a complete mess

A major missed opportunity by Asboro.