11 hours ago, BWBriscoe said:

There are a lot of MS products in 'early access' or beta but they don't charge.

can you list them please

I used BATC for the first time in about a year last night, and was impressed. It reassigned my arrival /approach into Heathrow. 

Apropos not a lot, don't forget that BATC was originally going to use a monthly subscription payment model. 

Apropos even less: I have BATC, SI, and PATC 2 and PATC 3. I'll have to buy FSHud 😀

12 hours ago, BWBriscoe said:

How long does 'early access' give them before we start thinking it should be fixed by now.

Unless there's a published roadmap with timelines given, then this is the very basis of how Early Access operates. You can't setup some internal timeline in your head and get upset that BATC hasn't fulfilled it, you signed up to EA knowing full well this is a development process.

Some of the most iconic games like rimworld and project zomboid were in early access for near a decade. If you don't want to be a part of that experience you're free to wait for a 1.0 release. 

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6554-ED29-FBDB-1612

I am not defending Early Access, it is simply a purchase model offered by developers, the best way for you to showcase you're not happy with the model, is by not engaging with it.

On 4/14/2026 at 1:07 PM, 11bee said:

You can't hide behind the "early access" shield forever. 

Tell that to Chris Roberts and his Star Citizen development. 😉

 

I can only re-iterate what other's have said now a couple of dozen times: You don't like the concept of Early Access Software and that there is no time line for a full and stable release? Then don't buy a product that is in Early Access. (Which is what I did in the case of the aforementioned Star Citizen, and the never-ending development seems to vindicate me in that regard).

I personally think for a early access product BATC is not too shabby and I have seen the progress during all this time. Is it as fast as I would like, or does the development emphasis seem to aling with my expectations? No. But that's just the nature of the beast.

13 hours ago, BWBriscoe said:

I think the 'early access' excuse would be acceptable if I hadn't paid for it...

What? You seem to have pretty warped conception of how early access works. It's basically a way to generate income for developement and in return giving customers the oportunity to be part of the development process through feedback. It's payed Alpha Testing.

8 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

What happens irl?  Green Bay Approach says something to the tune of "N1718A report IFR cancellation this frequency, or with Minneapolis Flight Data (insert phone number), change to advisory frequency approved." 

Hmm.. I seem to remember BATC being able to do this in the past. About a year ago I did some flying on the Milk Run in Alaska and there are of course lots of uncontrolled airfields on that route. If memory serves me correctly what you describe is exactly what happened.

 

Edited April 15Apr 15 by Farlis

No personal issues with Early Access, Its you're money and you can choose what to do with it, what projects to support etc. I find that, in the cases where I've played an early access game, I'll exhaust the charm or draw before the 1.0 version comes out, and seldom go back to experience the 'complete' package. I try to avoid early access for games that looks promising, for this reason - I'd rather experience them at 100% than when they are still undercooked.

BATC should do a demo or trial version IMO. That's the best way to show people what state your product is in

22 minutes ago, Kristofski said:

No personal issues with Early Access, Its you're money and you can choose what to do with it, what projects to support etc. I find that, in the cases where I've played an early access game, I'll exhaust the charm or draw before the 1.0 version comes out, and seldom go back to experience the 'complete' package. I try to avoid early access for games that looks promising, for this reason - I'd rather experience them at 100% than when they are still undercooked.

BATC should do a demo or trial version IMO. That's the best way to show people what state your product is in

A trial version for a software in Early Access? Early Access IS the trial.

9 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

Approach:  So eventually approach stops keeping secrets and tells me to expect the RNAV 20 into KSUE.  Perfect.  What comes next surprises me though.  They eventually give me an approach clearance via vectors to final approach course.  That's not what happens irl at sleepy uncontrolled airports - ESPECIALLY for an RNAV approach.  Literally they will send you to the nearest IAF, and as long as the angle from your current track to the next track on the IAP is 90 degrees or less, they will clear you from that IAF.   See green arrows in my pics for typical IAF's that pilots would be issued.   They turned me late and I went through final (again not a big deal -and yes it does sometimes happen irl) - I'm impressed BATC has gotten this far because usually I'm either cruising the waves of Green Bay at like 500 ft agl or stuck on that 080 heading and ATC forgot about me.

 

Yes, this is a common thing.  Why not just vector us to the IAF for an RNAV approach?  BATC seems to prefer to vector you in, often tight and close.  When in doubt, clear me to the IAF from my last waypoint and chances are that will make a lot more sense and avoid a lot of the issues we see.  Give us time to descend and time to get lined up, rather than coming in tight.  Not sure if the program is trying to get us in faster or what.  Most of these airports have little to no traffic.  I'm only running 5/10 traffic so smaller airports are pretty empty.  

I don't know if I've ever seen it use an IAF.  I usually just fly it anyway and BATC doesn't seem to mind.  

Just providing feedback.  That's a big part of early access.  Not sure where people get this idea that early access means "zero feedback".  Early access by definition means us being part of the development process with feedback.  That's the whole point of early access.  

Edited April 15Apr 15 by kerosene31

7 minutes ago, Farlis said:

A trial version for a software in Early Access? Early Access IS the trial.

Trial/Demos are usually free. As far as I'm aware, correct me if I'm wrong, there is no way to try BATC without paying the full EA price. SI has a 24hour trial, P2ATC has a 10-day free trial. FSHud also does not have any demo or trial I'm aware of

Also - BATC has an Experimental Branch, locked behind another payment tier as well

Edited April 15Apr 15 by Kristofski

Apples and Oranges. 

None of the other products are early access.

1 hour ago, kerosene31 said:

Just providing feedback.  That's a big part of early access. 

Have you done that on the BATC Discord? Because that is the place to do it.

since the latest ifr update i get often cleared for takeoff airplanes right before i land, then i receive the go around call. Happend now in 3 out of 5 flights. very annoying

BATC gets an A+ rating for its GUI, for the audio portion of the show, can't be beat.  But in terms of vectoring for IFR even?  Often, just flat out LAME.  It happened again yesterday I'm  flying the downwind leg, BATC had told me to descend to 4,000 feet (AGL, as it turned out in this example), and 4 downwind miles past the runway it tells me to turn right 90 to intercept a localizer.  Default ATC has this element FAR BETTER than this now mature ATC product.  So for me BATC is just ambience, pleasant noise, which is another reason why I don't even use its traffic injection as once again way to often it will send ground traffic into my path and not tell either of us to hold!  It's like the developer is just completely clueless as to the BASICS of ATC.  

Edited April 15Apr 15 by Noel

The interface of Beyond ATC is nicer than that of FSHud, so are the voices. 

During the descent and approach phase, BATC usually collapses like a bad Soufflé.

I use it for a bit of aural immersion during start-up, taxi, takeoff, and cruise - the remainder of the flight I handle myself using charts. 

2 hours ago, Bam2000 said:

since the latest ifr update i get often cleared for takeoff airplanes right before i land, then i receive the go around call. Happend now in 3 out of 5 flights. very annoying

I get that a lot too.  They are told to hold short, then I'm 30 seconds from landing and they get cleared to go right in front of me.  Always right around the same spot.  Then the go around involves the vectoring logic again which is a roll of the dice.  (although it does seem better since the last patch).  

Aaand just as I had that decent flight last night I'm doing a similar one in a slower plane I can't talk about.

It's trying to give me a visual approach to the shortest runway in IFR conditions...  So close yet so far!

This would be a simple If Then Else If code.  It shouldn't be offering a visual approach in ifr conditions (unless no IAP is published)!