Any idea on when RC version 4 will be out and will it support Ultimate Traffic AI aircraft? Thanks. Tom

Has been discussed before. RC v4 will support all AI aircraft, including Ultimate Traffic.When will it be out? Noone knows. Maybe next week, maybe by the time FS10 will hit the shelves. From what I read it is done and the manual, packaging and CD are in the works.

I think it is about 12 months since I last inquired about the timetable for RC4 so its gestation has been very long indeed - hope the wait has been worth it.Brucewtb

A small answer would be niceEven if it is "Everything have to be well prepared, wait..."

Agreed. I have been a long-time RC customer and always considered it to be the only (and obviously best) viable ATC solution, until FS2002. I held off RC3, because of the initial lack of FS2004 support and lack of AI traffic recognition. The RC development cycle seems to have gotten progressively longer and I am sure it is going to be a great product and that everyone is working very hard on it.Question is, if RC will be still relevant, when FS10 hits the shelves (which will most likely happen sometime in 2006). Who knows what MS has on its sleeve with the next release, but I am sure everyone is expecting a major update with will most likely render RC4 useless, like every other release.That said, I would like RC4 to be a successful product, but a lifespan of more than one year would be nice indeed.

According to Doug...... "FYI....were in final beta". Bob....

Intesting topic,What's it been, 2yr since we began RVc4 developement? 3yr? I don't remember. We're no more happy with that than you. I'll tell you two things... 1 - This period has been incredibly difficult in both John's and my lives. There have been personal and professinal issues that haven't helped RCv4 along, believe me. I truly hope some of the crap John's been through, he never sees again. He's a good guy, a very dear friend!2 - You'll not see any RCvX, until we're proud of it regardless of anything.As far as remaining relevant, I remind myself why we're doing this. We're doing it because we enjoy it :-) It ain't the money, we're sure not getting rich. And I never considered us as competition to MS. Who'd be so foolish? I don't even follow their progress?Though it may seem painfully slow, we're methodically building the most realistic ATC sim we can. I believe it's the best, and it'll keep getting better. I have a list of enhancements (much of that list came from this forum) that ensures major releases will be produced for some time to come.Still relevant? Who knows, but either way, we're not going anywhere ;-)

the current build of v3.1 is 2272i just sent out to the betas, build 3605that's 1333 builds in 2 years. lots of testing, and when you test ai related stuff, you need lots of testing.jd

Doug, JD: I am sure we all truly appreciate everything that you have done - truly. Most of us are unaware of the problems that you're facing in your personal lives. I am not moaning about the release and when it is going to happen. Eventually it will happen. I can just imagine how hard it is to program AI traffic into the new release. I am sure that RC4 will set a new milestone in the flightsim community. We all crave a good ATC system.Also: Yes, some of us are getting impatient, because we want to have a good ATC add-on and also want to make it monetarily worthwhile for you (at least, I do). Understandable, because you have getting our mouths wet for months (years?). But how good is an add-on when the development exceeds the actual lifespan of the product? From a pure business perspective, I am sure that a lot of people will almost immediately hold off buying new addons as soon as FS10 will be announced.FS9 support is there, agreed, in RC3, but pratically, how good is the release without AI traffic? At least, I cannot imagine flying without AI anymore and I am sure that many agree. I have been a long-time flight sim enthousiast since FS5.2, but I got just "bored" flying around alone. AI traffic (and online flying) has been a god-send for me and got me back into the hobby - more than ever.Keep up the great work!! I wish you all the best.P.S. If you need any help, you can count on me anytime. I am proficient with web-design and can build you a very professional webpage in no time, for free.

I echo the sentiment.The advent of AI aircraft is one of THE most significant developments in FS history. A credible ATC engine thatactually controls AI planes would zoom to near the top ofthat list.Given how formidable a programming task that must be, andthat the RC team is clearly dedicated to pulling it off,I am willing to wait (albeit while salivating). I've put a ton of money and time into addons to/tailoringof the FS9 in my computer. For that reason, unless thereis some SERIOUS backwards compatablity incorporated intoFS10, or unless FS10 walks on water, I will hold off on purchasing it immediately.If RC4 lives up to expectations, I'll be more than contentto stick with FS9 for quite a while.FS9 has just about everything I want in a flight sim; one ofthe very significant shortcomings it has is the lack of a truly workable ATC environment, that actually controls the AI planes, in addition to my own (it sounds as if RC4 will fit the bill). My fingers are crossed!!!!Here's to the RC team!!! :-beerchug

>>If RC4 lives up to expectations<

"unless FS10 walks on water, I will hold off onpurchasing it immediately" easy to say that now but I suspect FS10 will incorporate some revolutionary improvements that, like all its precdecessors, will make the old obsolete. Otherwise after three years why bother? Any developer that is yet to get product into the marketplace is going to become increasingly anxious to find out the extent of backwards compatibility in FS10.Bruceb

same was said for v1 (which was for fs98), v2 (which was for fs2000), v2.2 (which was an update to rcv2 for fs2002), v3 (which was for fs2002), v3.1 (which was an update to rcv3 for fs2004).time will tell.jd

I wouldn't be suprised if the new FS10 will have most of the new features of the V4. Time will tell.Stelios

everyone is entitled to their opinion. and maybe you know something about fs10 that we don't know. but, to be fair, fs2004 didn't come close to what version 3.1 did.but, what's the point of speculating? v4 will be out before fs10. v4 will take atc way past v3. if fs10 is better, cool. if it isn't, v4 will still be out there. and we'll start v5 early next year.jd