ATC Radar (similar to that in FSX)

Official Microsoft Flight Simulator Wishlist
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Wish: Please include an ATC radar like there was in FSX.

FSX had a “Radar Gauge” - In effect you could be in a Tower, and have a Radar Gauge, that displayed aircraft tracks, on a radar screen, and then you could act as ATC, for planes in Multiplayer …
Many FSX owners liked acting as ATC… it was defiantly something that added to the sim,.

A sub-set of the radar Gauge also acted as a TCAS type system, if installed in a plane.

The RADAR was effectively a Plane, with a few gauges, that was located in the stationary position of the tower, at tower control room altitude.

Technically, the radar gauge was a Dll, controller by XML, with an optional 3D rendering of the internals of a Tower, and the ability to look out the windows, at the airport.
(Initially, maybe no 3D interanl control room, just a view out of the window to view the airport and the planes located there)

Assuming Asobo has access to the original FSX source code, it should not be too difficult to re-make a radar.dll for MSFS, with the supporting XML Gauge.

MSFS would greatly benefit from an ATC Radar … please consider adding one to the sim.

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You can sign up to IVAO or Vatsim and use their controller software.

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Not really –

Youbcan Join Vatsim, train to be a controller, and control on their Network.

What you cannot do, in MSFS, that you could do in FSX, is to have a private MP session, with Friends, and have some be ATC and some Pilots.

Not everyone wants the Formality of Vatsim, or to go through the training, and that’s fair enough.

But what they would like to do, is fly with Friends in MP, and have some be ATC, and some Pilots, in a less Formal Setting.

Many, in the past doing this, have found they LIKE being ATC, and then go on to Vatsim and trained there.

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You cannot use Vatsim’s RADAR on your own MP session…

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Does Vatsim not have an “observer” mode?

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Yes, so you can OBSERVE, but obviously not Control !!!

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No you can’t but OP was in my opinion mostly talking about using the radar as some type of TCAS but maybe I’ve just read it wrongly.

Btw, I gotta check if there’s already an “tower view” plugin for MSFS.

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OP was mainly talking about a RADAR, that could also be used as a Non-real life Radar gauge in a plane.

Well, maybe it would be a Full radar gauge in a E-2C !!!

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I absolutely agree…Not having ATC radar Kills Multiplayer for me!

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Indeed…or failing that, a third party developer takes it on, which I imagine, given time…will happen. Fingers X’d

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I can’t be the only person who thinks that the option to play as a tower controller in FSX was a pivotal part of the experience. It gave the general community a common goal, allowed people to work on their tower coms, allowed people to cooperate in a multiplayer fashion and in all generally make a realistic flight simulator experience.

I am literally begging the developers to make this option a priority. Honestly I am a pilot in real life and practicing as tower in FSX was undoubtedly one of the things that lead me to be comfortable with my coms.

If you’re looking to improve the flight sim experience to an unbelievable degree then I promise this is a route that should be made a priority.

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What about Vatsim. Doesn’t that exactly provide what you are after?

I appreciate the quite professional controller there and it helped me to brush up fluidity of my rusty IFR phraseology.

What I mean is that Vatsim provides some quality standards to its controllers which MSFS would likely not.

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I absolutely agree 100%, loved that feature in FSX , wish we had it in msfs and yes I know vatsim is good but you need to go through processes to become an ATC in vatsim

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My understanding is that doesn’t work on Xbox? :grinning:

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I don’t know, but I assume so. The OP question didn’t mention XBox specifically or did I overlook it?

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… need to go through processes to become an ATC in vatsim…

And for good reason. How else would you expect the average uninitiated player learns about being an ATC, especially when everyone can log in as ATC as you suggest?

Sorry, personally I pass on that feature… it’s going to be pure chaos and something I would not spent my time on. But again, it is optional and if some others enjoy it. So be it.

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No, you didn’t overlook it. Nor did the OP mention ‘PC players’ specifically, so i was kind of assuming ‘all players’. A ‘PC-centric’ solution is only a partial solution. (The OP was talking about the ‘general community’ and pointing at the developers.)

‘Live’ ATC sounds fun. Being available to all players would be a nice bonus. :grinning:

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Fair enough.

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Or play as instructor. An old FS, i dont remember which one, had an instructor mode, it was great !

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they add this and suddenly we’ll get forum posts about inexperienced people playing as ATC and ruining the experience. Or take to the forums to say how terrible the in-house ATC is compared to Vatsim and others

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