Apologies that this doesn’t contain specific bugs as such, but more of a general request to review ATC.
I find that ATC is a really important part of flight sim for me. Some people aren’t too fussed, but for me it’s a major contributor to flight sim immersion, which is what I want from MSFS.
So, for example, the ability to provide regional accents, the ability to set the voice I want for my pilot, better pronunciations on things, more realistic ATC processes/procedures for VFR and IFR, regional differences, ability to request IFR deviations for weather, declaring an emergency, being contacted when entering airspaces without clearance… and so on.
There’s lots of missing SIMULATION in the ATC at the moment, which I think would improve the flight simulation immersion and experience tenfold.
I’m wondering if I’m the only one who is missing this stuff and finds it important? Are there plans to review ATC for future updates? I kindly request a review when that becomes possible.
Loving what we have so far though. Having lots of fun. Cheers.
p.s. I’ve considerd using a 3rd party add-on but I’d much, much, much prefer to have this stuff improved in MSFS and not have to install additional apps. I’m trying to keep things simple by resisting installing lots of additional stuff.
Just my 2c in this, ever since I’ve begun flying with Pilot2ATC or even in VATSIM I’ve forgotten all about ingame ATC and I don’t even consider it anymore, it simply isn’t worth the hassle due to its many limitations and issues. I don’t feel there’s been significant progress since FSX 15 years ago, I’d expect to see huge innovation given that Azure can be used as backend to support ATC functionality but innovation isn’t there yet. Hopefully something can be done about it in the future.
Another plus with using Pilot2TAC (or similar addons) or VATSIM is that it forces you to actually LEARN about listening and replying to ATC calls, which makes a HUGE difference in simulation and immersion. With ingame text ATC and its limited numbered options, I never felt I was actually learning something. In 5 flights with Pilot2ATC I probably learned more about controller calls than I had learned in my last 15 years with ingame text ATC, simply because it got me to sit down and write all calls and procedures and phraseology etc.
If you compare ingame ATC with e.g. VATSIM Boston center on any given night, the difference is that between a random flight arcade game and a B737 sim used by pros.
Thanks @Zeppos Despite my resistance to have to do it, you make a very good case for getting Pilot2ATC. I often fly at night when the house is quiet, so I wouldn’t use VATSIM - I don’t want to wake up my family with my ATC chattering
I still think there are lots of improvements that should be made to the ATC in MSFS
Yes unfortunately this is a big issue and I have it too, given that 99% of my flights are at around or after midnight. I often end up mumbling to Pilot2ATC hoping it’ll understand what I’m saying. Or I just find a quiet VATSIM area with no ATC and fly there happily and quietly
Fly from waypoints TOGMI to BODRI (my neofly night mission) and get passed between the two control areas for 10 minutes. I made a video of it if you really wanna know. THANK YOU FOR FIXING THEM SPELLING OUT AIRPORT NAMES!
For some reason I doubt the typical Xbox user will understand the difference between good ATC, current ATC and no ATC at all. The target audience is simply wrong for this type of “game”.
ps: don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a console owner for the past few decades.
