Anyone bought this product yet? Are your experiences with it good?
Mediocre. I try to not say too much because, i guess it wasnt was i was expecting.
Unfortunately, info is very rare, the Promotional video is not providing any info about what it is and how it works. Theres not a single screenshot or video on the website to give users an idea about how it looks and how it sounds and what it is.
So, if you are not an FS2CREW user of older versions, i would suggest you to wait for a trustful review or tutorial. Its a lot of money for what it is IMHO.
But out of respect to the developer and with keeping the fact in mind that it might just not be what i expected, i will not make a review. My experience might not be similar to the long-time FS2CREW customers who are already familiar with it and knew what to expect and what not.
Please share your opinions. I, a person who has never used their product before, would enjoy the perspective from a person in the same boat as me.
An honest review or opinion is nothing to be ashamed of.
Jsut head over to the FS2CREW Forum and make your self familiar with all the steps you need to do to get it working properly⊠and prepare some time to get all set up with windows speech recognition, mic levels, etc. It is not a âInstall and enjoyâ program. Atleast, it wasnt for me.
First evening ended pretty frustrated, second day i tried to understand and learn it but it also ended in frustration.
Install was buggy, it did not start as exceptec, had tomanually edit filex. Uninstallation was buggy, it left files in the community-folder causing my sim to lock up und restart and i had to delete the files manually.
There is NO Manual, no Quick guide, no tutorial, nothing⊠prepare yourself, as a new user, to invest some time to figure out everything by your own, never sure if you are doing it right or not.
I had to figure out bit by bit by jumping back on the forum, ask a question, getting a solution from the dev, back to the sim, another question, back to the forum, getting an answer, etcâŠ
I ended up with two wasted evenings, still not 100% sure how i should using it properly as there are no checklists included. Its just the copilot telling you things according to the real checklists, but then there are parts where you end up setting stuff up in the plane manually without any guidance or checklist.
This is not really a problem, as i know how to operate an A320. But i tought this will include checklist and a complete flown with the CoPilot guiding me trough the flows. It was not 100% that. But that was probaly my wrong expectations. However, i felt lost at some points, not sure if i missed a trigger or not for the next flow/checklist or if that is how its supposed to be. According to the dev, this is the realistic way, and i believe him that, but for me i was never sure if im really at the point where the program is expecting me to.
Also, i fly on VATSIM and on big events that can end up a bit âstressfullâ with last minute approach changes, communicating, aviating the plane trough a buzy airspace online. I tought, this program will take some workload off from me, but i felt not confident to use it in such an environment. I felt, it is not an assist for me, but something getting in my way, just a thing more i have to have an eye on and trying to get the CoPilot to do work for me, instead of me for himâŠ
So yeah, two wasted evenings that ended with an uninstall and refund request.
But i want to be crystal clear:
- I was not sure what to expect, as there is basicall 0, NONE, NADA information about the product before you buy, so my expectations were just not met, but i could only find out by buying into it
- The installation issues seems to be fixed meanwhile, so nothing to worry there
- Bryan (the dev) was always helpful in the forum and fast in answering questions
- IF everything is setup with speech recognition in windows, the program basically works flawless
The biggest issue for me:
- is the amount of time you need to invest to get it running, as it relies heavily on Windows speech recognition and according windows settings.
- no manual, no quickguide, no tutorial: you end up finding out things by trial and error and due to the lack of a manual, you never really know if you are doing it right.
- no Flows/checklists included, the program just assumes that you are a trained A320 Captain that already knows the correct flows as used in the real plane
(yes, there is the assist panel to help you, but it is not complete)
I aggree to that it is lacking documentation. I startet using button method first, so I dont have to use speak recognition and i am absolutely amazed by this addon. It has so much potential and is increasing the immersion sooooo much.
If you speak german you could watch my two videos with a full flight with this addon. but even if you dont speak german, just watch the takeoff in the second part (Video 2). The FO announces 100 knots, rotate, positive climb, then you press one button and comand gear up. FO retracts gear nad makes his flow (disables spoilers and so on). This is juts an example. I will never fly again, without this addon. But everyone has to decide for himself, if this addon is worth the money for him.
Kind Regards
JayDee
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Hey JayDee!
Oh yeah, such tutorials or just videos of the program should have been released earlyer, at best from the devs itself. I told bryan that he would be better off to get a youtuber doing a fullflight video for a free copy.
Usually, AddOn developers just do that before release to create some hype.
He recommended me to start with button control, as it is more âguidedâ and less confusing, just pressing a button and the copilot will do the stuff. Yeah, maybe, but thats not immersive and ârealisticâ and was not why i bought the product. The Voice command was what i was into it.
However, i will see how the program evolves during updoming updates and watch some reviews and tutorials as they appear, and MAYBE i will get it again in a later state when everything looks more âfinishedâ and user friendly. 
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I will eventually also go via Voice Command. But I guess that button controll is a very important option for a lot of people.
Kind Regards
JayDee
It is deffo good to have both options. But yeah, for me, button control is not what i want to use. But yeah, irs WAY easyer to set up and more streamlined than voice option.
Can this version flip switches for you? Like turning on the apu after landing?
Yes, it does.
I revise my review. After getting everything working as intended and the developer released a tutorisl, it now works flawlessly and i absolutely love it! It adds so much to the immersion and helps to operate the plane realistically. The CoPilot can be a big help to reduce workflow.
Idk why i had such a hard time in the beginning, but now all makes sense and i dont wanna fly without it anymore.
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Anyone heard of any future VR support? Or if anyone has a way to overlay the FS2Crew app in the vr image? Read a bit about ovrtoolkit but I believe that only works when steamvr is the current openxr runtime and that isnât really a good option.
At the moment I am still learning and its a pain to either go without vr or lift the headset up and alt tab all the time.
I did the learning for VR by reactivating my TrackIR equipment for a while. Now I know the flows, the checklists and what I can answer to each item I went back to VR only and it works quite well.
I think this might be what do too, learn in 2d before switching back to vr.