One thing I miss about using MSFS vs. FSX is the community aspect. Although everyone has easy access to see other players in the world, there is no way to communicate in game and no central location for groups to make themselves known/attract new members. The only way to find like-minded people is to search across forums and random discord servers, which most players won’t do.
FSX Steam Edition had a very nice lobby where any user could host a server themselves, along with a title and short description. Any players joining multiplayer could browse the list of servers and find one specializing in their interests - live ATC, GA hops, formation, military, whatever. The server description usually had some rules and info on how to chat with the other players on discord or teamspeak. It was also possible to create private servers for times when you didn’t want random players joining in.
This system worked really well and I made a lot of friends by joining servers and eventually helping to run one. Conversely, I have gotten MANY comments on my formation screenshots from people saying that they wish they had friends to fly with. I would like to push for a similar system to be implemented in MSFS so that we can all have a better community.
Rather than actually hosting a session, which probably isn’t possible given the centralized game servers, my idea is to build on the existing ‘groups’ feature to create ‘super groups’ that act like the community servers in FSX. Here are some specific suggestions I have:
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Allow users to create persistent ‘super groups’ which remain active even if the creator isn’t online
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Create a lobby-type page within the game interface so that players can browse through them and join. Super groups should have titles, descriptions, and possibly categories which players can use to filter the list
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Super groups should have the option to be passworded or otherwise restricted in case they want to host private events
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Grant these super groups very high (50+) or unlimited player limits
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Once a player joins a super group, they see only the players in that group. This is critical for events like airshows where you don’t want to see random people flying in the same area
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Allow the super group to set the time and weather for all members
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Create an assignable admin role within the group that can remove players, change settings, etc.
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Possibly create a text chat system within the group
Excellent idea. You just forgot “Make radio comms work” otherwise, you have got full marks there. Seems like a lot of people don’t really conceptualise the idea of multiplayer very well, but once tried,they love it. Bit of a hobby horse for me, I admit, but I will always champion this one.
2 Likes
Maybe guilds in FS could come in the form of airline companies & instead of guild tabard we’d get to design/pick a guild livery.The guild members flying under the company livery would generate an income for the community company & with growing reputation perks unlock for guildmember & hidden challenges that could get the community company bonus points
Or maybe when the guild growns to a certain size they could occupy a control tower at an airport for x time , like having a guild hall… maybe should be instanced ,or optional generic tower or allow guild controlled ones in your game experience.As the community company grows & does a good job regulating the airport,they would be able to gain control of larger airports eventually,claim them as their guildhall.
just few ideas that might enhance that sense of community ingame.
4 Likes
I love this idea and one that I think was a missed opportunity.
Having the ability to host a Community or Private server is huge. In theory it could resolve the disappearing aircraft bug and also give controls to content creators and community owners/mods to better control their group flights and events.
Now, I know it sounds fairly straight forward but I am sure this would require a ton of work.
It would be interesting to get some feedback from MS and Asobo on what they think
10 Likes
Agreed, this truly is a necessary feature especially for many of the BIGGEST groups that exist in the Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise many of which date back to FS2004, FS9, and FSX such as EasternHops.
Private groups or servers with large sizes would be great for both these private events & virtual airshows alike.
6 Likes
Great idea and one which I think would be highly used.
Oddly, this is happening now. If you check out UK317 you will see that they have created a hub using JoinFS for the multiplayer side of things along with Teamspeak for voice communications where there are some pretty impressive innovations for Comms. Wednesday nights around 1930GMT would be a good time to drop in and see what is happening. Might see you there this week, or more likely next, if I can get my new PC configured in time.
JoinFS has existed for a long time, the problem is that it uses AI substitute workarounds which simply do not support high fidelity formation and aerobatics. I recently tried MSFS again after many months away and it is still just dreadful for multiplayer experience for our group. My friends and I are reinstalling FSX because we miss being able to fly together and hold our airshows.
2 Likes
Back in the FSX days I collaborated with a group to create a different type of flight sim experience.
We made a modest attempt to create a fictitious flying carrier. We called it the Thorium Carrier. It’s still available here. It was big enough to do touch and go’s in a 747.It fly on predetermined autopilot- controlled flight plans the circled the globe. It was fun to create a flight plan that would fly through valleys, around and sometimes over mountains. We kept it low and slow for the benefit of the players flying C-172’s. This carrier ran as its own player because in FSX you could have a dedicated server and you could also join the multiplayer session at a player’s location.
The idea was that when you joined you would always join at a different location. You could also park your plane on this monster and leave it there until your friends joined and proceed on your mission.
Note: We never cracked the problem on FSX not liking a runway that moved at 40 knots
In an attempt to take it a step further, we created a website to allow the following.
- Display a map that tracked the current location and displayed in in real-time on a map. This enticed players to visit the site and maintain interest. This was before smartphone web access so an app for this was not pursued.
- Showed the current flight plan being flown. I found myself occasionally checking the website to see where the carrier was during the day.
- There was the ability to allow users to upload their suggested flight plans and credit them on the website. This allowed a greater ability for player to be involved. Eventually we were going to have a “Vote for your favorite flight plan” contest and award a prize.
- Players could download suggested aircraft from the site. This helped everyone see the other players actual aircraft. Who wants to be seen flying an ultralight while they are flying a 747?
- We ran a Teamspeak server allowing all to communicate. There was always some to talk to help new players get acquainted with the aspects of FSX. Different Teamspeak channels allowed an organized approach to this.
- Joining as an “Observer” to the server aircraft someone could act as ATC. This one had its issues but with further thought it probably could have been interesting.
- Players could download all the flight plans we used. This allowed for players to follow or intercept the carrier. We found players starting at different airports and racing to the carrier.
Finally, players could download the carrier and put it on the current and fly carrier formation. Seeing three or four of these leviathans lumbering at forty knots through some far off valley was kind a cool.
One final thought. I dabbled in creating a mission. Although the one I created was not related to the carrier I thought it might be interesting to create a few that required intercepting the carrier. Again, I never pursued it.
THEN CAME WINDOWS 10. I could never get FSX to run on it. Also, life caused me to switch priorities. Its all shut down now.