If you have Little Navmap, you can lookup the AI ship traffic there. Ships from the GAIST packages have names starting with “AI_”.
I tried GAIST (7.1) last week, in FS2020, but was disappointed by the number of vessels, and how they moved (backwards or sideways, in some cases). This wasn’t some backwater marina — this was Honolulu/Pearl Harbour in the middle of the day.
Does it work any better in FS2024, or is there good reason Seafront’s packs aren’t freeware?
2024’s ship AI is pretty borked too. Alas, that’s on Asobo to fix. GAIST has tweaked as much as they can to try to work around the limitations, but the basic ship behavior/placement is a core simulation issue.
Not sure I understand the question. Because they are a company and sell things? Is there a good reason real Cessna 172s aren’t free? 
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I understand the core of their question to be “If GAIST is free and Seafront isn’t, is there value to Seafront that isn’t found in GAIST?”
That is a much more understandable phrasing.
I only have the Hawaii Seafront ships, so I can’t compare the worldwide behavior.
I used it in FS2020. I have almost all Seafront’s packages, including Global Shipping. I’ve never seen ships moving backwards or sideways, till I installed GAIST. Worst I’ve seen Seafront’s vessels do is spin in circles, and I’ve only witnessed that once or twice in three years.
When I asked if there’s good reason Seafront’s packs cost money, I was basically suggesting that paid add-ons generally net you superior functionality and refinement. Some freeware is excellent but the old “what do you expect for free?” question is always applicable when and where functionality isn’t perfect.
Normally the ships going backwards are default ships! THey are known to do that since the launch of MSFS 2020 and even in 2024 it continues. I have never seen a GAIST ship going backwards apart from backing out from a dock or anchor place before turning around. Nor did I ever see a GAIST ship sail sideways - sounds a bit strange to me. Are you sure you are not looking at default ships? For me the premium value in GAIST is that it has way more variety in ship types all over the world and more is added with every update.
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I installed the package correctly and the ships were branded (which the default aren’t), so it was definitely working in some capacity. The ships going backwards/sideways were tankers so could have been default, but the emptiness of the ocean compared to Seafront’s packs was perhaps most concerning. Honolulu/Pearl Harbour should be buzzing with activity in the middle of the day yet I saw at most three vessels moving.
At one time the oceans were filled with GAIST ships. I have no idea what happened but I’m not seeing that anymore in either 2020 or 2024. BTW I am enrolled in both 2020 and 2024 betas.
I test in the Singapore Strait flying out of WSSS.
These are GAIST ships I am seeing in the Singapore Strait immediately after starting a flight. I have noticed the time of day can affect the density of ships and sometimes if I restart the flight I will see more ships.
It’s possible Henrik and other developers are waiting until the betas go final before updating.
I don’t use Seafront Simulations so I can’t comment on that.
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Waiting for 2024 beta releases shouldn’t affect FS2020, though? I’ve not even tried GAIST in 2024.
GAIST uses the same files for both 2020 and 2024. I am speculating he is waiting for SU3 to go final before doing any updates.
BTW did you read through the release notes posted on Flightsim.to?
Yep, read through everything. Didn’t come across anything that said this is a beta build or that I should expect far fewer ships.
The point I am trying to make is I think the Asobo beta builds are causing issues. GAIST is free and at one time the density of ships was very good.
You are free to delete GAIST and continue to use Seafront Simulations since you seem to be happy with it. 
I am going to remain patient and wait for the GAIST issues to be resolved.
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I get your point but I just don’t see how FS2020 could be affected by 2024’s beta builds. I’ve not tested GAIST in 2024.
I think you compare a specific addon for Honolulu with a generic global addon which provides some traffic all over but eg does not have static ships placed like the Hawaii from Seafront. There are no static objects in neither GAIST nor in Seafront’s global traffic to my knowledge.
I decided to go and have a look - This is what I found around Honolulu with GAIST - quite a few ships sailing around the island including cruise ships, a destroyer, several cargo ships, but not much in the harbor - there was two default ships near the harbor - a gas tanker and a cruise ship.
Maybe MS/Asobo did something on their back end causing this outside of the beta. I am agreeing with you about the lack of ship density. I have no clue what the solution is.
In 2024 it’s the same if using the AI Offline setting. But if using Realtime Online, many ships appear. However ship movement is much better using AI Offline.
Aslo I deactivated all the ships in My Library. Search for ships and you will see them if you decide to try GAIST in 2024.
I don’t have Seafront’s Hawaii. I was comparing GIAST to Global Shipping. Obviously GAIST can’t realistically compete with Seafront’s regional packs — my point is, if GS is already better than GAIST in Honolulu, the Vessels: Hawaii pack is going to be better still.
Maybe WatterLattice34 is onto something about the current state of GAIST, in suggesting it’s some sort of interim build while undergoing a transition. How and why that would affect a different sim, I don’t know.
I tried GAIST in Honolulu in 2024 with Real Time Online and didn’t see any ships. So there is something odd going on there as there is with GAIST in 2020. Wish I could help but I have no clue.
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So I’m also not sure if I either installed it wrong or something is wrong with my settings (checked and compared both several times, and a lot of experience since FS98 
).
Downloaded and unzipped several times to avoid file errors - but I either see no ships at all and if so then far too few .
But I also use linked folders - will try it again directly in the community folder - maybe it has something to do with it, because since the AIG traffic is not linked again, there seem to be more planes in the sky with PSXT, but it could also be a coincidence.
(SU2 in use - Not in Beta)
One aspect that might be pertinent to Honolulu specifically is that it’s not a very large or busy port as far as ports go. Looking at one of the marine traffic tracker sites right now shows not much activity in Honolulu at the moment - there’s a couple docked coast guard vessels, a small tanker and of course fishing & leisure boats. Not claiming that there is or isn’t issues with GAIST, just that cross checking with a vessel tracker site could be helpful in assessing what exists in real life vs what one is encountering in the sim.
Personally I absolutely love GAIST. Have never owned Seafront products, so I cannot speak about which is better. I have looked through the base that Seafront provides as a free download and will say that GAIST has a much larger and more diverse base of vessels.
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