Such satisfying and immediately gratifying enhancements to (often) free base aircraft. Attention to detail. More realistic flights. I like everything MSFS does, but AAU1 has set a high precedent for my most anticipated upgrades.
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The AAUs have a lot of instant gratification stuff. At least AAU I did, and same for Boeing pilots awaiting AAU 2. But that’s really just the tip of the iceberg as to what the AAUs mean for the platform in the long term.
IMHO, AAU I was the most significant update to the sim that we got since launch in Aug 2020. Full stop.
The other 2 AAUs will have far less of a universal effect. AAU 2 only really affects the Boeing aircraft. But that’s amazing news for those who fly those planes, and 3rd party devs who will be able to incorporate those new avionics into their wares. The 787 has been in a pretty sorry state and needed this love.
We’ll see what AAU 3 brings, but I’m guessing it will be the last step in excising the old flight planner and nav systems from the sim by updating the Airbus FMS and the neglected Garmin G3X. It’ll probably probably include some plane-specific updates and enhancements as well.
Once that’s done, then the new ATC system will come next. That’s the real ultimate long-term goal of the AAUs. And I can’t wait to see what comes next.
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That would be a real selling point, that MSFS had the only realistic, fleshed out ATC interaction out there in modern flight sims.
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I hope the bindings for the non-JavaScript WASM API (e.g C++) for the nav data and flight planner get done as part of an AAU soon (or anything really). It’s why things like the A310 and ATR don’t use the planner today, and why things like the FBW 320 can. I’d think it would be an important step if this work is ever about more than just fleshing out the existing lite stuff.
Hiring WT was one of the best moves MS has made for the future of the new sim.
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If MS don’t do exactly that, they’re doing themselves a great disservice. As far as I’m concerned, the current ATC is almost a blight on a modern flight simulator. I get that it’s a complex system and can’t fully fault them since it’s based on repurposed FSX code. But it’s time for that ancient framework to be dumped and to use modern tech.
On a related note, I’m so hoping that MS actually use the power of Azure’s voice services and make a proper voice-activated ATC so we can talk to it instead of having to send canned replies via the 1-0 keys. They’re barely scratching the surface of what can be done with Azure voice. Even watching the feature discovery video from around launch time, MSFS still can’t even do what they were showcasing in that video.
In any case, the AAUs are establishing the framework upon which both a new ATC and AI plane behaviours will be built. That will be the next huge update for the sim IMHO. And I think we all owe the guys over at WT a huge debt of gratitude for their fine work that will be allowing this to happen.
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It’s a fan theory and is on no official roadmap. The last Dev Q&A just really said Martial was looking at it all and there was a ‘lot of code to change’ (paraphrasing). It’s great that Asobo is looking at the area and it’s a huge task. The team seems to have heard the desire for better ATC/traffic/planner/weather systems integration.
The Avionics Updates seem to be about updating the avionics, which is really cool in itself. WT are really ideal for that for sure. The majority (?) of complex aircraft add-ons you can buy today don’t even use the World Map flight planner, so unless that’s ever solved then it’s not really a grand plan (someone goes back and updates the ATR I guess). I think it’s ok just to be happy the base Boeing lite models are getting some systems complexity love. As an airliner fan I sort of ignored them so far, so will be good to take another look in the beta.
Not really a theory. Matt from WT said some time ago that replacing the flight planner and nav systems was the foundation upon which the new ATC will be built. It’s the key dependency that’s preventing the current ATC from being fixed properly. It’s the foundation that lays out the rules that ATC needs to follow. Once those new systems are in place, new ATC can be built. No further details are available but that. And it’s not on any publicly available road map, but you can bet it is internally.
I’m sure that work on the new ATC is already in progress since at least AAU I was released, as the G1000 was already done, and the G3000 and GNS covered most of the other planes in the sim. There’s enough there now to for work to start.
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I mean, maybe - it all makes sense. If @Bishop398 and the WT team is also tasked with rewriting the planner and nav system for the new ATC in MSFS rather than just AAU’s then that’s great.
It’s sort of confusing as we have the two teams, with sort of two separate community official/unofficial channels and messages - it gets hard to actually make bets on what the internal roadmap is… Everyone seems super confident they know what’s happening. I get the impression there’s still some things up in the air with scope and planning, but hopefully the truck is rolling.
You don’t think Asobo are planning/implementing the ATC updates rather than WT, as a core part of the sim? Maybe it’s a grand plan where the avionics get updated while other bits get designed and thought up?
Yes! Seeing what it’s coming to the 787 make me buy instantly the PD edition. I’m really excited for what’s coming for the 747 and 787 since I’m more a long haul guy! Loving the job that WT is doing for the default aircraft.
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