Make Online AI more open to the third-party developers / suggested SDK enhancements / modded Online AI - specific bug report

Official Microsoft Flight Simulator Wishlist
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Hello, @N316TS , my name is Sofie and I’m a developer team leader of the upcoming FSLTL modification for ASOBO Online AI.

Sorry for the late response, I should have done this just after @meurkel opened the ticket. It was a busy week for us all.

Here’s my exact wishlist, it would be great if ASOBO developers can take a look on it:

Part 1: Bugs

  1. Departing spawn misbehaviour. This bug hardly can be noticed with stock MSFS, but when it comes to modding the Online AI, it is a critical one.
    Description:
    When a departing Online AI aircraft (aka NetPlane) spawns at the gate/ramp for the departure, it in may cases, but not always, spawns as default generic even if the proper AI aircraft exists, then tries to replace itself with the correct one after a few seconds, nameplate changes to the proper one, but the model fails to update. My theory is: there is a error in the net engine, Online AI checks on Flightaware the aircraft type after or at the same time as flight construction is run.
    Possible fixes:
    Respawn the model when online data with the aircraft type is aquired.
    Delay the spawn until model type is known with a fixed timeout (a few seconds should be enough) for the flights with unknown aircraft type.

  2. Inbound aircraft misbehaviour. Despite there are many options for configuring AI aircraft, some problems can’t be fixed with the tools the third-party developers have.
    Landing flare doesn’t exist. All aircraft make their landing being oriented parallel to the ground, all wheels at once, which is highly unrealistic. I believe this behavior was inherited from the FSX.
    Also, airplanes brake too aggressively, which is also unrealistic and makes them occupy the runway longer, than they should, causing the traffic jam.

  3. Mid-air orientation.
    Sometimes airplanes spawn in the air in the “Space Shuttle Reentry” mode, facing their belly towards the horizon. I’m well aware of difficulties tied to the insufficient data and ADS-B feed losses, interpolation/extrapolation inaccuracy, but when there is an uncertainty, airplane must face it’s belly towards the ground.

  4. Pathfinding. Looks like the AI calculates the taxi route on the touchdown, and for the some reason it prefers not the closest exit taxiway (perhaps with intention that AI does not breaks so hard?). Prom the users perspective this looks like aircraft ignores multiple ATC “turn next taxiway” orders.

Part 2: Extentions

  1. Airports parking codes. MSFS supports spawning static parked aircraft at the right parkings/gates, but the stock airports lack this information. With stock MSFS it’s can’t be noticed, but with the FSLTL (or other mod that adds air traffic), it results Nok Air regional turboprops spawn parked at Sea-Tac. We have a SimConnect workaround for that, but it should be a stock feature.

  2. Registration numbers are only transmitted if the aircraft is privately owned. Many airlines have the distinctive liveries that can be properly matched if the registration number is known.

  3. Please, give the users an ability to control the radius, in which Online Ai are spawned. It’s extremely narrow now, and users can’t hear other traffic on the frequency if they are not close to them.

Part 3: API/SDK

I believe that all problems above are easily fixable (except landing flare and parking codes), but I have serious doubts they will get a priority, despite Online AI is getting better and better fast(I have to thank the team working on that, you do absolutely amazing work). It will be great if an internal API for Online AI will be open for the third-party developers, so these and future problems can be solved by the Community. We’ve seen how effective this approach is, FlyByWire and WorkingTitle mods fixed a bazillion of critical issues, and did it fast. With all by respect for the ASOBO team, their resources are not limitless, and they have a lot of work to do. It’s great that the Community of extremely talented and dedicated people is ready to help make MSFS better, now.

I don’t ask for the official support, incorporation of the FSLTL into the base simulator, or giving me and my team developer job contracts. I’m asking to make the Online AI moddable more deeply and easily. I can’t see any risks for the Microsoft or Asobo in doing this, but the profit and the opportunities are going to be endless.

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