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

This is our best shot at getting decent AI traffic in this sim:

FSLiveTraffic Liveries (FSLTL) - New Trailer and Status Update - Community / General Discussion - Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums

Once released it will feature almost every plane model with about 90% of real live airline liveries. They have come very far and release is imminent but if you Asobo support them the experience would be even more enhanced. So please Asobo get in touch with them so we can have the perfect AI traffic.

I don’t think that the holdup on liveries is the development of the liveries, themselves. They need permission from each airline to feature their brand in the sim.

Exactly that’s why we need this mod. And with more support in the SDK it’ll be even better.

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The advantage of freeware is you don’t have to worry about licenses from airlines as you don’t make a profit. That’s the very reason why freeware AI traffic has always been the best in any sim. I really appreciate Asobo’s efforts to add real world liveries but they simply don’t have the manpower to paint all of them. The bottom line is only with enough support for freeware AI traffic groups like this one or AIG we can get as good an experience in terms of traffic as in other sims.

I don’t know what this wishlist topic is asking for.
But if this is asking that Asobo incorporate FSLiveTraffic liveries into the game, I just don’t see that happening. It is circumventing the permissions process for the airlines.

I think it’s crystal clear what it’s asking for. More documentation and functionality in the sdk for third party developers and if possible more direct support for this mod.

I totally understand they can’t incorporate them. That’s not what this is about. It’s all about the sdk.

I mean this with all respect:
My day job is software architect (not for Microsoft or Asobo). I work with software requirements every day. When I read the wishlist topic, I can’t tell that it has anything to do with the SDK. The term “SDK” doesn’t appear until the third post. It would be helpful for anyone from Asobo who reads that to understand specifically what this wishlist topic is asking for.
The other point I would raise is, has the team identified an SDK problem? Do you speak on behalf of the FSLiveTraffic team that they need something from the SDK?

Alright my apologies. I’ve changed the title to be less general. I’m not involved with the development of the mod but this post was approved by one of the developers. His name is @SofieGrozovski. He handles all communication on this forum. You are welcome to contact him directly and I apologize again for the lack of clarity. Thank you so much for paying attention to this.

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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I think a really big limitation exists with the ATC. It has a very hard time dealing with incoming flights. I have experimented with 5 and 10 minute arrival intervals and neither works very well at multiple runway commercial airports. It’s mostly multiple flyovers, missed approaches, and go arounds with few if at all arriving flights if you are lucky. The game ATC has no idea how to put planes in holding patterns and sequence arrivals at this point. It could also be an issue with how the game reads AI traffic bgl files. I think Live traffic suffers from inadequate ATC as well. Planes that can’t be cleared by ATC just disappear or just fly over. Certainly there can be a lot of reasons and variables in play. Reception, transponders etc. A standalone airport editor/World editior that is easier to use than the current in game SDK is a must. Users if they wish, need to be able to define runways for departures and arrivals, as well as define parking. All runway exits and ramps must be usable to clear aircraft which would help to negate go arounds. Third parties should be allowed to develop stand alone ATC and AI programs that can work with Online and Offline traffic as I think this is beyond what Asobo can do at least at the moment to improve these areas. Hoping also that it becomes easier for freeware plane painters to be able give what they have to the MSFS 2020 community. Over the years these people have been vital to the realism of sim products. You can’t thank em enough

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