Hi all
I was using this mod for a long time: Global AI Ship Traffic MSFS GAIST Ultra V3 - MSFS Add-on - Flightsim.to
However, it does not work properly anymore. Most of the times, it freezes my sim when loading a flight. So I can’t use it.
Therefore, I look for other mods, payware or free, that give me nice global realtime ship traffic around the world.
Any recomendations?
Which is the currently best mod for this?
With has the best value for money?
Thanks a lot, Oliver
Hi Oliver,
I can’t recommend another mod, but I think I use that mod too and I only have the usual, rare CTDs. I can’t remember any freeze lately.
Best regards,
Wolfgang
Well, in my case it is freezing, it is definitelly this mod causing the issue when loading it’s BGLs, I checked with the process monitor.
Therefore I hope for other recomendations.
There is a new version being worked on which will be out fairly soon (with real-time traffic) so I would wait for that.
The only other thing is the Seafront Simulations Global Shipping, but that is Payware.
I don’t have any problems with Global AI Ship Traffic, and it is much more diverse in types of ships than the payware, but I am really looking forward to the real time version. The screenshots looks really cool
Any idea when this fairly soon update of global ship traffic will come?
The project seems pretty dead to me 
There’s already a thread about GAIST: GAIST Global AI Ship Traffic V6 and Great Lakes - #1710 by hnielsen791
Why not ask in there?
Regarding this subject, do you know guys what happen when you touch the simulated hour on which you fly, keeping live weather on? Does this addon work in that situations? Because I usually fly at night irl, do VFR and to see stuff, I tweak the hour in the sim so I can fly during the day there; I’ve seen no ship whatsoever flying long time over the coats of latinamerica in multiple occasions. Note: Yes, I do have the latinamerica pack loaded.
When it comes to 2024 Global Shipping 24 is the only game in town at the moment. GAISt partially works as a model replacement tool for the default traffic, but that unfortunately means it’s 1200+ library is limited to ~30 models. It doesn’t add any traffic..something to do with old code and the SDK.
I have Seafront Simulations Global Shipping 24 (currently v1.3.0, streamed from the Marketplace), and it works well on my PC & hightens the sense of immersion when flying along coastlines. Note that it does not replicate live shipping though - see their FAQ here for more information.
Edit: I’d also point out that sometimes their ships come perilously close to shore when approaching a harbor or port. Not all the time (I’ve only seen it once or twice), but it shows that in a few areas their ships don’t follow the actual real-life shipping channels in those areas. Not a big deal for me, but something to be aware of when making a purchasing decision.
I tried GAIST and was underwhelmed. It has a lot of vessel models but they weren’t in any great number at some of the world’s busiest ports. In contrast, Seafront Sims’ Global Shipping '24 absolutely stuffs ports and their entry/exit lanes with ships.
There was also some very odd ship behaviour with GAIST, and since it uses models created by various artists, some are visually a lot better than others.
Gaist works with live traffic now after SU5. There’s a tremendous amount of traffic now with live traffic, and the model matching, while in need of work, is considerably better than default. That said, Gaist could use a serious update. And along with live traffic, sometimes ship orientation/positioning has problems (like ships perpendicular to piers and half on land). Gaist is incredible for freeware, but would love to see it receive a good update. And there could be hard limitations with live traffic perhaps.
How does Seafront compare to live traffic in terms of density? Do Seafront routes end with ships positioned at piers or do they sit in the harbor?
Planning to wait a bit to see if Gaist gets an update, but am definitely on the lookout for the best ship traffic whether that be Seafront or Gaist.
All I’ll say about GS '24 is that it’s polished, as you would expect a payware product to be. The husband/wife dev team is pretty forthcoming re its limitations but it is consistent, with no vessels going backwards/sideways or moving onto land (issues I repeatedly saw with GAIST). There have been compatibility issues following World Updates but they’ve always been quickly resolved.
I would not fly without it. Maybe I’ll try GAIST again but the last time I installed it was right after an update and I was disappointed. GS '24 isn’t live but it does use real-world route data.
I purchased Global Shipping ‘24 via recommendation here on this forum and wow, that brought even more immersion into my sim flying. I’ve always ignored ships in the sim but watching cruisers and ships with wakes during approach to some seaside airport is just awesome. I didn’t try GAIST but I can’t recommend GS24 high enough. I’ve also checked out their regional vessels mods but man, some of them are expensive. So I’ll probably get most of them when they’re on sale.
Some of the later regional packs I’ve not bothered with as they haven’t featured region-specific vessels. Compared to GS, they’re not the best value, to be honest. They’re decent on sale, though, and I may pick up the remaining ones (UK SW, Perth and New South Wales) in the next one.
GS24 does a good job, with a multitude of ships all over the world and many predefined routes, which is enough to provide a greater level of immersion.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a higher level of realism, GAIST is better.
With the latest update (SU5), it works very well with real-time traffic. There are thousands of high-quality, detailed real-world models, and a major update with improvements and new models is expected soon. Plus, it’s free.
Finally, with the latest update, the models included with the simulator itself have received a significant upgrade and are of high quality. A further update is also expected with the upcoming SU6 update.
Wasn’t there an issue where even though there were thousands of models included with GAIST, the simulator would only make use of 30-ish? This is in regards to MSFS 2024 Live Ship Traffic.
Not that I know of. I’ve never had that problem.
Interesting - the below is directly from the flightsim.to posting:
The data MSFS currently provides only contains 32 general ship types eg. it doesn’t make a difference between a cruise ship and a car ferry - both are denominated PASSENGER - so you will often see a car ferry where a cruise ship should be or the opposite.
I wonder if it’s been fixed since then.
