Inexpensive, but I'd like to have feedback from those among you who use it.

How's the installation /configuration, specially if you use non-default (WED edited for traffic routes) addon airports?

What about it's ATC feature, which can supposedly control your aircraft and also the AI, just as I am having with FSHUD in Prepar3d ?

Thanks! 

 

Well, I guess I'll check it myself  just purchased :-)

 

As I'm also looking at ai traffic plugins, I'd like to hear your first impressions or review of WT 3.7 considering its on sale. Thanks

Just add my thoughts for about a year use for others who wonder:

Installation and set up is easy and straight forward, setup a flight is just input callsign, arrive airport and flight level, you can also select arriving gate.

One of the very nice feature I like is you can select runway operation before or in flight, so you can get accurate operation for some complex airport like RJTT.

But they don't care about separation on crossed runway, just pass though like no one is there....

The ATC is a nah....no communication to AI aircraft, only you and controller, And if the airport don't have SID in navigraph data, you'll be constantly direct to a point near the airport after departure, and could never get enroute and arrive even if you fly 1000nm away. Work around is only contact ATC (including ATIS) after airborne, but I would forget that quite often.

ATC only assign SID/STAR based on direct route, so it might not be the SID/STAR you need for your planned route. And it'll assign the first one based on number, for example if you have STAR1A non-RNAV and STAR3A for same waypoint but with RNAV, it'll always give you 1A, and also you can't choose which runway you want land on (you can close the other runway for landing, but then all AI won't use it). slightly nice thing is for Most of the time if you don't fly the assigned SID/STAR, you'll still progressed to enroute and landing (while you'll be constantly yelling to new heading for back to route.), But Occasionally it won't, and the approach controller will still issuing heading even after you touch down.

The only time ATC would mind separation is when you or AI is asking for line up and AI or you is on short final, other than that, they are happy to have 2nm separation on final without issue you a G-A (AI will still G-A if runway is occupied), head on in taxi, and all kinds of TCAS concert in the mid-air.....lucky you don't have collection with AI, so...well....

You can just not use the ATC, and AI will still leave runway to you if you are on short final, I tried to use it with XP12's own ATC, but I feel the default ATC is even worse as they also don't communicate with AIs and the worse part is you can't ignore it like WT's ATC. As I failed to get RCv4 running, I'll stick with WT's ATC then....

Still looking for a ATC-AI combi that at least works as good as default FSX/P3D's default one....

Edited November 20, 20232 yr by C2615

7 hours ago, jcomm said:

Well, I guess I'll check it myself  just purchased 🙂

 

Please test how WT3.5 works with ActiveSky XP! If AI follow ASXP winds and assigns correct runways for takeoffs and landings, I will instantly go and purchase. I have Traffic Global, and it acts strange to be honest. Planes slams onto the runway, flying UNDER the terrain, flying low between the mountain, etc etc.

Also, does WT3.5 works good with default airports? I see that it has an option to auto generate ground routes, so I guess it should work.

Edited November 20, 20232 yr by Pe11e

1 hour ago, Pe11e said:

Please test how WT3.5 works with ActiveSky XP! If AI follow ASXP winds and assigns correct runways for takeoffs and landings, I will instantly go and purchase. I have Traffic Global, and it acts strange to be honest. Planes slams onto the runway, flying UNDER the terrain, flying low between the mountain, etc etc.

Also, does WT3.5 works good with default airports? I see that it has an option to auto generate ground routes, so I guess it should work.

I will do my best with very few time available for simming this week and still a few training flights to do in the iFly 737 MAX 🙂

I actually installed version 3.7, the latest available.

5 hours ago, C2615 said:

Still looking for a ATC-AI combi that at least works as good as default FSX/P3D's default one....

Precious review !!! Thank you !!! At least now I know what's waiting for me 🙂

In P3D, my main flight simulator, I finally decided for FSHUD. It's not perfect, surely not as detailed in some aspects as RC4 which I know can be used with success in XP too. 

I did try Pilot2ATC some time ago, but found it too complex to setup, and while I recognize the importance of being possible to interact with an ATC robot using voice, but in my home setup, with a small house and wife having to work or watch TV in the same room, and the catzzzz finding weird when I start talking to no one, out of nothing, and decides to jump to the glareshield and check if something's wrong... talking to an ATC robot, or IVAO / VATSIM, is not feasible 😕

I have been "dreaming" of the "perfect" ATC and AI injector since ever. I recall two great experiences that, for their time, were really a reference - Flight Unlimited 3 and Propilot 99 ( less detailed )....

Many times I have wondered why it is so complex to implement, given the level of sophistication we see in combat flight simulators with all of the interactions between AI elements. 

 

6 hours ago, C2615 said:

default ATC is even worse as they also don't communicate with AIs

Currently addon AI like this dont work with Laminar ATC as Laminar dont even know they are there. Completely separate programme. Now if you added the AI planes to the laminar selection and used laminar ATC im sure it will work.

Edited November 20, 20232 yr by mjrhealth

2 hours ago, Pe11e said:

Please test how WT3.5 works with ActiveSky XP! If AI follow ASXP winds and assigns correct runways for takeoffs and landings, I will instantly go and purchase. I have Traffic Global, and it acts strange to be honest. Planes slams onto the runway, flying UNDER the terrain, flying low between the mountain, etc etc.

Also, does WT3.5 works good with default airports? I see that it has an option to auto generate ground routes, so I guess it should work.

WT3 follows in-game wind for take off runway, if you already have ASXP running it should be no problem.

For landing, you'll need to set expected arriving wind on flight setup manually. bad news it won't change when weather updated, but good news it won't change runway at last moment before you landing.

As I said, you can also set individual runway TO/LD operation manually, both when setup a flight and in-flight, so if the wind changed mid-flight, you can manually change to that runway before starting arrival. Also, some airport prefer on direction operation even with slight tail wind for airspace or noise reason, you can totally do that, you can also set complex operation like 34L/34R landing with 34R/05 Take off for RJTT.

10 minutes ago, mjrhealth said:

Currently ADD AI like this dont work wiht Laminar ATC as Laminar dont even know they are there. Completely separate programme. Now if you added the AI planes to the laminar selection and used laminar ATC im sure it will work.

Yeah, I aware of that, But somehow the totally "upgraded" XP12's ATC/AI combi still doesn't works as "good" as default FS9/FSX era ATC/AI for me, one reason quite ironically is it'll assign a completely nonsense procedure and unlike FSX or WT's ATC, it doesn't ignore I ignore their nonsense...

Haven't used WT for so long that I forgot if it has en route traffic by now. I also find the requirement to set up departure and destination airports for each and every flight plus the auto-generation of custom taxi networks too clumsy.

 

10 hours ago, jcomm said:

Many times I have wondered why it is so complex to implement, given the level of sophistication we see in combat flight simulators with all of the interactions between AI elements.

The only other CFS with usable, complex AI and ATC that I know of is Falcon BMS with its 25 years head start. The rest, including DCS, is rather crude.

What's complex and time consuming about AI and ATC is the assortment of edge cases like complicated approaches, separation and airport flow switching, odd airport layouts and playtesting everything to find and eliminate bugs.

 

16 hours ago, C2615 said:

Still looking for a ATC-AI combi that at least works as good as default FSX/P3D's default one....

AutoATC comes pretty close. It may run on an external server, but there is global traffic and aircraft and facilities talk to each other. Not sure how much love the IFR part got since I stopped using it though...

14 hours ago, C2615 said:

WT3 follows in-game wind for take off runway, if you already have ASXP running it should be no problem.

For landing, you'll need to set expected arriving wind on flight setup manually. bad news it won't change when weather updated, but good news it won't change runway at last moment before you landing.

As I said, you can also set individual runway TO/LD operation manually, both when setup a flight and in-flight, so if the wind changed mid-flight, you can manually change to that runway before starting arrival. Also, some airport prefer on direction operation even with slight tail wind for airspace or noise reason, you can totally do that, you can also set complex operation like 34L/34R landing with 34R/05 Take off for RJTT.

Thanks for the explanation. Traffic Global also follows in-game wind data, but for some reason AI uses some strange flows and end using short runways with a crosswind, instead a long runway with a direct headwind. Talked to JustFlight about it, and it depends on the airport dev, and the implementation of the airport flows. I tried fixing the flows on default LICJ and the process is tedious. Imagine doing that for almost every default airport you takeoff from and land on, no way. So I learned to deal with it - I will not pay attention on AI on my departures. 🙂 Kills the immersion, but I'm sick of tweaking in P3D, so I will stay of tweaking in XP11/12 too. I want to fly, not to tweak.

After seeing some screenshots of WT, I'm not sure I will get it. Honestly, WT requires a setup before for the each flight, and it is a one additional step in a flight preparation, I'm not even sure I will get used to do it. But yes, it eliminates wrong runway usage, and adds to immersion. 
Also, does WT uses their models and liveries, or something like BlueBell (more updated)?

12 hours ago, Bjoern said:

AutoATC comes pretty close.

getting close, gradually

12 hours ago, Bjoern said:

It may run on an external server

upside.

MMORPG.

12 hours ago, Bjoern said:

Not sure how much love the IFR part got since I stopped using it though...

currently here:

Recent priorities has been getting the plugin and documentation up to scratch and VFR comms solid. Into the last known "TODOs" there, for ATC giving traffic patterns VFR/IFR (as above this is now painfully close).

Plugin is "into the weeds"

Hoping/expecting to wrap up the plugin and documentation this week/probably into next.

Then finally on to flight testing IFR in the 744. Only 18 months later than I originally hoped....... 😪 (tbf, it was 18 months of "worth it" extras I had no way of knowing would be needed before hand)

7 hours ago, Pe11e said:

After seeing some screenshots of WT, I'm not sure I will get it. Honestly, WT requires a setup before for the each flight, and it is a one additional step in a flight preparation, I'm not even sure I will get used to do it. But yes, it eliminates wrong runway usage, and adds to immersion. 
Also, does WT uses their models and liveries, or something like BlueBell (more updated)?

I haven't been able to properly test it, but last night fired XP12 before going to sleep, filled just a few fields of basic flight planning data in the WT3 menu window, and didn't even bother to use the built in ATC... After hitting the button that starts the AI injection the traffic around me, parked aircraft at Lisbon airport and arriving / departing was just great... at least for someone like me who was only able to use AI traffic and some more consistent form of ATC with MFS 2020, and it was delightful, like other neat features of that sim...

In P3d Iam more than happy with FSHUD, and was regretting not having it for XP12 too 🙂  Now I'm "at home"... and it was just $19,98 !!!

11 hours ago, jcomm said:

I haven't been able to properly test it, but last night fired XP12 before going to sleep, filled just a few fields of basic flight planning data in the WT3 menu window, and didn't even bother to use the built in ATC... After hitting the button that starts the AI injection the traffic around me, parked aircraft at Lisbon airport and arriving / departing was just great... at least for someone like me who was only able to use AI traffic and some more consistent form of ATC with MFS 2020, and it was delightful, like other neat features of that sim...

In P3d Iam more than happy with FSHUD, and was regretting not having it for XP12 too 🙂  Now I'm "at home"... and it was just $19,98 !!!

Well I got it last night after your reply. 😛
After first tests, Traffic Global stays disabled. Of course, runway operation is a huge plus, but also, even if you keep airport traffic density at 100%, there are a lot of gates left unoccupied, so I don't have to worry about killing some AI aircraft via radar, like I did after almost every landing when using Traffic Global. TG occupy 98% of gates if you keep traffic density slider around 75%, which doesn't happen with WT3. And I even think that enroute traffic is more dense with WT3, just took a quick look on the radar, not sure can I test it that way before I do any flight. I'm eager to test WT3 built in ATC, even if it's simple. If it can vector me to intercept the ILS or line me to a perfect visual approach, I'm happy. 🙂

@Pe11e, thanks for the feedback.

I am with you, although Iag behind in terms of testing it since I haven't had the chance to even read the Manual properly, which I intend to do ASAP.

Maybe I'll be able to test a bit more tonight :-)  

Will report back my findings !