I think you guys have done the best job I've seen so far to depict accurate and integrated downtown centers, for most of the urban areas depicted in the scenery regions. Beautifully modelled and expertly textured to fit in.
Therefore, it's a little weird to not have downtown Oakland facing off with SF across the bay!!
San Jose as well!
I use Oakland airport many more times than SFO. Some moored ships on the run into runway 12 would also be nice. The museum aircraft carrier could be useful with appropriate winds selected.:cool:
A grid of night street lights???
Most Seattle scenery omits Bellevue in the same way. Some would argue omitting Bellevue and Oakland is an improvement, but I'd still like to see the skylines there. 
I'm hoping that if Ipacs is unable to complete the areas for technical or other reasons, that maybe third parties will find a way to do so. I'm especially hoping to see more of New York, especially around the airports, even if no place else, since coming down into the city on final is a big part of the whole experience, and right now the areas around the big airports are a bit empty.
I posted the followiing list at AVSIM, and it is what I am looking for down the line in AeroFly FS2......
* Super detailed South Western USA region
* Consistent high resolution photoscenery terrain textures and mesh throughout
* ALL airports and airfields with customised buildings, markings and clutter
* Accurate placement (and density) tree and building autogen
* ALL important 3D landmarks (bridges/oil terminals/radio towers/water towers/fire lookout towers/wind turbines/marinas etc)
* Electricity pylon network with substations
* ATC system at least as good as the one in Flight Unlimited 3
* Realistic AI planes and flightplans
* Animated water
* Animated ships and boats
* Dynamic weather system (user selectable)
This would (of course) include detailed renditions of downtown Oakland and San Jose
I don't mind if this is all done by IPACS or (more likely) provided by third parties like ORBx, but......IF it could be done, then it would probably make AeroFly FS2 the most realistic looking flight simulator ever developed. On a personal note, I don't even care if they never add further regions. What I am looking for is Flight Unlimited : The Next Generation. The South Western USA region is a much, much larger area than I enjoyed flying around in Flight Unlimited 3 (Seattle and San Francisco high resolution scenery regions), and I used this exclusively between 1999 and 2008 (because I thought that Microsoft Flight Simulator at that time was a waste of space for VFR flights).
We have plenty of global flight simulators for the intercontinental kids. What we really need is a flight simulator that can deliver a visual, aural and atmospheric paradise to fly around, and I think that AeroFly FS2 is the best opportunity to get it!
For those of us that have never seen flight unlimited in action. Do you have a good demonstration of the ATC somewhere? Like a good youtube video or something like that?
What in particular made is so special, tell us what we should focus on. Was it variety or accuracy in the terminology? Was is the way it responds to you, how was the interface set up? (I've never seen flight unlimited)
Well this might help..... maybe. (depends on how interested you are) 
For those of us that have never seen flight unlimited in action. Do you have a good demonstration of the ATC somewhere? Like a good youtube video or something like that?
What in particular made it so special, tell us what we should focus on. Was it variety or accuracy in the terminology? Was is the way it responds to you, how was the interface set up? (I've never seen flight unlimited)
The ATC system in Flight Unlimited 3 was very straightforward and clear. I am almost certain that Microsoft will have checked it out in order to develop their own ATC system for FSX. What I liked about it when compared to the MSFS version was the way that the controllers would reprimand you if you started doing daft stuff (like taxiing across the grass, or not responding to tower instructions when airborne). I also liked the way that the ground controllers would ask you to "hold short, runway xx" if the taxi instructions involved crossing a runway. In FSX/P3D, you are asked to wait for an aircraft to clear a runway, and then "continue taxi"....or just allowed to cross a runway without any instructions if there are no aircraft around. I much prefer the request to "hold short" at a particular runway during the initial taxiway route instruction, and then getting clearance to cross the runway when you get there.
Another aspect of the FSX/P3D ATC that can be annoying is the waiting for a landed plane to clear the runway before a waiting plane is asked to "taxi into position and hold". I am pretty sure that an aircraft crossing a runway (or waiting for departure) could be cleared to enter the runway before the landing plane has left the runway at a point further down (although I could be wrong about this). It just delays the flow of traffic, and we all know how AI traffic can back up if it doesn't flow properly.
On a final note....I hate it when AI planes disappear when they have been waiting too long. This is so unrealistic it isn't even funny. I have modified my own aiplayer.dll file in P3D so that this does not happen.
I still have my FU series on the shelf. I remember being absolutely crushed when they went out of business too. It was a fantastic game. Thanks for posting that HiFlyer.
Yes the air traffic and ATC in FSX and also X-Plane certainly have their flaws, its not rare to wait 10 min at the holding point because all ai traffic is funneled to only one runway and they have to go missed because they are badly separated. Or see the Ai aircraft in front of you accelerate into the grass because it didn't line up correctly or when it doesn't know where to vacate...
It would be nice to hear the controller say: "XYZ, behind landing A320, runway 07 line up and wait, behind." even before the aircraft has passed you. And other things like:
- "XYZ heavy, cleared to land runway 0-7, number 2, caution wake turbulence behind the 'super' on short final."
- "XYZ welcome to Las Vegas, turn right next high-speed exit, cross 07R, contact ground 123.45" or something like that.
- "XYZ has the airport in sight"
-> "XYZcleared for the visual runway 0-7 approach" even though an ILS approach was set up in the flight plan.
- "taxi via A [-/left on] AA [-/right on] AN-"... (with good pauses in between, so you hear more than AAAA...)
- "hold short of taxiway S, give way to company 737 from the left"
- "expect runway 1-2, follow A320 in front of you"
- "climb via sid, except maintain 5000ft, expect 1-5 thousand ten minutes after."
- "XYZ turn left 2-0 degrees, for traffic, expect to resume SID"
- "wind 110/15, runway 0-9 shortened, cleared for takeoff, no delay, [+departure after lift-off]"
- "maintain 160kts until 4 dme"
would make a good and dynamic atc I think, thats the things that make fun in real life and make you pay attention.
Unexpected things like a sudden 180deg turn (twice) for quick a holding pattern would also be very nice. And also features like contineous descent operations would be quite refreshing.
And I am also looking forward to hearing the radio call:
"XYZ traffic at your 2 o'clock, one mile, for the parallel, report in sight"...
(Please don't expect all this in the Aerofly FS 2 atc from the first atc version we implement... :D)
Version 1.0 should be simple, clear and follow the published terminology, no special features. Just plain clear instructions, fly this heading, this speed, cleared ILS approach, cleared for land, cleared Whiskey 1 echo departure - climb via sid, left on bravo, hold short runway 20, XYZ - rwy 20 - cleared for take off, climb and maintain FL220... descent 5000ft - qnh 1022
It could feature ATIS information but they would probably be quite boring at the moment. KLAX infromation A, wind calm, sky condition clear., temp: 15deg C dewpoint 5, qnh 1013... everywhere
Cheers,
Jan
LOL
XYZ, qnh 1023 information echo, righthand downwind via overhead, report bravo, fly threshhold baseleg, you are number 2 report 1 in sight.
Almost as important as what is said is how it's said. The robotic, Stephen Hawking-esque voice introduced by the DTG Flight School ATC won instant emphatic thumbs downs from pretty everyone unfortunate enough to hear it.
In contrast, the voices in the Flight Unlimited videos (never played it myself) sound very human and even have a bit of character.
Very nice!
Almost as important as what is said is how it's said. The robotic, Stephen Hawking-esque voice introduced by the DTG Flight School ATC won instant emphatic thumbs downs from pretty everyone unfortunate enough to hear it.
In contrast, the voices in the Flight Unlimited videos (never played it myself) sound very human and even have a bit of character.
Very nice!
Yes, and I would like to see atc speak differently (slower, clearer) when you ask them to repeat the last transmission, too. No human would repeat it exactly the same after you just told them you didn't understand.
It would be great if the voice would actually have fluctuating heights. And always lower the voice on the last letter for example: Squawk 1^2^3^4v, speak "heading zero nine zero" quickly, then make a slight pause before the next instruction comes "descent and maintain five thousand"
And the occasional "ehm" would also help to give a bit of character
Delta 520, disregard, ehm who is flying that F18? LOL
To me the voices in FU sound like human recordings, playing words or numbers at a time, one after the other. I believe FSX does that, too.
The advantage of generated voices would be that you are not limited in the phrases that you can use. If you use some form of recording you are likely to have missed something.
There are much more human sounding AI voices out there than the one Dovetail used....... (bleah)
Version 1.0 should be simple, clear and follow the published terminology, no special features. Just plain clear instructions, fly this heading, this speed, cleared ILS approach, cleared for land, cleared Whiskey 1 echo departure - climb via sid, left on bravo, hold short runway 20, XYZ - rwy 20 - cleared for take off, climb and maintain FL220... descent 5000ft - qnh 1022
It could feature ATIS information but they would probably be quite boring at the moment. KLAX infromation A, wind calm, sky condition clear., temp: 15deg C dewpoint 5, qnh 1013... everywhere
I absolutely agree with this approach. The basics (those ATC instructions that will be used by ALL pilots, whether they are flying an airliner/regional/executive/GA plane etc) need to be nailed first, and to be perfectly honest....everything else would be a MASSIVE bonus for me. I am really looking forward to seeing what you guys can deliver in this department
Another small scenery improvement that I would like to see would be the Farallon Islands (located west of the Golden Gate Bridge). I was always disappointed that they were not included in the Flight Unlimited 2 San Francisco scenery region, so it would be nice to see them in AeroFly FS2. They may only be a small collection of rocky islets and pinnacles, but it is little touches like this that make the best flight simulators extra special!
