Posts by plovdiv74

Hi slipstream,

Yes, there are a variety of regional accents. Radar Contact's selection algorithm seems to favor non-US accents as even though there are more US voices, European accents are selected more often. You can observe this in my demo flight video. I do like the variety myself.

I'm looking forward to the Lynx as well.

Regards,

Karl

Quote from slipstream

I remember having a very old version of RC, on a number of CD’s. It was robotic speak back then. Have there been improvements in the speech department?

Hi slipstream,

The voice interactions between pilot, copilot and controllers are made up of recorded phrases. Each of the voices contain 1798 words and phrases that make up the complete spoken dialog. Ray Proudfoot, the moderator on the Avsim Radar Contact forum led the team that recorded the phrases.

ATC chatter, a Radar Contact optional feature, is made up of actual tower recordings and inserted based phase of fight, That is, while talking to ground, you hear ground chatter; talking to center, you hear center chatter; and so on.

Regards,

Karl

Quote from Jetjockey10

Earlier ATC gave a “descend at pilot’s discretion” back up a ways and see if you find it. I doubt you will ever be vectored into a mountainside.

Hi everyone,

Radar Contact includes a minimum safe altitude (MSA) database to avoid mountainside encounters. I quite often fly around Colorado and haven't ever had such an encounter.

I think my demo video, KAPA to KASE , is a great example of this Radar Contact feature in action.

Regards,

Karl

Hi Ken,

Yes, voice control is on my list of possible future enhancements for use with VR or 2d.

Regards,

Karl

Hello PI,

Although I think Ray pretty well covered your questions, I'll just chime in that there are no restrictions within my software for assigning buttons from your controller of choice (yoke, joystick, button panel, etc.) to the "commands" otherwise sent to Radar Contact via keyboard. In fact, I've modeled the button selection screen of the configuration tool I provide after Radar Contact's keyboard assignment screen to simplify the process if you happen to be familiar with Radar Contact's means of key selection.

Regards,

Karl

Quote from Spit40

Very tidy landing Karl!

Hi Phil,

Not my best but not my worst by far.

Getting VR teed-up. Stay tuned.

Best,

Karl

Hi everyone,

I've posted the first demo video of my upcoming air traffic control solution, Aerofly FS 2 RC ATC. The flight is from my home airport, KAPA - Centennial, to KASE - Aspen Pitkin County. It's a fairly short but fun flight with a challenging approach and landing, and is regularly scheduled from Denver International.

Captured using OBS at 4K and downsampled to HD (prior to upload to YouTube), the video is 42 minutes long and unedited. What follows is a timeline of ATC interactions in case you'd like to jump around.

Have a look. Questions and comments most welcome!

Best regards,

Karl

YouTube link to demo flight videos

Quote from Flamingpie

Which today do you mean...?

Good morning,

I ran into some issues with YouTube trying to post late last night. I'll have something this morning (before noon, Denver time.)

Sorry for the hold up.

Regards,

Karl

Quote from NE-76

Gibt es schon ein Video mit Radar Contact v4,und Aerofly FS 2???

MFG Enrico

Hi Enrico,

I will begin posting short videos later today.

Regards,

Karl

Quote from gsobala

So: the review by Jetjockey10 suggested that the real-life weather changed winds, precipitation and clouds, but advresgrpdev says only visibility. I am confused.

Hi gsobala,

Yes, my software can only change visibility at the present time. This is a limitation of the IPACS SDK. I'm hopeful that as the IPACS SDK matures, additional capabilities such as control of wind, cloud layers, etc. will be available to external programs such as mine.

Regards,

Karl

Hi Flamingpie,

Whenever a controller issues an instruction, you have the option to ask the controller to"repeat their last instruction."

Regards,

Karl

Hi Flamingpie,

The text displayed on the screen is the choice of responses to the controllers' instructions. The controllers' instructions are verbal only.

Regards,

Karl

Hi Kenneth,

My software informs Radar Contact that there isn't any traffic. If AI traffic is introduced to AFS2 and the SDK provides access to it, the software will be updated to support it.

Regards,

Karl

You're welcome, Michael.

Hi fellow Aeroflyers,

I’m the developer of the air traffic control solution for Aerofly FS 2 that Ray’s been speaking of.

“Aerofly FS 2 RC ATC” is set to be released this coming Saturday, November 9 and will be initially available for download and purchase at the product’s secure website Aerofly FS2 RC ATC.

The product leverages the exceptional air traffic control experience of Radar Contact v4 by providing a bridge between it and Aerofly FS 2 (AFS2).

Before touching on product highlights, it must be mentioned that the foundation of the development of this product is threefold: user experience, performance and stability. The product has been developed using commercial software development industry best practices and extensively tested. The product is designed to make intelligent use of hardware capabilities, both CPU and GPU. You will experience zero effect on performance (i.e., FPS). Worth noting is that the rendering of the Radar Contact menu within the AFS2 screen is measured in microseconds (not milliseconds).

Some feature highlights:

·       Radar Contact’s “menu” is displayed within the AFS2 window using OpenGL or Vulkan by default but can also be displayed in a secondary popup window if desired. Display of Radar Contact’s menu can also be disabled altogether.

·       The size and color of the text is configurable.

·       The screen location of the text is also configurable and can be positioned at one of the four corners of the screen (upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right). This allows for view of the Radar Contact menu without obscuring the instrument panel or the window view.

·       For ATIS and enroute weather reports, metar data is downloaded periodically from one of over 11000 weather reporting stations. The weather download period is configurable with a default period of 15 minutes. Weather download can be disabled if desired.

·       While complete control of weather is not possible at this time due to limitations of the IPACS SDK interface, Visibility can be controlled.

·       As depiction of visibility is highly subjective, it is highly configurable for fine tuning to the user’s preferences. Visibility control can also be disabled if desired.

·       Radar Contact is limited to interaction using only the keyboard. Aerofly FS 2 RC ATC eliminates this limitation by providing complete support for ATC interaction using flight controller buttons (joysticks, yokes, etc.). If the controller is supported by AFS2, it will be supported for interacting with ATC.

·       Aerofly FS 2 RC ATC includes extensive, category-based logging facilities for troubleshooting in the event of unexpected behavior. When enabled, a log file will be created that can then be emailed to product support for evaluation.

·       Support will be provided via email through a dedicated email address, here on IPACS’ forum and the “usual suspect” flight sim enthusiast sites like Avsim (which also has a dedicated Radar Contact forum).

·       Try before you buy! A seven-day trial period is available if desired. Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with Radar Contact or air traffic control in general. Download the product and request a license prior to purchase. A license enabling the trial period will be sent via email reply.

·       Once purchased, two permanent licenses can be requested allowing for use, for example, on a desktop computer and a laptop.

The purchase price is $29.95 US. All product enhancements will be freely downloadable as they become available. The first planned enhancement is support for VR.

If you’re interested in adding air traffic control to your Aerofly FS 2 experience, I highly recommend visiting the Radar Contact website to familiarize yourself of its capabilities. On our Downloads page, you'll find a number of links and documents essential for a smooth installation and registration of Radar Contact. By far, the majority of challenges experienced by my test team were related to getting Radar Contact up and running.

Lastly, a little bit about myself, the developer.

I live in Denver, CO USA. I’ve been a simmer since MSFS 5.1 (circa 1995 – Avsim was called “Avsim Magazine” at the time) and have enjoyed most general aviation sims since (all the MS sims [including Flight], Flight Unlimited, Fly!, Pro Pilot, P3D, and X-Plane ). I’m also a longtime lurker on most of the sim sites including IPACS’ forums.

For over thirty years I’ve worked in software and hardware development (MSCS, MBA); as a hands-on dev and for the last fifteen in leadership roles and building my own consulting business. (You can find me on LinkedIn.) I maintain my coding chops through personal projects, mostly sim related.

Questions and comments are most welcome. I encourage my test team to share their experiences with the product.

Kind regards,

Karl Nietsch (AdvResGrpDev)