n our metareview of AI traffic packages for FS2004, I commented that AI traffic addons are split into two groups - the ones which are based on real world timetables and the ones which are not - the latter group including MyTraffic and Traffic 2005, while the former inludes Ultimate Traffic and FS Live Traffic. The implication is that timetable based packages are more realistic, because they show the traffic you would expect to see in a real airport, but once you have taken the small print into account, the truth is more complicated. For example, the AI traffic you see in FS2004 airports with Ultimate Traffic installed is based on timetables for representative single weeks in either Fall/Winter or Spring/Summer, depending on whether you install the inexpensive timetable updates that Flight1 used to release, but unfortunately, the latest one available is well out of date, being based on flight data that is nearly two years old now. For users who do their simming in North America and want the last word in realism, the only solution at present is AirNav Systems' FS Live Traffic X for FSX (the FS2004 product remained available at the time of writing, by the way), which allows you to download AI timetables and flight plans immediately prior to launching Flight Simulator, meaning that it can justify its claim to be the most up-to-date AI traffic product on the market, bar none. Needless to say, this level of realism comes at a price, currently $59.95 for six months' use, which means that FS Live Traffic is also the most expensive AI product on the market.

The FSX package is over three times the size of the FS2004 version, at 276 Mb and the installation creates a new program group under the Start menu containing links to the FS Live Traffic applet, the manual, help file and the home page. Unlike most other AI traffic packages, you do not get any additional tools, but you are given the opportunity to run an unregistered copy of FS Live as a demo, although using it this way loads a saved set of flight plans and restricts the number of AI planes you will see to the Boeing 737, A320 and the 747-400. Installation requires quite a lot of user intervention, including doing a manual edit to the FSX config file, some users may need to copy a .dll and every installation requires the manual addition of the MyTraffic layer to the FSX scenery file. All of ths is covered in the manual, although localisation issues with FSX mean that some of the folder names specified in the instructions will differ from the ones some users see - so I think it is fair to say that this is a product which requires a reasonable amount of proficiency with Windows and FSX for a comfortable install. There isn't a deinstallation routine as such, but simple instructions are given about how to get the default AI traffic back.

If you have used any of the many incarnations of Burhhard Renk's iconic MyTraffic, you will feel at home the moment FSX starts, because FS Live Traffic X uses a subset of planes and liveries from MyTraffic.The reason it doesn't use the whole lot is that there isn't any point including liveries for airlines that don't serve any US destinations. Bit Torrent search engine, with an awesome P2P community sharing comments and ratings in discovering new media. FSX Live in FSX – Zante X RIP.

Having done all the edits, if you want to see 'real' AI traffic in an FSX session, the next step is to start the FS Live Traffic X app, login using the email address and password with which the app was registered and press the start button. FS Live Traffic X logs on to the FAA flight database over the 'net, downloads all the flights originating or terminating in North America that day, compiles them and create a new traffic file for Flight Simulator. This file is not replaced until you run FS Live Traffic again and make it compile a new one, so getting the most up-to-date flights involves running the app at least once a day - once FSX is running, you are stuck with the flights compiled at start time and no further changes will occur. Typical compilation time is about four minutes on a 3.0 Ghz Pentium, excluding load time for FSX, which has to be launched manually once the process is done. Be aware that there aren't any status bars visible during the early stages of FS Live Traffic's work and when the app is downloading and parsing the data it can give the impression that nothing is happening for some minutes, but after that the counters suddenly come alive and it becomes clear that FS Live Traffic X is doing its stuff. This is one thing that definitely could be improved - the first time I ran the FSLT for FS2004, I thought the system had hung, but I have got used to it now (-:

If you have used any of the many incarnations of Burhhard Renk's iconic MyTraffic, you will feel at home the moment FSX starts, because FS Live Traffic X uses a subset of planes and liveries from MyTraffic. The reason it doesn't use the whole lot is that there isn't any point including liveries for airlines that don't serve any US destinations. The planes list for FS Live Traffic (FSLT) does not include any military AI, but you get different models of all the common Boeings, Airbus and DC9/MD8x 9x, DC10/MD11 types, regional turboprops including the DHC 6/8 and the ATR 42/72, a good selection of business jets, with a few GA twins and some singles chucked in for good measure, the total running to 75 new models - more than any other AI traffic package other than MyTraffic. The advantage of using the MyTraffic planes is that they are frame rate friendly, thanks to some clever design choices by the developer, who has kept the polygon count to the minimum, with all the coding done in Gmax. So buying FSLTX gets users who do all their simming in North America something close to the best of both worlds, which is tried and tested AI planes with the most up-to-date schedules available for FS, just as long as you can live with the problem of paying a new subscription every six months.

With FSX running timetables compiled by FSLTX, you see real-world flights - allowing for the fact that the schedule is 'frozen' at the moment the app finishes the the download and doesn't reflect changes in real world timetables after that point. As anyone who has ever suffered a flight delay will attest, schedules are liable to change from one minute to the next, but short of saving your flight every few minutes, exiting FS2004 and running FSLTX over again, it isn't possible to see totally authentic schedules in Flight Simulator yet, but this program gets you fairly close. One huge plus point is that it is the only AI traffic addon which reflects the way traffic levels change from one day to the next, especially at smaller airports, where activity can vary tremendously depending on the time of year and charter frequency - there isn't a good way of reflecting this variation with any of the other AI addons for Flight Simulator. An issue that will only affect the most critical of users is that the source data is missing the aircraft types for some flights, but FSLTX covers this by making 'intelligent guesses' based on aircraft usage patterns studied during software development, and by looking at historical flight data if that information is not available.

Good airport facilities data is as critical to the smooth function of these addons as AI planes and liveries and FSLT adds no less than 1600 new AFD files, covering a large chunk of airports in the US. However, because FSLT is using FAA traffic data, it does not compile all the flights taking place on a particular day and VFR GA traffic is well under represented, although I suspect that this won't be an issue for most purchasers, who by definition are likely to be big iron fanatics. If you are, however, considering FSLTX as a GA simmer keen to see more realistic traffic at your local field, my advice is to look elsewhere, as FSLTX is unlikely to affect it. Part of the log on process includes downloading software fixes, new aircraft and liveries in addition to the day's timetables.

How did FSLTX perform in testing? AI traffic levels are very realistic indeed, provided you don't stray away from airports with scheduled traffic. Where the FAA database doesn't show activity, FSLTX doesn't create any flights, so to repeat myself, FSLT is more or less limited to showing GA activity at fields which have IFR GA traffic in the real world, which isn't many of them. However, given that nothing happens at most GA fields except on fine evenings and weekends, realistic GA AI traffic levels leave many simmers feeling cheated anyway and with so many airfields to choose from, none of the other AI traffic packages manage to square this particular circle either.

The MyTraffic AI planes are easy on frame rates and look good until you really close in on them - a rare happening unless you are a reviewer who is deliberately trying to assess their quality - most of the time, AI traffic is so far away that it is impossible to work out whether you are looking at a Boeing or an Airbus. On the other hand the low impact the MyTraffic planes make on frame rates is very important, as FSLTX really packs the larger airports at peak times and as I am sure you have found out by now, too much AI reduces FSX to a crawl. Otherwise the only other criticism I can make of the AI is the usual one; some of the planes make exceptionally steep initial climbouts before levelling off to a more reasonable rate - these climbs appearing to be much steeper than anything you are likely to see in reality, even when noise abatement rules are in force. The two screenshots above show an airport (KJFK) with default traffic at 100% on the left and KDEN with FS Live Traffic X installed - I think the pictures tell the story without any more words being needed!

Since FS Live Traffic X is specifically based on North American flight data, airports outside the US will only show planes whose flights are going to take them to the US, which means that once an FSLTX timetable has been compiled and installed, airports everywhere else in the world empty of traffic. This has an unwelcome side-effect in that if you enjoy transatlantic flights, you will have to reconcile yourself to either beginning or ending your flights at deserted airports, depending on whether you are flying west or east. However, US IFR traffic is shown pretty much in its entirety, regardless of whether the aircraft concerned are due to make internal or oceanic flights and regional airports like Aspen, shown in the shot above, look very different.

AI packages are profoundly influenced by the quality of the airport data that the Flight Simulator installation is feeding them. This comes from what are commonly known as AFD files, which define not only what facilities an airport should have, but how it looks, by feeding into the airport visual model. The visual model tells FSX where scenery objects such as runways, taxiways and buildings should go, some parts of airports being drawn directly from the facility data, for example taxiways, which are laid out using instructions from the AFD file taxiway matrix. The facility model, on the other hand, contains all the statistical information about the airport, including its name, ICAO code, radio frequencies, runway data, taxiway and parking maps, and airline gate assignments and it is used by ATC and the AI to govern operations at each airport. Needless to say, FSX uses a different AFD format to FS2004, but despite this change, in a default installation, the larger airports in Flight Simulator seldom have as many gates as their really life counterparts - which is why AI traffic developers always quote the number of 'enahnced airports', in other words, the number of airports which have been given new AFD files in order to correct numbers and positions of gates. FSLTX has 1600 of these, which I would hazard must cover most of the fields with scheduled airline services in the US. These are a subset of the ones used in MyTraffic X and - with a few exceptions - are fine.

Once in the air, FSLTX's AI planes follow near enough the same routes as their real-life counterparts; I say 'near enough' because FSX AI flight plans are simplified by comparison to real ones. Thanks to the way the schedules work, planes don't arrive in batches, which makes go-arounds relatively rare, although they do sometimes occur, largely because of the carpet-chewingly slow taxi speed of Flight Simulator's AI - planes are sometimes so slow to clear the runway that inbound flights have no choice but to abort their landings, but this is an FSX problem, not an FSLTX one.

The only real snag with FSLTX (apart from having to wait for the timetable to compile) is that if you run airline AI at 100%, frame rates plunge at busy airports and I frequently got single figures in central areas. The reason is that FSLTX displays realistic levels of activity, which, somewhere like KLAX, is several hundred per cent of the level you see in a default installation, even with the sliders set at 100%. This situation is only likely to ease with the debut of DirectX 10 and video cards which are compatible with it, at which time we will report back - but for now most users will have to make compromises with the display settings if they want to see all the traffic FSLTX can display.

Verdict? As long as you are happy with the idea of only seeing IFR traffic that spends some or all of its flight in the US, it is hard to raise any objections to FS Live Traffic; this is a well thought-out product, in its second generation. AirNav Systems have cut out a whole raft of potential problems by using the MyTraffic planes - if you are a MyTraffic fan, you will like FS Live Traffic X, because it is MyTraffic taken to the next level. As I commented in the review of the FS2004 version, it would have been good to see more utilities included at this price, and I would still like to see a taxi-speed editor and an option to 'add' MyTraffic GA VFR AI onto FSLTX's airliner AI to create more activity at GA airfields. The price tag is high compared to the competition, but real-time traffic data costs and FS Live Traffic X is the nearest you can get to realistic airport flight schedules in FSX.

Learn More Here

Microsoft Flight Simulator X (known in the Flight Simulator
community also as simply FSX, of which the X is pronounced ten,
as in the Roman numeral) is the latest version of
Microsoft Flight Simulator after Flight Simulator 2004.

It includes a graphics engine upgrade as well as compatibility with Windows Vista, having been hailed by Microsoft as the most important technological milestone in the series to date. It is the first version in the flight simulator series to be released on DVD-ROM.

Flight Simulator X marks the tenth version of the popular line of simulators. It was officially released to the US market on October 17, 2006. According to Microsoft's Web site for the game, a standard edition features everything from navaids to GPS and airways. It also includes 18 planes, 28 detailed cities, and 40 highly detailed airports. The deluxe version features 24 types of aircraft, 38 highly detailed cities, and 45 highly detailed airports.

Flight Simulator X was officially unveiled at the 2006 international Consumer Electronics Show as a gaming showcase for Microsoft Windows Vista. Microsoft released screenshots as well as a list of frequently asked questions as a press release on Microsoft Flight Simulator Insider, as well as numerous flight simulator communities. This also included mission-based gameplay with mission specific aircraft as well as an upgraded rendering engine capable of increased detail.

Following the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2006, Microsoft published new screenshots, videos and an official trailer. The overall reaction by the community was quite positive, and the graphical quality of the simulator has greatly increased.

Standard vs. Deluxe Edition
Flight Simulator X was released in two editions, Standard and Deluxe. Deluxe edition incorporates some additional features, including an on-disc Software Development Kit (SDK), three airplanes with the Garmin G1000 Flight Deck, and player Air Traffic Control.

In addition, the Deluxe Edition features 24 aircraft compared to 18 in the Standard Edition, 45 high-detail airports compared to 40, 38 high-detail cities compared to 28, and 50+ structured missions compared to 30+.

New features
The presently known new features in Flight Simulator X include:

Improved graphics including enhanced texture resolution, new Earth model facilitating polar flights, true road data, region-specific textures, 3D animals, star constellations, etc. Also, the scenery textures now line up with the automatically generated (Autogen) buildings. Maximum rendering-engine-supported scenery resolution of 7cm/pixel (not available with default scenery).

Improved default airport functionality — appropriate dynamic vehicles, jetways etc. Now featured by default where they exist in reality.
The built-in GPS support has been upgraded to include Garmin G1000 integrated glass cockpit, (select aircraft in the Deluxe version only).
Improved ATC featuring certain non-FAA procedures where appropriate (for example, altimeter/QNH scale in European units) and numerous minor updates such as an improved progressive-taxi feature.

Improved and new default aircraft including, for example, an Airbus A321. Default aircraft systems modeling is rather extensively improved, featuring, for example, APU, fire protection, passenger advisory sign switches etc. Improved weather system, including better visibility modeling.
Revamped multiplayer functionality featuring Shared Skies, a feature allowing multiple users to share the same cockpit.
Tower Controller, a feature in the Deluxe version allowing users to simulate local control at many airports worldwide during multiplayer gaming.
Revamped sound system with support for 5.1 surround sound.

Proprietary SimConnectAPI to allow FSUIPC-like access to Flight Simulator functions and variables.
Mission engine allowing creation of dynamic missions with developer control of many simulation variables, sound file playback, AI aircraft traffic etc. in relation to what the user is doing — essentially an evolution over the APL and ABL adventure programming languages featured in previous versions of the software. Dozens of missions ship with the product, and a mission level editor is expected to be released on-line shortly after release of the main product.
Most of the vintage aircraft that were a key theme in the previous version have been dropped, with the exception of the DC-3 and Piper J-3. Both aircraft are featured in the default missions that ship with the product.

The maximum altitude in the game has been increased to 100,000,000 feet (30,000,000 m), as opposed to FS2004's 99,999 feet (30,480 m). FSX's maximum altitude is therefore approximately 2.39 times the diameter of the Earth at the equator.
Camera shake in the virtual cockpit as the aircraft banks, accelerates, brakes, flies through turbulence etc.
Realistic flexible wings in some commercial airplanes, the wings flex when the aircraft is going through turbulence, increasing rate of ascent or descending, major plane movements, flaps being fully extended, general vibrations to the plane, etc. An example of an aircraft with this wing movement is the Boeing 747-400.
New water effect which has 3D waves with curled up object reflection according to the wave movements and with sunshine reflection.
Aircraft can cast shadows on themselves.

Aircraft
Aircraft Deluxe Edition Standard Edition
Airbus A321
Air Creation 582-SL Trike Ultralight
Beechcraft Baron 58
Beechcraft Baron 58 G1000
Beechcraft King Air 350
Bell 206B JetRanger
Boeing 737-800
Boeing 747-400
Bombardier CRJ-700
Bombardier Learjet LJ-45
Cessna 208-B Grand Caravan
Cessna 172S SkyhawkSP
Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP G1000
de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane
de Havilland DHC-Dash 8-100
DG-808-S Competition Sailplane
Douglas DC-3
Extra EA-300-S
Grumman G-21-A Goose
Maule Orion M-7-260-C Super Rocket on skis
Maule Orion M-7-260-C Super Rocket
McDonnell Douglas MD-83
Mooney M-20-M Bravo
Mooney M-20-M Bravo G1000
Piper PA-28 Cherokee 180
Piper J-3C-65 Cub
Robinson R-22 Beta II

In some missions, extra AI aircraft are included but aren't really included in Free Flight. These aircraft include:

TBM Avenger ghost planes of Flight 19 - from Lost in the Triangle
Boeing 787-9 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Ekranoplan - from Aleutian Cargo Run & Tokyo Executive Transport
Airbus A380-800 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Boeing 747-8 - from Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Antonov AN-225 - from Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight, Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde - from Loopy Larry & Jet Truck Drag Race
Two variations of UFOs - flying saucer and black triangular UFO on skids - both from Secret Shuttle
Parked space shuttle - in Free Flight at Edwards Air Force Base
Variations of military jets and helicopters - different types from Tutorial 1: First Take-off, Tutorial 11: Helicopter Maneuvers 1, Flour Power, Loopy Larry, Jet Truck Drag Race, Civil Air Patrol Search, Africa Relief and Catalina Day Spa
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - from Tutorial 1: First Take-off
Boeing B-52H Stratofortress - from Tutorial 1: First Take-off

Missions and rewards
Olds ambassador trumpet serial numbers. The inclusion of Missions adds a new facet to the simulation, adding task oriented goals, and encouraging users to fly worldwide, rather than just from their home field. Although a similar concept was available in previous versions, the new implementation of multipath & event oriented situations substantially extends the potential for user interaction.

Pilots earn Rewards for completing various missions, and reaching specific accomplishments throughout the game, (in 'Free Flight'). Some of the rewards exist as hidden 'easter eggs' to be discovered by pilots. Some missions have multiple and hidden rewards, receipt being dependent on performing additional actions.

Some hidden rewards include:

Earning a postcard for spotting an item of interest.
Earning a badge for landing at a special airport i.e., highest, most remote, lowest.
Earning a reward for completing a challenge not associated with a mission.
Earning a trophy for landing a number of times or the number of airports landed at.
In each mission description, a map is included with it. It notes that they are for entertainment purposes. The maps and charts are supplied by Jeppesen

Microsoft released their first expansion pack for Flight Simulator in years, called Flight Simulator X: Acceleration, to the US market on Oct 23, 2007 rated E+10, and released to the Australian market on Nov 1, 2007 rated G. Acceleration introduces new features, including multiplayer air racing, new missions, and three all-new aircraft, the F/A-18A Hornet, EH-101 helicopter and the P-51 Mustang. Unfortunately, in many product reviews, users complained of multiple bugs in the initial release of the pack. Update windows xp sp3 offline 2013 honda. One of the bugs, which occurs only in the Standard Edition of Flight Simulator X, is that the Maule Air Orion aircraft used in the mission has missing gauges and other problems, as it is a Deluxe Version-only aircraft.

The new scenery enhancements cover Berlin, Istanbul, Cape Canaveral and the Edwards Air Force Base, providing high accuracy both in the underlying photo texture (1m/pix) and in the detail given to the 3D objects.

Flight Simulator X: Acceleration takes advantage of Windows Vista as well as DirectX 10

Downloadable content
There are many downloads that both versions of Flight Simulator X can use, ranging from free aircraft and paint jobs to commercial, high-resolution scenery. They may change many aspects of the simulator, such as adjusting the visuals, gameplay, adding new features or content such as scenery objects and modifications. Numerous free downloads are available from community websites and the downloads include, but are not limited to:
Civil jets
Prop planes
Vintage planes
Ultralights and gliders
Military aircraft
New paint jobs for default aircraft
Concept (proposed future) aircraft
Add-on scenery
Miscellaneous items