Flight simulator 2020

[Eric Fisher]

Really surprised there is nothing on this, especially with it being released now on Aug 18th. Does anyone know if MSFS will work with Vatsim and it's pilot clients? The only thing I have seen is it appears to be a MS proprietary online system. Nothing about Vatsim has ever been addressed by MS. Are we out of luck and having to stay with P3D?

[Ryan Austin]

There is a new SimConnect client coming out with it and the SDK for the sim and the client has been made available to developers. They are all under NDAs though, so that's about all we know.

[Andreas Fuchs]

We already had a thread about FS2020 and VATSIM clients, but the author seems to have deleted it now.

[Kirk Christie]

5 hours ago, Eric Fisher said:

Nothing about Vatsim has ever been addressed by MS

Why would they? VATSIM and MS have nothing to do with each other. MS are marketing their own multiplayer systems within their own game, why would they talk about other platforms that would potentially take their users away from their own systems. I don't think I have ever seen any talk about VATSIM in any release of any FS version since VATSIM was founded from MS of LM. 

When it comes to making VATSIM work with flight simulator, that has always been achieved by people involved with VATSIM, not MS.
 

[Eric Fisher]

7 hours ago, Ryan Austin said:

There is a new SimConnect client coming out with it and the SDK for the sim and the client has been made available to developers. They are all under NDAs though, so that's about all we know.

Well, hopefully Ross was part of that for vPilot.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

I'm speaking speculatively here, but, I would expect a VATSIM-compatible client for MSFS's new version would be made available not long after the product's official release. 

[Gabriel Adei]

With the plan release of flight simulator 2020 on August 18, 2020, I wanted to know if Vatsim did work with the Asobo designers of the new simulator or what the plans are for Vatsim regarding this new simulator.

[Tomas Hansson]

 

[Sean Harrison]

Really hoping so.

[Garry Morrison]

So, is there someone at Vatsim I (we) could take this concern to?

[Andreas Fuchs]

No, what for? All VATSIM-clients are developed by regular members of VATSIM and are not under the control of staff.

[Garry Morrison]

Maybe someone from the top will be interested to get the ball moving.

Are you planning to use MSFS2020 or stick to what you are using now?

[Andreas Fuchs]

22 minutes ago, Garry Morrison said:

Maybe someone from the top will be interested to get the ball moving.

What should they do? Advise developers that there's a new SIM coming? I think all DEVs are very well aware and would like to make their clients compatible with MSFS as soon as possible, but time and resources are limited for volunteers, so they will do it when they can. Maybe they are already done with the changes? I do not know.

By the way, the new SIM is not called "FS2020", but simply "Microsoft Flight Simulator".

So far I am using X-Plane 11 and I will most probably try out MSFS as soon as the "public beta phase" is finished and most critical bugs will have been removed and crucial functions will have been added. In other words: later this year.

Edited July 16, 2020 at 03:25 PM by Andreas Fuchs

[Garry Morrison]

Thank you for the reply. I've put the word out; so, I'll wait and see what happens.

Cheers!!!✈️

[Ross Carlson]

1 hour ago, Garry Morrison said:

Maybe someone from the top will be interested to get the ball moving.

Hi Garry,

I'm sure you don't think that VATSIM is blissfully unaware of the new sim or uninterested in getting users of the new sim flying on VATSIM as soon as possible. :D

I suggest you sit tight and wait for the official word.

[Brad Littlejohn]

Time for a bit of a history lesson, folks, and Ross, Harv, GSM, Richard, Lance, and anyone else out there at that time, correct me if I've missed anything.

Gonna take you back to 2000. VATSIM just started up from its predecessors (not going to get into that story), and at the time, all of the clients we had were for FS2000, as well as being backwards compatible with FS98. The reasoning for that was we were able to add in FSUPIC, which was a 3rd party API/tool that would work with FS98 and FS2K at that time to allow Squawkbox to work with FS98/FS2K to connect to VATSIM. and for voice? Roger Wilco (insert screaming here).

A year later, FS2K2 comes out (and then comes out again; this was the version that had the WTC, then was recalled and re-released without the WTC). New sim, new working parts, new features, etc. etc. And did we immediately jump to it? Was it immediately compatible with everything we already have? Of course not, not only did it have aesthetic changes, but quite a bit under the hood changed. So early adopters who thought that it was going to work and immediately dumped FS2K got a real "nice" wake-up call that just because it's new doesn't mean that it will immediately work. IIRC, it took another 2-3 months for FSUIPC and Squawkbox to come out with updates for everyone to migrate off it.. 

2 years later, FS2K4. This one had everything change under the hood. Again, early adopters got a wake up call. And if I remember right, we may have even had support for FSUIPC dropped with this release. We had multiple clients for this (Ross, wasn't the first version of vPilot available for FS2004?); voice was built-in, so no more Roger Wilco (insert angels singing here). But.... it took a good 3 months before all of these were ready, and amazingly enough most of this is still working today, as I run P3Dv5 and FS2004 on the same PC, with vPilot for P3D and Squawkbox for FS2004.

The point here? don't expect immediate compatibility for a new product when it hasn't been released en masse to everyone, especially if developers/testers are bound by NDA, nor can they answer that question. If there's anything we've learned over the past 25 years of flightsimming (yes, even for those going back to FS95), is that nothing will work perfectly or be compatible with what we have, right out of the box. You'll need at least 2-3 months time before all of the software we use is updated and stable before the latest/greatest can be used. So at least allow for that time. Come in with that expectation, and you won't be disappointed.

 

BL.

 

[Garry Morrison]

Great history lesson Brad.

And by the way, it is not my (our)  illusion that Vatsim should have a pilot client even before the new Microsoft Flight Simulator is release or even immediately after it's released. My intention was just to know what Vatsim was considering to do, since I (we) have not heard anything. 

Again, thank you for the history lesson and for the prompt reply.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

3 hours ago, Andreas Fuchs said:

By the way, the new SIM is not called "FS2020", but simply "Microsoft Flight Simulator".

And my name is Robert Madison Shearman, Jr.  But if people choose to call me "Rob" because it's easier than typing all of that out every time, and everyone seems to know who and/or what they mean, it doesn't seem like something everyone should make a fuss about -- particularly when "Microsoft Flight Simulator" could technically also refer to ten previous versions of the franchise.

[Ross Carlson]

2 hours ago, Brad Littlejohn said:

Ross, wasn't the first version of vPilot available for FS2004?

No, vPilot is heavily dependent on SimConnect, which didn't exist until FSX. You may be thinking of VRC, which worked with FS2004 for tower view. That was possible thanks to Joel giving me the relevant code from Squawkbox. I could not use that same code in vPilot because vPilot is developed on a different platform than VRC and Squawkbox. (.NET Framework versus C++)

[Andreas Fuchs]

2 hours ago, Robert Shearman Jr said:

because it's easier than typing all of that out every time

Sure, I just wanted to point out the official marketing name that Microsoft chose for this product. At this time, when I read something about "MSFS" or "MFS" I will know that it is about the latest release, because there were FS95, FS98, FS2000, FS2002, FS2004 and FSX before (incomplete list).

[Daniel Mckee]

FS2020 for me until they do the inevitable updates. By update I do not mean new sims i.e. FS9 to FSX, but I have read that all future developments will be (?) just called Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Edited July 17, 2020 at 04:38 AM by Daniel Mckee

[Robert Shearman Jr]

I mean, for me, it's a disambiguation.

Q: When will VATSIM have a Pilot Client available for Microsoft Flight Simulator?
A: it already does.

Q: When will VATSIM have a Pilot Client available for FS2020?
A: hopefully not long after its release on August 18th, 2020.

If anyone wants to continue to get uptight about me using "FS2020" to refer to what we all know is the new version of Microsoft Flight Simulator, then by all means, continue to get uptight about it,

 

Edited July 17, 2020 at 02:26 PM by Robert Shearman Jr

[Andreas Fuchs]

I apologize for trying to make you aware of the new branding of Microsoft... It's not my idea, it's just a fact, that's how M$ is doing it.

[Brant Marshall]

Let's keep the conversation constructive, please. Regardless of name, based off of the thread title I'm pretty sure everyone knows what you're talking about.

[Sean Harrison]

FSY works for me.

FSXX maybe.

FS20 also.

FS$$.