AI at airfields

[stiz]

Just something i've been wondering about, as most of the AI packages seem to focus on the airliners, do you care if theres AI planes at airfields?

 

[kilo delta]

I mostly fly from small GA fields. Having traffic helps immensely with the realism factor. Without other airfield movements the sim would resemble something from 28 Days Later.

 

[expat]

I avoid the packages and prefer to have a few custom made flights of either GA or miliary (no commercial or tubes) at selected airports (including stationaryaircraft carriers with AFCADs) to give them some life and atmosphere. Downside for me is that cycling through to view even these few AI aircraft by hitting the A key usually causes severe texture loading lag and the blurries. I don't sense that others experience this problem.

 

[Dain Arns]

I mostly fly from small GA fields. Having traffic helps immensely with the realism factor. Without other airfield movements the sim would resemble something from 28 Days Later.

Definitely.
It bugged me today not seeing any AI at all trying out 'FLIGHT'.
In fact it was creepy like all those post-apocalyptic movies.

I have to have cars moving, little boats floating, planes going somewhere.

 

[falcon409]

Generally I avoid the bigger "Commercial" airports and tend to fly into the smaller GA airports, kind of in keeping with the airplanes I fly now. I like seeing GA movement in and around the airports and so I keep the Commercial Airline slider off and GA way up. Also, because my system is not as powerful as some, I keep ground traffic at the airports turned off as that really drags my system down. However I do enjoy the highway traffic and found that to be a major draw for me when FSX first came out, so I keep that at a medium slider setting at all times.:salute:

 

[fxsttcb]

Definitely.
It bugged me today not seeing any AI at all trying out 'FLIGHT'.
In fact it was creepy like all those post-apocalyptic movies.

I have to have cars moving, little boats floating, planes going somewhere.

Yessir! Flight's kinda lonely. Even worse no ATC to annoy.
In FSX, with the multitude of AI available, there is no reason why your sim should be barren of traffic, unless you like it that way.
I want 'em. Lots of 'em...Don

 

[Daube]

I go to "airliners" airports from time to time, and I have AI installed for them.
But I fly mainly between GA airfields, and the lack of AI traffic there is dissapointing. It was, for example, my only dissapointment with OrbX PNW, even though Bowermann gets some nice (but very limited) AI traffic, with C172s eventually crash-landing on the runway...

 

[mal998]

I like AI at every airport, Airports only exist for airplanes, right? So it makes sense to me to populate every airport with at least a few planes.

 

[big-mike]

I like AI at every airport, Airports only exist for airplanes, right? So it makes sense to me to populate every airport with at least a few planes.

+1!
Michael

 

[JAllen]

+1 big time!!

I stay away from the big airports but find myself flying around them. I wish to have AI at all including military bases. Feels really creepy when nothing is moving.

Jim

 

[Dave Torkington]

I've disabled most of the FSX default AI and added a heap of MAIW stuff plus my custom aircraft thanks to AIFP.

This thread got me thinking - does anyone know if there are any decent repaints for the default FSX heavies? I'd put my default AI back in service if I could see real world airlines in the Sim. :salute:

 

[SeanTK]

The more AI the better for me.

Examples of what I use:

--HTAI Cessna package for global GA coverage

--World of AI corporate Gulfstreams, Beechjets, King Airs, Cessna 400-series, for more global GA coverage

--World of AI airliner and cargo packages (ALL of them) for global airliner coverage

--Great New Zealand Light AI Project Redux (gnzlapre.zip @Flightsim.com) for New Zealand-wide general aviation and small airliner (like Sunair and Mountain Air) coverage.


I'll also use the MAIW Texture Replacer utility so I don't have solid prop disks on the propeller-driven aircraft.
http://www.interkultur.de/gossmann/...=0557752b172cc6af6fee6cf4c12a1bb0&dir=./Tools

 

[Victory103]

Same as SeanTK. My priority is military AI and I have been running all US based MAIW packs in FSX since I finally transition to it. I mostly fly military airframes, and like flying into a base and pretty much seeing the exact same aircraft on the ramp as I would expect real world.
All my WOAI packs include most of the major airlines and cargo. I also use many AIG flightplans/paints to add to the immersion, like real world, nice to sit on the fenceline and watch them come in.
Ultimate GA packs put tons of biz jets in and I highly recommend the HTAI Cessna payware.

I renamed the stock traffic.bgl from the get go and haven't seen them since. Most new flightplans keep GA out of the busy airports.

 

[FAC257]

I like seeing as much commercial and GA AI as possible.

For commercials I use the default FSX jets in as current as possible RW liveries. I also use the Coolsky MD-80 in the AI role for airlines that are actually still using them.

My AI GA fleet is 100% Carenado. I've only found one of theirs so far that doesn't work as an AI. It's a COG issue.

All of the above is programmed using the FSX Traffic ToolBox SDK to generate the AI Traffic file when I add in a new aircraft or want to regionalize the traffic.

For military traffic I keep that really simple by adding in an occasional CaptainSim C-130 flying to and from the few military airbases I frequent.

FAC

 

[Bjoern]

Recipe for busy skies:

- All WOAI packages w/ converted flight plans.
- GA AI models from Avsim w/ random, autogenerated via Markus runner's GA-Traffic

I'm not that into mil AI, but those who are, MAIW packs are a good icing on the cake.

 

[Felixthreeone]

As an AI junkie, it makes me feel really good to read this thread and see the poll results. I thought I was in the FSX minority of AI addicted simmers...but, apparently I am in very good company!!!

 

[Wing_Z]

Not being able to run AI the way I like it, was the biggest reason for not going to FSX, for me.

Matter of interest, how far along is FSX these days?
Can one run it on a one-step-off-bleeding-edge rig, with everything (and I mean everything, not just most things), maxxed at a big airport with say, 180 AI planes on the scope?
I'm not going there, so don't need convincing with inflated FPS claims, qualifications, and so on, just thought it might be interesting to hear how far the hardware has come in 5 years.

 

[Skyhawk_310R]

As an AI junkie, it makes me feel really good to read this thread and see the poll results. I thought I was in the FSX minority of AI addicted simmers...but, apparently I am in very good company!!!

I'm glad to see it also, given I am the MilViz creater of associated AI, airbase, and mission kits for our aircraft releases! Nice to know that most folks would like to see this stuff! Would have put me a whole lot out of business if the results were flipped! LOL!!

For me personally, it adds life to the world, reminding you that you are not flying a one-man Air Force, but rather are part of a larger team.

Ken

 

[Skyhawk_310R]

Not being able to run AI the way I like it, was the biggest reason for not going to FSX, for me.

Matter of interest, how far along is FSX these days?
Can one run it on a one-step-off-bleeding-edge rig, with everything (and I mean everything, not just most things), maxxed at a big airport with say, 180 AI planes on the scope?
I'm not going there, so don't need convincing with inflated FPS claims, qualifications, and so on, just thought it might be interesting to hear how far the hardware has come in 5 years.

Well, I test out the stuff I create on my rig, which when I purchased it two years ago was state of the art.

I find that when the numbers of AI aircraft get around 20 to 30, things slow down. But, AI developers are smart to create low res AI aircraft that most folks wouldn't want to fly as their own payware but viewed from the distance you'd normally see on the apron or runway (or in flight) they look fine and your framerates can stay firmly in the 25 FPS range, which is as much as the eye can discern as normal.

Ken

 

[Felixthreeone]

There is a reasonable threshold. Above that, performance starts to drop off...but, I also feel that above a certain percentage, the levels of AI are not realistic. So what I have done is strive for a level of AI that is populous, but not overdone. I run Ultimate traffic II at 70% for airliners, My fsx general aviation slider is at 40%, and my FSX airliner slider (which controls MAIW traffic) is at 51%. I have now, what I believe to be, a great balance of traffic levels and performance.

....Keep in mind, that every other slider in my FSX is at the highest setting, including scenery detail, autogen, water..I don't use bloom, however. And my anti-aliasing settings are REALLY high....I use 8XSQ+4XSGSS, all this in conjunction with REX and ASE. I could lower my settings here and there, and bump the AI levels higher....but, I am very happy with the amount I have now. So, really, I say try it and see. Different people have differing ideas of what is a 'realistic' AI level...and it never hurts to try it at different settings!