FS Traffic

As we edge closer to the highly anticipated release of our first Traffic product for Microsoft Flight Simulator, here is a further development update from the FS Traffic team.

We now have what we consider to be a solid build of FS Traffic, with all core features functional both in the simulator and in the external Traffic Control Centre app. We supplied a new build to our testing teams at the end of last week and we will be monitoring and acting on their feedback in the coming week or so. The main tasks going forward are predominantly fixing whatever bugs are raised as well as adding any final features that we feel will enhance the product further.

Since the last update, we have been busy adding custom effects and animations, meaning that our aircraft now have effects such as contrails and engine efflux, as well as animations such as flaps, thrust reversers and wheel rotation which all vary depending on the aircraft’s state. This work is on-going with more animations and effects due to be added prior to release.

All aircraft models and liveries from our initial specifications are now complete and further liveries are being added to the product as we endeavour to fill in as many gaps as we can. A small selection of screenshots showing some of the latest liveries are included here.

The team have also been investigating the effects that Sim Update 11 has had on the AI Traffic in MSFS. During testing we have noticed a sizeable number of improvements with the AI behaviour with this Sim Update, including improved taxi and take-off behaviour, however, there are also some areas where we have noticed new issues regarding AI capability in the sim. We are now investigating these areas and are working to try and overcome them. In the meantime, these issues have been reported to Asobo/Microsoft and we are hopeful further refinements to the AI traffic can be made in future MSFS updates.

So that's about everything for now, we hope you've enjoyed the update and like the accompanying screenshots.  Our aim now is to bring you further In Development content as we approach the release date. We plan to bring you some videos to demonstrate some of the best  features of FS Traffic so look out for those. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, make sure you check out this handy document where you can read about 14 Key Features of FS Traffic - Click here.

So as we enter the final stages of development on FS Traffic for MSFS, here’s a quick development update on the progress of the project. Over the past few months, the core features of the product have been taking shape. The beta testers are now hard at work completing flights and providing their ever-valuable feedback. The task of the development team has now shifted to bug fixing, as well as adding some new features requested from the testers.

Some of the new features include custom animations (flaps, reversers, etc) and custom effects (contrails, engine heat blur, exterior lighting, touchdown smoke, etc). The exterior lighting in particular has been customised so that colour, intensity, and location is accurate for each aircraft type.

We are also working hard on making FS Traffic as simple as possible to use. There are no complicated set ups required to see traffic. If you have FS Traffic installed and you load a flight in MSFS, you will see traffic. Simple as that.

All of our 41 aircraft models are now included, the vast majority of them also have their liveries completed. Of our initial allocation of liveries, our talented livery artists have now delivered the vast majority. There are only a handful left to deliver. Members of our development team also took time last week exploring airports around the world that we wouldn’t typically visit to ensure we have a good coverage of airlines from around the world. From our findings, we have commissioned further liveries to fill some “gaps” that we discovered. Once completed, the package will have more than 700 liveries. We have also commissioned some additional airliners to further expand the FS Traffic fleet and we will be bringing them to you in a future update, free of charge.

Finally, it’s worth highlighting that FS Traffic is now being developed and tested using the MSFS Sim Update 11 Beta. We have found that this has brought about a multitude of improvements with how Ai traffic behaves in the simulator. With the imminent full public release of Sim Update 11, we would like to delay going into the specifics about the Ai behaviour until we know for certain how the traffic behaves in the final release build.

We hope this update and the screenshots below help to give you a good feel for how FS Traffic can transform the airport scene in MSFS.

Here's the next development update for you covering FS Traffic

Last week saw an important milestone in the life of FS Traffic as we released the first beta build to our testing team. Other important changes made recently include the implementation of a new in-sim menu system designed to give you some control over your traffic options in real-time, and further improvements to the traffic generated at your arrival destination. We've also received flight plan data covering late June 2022 and we are busy integrating this into the program.

In the past few months we have had a team of artists helping paint our traffic fleet. To ensure global coverage we tasked them with creating over 700 liveries covering many different airlines. With 70% of the liveries now complete, the work is shifting from the twin engine narrow bodies to the widebodies and regional airliners. Alongside this we have also been setting up the external lighting and the interactive points which allow the ground services and jet bridges to connect to the AI aircraft

We aim to supply regular updates now as we edge closer to release. These images are of course WIP but are representative of where things stand currently. Enjoy the pics!

For over 20 years, Just Flight have been bringing your virtual airports and skies to life with A.I. traffic packages, and with this latest instalment in the series, Microsoft’s Flight Simulator will soon be 'as busy as it gets'.

As development progresses we plan to keep you up to date with new details and screenshots to demonstrate the progress.

Here's an initial set of shots showing some in-sim images and shots showing off the initial batch of models that have been completed.  All images are WIP at this stage. Texturing work on all the models is now well underway.

Please look out for future updates and remember to sign up for email notification upon release by using the 'Email me When Available button' on this page.