by tdammers » Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:08 am
Just to clarify a few things wrt VATSIM here:
1. FlightGear works on VATSIM. The "Swift" client that makes this possible is fairly new, and not entirely mature, but it's good enough, and IME, controllers don't have a particularly hard time dealing with FG users as long as they play by the rules just like everyone else.
2. VATSIM, by necessity, is a multi-simulator environment, which means that not everyone has the same terrain data, scenery, navaids, charts, etc.; this is a problem that requires special attention, but it is not unique to FG, the VATSIM community is aware of it, and has developed some strategies and rules to mitigate this. If you're going to fly in some airspace on VATSIM, you are expected to look up the charts that controllers will be using, and make sure your simulator setup has all the navaids, fixes, and FMS data you need to fly by them. Navigraph data is the most convenient way of getting up-to-date data into FG, but I've successfully flown on VATSIM without. You just have to do a bit of extra work to get the information from the charts into your FMS. You can also do VFR on VATSIM, which you can do with charts alone, no navaid/fix data required whatsoever.
3. VATSIM has vastly more users than FG MP, and that's not comparing apples and oranges, because those are all users you actually get to interact with when you're flying online. As we speak, there are 22 users online on FG MP, compared to 53 ATC and 379 pilots on VATSIM. Even if we correct the VATSIM numbers for the fact that almost half of those ATC are ATIS services, we still get about 400 humans on VATSIM, almost 20x more than on FG MP. As far as the flying experience goes, it doesn't matter at all that the majority of those VATSIM users are using "not FG" to connect to the network; you still get to interact with them just the same. Additionally, the majority of those VATSIM users use voice communications; "no voice" is the exception, not the rule, on VATSIM, whereas on FG, voice comm has to be arranged explicitly. VATSIM is still a lot less busy that IRL airspace, but at least it's busy enough to require some amount of coordination and deconfliction around busy airports. Also, "handovers" are standard procedure on VATSIM, whereas on FG MP, they are something you will rarely seen done ever, except for the occasional planned event.
4. That said, the two *are* very different platforms, and depending on what it is you're after, one may be more suitable than the other. If you're looking for "full realism", fly VATSIM. They have rules in place, and violating them can get you kicked or banned. Which means that you can expect others to follow the rules, too; you get "full realism" because everyone else contributes to the experience just like you do. Of course that also means you can't just go out and do some wild experimenting on VATSIM - military flying is only allowed to the extent of things like ferry flights, cargo operations, etc., but not actual combat; you can't do simulated emergencies unless ATC allows it; you can't do stuff that you wouldn't be allowed to do IRL, generally, like demonstrate your ability to land a Twin Otter on a helipad, or fly a 777 into EDXH.