What Would You Like To See From DCS Air Traffic Control?

I would like to not see

Enfield 2-2, hold position

Enfield 2-2, hold position

Enfield 2-2, hold position

Enfield 2-2, hold position

Enfield 2-2, hold position

Enfield 2-2, hold position

Just copy BMS 1:1

• AI Aircraft need to participate in the system. If you're the only one being controlled, it doesn't matter.

• Taxiway signs on all airports, and then actual taxi instructions.

• ATC that understand the traffic pattern and overhead break / options

Not related to ATC specifically:

The AI can't land normally if there's more than 2 aircraft trying to land. They do that stupid hold at 1500ft, 5 miles in front of the runway and then only one will leave the hold at a time to start a long final. It's ridiculous and ruins any sense of immersion. It makes populating airports like Dubai actually physically impossible because you just end up with 20 aircraft sitting in a hold pattern.

To not abort my takeoff immediately after clearing me. Every single time.

Anything at all at this point lmao. I can’t even remember when they said they started working on new ATC system but it’s definetly pre-2020.

Other people have mentioned it, but BMS sets a pretty good example for a core list of requirements:

1. Separate Ground Channel: ATC actually maintains a departure list and gives taxiway instructions.

2. Tower Channel: Gives takeoff and landing clearance.

3. Arrival and Departure Channels: ATC gives a departure heading, and instructs aircraft on holding patterns and clearance for approach.

Anything. Hell, even the MSFS ATC is an upgrade at this point.

TLDR: See Falcon BMS, basically does everything desired.

I'd like to see:

• The AI interacting with the ATC and obeying its instructions.
• The different services separated by frequency, where applicable, as they are IRL (and aerdromes that aren't controlled IRL should have that be reflected in DCS, though it might be worth having ATC units that can provide some functions - we already have one for REDFOR)
• The ATC managing the airspace within a certain radius around their aerodrome, ensure that aircraft are appropriately spaced out and deconflicted.
• The ATC managing taxiing aircraft such that aircraft takeoff at the appropriate time. They should also tell aircraft to hold short or to expedite their departure when necessary.
• The ATC providing taxi instructions.
• The ATC supporting parallel runways.
• The ATC and AI supporting formation takeoffs and landings (the AI currently only support formation takeoffs when starting from the runway AFAIK)
• The ATC supporting multiple approach types (i.e. straight in, overhead, VFR, instrument etc). EDIT: On a somewhat related note, it should also support touch and goes.
• The ATC being able to fully vector you during the approach, where applicable.
• The ATC supporting precision approach radar approaches, if PAR equipment present.
• The ATC supporting contingencies/emergencies (such as interrupting the landing schedule to give priority to an aircraft who needs to land).
• There being multiple voice actors for the ATC.

That anything implemented applies to how AI use it. Talking on the radio, following landing patterns, ect. However the most important thing will just be re-enabling AI to use the base at any point and actual logic behind it. Right now if an AI just landed and another wants to take off, the AI set to takeoff has to wait for the landed AI to taxi all the way back to its parking location before it can move. Doesn't matter if the paths never intersect, it simply will not move until then. Same applies in the reverse, AI won't land if another is taxiing to the runway to take off. This causes massive problems with throughput and is why you don't often see AI share bases with players, especially in MP.

For the system to use multiple runways and for preferences to be configured. Even if it's as simple as one for takeoff and another for landing. Currently if a base has multiple, especially parallel, runways then the game will always use one over another. This is annoying at a base like Cairo West on Sinai where the default runway to takeoff northward requires aircraft to back taxi down the runway. Instead of you know using the other runway that is closer to 90% of the spawns and requires no back taxiing.

A rewrite and options for the "auto" parking location for AI. The current logic favors parking as far from the runway exit as possible. As one would imagine this causes issues with the aforementioned fact that AI won't try to takeoff while another is going back to its parking spot.

So yeah... Things tied to AI and base throughput is the gist of my answer. Both of which directly relate to immersion that the game currently lacks.

Literally anything.

Actual traffic control like in bms.

The most basic desire is the ability to keep an airport working. No more having two flights meet at a taxiway and then freeze forever. Also allow flights to assemble on runways before takeoff, this is a necessity for smaller airports where the AI taxis on the runway. ATC should also communicate more. If the runways has been bombed tell us. If there is traffic about, tell us. If there is a specific route to use to get to the runway tell us so we don't have to guess.

Use actual ATC phraseology 

The AI not landing on me would be pretty wizard

Honestly, ATC is at the very bottom of the list I want improved in DCS. Way after AI and dynamic campaigns.

Controlled separation. Making "cool words" doesn't mean anything if it's not actually doing the thing that ATC does: separate traffic. Just like their JTAC, lots of cool words, no thinking.

It working

Standard phraseology...and it's all available online in public orders through the FAA and ICAO. All the op comms you can reach out to aircrew and pilot forums for stuff like CAS and CFF.

Controlled separation. Making "cool words" doesn't mean anything if it's not actually doing the thing that ATC does: separate traffic. Just like their JTAC, lots of cool words, no thinking.

TBH the only good ATC is a human one. I've flown on servers with fully manned ATC and GCI - was so good.

In addition to all the rest of the good points here on my wishlist for an AI ATC improvement program is an option to trigger a "player expedite" subroutine which prioritizes and optimizes all current plans to get the player to a runway and off the ground as quickly as possible.

As close to RL airfield procedures as possible, from cold start to traffic control zone departure. I set myself up years ago when I said I'd pay folding money for characters on my carrier able to align me on the catapults so i didn't have to go to F2 and lo and behold...ED gave me SC. So, I'll do it again, with a caveat:

I'd pay folding money for a COMPLETE air traffic control system.

Different channels for Active and Taxi. Proper routing from runway to re-arming and back again.

AI ATC getting mad at you if you ignore it, or AirForceProud95 doing the voice acting for it.

BMS like or better!

Arc doesn’t even work for me especially on enigma. Doesn’t even respond

Replica or better of ground pounders atc feature

Please who are we kidding. I guess I’ll play along. How about something that is actually released and finished

As someone who is a pilot in real life, I want different channels for clearance, ground, tower, departure, etc. BMS is alright, but the overly robotic voice breaks the immersion for me. So, it would be nice to have actually good-sounding ATC too.

I want to see tower AI… I mean communications not limited to a certain selection or anything.

That would be a real usecase not like the useless shit we see in the media.

I would like to see it actually work

I want a number at ED I have to call after I break the traffic pattern in a dangerous way, so they can deactivate my account for 6 months while an ‘investigation’ takes place. For the immersion.

Nothing. There’s too much other shit needing fixing for me to worry about ATC at all.

How hard would it be to have ai voice recognition so you can speak to the ai ATC?

Annoyed when we buzzed the tower

It should, at a minimum, excel BMS's.

Yes. Please I would like to see DCS air traffic control.

Working on getting you guys a 3rd party (free) solution. I'm hoping to release some videos this month.

I'd like to turn it off completely and begin with proper ai sequencing in patterns, including using multiple runways at the same time, and api that reports runways in use, taxi sequences that fix backtrack collisions, parking destinations that aren't always at the opposite side of the airfield, parking ids synching with map name parking spots, ai spawning control that fills from the nearest spots the runway, bring back specific ai spawning parking like it used to be, a full shakedown review of all terminal size to plane sizes because there's way too many broken oversized planes stuck in small hangars, direction to a parking spot you had (the sim remembers where you came from but let's you go anywhere) a full review of airfields that can't handle the C130 because it can't be used in way too many maps. That's otoh, if I really thought about it, there's a lot more api stuff and radio limitations and beacon omissions, features such as PCL would be nice rather than being forced to shout inbound. Then, and only then, would I allow ATC to talk and fix the bugs, everything else is cart before the horse.

If anyone wants to cure some of the sequencing problems, add voices and custom traffic holds then the Flightcontrol class of moose does this well enough that I can run 8 hours of busy ai on a server without a collision or build up. 4 lines of code is not for everyone, but if you can operate an F16 then it's within reach for everyone here.

Something like the implementation in Microsoft Flight Simulator. It doesn’t have to be by the book perfect, but it should be comprehensive.

I’d also like more active ground ATC, with taxi directions and clearances.

In general though, ATC should be there to avoid conflicts between aircraft in the pattern, instead it just acts like ambiance and doesn’t actually control traffic.

To add something that I havent already seen in the comments, voice recognition. Voice recognition and AI is good enough now that I want an ATC that I can talk in a mic to, not press number keys.

Having seperate ground, tower, departure, approach channels would probably make this easier on the system also, as you could segment and reduce the possible requests / responses per ATC freq.

Also how hard would a working ATIS be that gives the correct runway and weather info?

I don’t know why sometimes when I land on other airports ATC doesn’t respond