Just Flight’s FS Traffic on short final, promises better FPS than default AI

We’ve been reporting on the development of Just Flight’s FS Traffic for many months, seeing the project evolve and curiosity mounting in the community regarding this payware AI traffic solution for MSFS. After all this waiting, FS Traffic is now done and, according to Just Flight, about to be released at any time. To set some expectations and prepare users for the arrival of this new product, the development team shared this week a sneak peek into FS Traffic’s performance, along with a quick start guide to get simmers up to speed before the release.

There’s a lot that we know already about FS Traffic, from its key features to the aircraft models included on release day. One area that has simmers intrigued, however, is performance. How will FS Traffic compare with the default traffic system and other existing AI utilities like AIG and FSLTL? Surprisingly, considering the impressively-detailed aircraft models, it seems FS Traffic will run just fine. In fact, it should be lighter on your system than the stock AI!

That is, at least, Just Flight’s promise. They say “FS Traffic is one of the best performing traffic programs ever seen in a flight simulation“, which is a very bold statement, but they provide some data and screenshots to back that claim. With FS Traffic set at its default settings, the system runs with higher FPS when compared to the default MSFS live and offline traffic… and showing roughly twice the traffic!

Obviously, this comparison is helpful for those who are used to flying with the default MSFS traffic. FSLTL users, for example, continue to be left in the dark and will have to wait for the release to get a better understanding of how well FS Traffic runs compared to that freeware tool.

Published Quick Start Guide raises a few questions

Just Flight has also published a short video that demonstrates the quick and easy setup of FS Traffic. Installation will be an effortless affair and will require only a few parameters to be changed in the MSFS Traffic Settings. The interesting stuff comes a bit later. After selecting your departure airport and loading the simulator, you will have to input your destination airport in FS Traffic’s toolbar menu. This will ensure that you’ll find AI traffic once you arrive at your destination.

So, what happens if you don’t add a destination? What if you’re just wandering around with no purpose other than to enjoy an aimless VFR flight? Apparently, if no destination airport has been selected, FS Traffic will not load any airport traffic besides the departure airport. You will still see AI traffic in the departure airport and in the skies during flight and near whatever airport you’re looking to land on, but if FS Traffic does not know what airport that is (either by direct input in the toolbar menu or by auto-detection based on your filled flight plan), you won’t see any ground traffic wherever you land.

This system may be a strategy to improve performance in the sim, but it seems a bit rigid. However, the full mechanics are yet to be revealed and this is only an initial impression that we can gather from the information provided so far. But what are your thoughts? Is Just Flight up to something with the impressive performance promise and detailed AI models? Or will existing freeware solutions be enough for most users?

FS Traffic should be out at any moment for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Stay tuned!