VATSIM Announces Velocity Release Date and Rollout Plan

VATSIM is pleased to announce that Velocity will release on 31 January, 2022 at 22:00 UTC.

Velocity raises the refresh rate of position updates for aircraft from once every five seconds to five times per second. VATSIM members will notice much smoother movement of other users’ aircraft, be able to pick out details as small as an aircraft’s nose dipping down when braking and be able to conduct formation flights with a precision not possible under our current infrastructure. Here is a preview video

Implementation of Velocity will require all VATSIM servers to be taken offline for a period of 30 – 45 minutes to apply the update.  VATSIM will communicate with members via our social media platforms and community discord when the servers are back online.

All VATSIM members must update their pilot clients to the newest version. These new versions will be released concurrently with Velocity and members are encouraged to utilize the network downtime to update their pilot clients.

vPilot users will be automatically prompted to update their clients the next time they open vPilot.

xPilot users must download the newest beta version from https://vats.im/xpilot and ensure both xPilot and xPlane are closed prior to updating. 

swift  users can download the latest version from https://vats.im/swift 

Failure to update your pilot client will result in inability to connect to VATSIM. You will receive an “Invalid Client Version” error message if you try to connect with an old version.

In 2021 we retired some pilot and air traffic control clients in preparation for Velocity. Through our development and testing cycle, we determined that xSquawkbox for xPlane will not be compatible with our new technology and must also be retired. xSquawkbox users will no longer be able to connect to VATSIM effective 31 January 2022 at 2200z and we encourage those users to change to xPilot or swift if they wish to continue to connect to VATSIM.

We thank the xSquawkbox team for their support of VATSIM over the years and apologize to xSqauawkbox users for the short notice of retirement of this client.

Outside of the fast position updates, Velocity brings some other changes to the VATSIM experience. These changes include better error messaging if you are unable to connect to the network.  For example, errors will detail if you are missing the P0 exam, have an inactive account, or an incorrect password. New registrations and reactivations will become instant as opposed to the current system where users must wait for next scheduled ratings sync with the VATSIM servers.

Note that at rollout, Velocity has little to no affect on ATC clients. The radar and flight plan processing functions in current ATC Clients (Euroscope, vat-sys, vERAM, vSTARS, and VRC) will continue to function both before and after the rollout with no changes needed.
 

Users who use virtual tower functionality utilizing a proxy server with vSTARS will need to update vSTARS. Virtual towers via a proxy server with Euroscope will not function until  a new version Euroscope is released.

Velocity does present some exciting opportunities for future features in our current and any future ATC clients!

The VATSIM Founders, Board of Governors, and Tech Teams thanks all the developers and beta testers who participated in the Velocity project. They would especially like to thank Mike, Ross, Justin and the Swift Team for their support in rolling out this update to the network.

Please join us in thanking these individuals and enjoy Velocity!