Send your ideas for next VATSIM project

Towards that end, we have recently decided to explore setting up an informal VATSIM development group to pool resources and work on larger projects together. Until now, most VATSIM software projects have been the product of one- or two-person teams. These individuals have put in great effort and we should all be extremely grateful for their hard work - it simply has made VATSIM as good as it is today.

Several new project opportunities exist, however, that would be more suited to a larger team of developers. While adding more people to a project is rarely an all-in-one solution, we do feel that it’s worth experimenting with team-based development on some new projects.

As a first step in this initiative, we’d like to invite input from any VATSIM member who would care to send it regarding what they would like to see VATSIM developers spending their time on. Anything is fair game for suggestions at this point. These suggestions will be evaluated for feasibility and “return on investment.” (I.e. if we spend X hours on project A or X hours on project B, which offers the greater benefit to the VATSIM community?)

Consider what your “ideal VATSIM” would look like, and what you think is missing from the current VATSIM feature set. Make a list of must-have features that you’d love to see added to the VATSIM experience. However, please don’t just send a terse list of random ideas … consider your suggestions carefully, and describe in a paragraph or two why you think VATSIM needs the features that you suggest. Explain how you feel your ideas will make VATSIM more realistic, easier to use, more engaging, etc. Due to the large number of suggestions we anticipate receiving, only those responses with an accompanying explanation will be considered by the team.

While everyone’s input is welcome, please understand that suggesting something does not automatically mean it will be implemented. We will do our best to communicate regularly with members regarding what’s upcoming, and what to expect from the future.

Please send your suggestions, ideas, and feedback to bluesky@vatsim.net and include your full name & VATSIM ID in the message. This email address is set up to forward your messages to both myself (Ross Carlson) and Tim Krajcar, author of VATAware. Tim will be reviewing your submissions, with help from me, and he will also be heavily involved in many of the VATSIM development projects that emerge as a result of this initiative.

We are looking forward to your input. Thanks for helping make VATSIM better.