Xref: utzoo rec.aviation:22223 rec.games.misc:8371 comp.sys.mac:49064 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!walt.cc.utexas.edu!rdd From: rdd@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) Newsgroups: rec.aviation,rec.games.misc,comp.sys.mac Subject: Review of TRACON for the Macintosh. Message-ID: <24834@ut-emx.UUCP> Date: 21 Feb 90 01:50:14 GMT Sender: news@ut-emx.UUCP Reply-To: rdd@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) Distribution: usa Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas Lines: 113 TRACON is an air traffic control simulator, originally designed by Robert Wesson, and implemented on the IBM PC. I am not familiar with the PC version; this review deals with Macintosh version 1.0 (just released). Essentially, the game makes the player a controller in a Terminal Radar Approach CONtrol facility. Five environments are provided by the program: Boston, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (the documentation claims other areas will be available). The user's task is to service the various requests of arriving, departing, and over-flight aircraft, hopefully without killing anyone. There have been at least two other ATC programs for the Mac. One was "ATC 1.0" (2.0, 3.0, and 4.0), which was a *very* basic video game. The last one I heard of was "Professional Air Traffic Control Simulator," by Don Shepherd. It had a relatively comprehensive set of features, but suffered from two basic problems: aircraft had to be vectored in cardinal directions (e.g., north, south, east, west, instead of compass headings), and the databases were more or less imaginary. It had a couple of features, how- ever, that TRACON could use. TRACON begins with a configuration menu. In it, the user selects the database to play in, weather conditions (from benign to turbulent), and pilot skill (from perfect to lousy). After entering desired characteristics, the computer builds the simulation, and starts the game. Within the game, a radar display dominates most of the screen. It can be configured to display a variety of static information: landscape (accurate), a compass rose, distance circles, and control-area, and whether to display the radar "sweep" hand. Various menu options exist to get more information about the environment, such as showing all checkpoints, airways, and airport names (and approach information). I find the white-background display in PATCS to be more readable than TRACON. I have not had an opportunity to play TRACON on a Mac II yet, but the documen- tation states that only certain advisory boxes appear in color. Five other windows display: a transcript of exchanges between ATC and aircraft; a list of pending flight-strips; a list of "active" flightstrips, the name of the database being played in, and the time elapsed for the simulator's time-frame. Every airplane is represented by an airplane symbol (which rotates to show direction of flight), and an associated control box (which shows aircraft ID number, altitude, and airspeed). To control aircraft, the aircraft's symbol (or data box) must be clicked in; it is then hilited. Various menu options let the user instruct it to perform one of five functions: changes in speed, direction (to individual degrees, e.g., 127), altitudes; and instructions to proceed to or hold directly at a specified waypoint. For arrivals, aircraft must be vectored to within given tolerances, usually +-300', within a couple of miles of an approache's final approach fix, pointed within thirty degrees of the runway centerline. Aircraft performance in the simulation is well done: the airplanes' flight characteristics are considered (a 767, for example, climbs much faster than a Piper Cub). The terrain covered during a turn is a function of speed, fast planes really move faster, etc. A menu function permits the user to find out what climb, cruise, and approach speeds are for a given target, as well as aircraft type, airline, and climb rates. The simulation itself is quite nice: it's fast (doesn't get bogged down with large numbers of airplanes) and smart (for instance, over-flights *never* have separation conflict problems). Elapsed time is normally real-time; however, it's possible to speed through the simulation by using the "step time" feature, which increments elapsed time by the interval it takes for one com- plete radar sweep. Scoring is a function of how many separation conflicts, missed approaches, forgotten hand-offs, etc. occur. There doesn't seem to be a penalty for not landing airplanes on their own schedule. Crashing an airplane terminates the game. TRACON 1.0 is, unfortunately, rather "rough." Many of the Mac-level features do not fully conform to the Macintosh User Interface Guidelines (for instance, the insertion point for the user's name doesn't blink, and lists don't scroll properly). There is at least one fatal bug, which definitely needs to be fixed (an ID=10 after clicking on an airplane after it's been handed off). I have a rather long list of other bugs/implementation problems for those who are interested (just send email), but, in general, can certainly recommend the game. It's pretty much the best ATC program out for the Mac. PATCS has many neat features, but TRACON is far more realistic. TRACON costs $50, and can be ordered from Wesson International, at 512-328-0100. It comes with a well-written, ~50-page manual (well-written), and an audio demo tape. For comparison, PATCS is worth looking into. It costs about half of what TRACON goes for, and can be ordered from: Advanced Simulation Systems Box 756 Huntingtown, MD 20639 I am not associated with either company. Note: this, and other simulator reviews (and the aforementioned bug list), can be found via anonymous ftp (login: anonymous, any password) on rascal.ics.utexas.edu (128.83.144.1), in the directory misc/av/+simulator-reviews. Robert Dorsett Internet: rdd@rascal.ics.utexas.edu UUCP: ...cs.utexas.edu!rascal.ics.utexas.edu!rdd