ATC Simulator 2

GAME OBJECTIVE

ATCsimulator®2 allows you to take on the role as Approach or Departure controller at your choice of over 120 Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities of the United States National Airspace System (NAS), or TRACONs as they are more commonly called. Your goal is to allow for the safe and expeditious flow of air traffic. It is your job to assist the pilots arriving at airports inside your airspace boundaries by lining them up for an approach (preparing for a landing). It is also your job to assist pilots departing your airspace by handing them over to the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) controller at the appropriate time or fix location.

EQUIPMENT

ATCsimulator®2 was modeled after the ARTS-IIIa radar equipment used at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center(MMAC) in Oklahoma City, Radar Training Facility. All of the dials and switches are simulated with photorealistic quality, and perform all of the functions of their real-life counterpart. Whenever possible, the keyboard functions of the ARTS-IIIa terminal are accessed in the same manner as in real life. There are no fancy shortcuts or Windows GUI interfaces (that do not exist on real ARTS-IIIa equipment) as is found on other so-called simulations...you use the keyboard using the same keystrokes as Real controllers. And by the way, radarscopes are round, not square. Most other simulations available for the PC present their software using the entire screen, instead of simulating the actual look and feel of the real equipment. We strive to keep the simulation as true-to-life as possible, allowing for you to experience what real controllers experience on a daily basis. So don't be fooled by cheap inaccurate imitations.

CONTROLLING TRAFFIC

ATCsimulator®2 provides many methods to allow the safe and expeditious flow of air traffic. There are rules governing separation laterally and vertically. You can issue climb and descents, turns, speed changes, holding instructions, visual and instrument approach clearances. You have every command you need to accomplish your task, but HOW you use those commands is entirely up to you. It's not what you know, it's how well you USE what you know.

LIVE TRAFFIC with FLIGHT EXPLORER®

Once of the most unique features with ATCsimulator®2 is the ability to control LIVE TRAFFIC!! That's right, using Flight Explorer® in conjunction with ATCsimulator®2, you will truely experience what its like to work at some of the busiest approach control facilities in the world. This feature alone sets ATCsimulator®2 apart from any other air traffic simulation. By running Flight Explorer® in the background, and then starting ATCsimulator®2, you can choose to have the LIVE TRAFFIC!! fed straight to the simulator, providing you with the most realistic, heart-pounding experience! Click here for more information about Flight Explorer® and any special offer for ATCsimulator®2 customers.

CAREER ADVANCEMENT

One of your primary goals is to achieve a higher pay based on your job performance. In the real world, controllers are expected to do a good job. Failing to do that can sometimes result in deadly consequences. That's why air traffic control is one of the most stressful occupations in the world, and highly respected. So, the scoring mechanism is such that you begin with 100 points. Your goal is to maintain that and not lose points. Points are deducted from 100% for separation errors, procedural and others. If you can maintain an overall career average of 70% or better, you will attain pay raises. If you fall below that, you will be demoted. A complete report is given at the end of each scenario telling you how well you performed, any mistakes you made, and what reference material to review to help improve your controlling abilities. This material also includes references from the FAA Air Traffic Bible, the 7110.65x.

TRAFFIC GENERATION

ATCsimulator®2 will now allow you to generate traffic on the fly by letting you set the level of arrivals and/or departures that you wish to challenge yourself. Or, you can still select from over 100,000 stored flights that were captured from real world FAA air traffic computer networks.

STRIP PRINTING

Another feature of ATCsimulator®2 is the ability to print flight strips while running a scenario. Whether it be a randomly generated scenario, or one of the stored scenarios captured from live FAA flight data, strip printing requires a simple checkbox selction. These strips are printed on your Windows compatible printer and print 10 to a page. The strips will only correspond with the active traffic in the scenario.

AIRPORT FILTERING

To add variety to the simulator, or to more closely emulate real world facilities, you can filter the airports at your TRACON to your liking. This will allow you to simulate exact controller positions as compared to the real world. Plus, this reduces the traffic load at each TRACON, making for much more manageable levels when going at it alone at Level 5 facilities. In addition to opening and closing airports, you can also open and close runways, and assign them for arrival, departure or both.

DATA SOURCES

The airspace and associated navigational data used in ATCsimulator® was obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Jeppesen. Geographic data was derived from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). Flight data was captured from the FAA computer network utilizing an application called Flight Explorer®. Only commercial and civilian traffic local to the area will appear at each TRACON. None of the traffic you will see is fabricated...it's REAL. As an extra bonus, we added a few video map displays that are the ACTUAL map used at the facility.

PILOT VOICES

During gameplay, you can choose either a synthetic pilot voice, or Real prerecorded concatenated Text-To-Speech voices. Using Microsoft's TTS technology, you can use the voices that come with the program, and you can also add your own voice using the tools of the Speech SDK mentioned in the next section. There is room for up to 100 voices that can be used with the program. Invite friends and family to join in on the fun and add their voice to the game!

RECORDING and PLAYBACK

ATCsimulator®2 now comes with a recording feature, and a player. This makes ATCsimulator®2 perfect for research and academic applications. A scenario can be recorded and then played back for analysis. The scenario player will allow playback in accelerated mode, as well as in reverse.

TWO MODES OF OPERATION

In addition to the standard ARTS simulation, you can also elect to control traffic using the latest direction in air traffic control, STARS mode, which is an acronym for Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System. This system is being used across the country to replace existing ARTS equipment as it fails. It is a computer driven system resembling that of a PC and utilizes the full screen display. ATCsimulator®2 will provide this display system as an alternative to the standard ARTS-IIIa console.

MAP PRINTING

To assist the controller, using our utility program, Mapmate(tm), you can print a custom map of any area included with the game. You can pick which elements you wish to be included in the printout, and print it to your Windows system printer.

ATC-SDK (Sector Design Kit)

Although the sim comes equipped with 120 terminal areas, maybe there is a special area that you would like to control? Now, our in-house design tool is included with the ATCsimulator®2 package and will allow you to create the area of your dreams. It will also allow you to edit/update any of the existing areas as the need arises. Note: Advanced skills using other graphic application software is expected, and advanced knowledge of navigation elements is also required.

Speech Recognition Technology

ATCsimulator® was designed to allow the user to experience the ultimate in air traffic control simulation...using your voice to control traffic. We have written grammar files that are compatible with Microsoft's Speech API 4.0a and have provided them with the simulation as a courtesy. But, speech recognition is a technology that is still in its infancy, and some effort by the user is required to achieve maximum performance with this technology. Microsoft provides a Speech SDK that can be downloaded free of charge. This SDK provides a variety of tools for customizing the speech recognition engine for speech-enabled applications.