We’ve established a lengthy list of items that we intend to add to the next version of our Airport Madness series. There are some features that we are considering removing, and we are requesting feedback from those who have played Airport Madness 3.
Sounds are something that many casual gamers dislike. We are considering dropping the pilot voice feature. As well, the in-game music will be much softer and quieter than previous versions.
The first version of the Airport Madness series was released just over two years ago – December 29, 2008. It was our first non-radar air traffic control game, and quickly became popular on many game portals. On June 1, 2009 we launched Airport Madness 2, which offered players two airports instead of one, plus an improved control panel. It was a dramatic improvement over the first version, and made it onto Facebook a few months later. Airport Madness 3 arrived on June 30, 2010, offering a much larger resolution, new airports, improved graphics, pilot voices, additional aircraft commands, and lastly, emergencies.
I have blogged very little regarding Airport Madness 4. AM4 was intended to offer “3D rendering”, which would give players a visual perspective from the control tower, instead of playing the game while looking down at the airport from outer space. While this is a very cool idea, it’s an entirely different concept from the rest of the Airport Madness series. The 3D concept deserves a separate entity. “Tower Madness” is in the works for 2011, following the release of AM4.
AM4 will be a dramatic improvement over AM3, offering all of the special items that didn’t make it into AM3, including a much broader choice of airports. Perhaps the most common request that we receive is for additional airports and levels. Here is a list of proposed improvements we hope to offer in Airport Madness 4:
As an aside from our air traffic control games, here are some interesting Christmas Eve stats for our game Santa’s Landing. Santa’s Landing has never been one of our strong performers, but it was certainly fun to make, and I feel proud of it at Christmas. I find it very interesting how each Christmas Eve this game rises from obscurity and comes to life. You may have read my earlier blog about this game. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone, from us at Big Fat Simulations!
Here is a clip of an emergency that occurs in Airport Madness 3. A tornado destroys a runway, a terminal building, and three jetliners. Airport Madness 3 can be purchased here.
I’ve received a number of emails from air traffic control game fans who really enjoy the musical piece from Airport Madness 3. I myself love this piece, although after testing and playing the game nearly one thousand times, I’ve begun using the game’s mute feature. In fact, muting is something that many game players do. Some prefer to listen to music of their own, while others want no distraction during game play.
When you develop a game, there are several ways to obtain music. If you are on a budget, there is royalty-free music everywhere, made by musicians trying to make a name for themselves. Some ask that their name be mentioned in the game credits. Others simply give it away. In my experience however, you get what you pay for. The truly decent music costs money, typically between $10 and $100 for a decent 45-second music loop.
Last April I went in search of music for Airport Madness 3 and immediately stumbled upon a piece from the air traffic control movie, “Pushing Tin”. Although the movie left something to be desired, the opening intro scene was fantastic. Anne Dudley’s “He Pushes Tin” sounds absolutely incredible when played with the sounds of jet aircraft arriving and departing. I would have used this song for AM3 if it were not for the excessive cost. I instead had a piece created specifically for AM3, with similar energy, that compliments the game nicely.
As we plan our future projects, music will likely exist only during the game intro, with perhaps only a quiet musical background beat during game play.
We have received a number of requests that our games be made available on the Android platform. It is our intention to bring our existing iPhone games to Android during the next few months.
Those of you with an iPhone or iPad can now try Airport Madness Challenge for free. Although the full version still cost $4.99 for six levels of action, a ‘lite’ version is now available from the App Store which offers two free levels. Additional levels can be purchased within the app for just $.99 each.
The high resolution of this app looks stunning on the iPad, although it plays well with iPhone and iPod Touch as well. Perhaps the greatest leap this app makes beyond Airport Madness Mobile is the multi-player function. Using Bluetooth you can play against any friend with an iPad, iPhone or iPod in either of two multiplayer modes: Tycoon Mode or Survival Mode. In Survival Mode it is a showdown to see who can last the longest without a midair collision. In Tycoon Mode your goal is to drive the opponent into bankruptcy.
As I type code for our upcoming air traffic control games, a question repeatedly comes to my mind. Can a computer manage real air traffic? Could we remove the human factor from radar screens everywhere, and let a computer make these decisions?
A computer is able to observe altitudes, speeds and headings, as well as flight plans. A computer is most certainly capable of broadcasting comprehendable air traffic control instructions to pilots. The coded algorithms required to make such decisions is not rocket science, either. In fact, many of our air traffic control games require some degree of ‘intelligence’ to detect and resolve traffic conflicts. In Airport Madness 3, airplanes see each other and make decisions regarding who should stop and who should go. In our radar game Air Traffic Controller, the system recognizes vertical and lateral losses of separation.
This technology already exists in parts of the world, although it’s focus is high-level enroute situations. How hard is it to change a pilot’s flight level, or give the occasional mach assignment? Passing traffic information would be very easy for a computer. Coordination with other sectors, even human ones, would be spot on. However, I am reminded of a drive I made recently through a remote area of Ontario, Canada. I encountered a complete road closure necessitating a backtrack and a complete reroute to my destination. My GPS (I don’t carry roadmaps) insisted that I get back on the highway in spite of the closure. I had absolutely no way of determining what other routes were available to me and finally had to pull over to get some human advice on how I would reach my destination.
Computers are great, but when the situation is anything but normal a human brain is needed. In air traffic control things are seldom ever normal, except perhaps in the high flight levels where aircraft cruise steadily and predictably. Where things can fall apart are the unusual circumstances, which happen so often in ATC that they become almost expected. Thunderstorm activity, icing, turbulence, emergencies, loss of radar, re-routes, flow control, and airborne holds to name just a few.
Another big reality is the lack of radar information that exists in the world. There is very little coverage out there. If you were to look at a map of the world that depicted areas of radar coverage, most of you would be surprised at how little there is. Granted, they are doing amazing and wonderful things with GPS these days, but at the moment there is very little radar, especially at lower altitudes and away from busy terminal areas. There is almost no radar information over the oceans. Computers make guesses, augmented by position reports from the pilots.
As a programmer, I can’t imagine the amount of code that would be required to detect and handle all of the possible situations that can unfold in the world of air traffic control. In risk of sounding naive, I think this technology is still quite a ways off.
An old classic. Bob Newhart doesn’t need profanity to make things funny. For those of you not familiar with Bob Newhart, he is a terrific comedian who had a major hit comedy show in the 70’s.
