Radar Chaos: World Edition will be available in March! Details…
Radar Chaos: World Edition Sneak Peek
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Radar Chaos: World Edition Progress
Now that Backyard Brat is finished, it’s full steam ahead for our next air traffic control game, Radar Chaos: World Edition. This one is guaranteed to raise your anxiety level. Based on real-world airports this time, RC3 will offer five difference airspaces, like Los Angeles shown below. The simulation will be based on the game engine from the very first Radar Chaos, but with improved graphics. The airspaces will contain real-world airport details, tailored to promote the likelihood of midair conflict. “Challenge” is our goal in this version.
The unofficial list of airport sectors included in Radar Chaos: World Edition are:
- Los Angeles International
- Las Vegas McCarran
- Hong Kong
- London Heathrow
- Memphis
A Word On Realism
Those of you who have played the first and second versions of Radar Chaos may have noticed a large difference in the level of realism between the two. The first edition was entirely fictitious. The airports came straight out of our imagination, custom-designed to be challenging and fun. The second edition was based on the Hawaiian Islands and was highly realistic, right down to the aircraft types for each airline. Radar Chaos: Hawaii Edition had real-world SIDs and STARs, too.
Unfortunately, adding realism does not necessarily add ”fun” to such games. In fact, the first version is still our favorite of the two. We’ve received a few emails already, asking why the third edition of Radar Chaos is taking a step backwards in terms of realism. We’re receiving the usual feedback, like “How come you aren’t using real-world STARs? Los Angeles arrivals should cross MERMA at 14,000 feet on the LEENA STAR, Fillmore Transition”.
I don’t know how to say this, but “real-world ATC” isn’t always fun. If you are looking for a fun air traffic control game that’s highly realistic, you may not find one. I love the idea of basing my games on real-world locations. However, the routes and procedures will be at our discretion, with words like “fun” and “challenging” in mind.
The maps will be fairly realistic, but not spot on. Take LAX, for example. The range is inaccurate. Burbank airport and Los Angeles International are actually much farther apart. But how much fun would that be? So we’ve lied here and there, in an effort to make midair conflicts happen more often. I think you’ll like it. It’ll be a fun game, I promise.
We really do value your feedback and ideas! As always, we can be reached at support@bigfatsimulations.com. We never sleep, so feel free to send us your thoughts, 24/7.
Backyard Brat iOS Now Available
I’m always amazed at how long it takes to build a simple game. Back in July I had this idea for a helicopter game that involved dropping objects on others, and creating havoc. Seemed simple enough. How long could that possibly take to whip together? A month? Seven months later, I proudly offer you Backyard Brat for iOS. Well, proud may be too strong a word. Let me rephrase that and say that I gladly bring you Backard Brat for iOS.
There’s so much competition out there, these days. They say (and it MUST be true if THEY said it) that it costs a million dollars to build a decent app nowadays. 500k for development, plus another 500k to promote the finished product. I am thankful of the fact that the expenses came in well below that.
There is so much that you get from even the free apps out there right now. My daughter is obsessed with a game called Clumsy Ninja right now. Awesome graphics, fun gameplay, not too pushy for your money. I must remind myself that I’m not a team of 20 with a million dollar budget. I’m the guy you see at Starbucks, sitting in the corner with his Macbook Pro.
As I’ve said before, I love building air traffic control games. Air traffic control is my day job. I have no plans to ever stop building Airport Madness or Radar Chaos. But I have to try new things at least occasionally. Like I did with Office Jerk 3 years ago. This new game is similar to Office Jerk in how it allows us to be the troublemaker, in the consequence-free environment of our mobile device. I’ve mentioned that this game is an experiment, and if it’s a hit, there will be more such games. If not, I maintain focus on the air traffic control stuff.
I hope you will give this game a try. Tell your friends. Let me know if you have suggestions or ideas for it. Be on the lookout for a Flash-based version of the game very soon.
Backyard Brat Teaser Video
I’m hard at work on my latest application, Backyard Brat, an all-ages flying game for iPhone, iPad, PC and Mac. I truly hope to deliver this to you by mid-January. The initial release will have 25 levels, with more to be added later.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Backyard Brat is an experiment. If it is well received, there will be more such games! Enjoy!
Fun and Games
My next mobile app, “Backyard Brat”, is in development for a January release. As much as I love building air traffic control games, it’s important that I continually experiment with new game ideas. And 
despite the app store already being chock-full of silly games, I plan to submit some of mine anyway. However, I am most certainly not planning to ever stop making air traffic control games.
Backyard Brat is an experiment. It is the first of what will hopefully be a series of fun flying games. If the experiment goes well, you will definitely see more. The concept stems from an older idea I’d wanted to develop, which was an actual flight simulation. I’ve been playing with flight simulators such as Microsoft Flight Simulator and XPlane for years, but I’ve been thinking about everything that is wrong with them. And here it is: computer flight simulation is boring. And after 25 years of creating flight simulations, Microsoft has figured this out. That’s why they have changed their name Flight Simulator to, simply, Flight. Oh, and they have tossed in some challenges and missions for us. The problem is, these challenges and missions lack fun. Find the daily aerocache? What the heck is an aerocache? I can’t find the definition online anywhere.
It’s really hard for beginners to fly these things, too. I think most people just want to be entertained by their games, not dazzled by how real they seem. I am a seasoned real-world pilot and I have a heck of a time landing Microsoft’s RV6 aircraft at Hana Airport in Maui. It is very dependent on how good your joystick is, and what kind of video card you have under the hood. If you have a laptop like I do, attempting a landing is a truly brutal experience. Why even make a game like this? We should all give up trying to make a computer feel like a real airplane. It’s never going to happen. Concentrate on the experience itself. Leave control realism out of it. Even my real-world pilot friends don’t give a duck about control realism in their computer simulations.
What users want is entertainment. These companies should make flight handling a no-brainer, but intensify the challenges. Why make a game about how one must attempt to land on a very small runway? That’s dull. Make a game about how one must land on a small dirt field, in an aircraft that’s loaded with illegal cargo, while being chased by a pair of Military Black Hawks. I’d pay money for that. When you add a little story to the flight experience, it becomes a fun game.
Most flight simulators lack story. There is no fun in these games. And fun must be baked in, not bolted on afterwards. Simulators are difficult for most people to play, so the market is small. Plus, they require a great deal of time and money to make, due to the requirement for 3D rendering.
I envision the ultimate flight simulation as having a little ‘Grand Theft Auto’ to it. It needs attitude. It needs story. You don’t just fly your helicopter through the friendly skies. No. You bust your friend out of prison with it. You fly an illegal midnight cross-border cargo run. You rescue helpless children from the apocalypse. I have fifty more of these ideas that I’m dying to create for you.
So we must first make our craft a helicopter, not a traditional aircraft. Flying a traditional aircraft on a computer is boring. You takeoff, then float around aimlessly, without any further ground interaction. Helicopters, on the other hand, can land on anything. They can land anywhere. A chopper opens up the possibilities for fun.
I want to make an easy-to-fly machine, with the wildest challenges you can imagine. I’m totally giving up on the thought of 3D rendered graphics, and will make mine a classic side-scroller. Development is faster, and game play is easier. Backyard Brat is a simple side-scroller helicopter game that’s innocent fun, for everyone. Hopefully it will find it’s market, and I can further develop these ideas.
November Update
One of the nice things about having a blog is that you can promise all kinds of stuff, and then not deliver. In my last blog, I promised details of my upcoming mobile game, and then didn’t give any. Lately, my blog posts have been getting shorter, and my Twitter posts longer. I wish there was something in between. Some way that I could communicate with fans, without the commitment of writing an entire blog post, fitted with grabbing images, such as this one (That’s one of me back in June, after releasing Airport Madness 5).
Does anyone here even follow me on Twitter? I’m making a shift in that direction. Seems easier, faster. I’m much more likely to Tweet, than to blog. You can follow me here on Twitter if you aren’t already. Tell your friends.
Anyway, back to the point of this blog post. My upcoming game! It’s called Backyard Brat. You are a kid with a remote control helicopter, up to absolutely no good, whatsoever. Here are a couple of brief video clips:
The game is nearly finished (which means it’ll never get done). All kidding aside, look for it in the App Stores this December!
What’s Happening at BFS
Before I start rambling, I’d like to give all of my customers a long overdue thank you for your business, support and feedback. It is you that keeps me banging away at the keyboard. I have no plans to ever stop doing so. I love air traffic control games, almost as much as I enjoy it in real life.
It’s been sort of quiet around here, I will admit. Summer has been a much needed break for me personally, and I feel rejuvenated from the rest, anxious to get going on the next big thing. So what is it? Our game pipeline has a new edition of Radar Chaos, as well as a sixth edition of Airport Madness. Both of these will be based on real-world airports. But before either of these come out, I am launching a whacky mobile game. It’s an idea that I’ve had kicking around in my head ever since releasing Office Jerk over two years ago. If it does really well, I have a few similar spin-offs to try as well. If it does not do well, then I roll up my sleeves and get to work on Radar Chaos.
I appreciate the incredible ideas that I receive from everyone. Suggestions like, “Dude, you should totally make a train control game!” are what keep my creative juices flowing, although I definitely have my work cut out for me already with Radar Chaos, Airport Madness, and mobile game experimentation.
Not much more I can really say just now. Stay tuned for screenshots and videos of my upcoming mobile game – I might even break my rule and leak the name to you later this week!
Interview on Clutch Gaming Podcast
There’s a new podcast called Clutch Gaming that discusses a variety of gaming topics, from the newest game releases to the hottest tech gadgets. They are three very funny gentlemen, who make the topic fun with their own brand of irreverent humor. In their first week, they achieved over 3000 downloads of their podcast on iTunes, and obtained more than 300 followers on Facebook in that same week. What’s really cool is that one of them is a real-world air traffic controller, like me. How neat is that? They stumbled upon me, while searching for air traffic control games for iPad.
Anyway, they were kind enough to ask me to speak on their podcast about my game development experiences. I gave my little talk, and they recorded it. Please enjoy my sultry voice, questionable game design principles, and repeated use of the word “um”.
Or not. The talk is 20 minutes long. You could probably more enjoyably spend your time doing, say, ANYTHING ELSE.
Enjoy!
AM6 Ideas
The creative juices are definitely flowing for Airport Madness 6. It will be called, Airport Madness: World Edition. Is it too soon to talk about? You aren’t going to see it until May 2014. You may be wondering if we ever plan to stop making new versions of Airport Madness. The answer? Never…. mwahahaha!
Don’t study this too long – it’s not a real-world airfield. AM6 will likely have simpler, more contrasty graphics.
In AM5, we decided to simplify, pulling out stuff that we felt would not be missed, in exchange for more levels – which was a great deal of work. In AM6, we will be adding in lots of bells and whistles. Yes, AM6 will have “more cowbell”, as they say. Did I mention that it’s going to be based on real-world airports? 🙂
Radar will go back in. In fact, there will be an option to play the entire game from the radar interface. Perhaps you tire of the landscape, and want to think purely about the aircraft themselves. Or perhaps you feel that having a large range of scope will give you an edge. We intend to borrow some of the code from Radar Chaos to drive the interface.
Voices – there will be at least 6 different voices. AM3 and AM4 lacked variety in this department.
Let there be night – we do intend to offer “night” versions for each of the six fields we offer. However, the bad weather feature is still up for debate. In AM4, I heard a lot of “this looks terrible”, and “frame rates are really bad during bad weather”, and “I can’t see the planes during bad weather”, and “Hey, how do I turn off that annoying weather feature?”.
Oh, and my favorite: “Can I have your game for free?”. Oh, brother. Just grab it off Pirate Bay already! Having said that, I sincerely appreciate everyone who has ever sent us their hard-earned money. It is YOU that keeps me doing what I do – banging away at my keyboard until a new game pops out.
The cool thing that AM6 will bring to the series is (finally) the ability to assign departure runways. Yes, it’s going to be a free-for-all. Go right ahead and create unresolvable nose-to-nose conflicts on the taxiways. I promise to add a “Return To Start Point” button.
Challenges – I think rather than playing one airfield for eternity, we will instead add two items to the top of the page. One is a stopwatch and the other is an airplane counter. Move 100 planes as fast as you can. The faster you move them, the faster they come. We will probably toss in some Facebook functionality, so you can show off to your friends.
With Radar Chaos: Hawaii Edition, we did a great deal of research into real-world procedures and routes. AM6 won’t do that. In San Francisco, there will be simultaneous runway ops like they do in real life, but not necessarily using the preferred runways and routes. So you can go right ahead and drive your Airbus 380s over downtown. It’s your airport.
What does everyone think of Las Vegas for an airfield? I’m considering the following list of fields:
- Heathrow
- San Francisco
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles
- JFK
- O’Hare
The cement is still very wet, so now is the time to get your thoughts in. Believe it or not, I really do read all of my emails from you. Sometimes, I’m not good at responding. There are only so many hours in the day and, well, it cuts into my TV time.
Our Company
Years ago, before I started building games for the web, I had aspirations of becoming a professional website designer. Remember back when people would make websites for themselves? Then they would brag to their friends, “Hey, check out my awesome website. I built it myself. It has pictures and links all over it.”. In 2004, I was busy building crummy websites for others. I was completely self-taught from an extensive personal library of “For Dummies” books, but aside from that knowledge, I really had no idea what I was doing.
Anyone remember our 2008 website header?
A friend once suggested that I not refer to my web design company as “I” or “me”. Rather, he suggested I use the terms “we” and “us”. He didn’t want me to appear as “some dude in a basement with his laptop”, but rather, a large corporation occupying a 26-story building in downtown San Francisco. There is definitely merit to that suggestion. However, with game development things work a bit differently.
I hope you aren’t expecting me to answer emails at 3:25 in the morning.
As an “Indie Game Developer”, I compete with some huge app development companies. It’s become darn near impossible for an indie game to make it into the top ten games on the App Store. If I sell my games under the guise of a large corporation, people expect to have a certain experience. They expect Angry Birds for a buck. Since I charge 10 times that for my air traffic control games, I like people to know what they are getting, and who they are getting it from. I like to use the “I” and “me” words in my blog.
Niche markets like air traffic control games are difficult for large companies to profit from. If a large company builds an air traffic control game that is only going to appeal to 5% of all gamers worldwide, they aren’t going to sell enough copies to cover their costs. I think that’s where indies like me have a huge opportunity. We can keep the costs low. We can pause. We can change our minds, and make split decisions. No meetings required. No focus groups. That kind of agility does not exist in large game development firms.
If I sold my stuff for a buck, I’d go out of business!
Plus, indie games are considered sort of cool. No, it’s not some 99 cent app you are buying, but an air traffic control game, developed by a real-world air traffic controller. It’s unique. Kind of special. Very niche. When I get a complaint from a customer, I like them to know that it’s a human being on the other end – not some large corporation that couldn’t care less about the ten bucks you just spent.
No, I don’t employ anyone to answer phone calls 24/7. It’s just me. I did incorporate last year, to keep things neat and tidy. I’ve never been great when it comes to paperwork, or keeping track of business matters. Honestly, I should have a full-time accountant and bookkeeper following me around, cleaning up after my messes. They could share an office on the 25th floor.
I like to think my customer service is excellent. I do own a mobile device, and can usually answer your emails within a few minutes.