Global ATC Simulator

Bear in mind that this is a relative reccomendation... (I understand i dont have much time in this game. but since i bought it life happened) Its a real simulator (or at least as close as they could get without overcomplicating). That alone should give you some indication of how much enjoyment you will get out of it. If you like simulators then we are off to a good start. This is in no way a graphically gorgeous game its a simple interface with symbols and lines representing different things. on the map. And text that gives you info you need to know as sidebars. If you are okay with that, then thats another check on your checklist. The UI is both simple and complicated. It provides you with what you need but at the same time that can seem daunting. You have a decent amount of info in front of you. The way you interact with the game is through clicking on aircraft and giving commands through a simple interface. I do however recommend getting to know some of the hotkeys (found in the manual) Which leads me to the next point. This is not a game you will just be able to sit down and play like a pro straight away. You [b]will[/b] crash aircraft. You [b]will[/b] Pull your hair out at points wondering, shouting "what do i do? What is going on?". This game has a steep learning curve. It does provide a tutorial, or rather tutorials. But they will still leave you with questions. But my dear ATC prospects there is a tip i can provide you... Get the manual and print it off (its not too big). Have it next to you for a few games and refer to it often until you feel comfortable. And unless you are fast with a mouse, hotkeys are your friends. With all that said, would i recommend this game to anyone? Simple answer is no. Thats a no to anyone who just does not have the patience for micromanaging a lot of things at once. A no to anyone with little or no interest in aviation and ATC. This is one of those simulators that was not built with the casual gamer in mind (even though it can try to pass itself off like that at times) If however you are interested in aviation and ATC or you are someone who likes (serious) simulators. I would recommend it. It is definitely a niche game. But can be very satisfying. My own personal let down was a lack of being able to verbally command aircraft. Other than that i enjoyed what i played so far. The best point that can be made for this game, from my own experience looking for an ATC sim in the past, is this is a bargain for someone who may be an enthusiast. But has no need to buy a three figure sum simulator (that was a mouthful. Try saying that after a few drinks) meant for people who know thats the career they wish to follow and need in depth training. That is not to say this game is shallow. rather it just means that it provides an enjoyable ATC experience without bogging you down too much. I hope this helps anyone out there. And if you are looking at this at all something about this must have piqued your interest.

A bit of a short background, I'm a pilot myself with IFR training and NQ. I therefore know my way around approach and departure charts and their procedures. I did not 'play' this extensively yet, but this seems basic OOTB. It has an unfinished feel to me. Looked good in the screenshots, but I had a different expectation from this sim (maybe even more focus on the procedures and the combined communication with the planes. Maybe I need more time with it to actually be able to appreciate this sim. For most 'players' that would probably end up in a very big maybe (currently reflected in the already low recommendation score). Pros: Lots of airports. You would have to know the ICAO code (EHRD, EBAW, EHAM, LAX, PSP etc), but you can find them. Quite a bunch of arrivals. They seem to be setup and named after the real deal. Same with departures. Can maybe be quite flexible in setting up scenario's (did not dive into that fully). You can possibly get very close to a real departure or arrival as flown in the real world, if you know what you are doing. Cons: Seems to get boring quickly (land a plane, depart a plane). You need to know about procedures of the airport, seemingly you would need to have the charts yourself. Only for the extreme enthusiast, seems to be directed to a very select audience. I'm having doubts about the maneuvers from the simulated planes. Would a simulated plane ever say 'unable' or something similar? How about missed approaches? The strips with the procedure is quite often hard to read in my opinion. As a pilot, controller, or enthusiast that knows his way around STAR's and SID's, this has some use, but I still think this is limited. In its initial startup It feels very basic. In a way that I am/was actually thinking about refunding. I'm just not sure about its value and how many times I would start this sim up. I did got this when it was on sale though. It maybe would be nice if this could get connected with online players in a flightsim, but than you would end up towards something more like Vatsim (you would need actual people playing and talking through a headset for that, and a complete flightsim with it). If you could somehow introduce people 'controlling/flying' the planes with multiplayer, to 'train' the procedures, that seems like it could have an added value as well. In the most part I cannot currently recommend it (especially for most 'players'). Maybe my point of view changes for the better, when I start it up at a later point in time... , who knows. I'll see how many times I start it up in the future. See this review as a first impression.

This is an OK game to spend time with and although it includes SIDS and STARS (Airport Departures and Arrivals) it feels very limited in what it simulates and feels more arcadey than simulation to me. I gave it a good go but didn't really find it that fun or compelling. I wouldn't have a problem with it if they didn't call it a simulator, but they do and I purchased it based on the fact that it purported to be a simulation. Aircraft don't interact with you, make requests and don't make mistakes etc. I just feels like a very sterile environment with good little airplanes that will happily follow every little instruction you give them even if you send them off in the opposite direction to their intended destination. You'll learn about approach and departure proceedures and juggle different aircraft types in probably quite an unrealistic manner but learn pretty much nothing else about ATC I suspect.

A good - put not perfect - simulation of Air Traffic Control at Radar and Tower levels. It should first be said that the scope of this is enourmous. As it says, covers almsot 14,000 airports worldwide. If its comerically flown to in the real world at any sort of level, it will be in the game. I tried a number of local airports to me, some of which see only a handful of movements a day, and they were fully simulated in STARs, SIDs and Transitions. The simulation has these spot on, including things like altidude restrictions and holding points. The interface works very well and intuitevly. The drag and drop for heading plus the scrollwheel for height and speed make it quick and easy to give aircraft commands, and drag and drop for approach and landing works very nicely too. There is text based should it be needed, which I tend to use for joining procedures as I find it easier, but even this is not complex and is nicely done. Don't be fooled by the trailer, there is very little in the way of audio. You will get voice notifications of aircraft arriving, departing, leaving your sector and for traffic alerts. There is no background "Buzz" and you don't get readbacks from pilots (well, you get text readbacks, but no audio). There is also no voice reconition for controlling. However, I can see why this is. The simulation includes countless airlines, aircraft and thousands upon thousands upon thousands of departure and arrival routes. To get it sounding anywere near decent would be very very difficult to do, and I see that this is a tradeoff to having more depth. There are things missing. There is no VFR traffic, no transiting traffic and no circuit traffic. A few things are missing such as giving departing aircraft IFR clearance (although at most airports this is not the role of the tower or radar controller, at some it is). Altimiter settings are missing completely and speed you give as ground speed. There is no airspeed or MACH speeds to have to worry about. The addition of multiplay is a nice touch. Although I can not comment on it personally since I have not used it up to now, if some of my friends were to get this I would no doubt be using it. It is a nice addition that I can see would add to the experience. As for "learning" the way of the skies, the simulation does give some brief instruction of vectoring aircraft, ariving STARs and departing SIDs although this is FAR from compelte. If you dont have much prior aviation knowledge I would presume that this would be a very steep learning curve with not a load of support. There are however plenty of youtube vids aimed at flight simulation pilots discussing instrument procedures for flying. These can be used to get to grips with using them from the "Other side" and will give you enough to get into the simulation. Overall, this is a well thought out and deep reaching simulation covering most aspects of ATC across a HUGE array of airports. There are a few missing touches as noted above but not enough to detract from the gameplay. If you are not interested in aviation / dont have much background knowledge I would give this a miss, but if this is the sort of thing that interests you, I would recomend it :)

I have to be missing something. This is not intuitive at all and I don't know what I'm doing. No instructions? Do you require prior Air Traffic Controller schooling to play the game? And now I see that most reviews are from seven years ago. I guess I'm the one with egg on my face.

This is not a game, rather an accurate simulation of an Air Traffic Controllers duty of Tower, Approach, and Departure. I have to say I've had lots of fun playing, there is great customizability over how you can play. Think you can handle 50 flights in 20 minutes? It'll set that up for you. Wanna play casually? Alright, you can also set that up. It's very detailed, and friendly to the novice players, as myself, I enjoy flight simulation and ATC Simulations. Although the sim can be overpriced, I still enjoy a good few hours "on air".

I'd recommend this game if you're into aviation in general and want to get a feeling of what it can be like in the control tower/center. The game is not too easy but at the same time not too hard either.

I have to say that I keep coming back to this sim when I need something to organize... which ain't that often. But that's just me. If you like logic problems and solving simulated emergencies then crank up the settings and go for rush hour at JFK or ATL. What I like about the game is that it's easy to configure and control. When I say control, I mean manipulating the planes as they come and go. The airport database is very complete and I've yet to find an airport worth controlling that's missing. And, from what little I've experienced in real life, the SIDS and STARS are pretty darn good. I also like the fact that it's pretty timeless... You don't need to sit around and wait for the devs to come up with updated graphics or scenarios - again, it's pretty straightforward. What I don't like about the sim is that Aerosoft seems to have fielded it and walked away. If you try to update the database using the in-game link, it takes you to a dead website and a nasty-gram that it doesn't exist. If you try to go to Aerosoft's official website, you have to create an account to see what's going on with your game. What the heck is that all about? If I didn't purchase the game why in God's name would I be there looking for an update? Hey Aerosoft... What gives? Why do I need to create an account to get information on a game I've already purchased? And you can basically forget what they've advertised about real life weather... It's always the same and I've tested it a bunch of times. Well, enough of that. Overall, if you like spending hours sitting in front of your computer monitor staring at little dots with information rectangles crawling across your screen (and sometimes I do) then I guess this would be a good choice for you. But if you're looking for something that a real life air controller sees or deals with on a daily basis and real life weather conditions, than maybe not. I would give it a "Thumbs Up" if it weren't for Aerosoft's apathetic attitude toward their customer base and (at this juncture) the horrendously high price. But, with respect to Nancy Regan, I'm gonna "Just Say NO!"

This is an interesting simulation and I enjoy playing it, but I feel it is overpriced for what it delivers and the video on the store page is deceptive (this probably bothers me more than anything else as it appears to be intentional false advertising). There is no in-game audio as depicted in the video, not even background sounds. There is a very generic voice that announces arrivals and departures (which can be heard in the video) and that often talks over itself. Also, some of the features do not appear to work. The "step back" button does nothing and aircraft simply ignore instructions to join procedures, instead they just go into a hold at the first point they're directed to (this is after you figure out the procedure names because the manual does not provide them). The traffic settings also seem a bit odd. The way they appear you expect to have varied traffic with occassional "peaks" but it's actually the other way around. In my experience so far the simulation builds up to peak traffic and then stays there with occassional dips. As I said, however, I do enjoy playing the simulation. If you're really interested in ATC simulators then wait for it to go on sale. If you're looking for a "game" then this probably isn't for you.

Overpriced, feels quite abandoned. There are better free ATC games on the web, and better paid-for ones on Steam.