What is your suggestion?
ATC communication with aircraft can only be heard when an aircraft is selected. When none are selected, the airwaves are silent.My suggestion is to make it possible for players to monitor a “frequency” at will. This way players will hear all ATC interactions with all aircraft on that frequency.
To keep this change light on the game I’m not suggesting changes to the current ATC messages and routine. It’s just about having all messages broadcast to the player. Many players don’t use sound (all the time) so only a small development is warranted.
How would it work in the game?
UI
The Tower screen would have one or two toggle switches added for tuning in and out of a “frequency”.Gameplay
It would obviously only work when Tower functions are activated.
There would be maximum two frequencies, Tower and Ground, with messages divided as such:
- Tower:
– Cleared to land (aircraft appearing)
– Line up and wait (entering runway)
– Cleared for takeoff (accelerating)- Ground:
– Taxi to stand (vacating runway)
(start handling is always a manual action)
– Handling finished (# pax/cargo on board)
– Start-up and pushback approved (aircraft pushed back)Avoiding a racket
This could get messy when a lot of messages are being generated in a short time, so:
- Only 1 of the frequencies can be listened to simultaneoulsy.
- Newer messages override older messages. So instead of a buzz/squeal sound (rl interference) the message already being broadcast is just dropped and replaced by the later one.
- At very busy airports only Tower might be pleasant to some ears, as its nature only allows for 1 aircraft at the time to be on frequency (in game).
Why is this a good idea?
At the moment we have all sorts of nice background, aircraft and airport sounds. But the airwaves are pretty quiet. Adding more ATC, like a pilot or scanner would hear, adds to the experience. It makes an airport feel more alive and tells you about traffic movements and progress without having to look at it.
Optional: Image or reference
