rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett) (05/31/91)
TRACON // 2.02 is now available. As I had indicated in a previous message, TRACON had some compatibility problems when running in color under System 7.0. 2.02 fixes those problems, and adds a couple of other minor enhancements. To get it, registered users can call up Wesson at 512-328-0100. If you do so, request 2.02 *explicitly*; don't accept 2.01. Those users who had reported the color bug by 5/29/91 have been mailed the upgrade. Also, the four sector disks, originally only available for the PC, are available for TRACON // Mac. They include both "snd" voice files and the basic sector files. Areas covered include: Europe: AMS Amsterdam, the Netherlands ATH Athens, Greece BUB Brussels, Belgium LON London, England MUN Munich, Germany PAR Paris, France ROM Rome, Italy SBA Stockholm, Sweden Eastern United States: ATL Atlanta, Georgia BNA Nashville, Tennessee CLE Cleveland, Ohio DCA Washington, D.C. JAX Jacksonville, Florida JFK New York, New York PHL Philadelphia, Pennsylvania TPA Tampa, Florida Central United States: DET Detroit, Michigan DFW Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas HOU Houston, Texas IND Indianapolis, Indiana MKC Kansas City, Missouri MSP Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota MSY New Orleans, Louisiana STL St. Louis, Missouri Western United States: ABQ Albuquerque, New Mexico DEN Denver, Colorado LAS Las Vegas, Nevada PDX Portland, Oregon PHX Phoenix, Arizona SAN San Diego, California SLC Salt Lake City, Utah. Please note that the sector disks are not compatible with TRACON Mac v. 1.5. --- Robert Dorsett Internet: rdd@cactus.org UUCP: ...cs.utexas.edu!cactus.org!rdd
jm13@quads.uchicago.edu (Kermit T. Frog) (06/01/91)
What exactly is Tracon // Mac anyway? It sounds pretty cool, but I have no idea what it is. Thanks in advance, Jonathan jm13@quads.uchicago.edu -- Paid for by the Committee to elect the Boston Bruins as the 1992 Stanley Cup Champions.
jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris) (06/01/91)
jm13@quads.uchicago.edu (Kermit T. Frog) writes: >What exactly is Tracon // Mac anyway? It sounds pretty cool, but I >have no idea what it is. TRACON (there are both PC and Mac flavors) is a simulation game in which you play the part of an air traffic controller trying to keep those idiot pilots from screwing up ;8-) . The word TRACON is governmentese for Terminal Radar Approach CONtrol. The visuals and simulation are *excellent*, especially for a mass-market product at an extremely low price. With a very few compromises you get a presentation which is close enough to reality that users start cussing that guy in the twin Cessna who blew his clearance into LAX... The program comes from Wesson International, Austin TX. The design is based in part on Bob Wesson's doctoral dissertation on the application of artificial intelligence to air traffic control. (OK, I know that some people say that's a redundancy...) If someone using the TRACON program wants a fancier version, I'm sure that Wesson would be glad to sell another copy of the systems being purchased by the FAA and the Air Force to train real-life controllers. TRACON II can be linked to Microsoft Flight simulator; the bird piloted by the user running FS appears on the TRACON radar display, and the TRACON clearances appear on the FS screen. (The link is via the async port.) One interesting thing about the PC version is that it produces decent audio on a standard PC speaker. There is a special version of TRACON which supports a Covox speaker on the printer port, but its quality isn't much better. The documentation apologizes for the quality of the audio, but IMHO it's not bad and in fact I wish that my 182's speaker was that clear. Don't bother trying to run it under Windows unless you want a good demo of why real-time computer systems are dedicated devices. I've seen the PC version of the product in Egghead, SofwareHouse/CompUSA, and other jobbers. If you're really hot to try it, call Wesson at 1-800-634-9808. I've never looked for the Mac version. Summary: I like it (as if you haven't already guessed). I also recommend it to instrument students to give them a feeling for just how easy it is for a pilot to really mess up the entire ATC system. Joe Morris (My only relationship to Wesson is that of a satisfied user. The product deserves the good reviews.)
zimerman@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Jacob Ben-david Zimmerman) (06/02/91)
I just ordered TRACON // Mac from Wesson. I told them I had 1.5, but they didn't ask me to verify this or anything, just charged me 29.95 and said they'd ship. Is the price the same for those of us who bought 1.5 as those who didn't, or are they just lax about it? Also, I have heard that FlightSim can be linked to it via async. Is there *any* way to do this over a net, and if not, are there plans to make this possible? Thanks! No connection with Wesson other than as a satisfied (so far, haven't got //) customer. One more thing...anyone got any opinions on their Moonbase program? Thanks. -JBZimmerman! ___________ |-Peace is the point at which problems cease to be || | targets and become problems again. -Me || ||acob Zimmerman!+> <zimerman@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> INTERNET === | <zimerman@PUCC> BITNET