FLIGHT ASSIGNMENT: A.T.P.

 FLIGHT ASSIGNMENT: A.T.P. (ATP) is the long-awaited flight simulator from
SubLOGIC. It was held up for almost a year by a lengthy beta-test period and a
prolonged copyright lawsuit brought by Microsoft, which claimed it owned
exclusive rights to the simulation technology employed in ATP, and threatened to
halt release of the program altogether.

 Part of the settlement with Microsoft required SubLOGIC to rename the product
from "Flight Simulator: A.T.P." to "Flight Assignment: A.T.P.," and to surrender
the trademarked "Flight Simulator" title to Microsoft. In exchange, SubLOGIC was
allowed to release ATP and to develop tie-in products for it. But in the end,
the real winners are those of us who get a chance to use this excellent addition
to the growing family of computer flight programs available for the IBM PC.
Quite simply, this program is -- with a few exceptions -- excellent and highly
recommended. (This review is based on the IBM-PC version.)

 When I opened the ATP box, I was surprised at the quantity of support
materials. In addition to the program disks, there are a 250-page manual, two
large maps, a 16-page introduction to ATP, a 12-page reference guide, a SubLOGIC
newsletter, and a registration card. SubLOGIC has set a new standard for realism
in flight simulators with ATP; the amount of support materials is a reflection
of this. Plan to spend a _minimum_ of one hour looking over these materials
before you even fire up your computer. This is one program that _requires_
reading the manual for all but the most basic tasks. Knowledge of FLIGHT
SIMULATOR is not enough: ATP is significantly different.

 The biggest difference between ATP and Microsoft's FLIGHT SIMULATOR 4.0 is
ATP's focus on commercial flight, rather than on private flight. In ATP, there
are no Cessnas or Lear Jets. You have a choice of flying a Boeing 737, 747, 767,
or Airbus A320 jet. If you feel a little less adventurous, you can also try out
the Shorts 360 turboprop commuter aircraft.

 ATP is built around the same basic code used to create FLIGHT SIMULATOR, and as
such, has some superficial resemblance. If you are used to FLIGHT SIMULATOR, ATP
will seem like a close relative. But as similar as ATP is to FLIGHT SIMULATOR,
it is also quite different -- close enough to feel comfortable, but far enough
removed to be a whole new experience.

 In the world of ATP, you are a rising Commercial Pilot and first-officer for
SubLOGIC Airlines (creative name choice). Your goal is to earn the FAA's
designation "Airline Transport Pilot" (hence the name, A.T.P.), so that you can
move into the left seat and fly regularly-scheduled flights full-time. As in the
"real world," your salary is based upon your level of experience and the
accumulation of aircraft "type ratings" -- approvals to fly specific large
aircraft, awarded after the successful completion of a standardized checkride in
the particular aircraft.

 With the release of ATP, SubLOGIC has developed or pioneered several
innovations in flight simulator technology. The graphics in EGA mode are
stunning, in some cases exceeding the quality possible with Microsoft's AIRCRAFT
AND SCENERY DESIGNER. Careful attention has been paid to the look of the
airports, particularly to the runways and the different lighting systems. Cities
are also fairly well done, though a few seem to have more than a few clusters of
identical-looking buildings. As in FLIGHT SIMULATOR, the user is presented with
a variety of ground textures and weather simulations.

 The instrument panel representation is nothing short of superb. Though not as
stunning as FLIGHT SIMULATOR's special custom SVGA display for the Video7 card,
the detail to the instruments and the level of clarity is remarkable.
Furthermore, ATP allows the pilot to toggle between the primary instrument stack
and a secondary stack of engine monitoring instruments, warning lights, and...a
color weather radar!

 ATP also allows for semi-realistic air-traffic control communications. When you
select a frequency on your COM radio, you get more than an ATIS recording. By
entering a CTRL-key combination, you can request and respond to rudimentary ATC
instructions. Each of the major airports has separate frequencies for ATIS,
clearance delivery, ground control, tower, and approach control. If you don't
know the correct frequency, you can call a Flight Service Station for
information.

 If you make a mistake, as in the real world, "Roger," the controller, will be
sure to let you know about it. The ATC facility is remarkably intuitive. It
provides you with appropriate altitude assignments, and both inbound and
outbound radar vectors. About the only thing missing from the ATC, though, is
conversations with other pilots on the same frequency. As it is, the only ATC
communications are either _to_ you or _from_ you. SubLOGIC should implement
"chatter" in future releases, to enhance this already superb feature.

 One of the most intriguing aspects of ATP is a highly sophisticated autopilot
feature, dubbed "Jack" by the designers. If you choose "Automatic Flight," Jack
will fly the aircraft from departure to destination, communicating correctly
with ATC, hitting altitude and waypoint fixes, tuning radios, setting pitch and
throttle. In short, if you watch, Jack will show you exactly how to fly the
aircraft. The amazing part of this is that Jack is _not_ recorded; in fact,
there are no recorded "demos" included with ATP. Instead, the program actually
flies itself!

 Flight modes, aircraft, and demos created in FLIGHT SIMULATOR will not work
with ATP, and vice versa. A great project for an enterprising shareware author
would be a conversion utility -- much needed, and apparently not too difficult
to develop. Obviously, Microsoft's AIRCRAFT AND SCENERY DESIGNER (and any files
created by it) are not compatible. However, SubLOGIC's scenery disks for FLIGHT
SIMULATOR _are_ compatible. In fact, release of ATP seems to have encouraged
SubLOGIC to step up release of new scenery disks, starting with their INSTRUMENT
PILOT USA collection.

 When you first try out ATP, you will probably want to select the "Free Flight"
option. In this mode, ATP acts very much like FLIGHT SIMULATOR. There's no ATC
to worry about, and everything is controlled by you, the pilot. You choose the
aircraft, environment, and location. You can take a 767 for a spin, swoop under
the Golden Gate Bridge, and do all of the crazy things you can in FLIGHT
SIMULATOR. You can record and play back macros and develop flight modes. You can
also choose to take one of 16 pre-recorded lessons that instruct you on the
basics of flying the aircraft. When you're comfortable with Free Flight, you'll
be ready to tackle Structured Flight.

 The majority of ATP's most sophisticated features are found in Structured
Flight. In this mode, you can choose to advance your career through a Career
Assignment, or become more proficient at a Single Assignment. When you fly a
single assignment, you can choose one of the primary airports as a departure
point and one as the destination airport, and fly that route, or you may select
one of the 96 career flight assignments. Flights in this mode do not advance
your career rating, while those flown in the Career Assignment mode do;
otherwise, the two are almost identical.

 In Career Assignment, you must perform the 96 assignments in order. After
demonstrating sufficient proficiency at each, you may opt to take a type rating
checkride, or even go for your ATP certificate. In both modes, you must respond
to ATC instructions, and you're rated on your safety and efficiency. A list of
possible safety errors is displayed; the errors you committed are checked. In
addition, you must attempt to land with precisely one hour of fuel remaining in
reserve. Landing with less is considered unsafe; landing with more is
inefficient due to the added weight requirement of carrying the fuel.

 In an undertaking of this magnitude, bugs are bound to pop up. SubLOGIC has
confirmed a few in an excellent help file (ATPHLP.TXT) located in its library in
the Game Publishers Forum (GO GAMPUB). This file, written and uploaded by
SubLOGIC, outlines many of the features that are not entirely clear in the
documentation; it also mentions some last-minute changes and bug notices that
did not make it into the notes in the introductory pamphlet included with ATP. I
hope SubLOGIC distributes this file with all successive editions of ATP, and
makes it easily available to all registered users.

 Considering what SubLOGIC has pumped into this simulator, the flaws I found are
remarkably minor. First, although the box says that ATP supports the AdLib and
Sound Blaster cards, the driver for these cards was not ready when ATP was.
Therefore -- despite _no_ note in the documentation to this effect -- sound is
limited to the PC speaker, a definite show of bad form on the part of SubLOGIC.

 Second, on some machines (with 386/33 and 486 processors, according to
SubLOGIC), ATP may not be able to handle all of the graphic equations as quickly
as the screen is updated. Therefore, it sort of skips ahead so that flight can
continue in real time, leaving one screen on, while the next -- a few seconds in
the future -- is being computed. Net effect: Maneuvers appear "jumpy,"
especially when banking. You'll have to try this on your system to find out if
you experience the problem. SubLOGIC is said to be working on a solution, but
there's apparently a flaw with the central graphics code, so I wouldn't expect
them to lick it any time soon.

 Finally, according to a SubLOGIC representative, players who use the monochrome
driver will not be able to use a mouse. SubLOGIC is working on fixing this bug,
as well.

 The menu layouts are generally fine -- easier to flow through than FLIGHT
SIMULATOR's menus -- but it is impossible to alter the joystick calibration when
you're flying a career assignment, as the "Environment" menu is disabled so that
you can't give yourself VFR/Day settings when it's supposed to be 0/0. Also,
some modes are essentially impossible to complete; again, SubLOGIC claims to be
aware of this problem and will release a maintenance update in the future to
correct it.

 Finally, although a DEMO is listed in the "Demo" menu, no corresponding file
was included, due to space limitations on the distribution disks. Selecting this
option causes the aircraft to exceed 500 kts and zoom off to the sky. In fact,
selecting a demo generally does _not_ reset the aircraft mode. If you reset to
Automatic Flight during flight, Jack will take over and try to get clearance
while flying over the top of LAX at 200' MSL.

 FLIGHT ASSIGNMENT: A.T.P. requires an IBM PC, Tandy, or compatible, 512K of
RAM, two floppy drives, or one floppy drive and a hard drive. The program is
available on either two 5-1/4" or one 3-1/2" disk. (Be sure to check the package
for the correct format.) The program supports CGA, EGA, MCGA, VGA, and Hercules
graphics modes.

 Optional support is included for a mouse, one or two joysticks, flight controls
(such as the MaxxYoke and MaxxPedals), and the complete library of SubLOGIC's
FLIGHT SIMULATOR SCENERY DISKS. Future support for the AdLib and Sound Blaster
sound cards has been announced. FLIGHT ASSIGNMENT: A.T.P. is not copy-protected,
but familiarity with the enclosed support materials is essential to effective
play.

 Whether you're an airline pilot or just an armchair pilot, experienced with
flight simulators or not, I strongly recommend getting a copy of FLIGHT
ASSIGNMENT: A.T.P. The amount of work you put into learning how to fly the
aircraft correctly will pay off when you start using the realistic interface and
advanced options of ATP. SubLOGIC has upped the ante in the flight simulator
arena. It will be interesting to see how its competitors respond.

 FLIGHT ASSIGNMENT: A.T.P. is published and distributed by SubLOGIC.

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