If you enjoy this, you may also enjoy the `atc` binary that is shipped alongside tetris and other classics in Debian's bsdgames package. Also exists for Ubuntu (https://packages.ubuntu.com/noble/bsdgames) and probably other Debian derivatives. I enjoy the keyboard controls there, a lot more deterministic than trying to mouse around the screen!
Airport Simulator
121–130 of 179 posts
Re: Airport Simulator
#122I was only thinking about Flight Control[0] the other day and how I wish there were more modern takes on it! There was Mini Metro[1], but that was released over a decade ago. -- [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_Control [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_Metro_(video_game)
I missed Flight Control so bad that I sent Claude on a wild goose chase to decompile the IPA in ghidra and rewrite it in Swift 6. Still working through it, obviously will never get released, but it's been cool to watch.
Re: Airport Simulator
#123Nice! But whatever happened to "Show HN"? I see more and more people posting their own projects here (which is completely ok!) but avoiding (or unaware of?) the "Show" option. About the game (sorry, sim) itself: it was really fun once I realized that I have to drag the airplanes to the runway threshold matching their color. You can draw a straight line from the plane to the runway, and it will land even if it has to…
Show hn was overrun by ai slop for a while so I and presumably many others filtered it out of our feeds. That would have resulted in show hn getting much less interaction and potentially led to people not wanting to use the feature.
Re: Airport Simulator
#124This is super fun! Really gets your heart rate going. I tried various tactics borrowed from actual ATC/tower techniques (drawing common approach paths; throwing in some 360 degree turns) but it never seemed to be enough as the traffic picked up :P I'm curious if anyone figured out any good strategies.
At some point I started to send incoming planes away like no airport for you!
Had a crash happen super far from the airport after I did this, found it funny do to how unlikely it seemed
Re: Airport Simulator
#125I love this emerging "3D pixel art" trend. Stylized graphics always age better than realistic. And it definitely has more charm
Re: Airport Simulator
#126There was a game for the C64 (or VIC20.. I forget) in which your were an ATC. I remember either the packaging for the game or the credits on screen saying something to the effect of "If you like this game, call us". "Us" being a number to contact the FAA for a potential job.
Re: Airport Simulator
#127Addictive! Made it to #16 but now got some serious PTSD about flying lol
Re: Airport Simulator
#128Now I see why ATC is such a stressful job!
A bit better in real life since the world isn't 2D.
Re: Airport Simulator
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
In 2022 [0], Jan David Nose (jdno) released a game / programming challenge called _Auto Traffic Control_ [1]. Rather than controlling airplanes with UI interactions, the simulation is a GRPC server that expects the player to construct a game client that issues flight paths. I tried to make a game client for jdno's ATC [2]. My client was deficient, as I tried to treat the movement as a fixed interval, by only submitti…
Imagine how cool it would be if something like this was based on the actual FF-ICE / FIXM flight plan format.
I have to admit that I have exactly zero knowledge about actual flight plans or anything else related to air traffic control. Just loved playing Flight Control and used it as inspiration for this game.
Having said that, I think there are tons of interesting ways to build on the idea. :)
Re: Airport Simulator
#130Super fun game!
Minor modifications that would be fun:
* As you draw a path, at the same rate gradually bold/pulse all other planes' existing drawn paths from their current location forward so I can visually see if two future lines will not just overlap, but overlap at the same time
* A slider to control game speed
* A clearer arrow over the landing zone. It took me quite a while to realize how to land a plane
* A timer over each runway to next takeoff