› ›

Air Traffic Control Rome

BiNMaNBiNMaN
edited December 2014 in Brand new software
Luca has taken an old game he wrote in basic back in 1987 and with a bit of help from me and Einar he's managed to get it into 16k.

atc.gifatc-2.gif

Luca's words
Air Traffic Control Rome ready for download.

A BASIC program for the 16K/48K/128K Sinclair ZX Spectrum reborn from a dusty old tape. This management game was originally dedicated to my father in 1987, who played Hewson's "Heathrow" and Psion's "Flight Simulation".

Very special thanks to Jarrod Bentley for coding support and Einar Saukas for providing his extraordinary graphic compressor.

Presentation

ATC Rome is a simple program able to assign and manage values to multiple elements on the screen. The program includes a graphic map of the Lazio region in Italy, stored inside the Spectrum memory, which displays some districts beacons along with two main airports.
Take control of air traffic over central Italy's sky. Place up to eight flights and guide them to a safe landing, choosing between two Roman airports: Fiumicino ("FCO" double runway, the easiest) and Ciampino ("CIA" single runway, smaller).

Manual included, strongly recommended to read it first!

get it here!

released 27th September 2014
Post edited by BiNMaN on

Comments

  • BiNMaNBiNMaN
    edited October 2014
    No love for Luca's little folly :sad:
  • R-TapeR-Tape
    edited October 2014
    I gave it a quick go at lunchtime but haven't had chance to get to grips with it properly yet.

    Love the Sinclair inlay, that picture could have been the cover to one of the Spectrum manuals!

    Congrats Luca, must be especially rewarding for you to finish this given its history :-)
    My speccy games.
  • ardentcrestardentcrest
    edited October 2014
    Who is going to be the first to crash in to the Vacation......... :p
  • DazmanDazman
    edited October 2014
    It on My PSP ready for my next free time.

    Was thinking of a train based game a bit like this.
  • JuanF. RamirezJuanF. Ramirez
    edited October 2014
    It's not usual to see this kind of brand new games, what make it very original. Congratulations.

    I love the inlay too!
  • IvanzxIvanzx
    edited October 2014
    I tried it when it came out but didnt have a clue of what to do... I think I need ro read the instructions first for the next time ;)

    Anyways it is a good effort to release something different.
    <a href="http://rincondelspectrum.blogspot.de/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://rincondelspectrum.blogspot.de/</a>;
  • Luca BordoniLuca Bordoni
    edited November 2014
    Ivanzx wrote: »
    I tried it when it came out but didnt have a clue of what to do...

    ...indeed i have to admit there isn't a classic game "approach" here with ATC Rome.

    It's a basic management program, it works by typing some commands (reading instructions is compulsory). But it could be appreciated only knowing his story...

    As an airplanes addict, my father commissioned this project when i was 16. He played a lot with Psion's FLIGHT SIMULATOR and Hewson's HEATHROW. At the time we were too far from Microsoft Flight Simulator's worldwide maps, so he thought at a simple Air Traffic Control program to see finally an italian map (and he chosen our region's main airports).

    At the time, the program put a strain to my young programming skills... and a first version was released, without any "error detection" while typing commands.

    We never thought to submit the program to an audience, due to the fact it isn't a real game and many people (who couldn't have the same addiction for aircrafts) may feel the management session a bit boring (they only have to wait a pointer to move over a runway and quickly change its speed/height or direction).

    So here we are, after 27 years, applying some fixes, an error detection (only some letters and numbers can be typed in the five command-prompt slots), and submitting a 16k BASIC program to an audience.

    Unusual, i know! :lol:
  • GrazGraz
    edited November 2014
    I like this! It's the most playable ATC game I've loaded. I think, after this, I may finally be able to get the hang of Hewson's Heathrow, and Microgen's mind-numbing version. Think it was just called, Air Traffic Control.

    Bravo for making this. Big thumbs up.
  • Luca BordoniLuca Bordoni
    edited November 2014
    Graz wrote: »
    Bravo for making this. Big thumbs up.

    Many thanks Graz for your kind words... You're right, simplicity is definitely a key factor in this Air Traffic Control. Management programs generally force users to give dozen of setup parameters before taking control of anything.

    That's why i had a special care in making the instructions sheet, including its "vintage" style ;-)
  • gabriele amoregabriele amore
    edited November 2014
    This is the second time I win my resilience toward seemingly complex games
    And it was worth every second!
    I like this a lot !
    thanks lukeboard!
    G
    Find my (mostly unfinished) games here
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/1694367894143130/
  • triversetriverse
    edited December 2014
    Just wanted to drop a message that I made an article for Air Traffic Control Rome on my site:
    http://retrogamingmagazine.com/2014/11/30/new-game-air-traffic-control-rome-comes-landing-zx-spectrum/
Sign In or Register to comment.