Just Flight

FlightSimX is proud to present a world exclusive Preview of Just Flight’s Traffic X. This Preview was written by our regular reviewer, Jessica Bannister-Pearce.

We are a strange bunch of people, we virtual pilots. We live in a virtual world for a great deal of time. Some of us talk to others via air traffic controllers through the web, whist others of us deal with the virtual air traffic control found in our virtual world.

The problem with a virtual world is that, for the most part, it’s virtually empty. We can add extra aircraft within flight sim’s program itself. This is fine for the Cessna’s, Piper’s and Moonies, but when it comes to the airlines, we get stuck with a bunch of made up names like Landmark, Orbit and World Travel. These do add a level of realism to our virtual world, but somehow it’s lacking a certain feel. What we all really want is a virtual world just like the real one. We want the same views as our real world counterparts, the same feel and the same airlines. Thanks to Traffic X, we can now have the latter at least.

Traffic 2005. Note the model quality.

Take the Blue Pill

The first thing I noticed when I received Traffic X was its size. At over 500mb, this is not a light download, so be warned if your ISP is jealously guarding its bandwidth. The reason soon becomes evident when the installation begins. I watched as airline name after airline name flew threw the install status bar and onto my hard drive. The full install took over 5 mins (and I have a relatively new machine), so you can really get an idea of how many airlines were included. Scanning as I did, I noticed several airlines that have sadly gone the way of Braniff & Eastern airlines. (Both Zoom and XL are included. It’s nice to see them still flying virtually if not in reality).

Now meet Traffic X and its beautiful models

Welcome to the real world

Loading up flight sim produces the scenery adjustment screen as the world adjusts itself to its new reality. All too soon the world is ready and we find some new ‘Aircraft’ to use in the aircraft menu. The first is a welcome return of the ‘follow me’ van. This is a great vehicle to use if you want to explore an airport or other scenery area (a frequent tool for me when reviewing scenery). It’s had an update since Traffic 2005, and it’s just as much fun to drive as the old version. A new addition is a drivable push back tug. If you’ve ever fancied doing a bit of towing around the airfield or helping to send an aircraft from the gate, then give the tug a try. Both vehicles come with virtual ‘cockpits’ complete with radio stacks to listen to ATC.

Another interesting ‘aircraft’ is the Tower. Selecting this allows us to sit with a quiet cup of tea and watch flights come and go on schedule, whist others scuttle around the field to and from their various gates. You can listen to the ATC messages whist the teacup gets emptier. Think of this as a nice way to unwind after a long flight. What’s really cool, however, is the radar display. It actually works and can display the traffic both on the ground and in the air up to 40NM away. Clicking on any of the targets reveals the flight number or registration, speed, altitude and bearing. There are four modes of operation. Global, Horizontal, Vertical and Off. Global is just that, a global view of the air traffic around you. Horizontal gives you a reading similar to an aircraft’s nose. It reads the traffic that’s in front of you on a 60º angle. Vertical gives you the opposite whist Off speaks for itself.

The final option is new to Traffic X, and it’s called ‘Spotty’. ‘Spotty’ is Just Flight’s very own plane spotter. You can position him anywhere you like to watch the aircraft come and go. He comes complete with radio, binoculars and, of course, an anorak. If you don’t like having to look at ‘Spotty’, he also comes in an invisible version.

One of the great liveries available, if a little naughty, taxiing with the cargo doors open

Flying in a crowded sky

When flying with Traffic X, the world can be a very busy place. Just Flight recommends setting your Airline Traffic settings in flight sim at around 60%. Even this setting can make airports like Heathrow and JFK seem slow (Just like real life). If you’re easily frustrated, either turn the settings down or fly from a smaller airfield (just like Ryanair). Another consideration is processor power and memory. Power is the key, and Traffic X will sap up spare processing power like a sponge. Frame rates will also suffer at crowded airports. But this has always been the trade off we make, so adjust accordingly.

You may also notice that some airlines are missing, even though Traffic X included them. This is mostly due to space at airports. With a little tinkering, however, you can introduce your favourite airline to the world.

Out in the open skies, though, you’ll still notice all the traffic around you. The radios crackle with sounds of United, US Air, Southwestern and American. Back home, Speedbirds zoom by whist Virgin, Ryanair, EasyJet and even the odd Air France can be heard or even seen. This is always an improvement over Orbit and Landmark airlines.

The real fun begins, though, when you realise that Just Flight has not followed the world’s airline schedules, or indeed fleets. In fact, they’ve been rather creative with all airlines. For example, Virgin Atlantic has a Concorde flying daily flights from Birmingham international to JFK. They also have a 737 flying some European routes as well. Now, I’m sure the purists will argue that it really isn’t the real world. Well, I’d argue that’s the great thing about the virtual world, you can improve it and play with it. If you do want to alter the timetables of airlines, Just Flight provide you with a powerful editor to do the job. More on that later.

The add ons don’t just stay with the world of airliners. In Traffic 2005 a big addition was helicopter traffic. A first at that time. Well, Just Flight are not ones to rest on their laurels. GA traffic numbers are up. The Helicopters are still there. But the big inclusion is the world of the military. C-130’s fly circuits around RAF Lyneham. F-15’s and F-16’s fly sorties across country. The Air Force has come to town, and with great effect.

The humble ‘Follow Me’ van, complete with switchable ‘on/off’ sign

It’s all in the timing

One of the great extra’s that Just Flight provide is the Traffic Editor. Traffic 2005 also included it, but for Traffic X, Just Flight have reworked it to make it easier to use. It exists to add any scheduled flight to Flight Sim your heart desires. Previously, you’d add a flight and then choose which version of that airlines livery to use. (Essentially, you’d choose from, say, 3 models of a particular airlines aircraft to fly that route). Now, however, you simply select airline name and type of aircraft. Then, Traffic X simply finds any of that aircraft type not in use by the airline in question and places it on the new route. (It sounds complicated, but it’s not). It saves us deciding on colours. It also means we can add new routes as the real airlines implement them with consummate ease.

Another really nice touch is the ChronoTraffic settings. It hasn’t anything to do with a blue box and a Time Lord, but it does have a similar effect. Imagine, if you will, that there was a golden age of air travel. Say from 1990 to 1995. Well with the ChronoTraffic settings you can live that time again, well at least in terms of airline schedules. It’s a great tool that you can adjust to your heart’s content. You can set a specific date time ‘from and to’, of you can simply run from, say 1990 to present, or even up to 1990. The choice is yours.

The view from the Tower. Note the fully working radar and weather reporting system.

It’s not just new schedules that can be added or edited. One of the unique features of Traffic X that has followed over from Traffic 2005 is the ability to fly the different aircraft within the sim world. So if you fancy flying Concorde or an old 727, you can use the Traffic editor to make that model flyable. You’ll have to remember, though, that it’s only the external model you’ll be flying, with a basic set of specs set for each. (speed, runway length etc). There are no aircraft specific panels or sounds. Still, it’s a nice touch and it does give you potentially quite a large fleet to choose from.

Meet ‘Spotty’ - he comes complete with maps, radio and binoculars

Conclusion

So, what’s the verdict? Bearing in mind this is a preview prior to release, the verdict is good. For users of Traffic 2005, this is a major upgrade. The new aircraft models are a clear step above the old FS2004 models. There are some really pretty colours out there; Air New Zealand is particularly beautiful, I feel.

There are hardly any bugs, which is always welcome. I did catch one Air New Zealand 747 taxiing with its cargo bay doors open. Also, many aircraft have duplicate registrations. (e.g. all BA 747’s have the same reg, despite there being several versions at an airport). These, however, are really minor flaws that will be easily fixed prior to release. The only other thing I’d note is that you need to make sure that no other traffic add-ons are installed along side Traffic X. (Some add on scenery packages can add a few extra aircraft in for effect leading to some really bad double parking).

All in all, Traffic X doesn’t just do what it says on the tin, it goes beyond it. For sheer level of detail, from schedules through to every kind of aircraft you could think of, Just Flight has brought the real world to us all. It’s not only a must have product, but more of a ‘how can you be without’ essential. Buy it and change your world.

Notes

This preview was based on early release of the product.

Just Flight are bringing out a download only FSX Upgrade pack. This means existing owners of any of the Traffic products will be able to purchase the new Traffic X for just £19.99 instead of £27.99 (boxed) or £24.99 download.

Breaking News - Just Flight will be including with Traffic X a free Traffic X Spotters Guide booklet.

$Traffic X Spotter\'s Guide$

This will be a 40 page full colour booklet and will include all of the aircraft within the program, with a picture and aircraft details. This will be included as a PDF on the download version and as a printed booklet ion the boxed version.

The boxed version of Traffic X is now available to pre-order and the download and UPGRADE version should be available within the next 2 weeks.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks go to Scott Phillips of Just Flight for help and assistance in creating the preview and to Jessica Bannister-Pearce for writing the Preview for FlightSimX.

Just Flight has released their C-130 for Flight Simulator X.

C-130 Hercules, one of our most popular titles of recent years, has returned from an extensive re-fit in the Captain Sim workshops and is now taking part in Flight Simulator X operations!

Existing owners of Just Flight’s FS2004 version of C-130 Hercules can order an upgrade disc to add the FSX version to their existing package.

Click for details - C-130 Hercules for FSX (& FS2004) / C-130 Hercules FSX Upgrade

C-130 Hercules is the result of over 6,000 hours of meticulous development and is undoubtedly the most sophisticated re-creation of a military aircraft to grace the simulated skies. Staggering graphics and a superb array of detailed animations are mated to an accurate flight model that has been tested by Hercules crews.

C-130 Hercules returns fully re-worked for Flight Simulator X with Acceleration, SP2, DX10 Preview and Vista compatibility. The package includes E, H J and Gunship variants in 28 authentic liveries. C-130 Hercules also includes a huge printed manual and is fully licensed by Lockheed Martin and the Royal Air Force.C-130 Hercules has hundreds of custom animations and is modelled using the latest software toolkit to ensure full compatibility and make use of the wide range of new features available in FSX.

Features an extensive range of 12 Hercules models including the spectacular JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) Blue Angels show aircraft and the formidable USAF ‘Spectre’ Gunship
Highly Detailed Flight Deck, Cargo Cabin and also a Combat Deck on the AC-130 Gunship. The Flight Deck and the Cargo Cabin/Combat Deck are connected via a stairwell so you can actually ‘walk’ between them in FSX
Exclusive visual effects including Infra-Red Launchers, Engine Starting, Engine Smoke and Fuel Dump
Extensive printed manual (over 250pp) with comprehensive Just Flight tutorial
Upgrade opportunity available on DVD-ROM for existing owners of Just Flight’s FS2004 C-130 Hercules package