Includes Ab-Initio Flight Training, "Furlough" Effect
ANN APRIL 1st "SPECIAL" EDITION: Members of the
ACES development team -- the team behind the popular
"Microsoft Flight Simulator" series, but who were recently
furloughed from their jobs at Microsoft Game Studios -- have banded
together under the newly-created 'UltReality' label to launch their
inaugural offering, "Aviation Job Simulator 2009."
"We had essentially reached our peak with FSX in regards to the
level of reality available to the serious gamer utilizing a desktop
computer," said UltReality founder Eric Smith. "We also felt the
concept of simulating only the flight characteristics of an
airplane was self-limiting... and decided with AJS-1 to strive to
replicate the entire aviation job experience, from ab-initio
training on through working at a legacy airline."
To that end, the AJS team abandoned the desktop software model,
and instead launched the initial program using four used OPINICUS
full-motion simulators, purchased through the sale of assets from a
defunct small jet manufacturer. The interior assemblies from those
sims were removed, and replaced with a 270-degree panoramic display
system and removable control consoles, attached to individual,
full-motion hydraulic actuators.
Used in tandem, those systems are capable of replicating a full
range of environments... including a ground school classroom, to a
union meeting to vote on strike action. Of course, the simulators
also recreate the cockpits of 15 different aircraft types -- from a
30-year-old Cessna 172 to a modern Cirrus SR20, from a CRJ700
regional jet to a Boeing 777 Freighter.
"Advanced computer modeling skills learned from our days at ACES
-- we're as surprised as you Microsoft didn't make those codes
proprietary -- allowed us to accurately recreate motions and
sensations in all environments," Smith said. "We can replicate all
flight conditions, as well as situations likely to be encountered
throughout your aviation career... including chastizing by a
disgruntled checkride examiner, to the screaming of SuperSaver-fare
passengers furious about a minor ground delay."
Smith boasted the team is most proud of one feature in
particular: the "Furlough" effect, which comes at the end of the
programmed flight training scenario. "By employing the hydraulic
actuators in a sudden, Emergency-stop condition, the entire
simulator suddenly drops out from under the trainee at a force of
minus 6 Gs," he said, "thus accurately recreating what for many is
the end of their aviation careers.
"This effect is accompanied by sounds recorded by actual
UltReality workers at the unemployment office in Redmond, WA,"
Smith explained. "A prompt then appears asking if the player wishes
to try again at another airline. If the answer is yes, the player
returns to the Job Applicant environment... but not before a
mechanical hand smacks them across the face."
Pricing for the UltReality AJS has not been determined, though
an introductory pricetag of $2.5 million is rumored. "We can
arrange high-interest financing to cover those costs," Smith
helpfully noted. "With approved credit, the only other requirements
are a three-story hangar or similar space, and your own personal
power generating station."