Approach puts you in the seat of a Terminal Radar Approach Controller (TRACON). You are responsible for safely guiding and landing all the aircraft that arrive on your radar scope. You command the aircraft to climb, descend, turn, change speeds, and land, and they follow your instructions to the letter. In return, you must keep them safely separated at all times. Approach allows you to customize the settings to the level of difficulty that is most comfortable, however you earn more points for selecting more difficult settings.

HALL OF FAME button takes you to a list of the top ten high scores of all time.

REGISTER button brings up a screen describing how to register and allowing you to input the unlocking code which you receive after registering Approach.

START GAME button takes you into the game.

EXIT GAME button exits Approach.

HELP button takes you to this instruction manual.

SETTINGS button brings up a screen allowing you to set preferences for your shift as controller.

SHIFT ENDING EVENTS: Enter the number of landings that will denote a succesful shift. Deals are losses of separation between aircraft. Input the number of deals that will end the shift. Missed Approaches are caused by clearing an aircraft to land too fast or at the wrong angle to the runway. Input the number of missed approaches that will end the shift.

TRAFFIC FLOW: Move the slider to the percentage of maximum traffic flow you desire. At 100%, new planes arrive on your scope at much shorter intervals than a lower percentage.

CONTROLLER ACCENT: Choose the accent you want the controller to speak to the aircraft in. Non-Registered version supports American Man accent only.

AIRPORT SCENARIOS: Choose the airport scenario that you wish to play. Non-Registered version supports only one Airport Scenario.

ADVANCED BUTTON: This brings up another screen allowing you to set the difficulty of Approach. You win extra points for having these advanced options set.

[ADVANCED] SOUNDS ON: You can choose whether to have sound.

[ADVANCED] TRANSMISSIONS OVER NOISY CHANNEL NOT HEARD: If selected, then anytime you wish to command an aircraft, you must make sure there is nobody else speaking at that time, otherwise the command will not be received.

[ADVANCED] AIRCRAFT REPEAT REQUESTS UNTIL ACKNOWLEDGED: (Only available in registered version). When a new aircraft joins you, it will continue to announce that it has joined until you give it a command.

[ADVANCED] HEAVY AIRCRAFT NEED ADDITIONAL SPACING: (Only available in registered version). Aircraft larger than a Boeing 757 will trail wake turbulence and any following aircraft will need to stay further back than usual.

[ADVANCED] RUNWAYS MAY CLOSE TEMPORARILY: (Only available in registered version). At random a runway may close and you will have to circle aircraft until it opens up again.

The status bar along the top of the scope displays information about the current shift. For most information blocks, the data is displayed in this pattern: C/M. C is the current information, and M is a maximum limit.

FLIGHTS: Current Number of Flights on the Scope / Maximum Number Of Flights Allowed. If this number is reached, the shift will end.

REGISTRATION STATUS: In the unregistered version of Approach, a message is displayed here. In the registered version, there is no message.

FLOW: Current Traffic Flow. This is the percentage of maximum traffic flow you selected from the SHIFT SETTINGS SCREEN.

LAND: Current Number of Landings / Goal Number of Landings. This is the number of landings you selected from the SHIFT SETTINGS SCREEN. The shift is successfully over when you land that number of aircraft.

DEAL: Current Number of Deals / Maximum Number of Deals. This is the number of deals you selected from the SHIFT SETTINGS SCREEN. The shift is unsuccessfully over if you have the maximum number of deals.

MSD APCH: Current Number of Missed Approaches / Maximum Number of Missed Approaches. This is the number of missed approaches you selected from the SHIFT SETTINGS SCREEN. The shift is unsuccessfully over if you have the maximum number of missed approaches.

PTS: Your Current Number of Points / Top High Score In Hall Of Fame.

AIRCRAFT are shown by figures denoting their type. Next to the aircraft is a datablock showing the aircraft callsign on the top line, the current and commanded speed on the second line, and the current and commanded altitude on the last line.

RUNWAYS are shown by a grey rectancle denoting the runway with a fan of blue lines coming out of it. The lines are the ILS localizer and help you to judge whether you are commanding an aircraft to approach the runway at the proper angle. Landings can only be made from the fan end of the runway. Cutting the ILS localizer lines are green and a yellow lines. The green line is the point at which an aircraft on approach should be at 2500 ALT or less, the yellow line is the point at which the aircraft will begin slowing to landing speed and may be switched to the control tower.

NAVAIDS are shown by a rotating diamond. Any aircraft commanded to go to a navaid will head towards it and then circle it until given a new command. They are useful for holding aircraft until space is available for them to land.

STEPS FOR COMMANDING AIRCRAFT

• SELECT the aircraft by clicking on its symbol. It will change color to white.

• CHANGE its commanded speed and altitude by using the speed and altitude knobs on the left side of the screen.

• GIVE the plane the command by performing the COMMAND GIVING CLICK. (see below)

• If sound is enabled, you will hear your controller transmitting the command. The aircraft will respond as it carries out the command.

PERFORMING THE COMMAND GIVING CLICK:

CLICK ON AN EMPTY AREA OF THE SCOPE: This commands the aircraft to change its heading to head towards the area you have clicked.

CLICK ON OBJECT TO TRACK: This commands the aircraft to track that object. If the object is a Navaid, the aircraft is commanded to proceed direct to that navaid and circle it. If the object is a runway, the aircraft is cleared for the approach to that runway. If the object is another aircraft, the selected aircraft is commanded to follow the clicked aircraft. The targeted object (Navaid, Runway or Aircraft) will flash briefly.

CLICK USING THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON: This commands the aircraft to change only speed and or altitude if you have changed the knobs. No tracking or heading change is made. If you had selected the aircraft in error and you right click, no command is given to the aircraft.

CLEARING AIRCRAFT FOR RUNWAY APPROACH

Clearing an aircraft for runway approach is easy. Select the aircraft and click on the runway it is to approach and land on. The runway will flash briefly. The aircraft will change color to brown. Making sure the aircraft arrives at the runway at the proper angle, speed and altitude is the tricky part. The aircraft must land close to its landing speed and at an angle that is within the angle formed by the runway localizer fan. Make sure that you do not clear an aircraft to land at higher than 220 SPD or it will not slow down in time to land safely. Also, when you clear an aircraft to land, make sure that by the time it is stabilized on the approach (no longer turning), that it is within the localizer fan. If it is not within the fan, it will not be able to land safely either and you will have a missed approach. Of course, clearing an aircraft to land from the wrong end of the runway will cause a missed approach as well. AS A RULE: An aircraft must be at 2500 ALT or lower and 220 SPD or lower by the time it arrives at the green line cutting across the localizer fan. If it is significantly higher than 2500, it may not be able to descend in time for a safe landing and that will cause a missed approach. Once you have cleared an aircraft for the approach, it manages its descent automatically. All you have to do is make sure that it is not too fast. If it is too high, it is better for you to command the aircraft to turn away and try the approach again than for you to let it miss the approach because of the points you lose for each missed approach.

OPTIONALLY SWITCHING AIRCRAFT TO TOWER

Switching Aircraft to tower, is an optional command that wins you additional points if you remember to do it. When the aircraft has been cleared to land and has reached the inner marker (the yellow line close to the runway), you will notice that the commanded speed will change to a low figure typically less than 145 SPD. The aircraft is slowing down to its landing speed. At any time after it begins slowing, select the aircraft and click on the runway. The runway will flash and you will give the aircraft the command to switch to tower. Again, this is optional, but gains you additional points.

NEWLY JOINED AIRCRAFT

When an aircraft joins you, it announces its current altitude and the altitude it is descending or climbing to. The aircraft may not be visible on your scope unless you zoom out to see it. It is muted green until it receives an acknowledgement or instruction from you. After you give it its first instruction, it changes to bright green. If the ADVANCED AIRCRAFT REPEAT REQUESTS UNTIL ACKNOWLEDGED setting is enabled, the aircraft will continue to announce that it is joining you until you give it a command.

PROPER AIRCRAFT SEPARATION

To keep aircraft safely separated, they must be 3 miles apart laterally or 1000 ft ALT apart vertically. When two aircraft are close to each other and in danger of losing these separation minimums, a yellow circle will appear around each aircraft. Do not let the circles touch. Either turn the planes away from each other, or use speed or altitude to make sure that you do not lose separation. If you lose separation and the circles touch, both aircraft will change to red. This is known as a 'DEAL' by controllers. Depending on the maximum number of deals per shift you have set in the settings screen, the game may be over at that point. In any case, you are charged the deal, and points are deducted from your score.

HEAVY AIRRAFT

Aircraft larger than a Boeing 757 are known as heavies. In the registered version, the ADVANCED setting of HEAVY AIRCRAFT NEED ADDITIONAL SPACING can be enabled. If it is, then additional spacing is required when following these aircraft. In addition to the 3 mile separation warning circle, there is an additional 2 mile circle tacked on the the rear of the separation circle. Do not let any of the circles touch another aircraft within 1000 feet vertical separation or you will have a deal.

COLLISIONS AND FLIGHT INTO TERRAIN

If two aircraft collide, the game is immediately over. If you command an aircraft to descend to 0 feet and it crashes into the ground, the game is immediately over.

RADIO TRANSMISSION

After you have completed giving an aircraft a command, you will hear your controller saying the particulars to the aircraft. The aircraft will then read back the command to you and carry it out. This is how it works in the real world today. In the future, controllers will give aircraft commands via computer and not over the radio. If you wish to play APPROACH in this fashion, you can turn off the sound by selecting 'Options' from the menu and deselecting the 'Sound' menu item. To be realistic today however, the sound should be enabled. If the ADVANCED setting of 'Transmissions Over Noisy Channel Not Heard' box is checked, this is the absolute realism setting for controllers today. Without this box checked, you can issue commands to aircraft without having to wait for a response and you can even cut yourself off while issuing a command to another aircraft. In the real world, you must issue the command over the radio and wait for the aircraft to respond and then you can talk to another aircraft. If this box is checked, then if you attempt to issue a command while there is chatter on the radio, your new command will not be heard by the aircraft you issue the command to. The aircraft will respond with 'Say Again?'. In this case, use the icon at the top left to know when it is safe to send your command. Wait for the radio dish icon to change to the blue controller before sending your command. You receive extra points for every properly sent command if this setting is enabled. You may change any of the ADVANCED settings by selecting 'Advanced Features' from the 'Options' menu.

MOVING AIRCRAFT DATABLOCKS

Right clicking on an unselected aircraft moves its datablock around. This is useful if two aircraft are close enough to have overlapping datablocks making them difficult to read.

The knobs on the left side of the screen are used to control the environment and command the aircraft. For each knob, right click the knob to increase the setting, left click the knob to decrease the setting.

SCALE: The knob marked SCL is for controlling the scale. Right click the knob to increase the magnification. Left click the knob to scale out and see more of the area around the airport. You may also use the '<' and '>' keys to do the same thing.

WARNING THRESHOLD: The knob marked WRN is for controlling how sensitive you want the separation warning circles to appear around the aircraft as they get close to one another. Right click the knob to make it more sensitive and show the warning circles sooner. Left click the knob to desensitize the scope and show the warning circles later. You may also use the 'w' and 'W' keys to do the same thing.

TIME FLOW: The knob marked TME is for controlling timeflow. Right click the knob to make time flow faster. Left click the knob to make time flow slower. You may also use the 't' and 'T' keys to do the same thing.

SPEED OF SELECTED AIRCRAFT: The knob marked SPD is for controlling the speed of the selected aircraft. Right click the knob to increase the speed you want to command the aircraft to increase to. Left click the knob to decrease the speed you want to command the aircraft to reduce to. The second entry of the SPD line on the selected aircraft datablock will change as you change the knob. (In either case, see Controlling The Aircraft to command the aircraft to carry out the speed command). You may also use the 's' and 'S' keys to do the same thing.

ALTITUDE OF SELECTED AIRCRAFT: The knob marked ALT is for controlling the altitude of the selected aircraft. Right click the knob to increase the altitude you want to command the aircraft to climb and maintain. Left click the knob decrease the altitude you want to command the aircraft to descend and maintain. The second entry of the ALT line on the selected aircraft datablock will change as you change the knob. (In either case, see Controlling The Aircraft to command the aircraft to carry out the altitude command). You may also use the 'a' and 'A' keys to do the same thing.

CONTROLLER FACE/RADIO DISH: The face of the controller at the top of the knobs becomes less jolly according to how congested the airspace is. While there is a transmission going over the air, a radio dish is shown in place of the controller's face.

In general, the higher the traffic flow rate, the higher the rate of time flow, the more landings you complete, and the more ADVANCED options you select, the higher your score will be.

The following is number of points you win for each of these events. This is the number of points you get if you select a traffic flow rate of 100%. Lower flow rates win lower fractions of these points.

LANDING AN AIRCRAFT: 2500 Points.

SURVIVING A RUNWAY CLOSING: 1000 Points when the runway reopens.

REMEMBERING TO SWITCH AIRCRAFT TO TOWER FREQUENCY: 350 Points. (See Controlling The Aircraft / Switching Aircraft To Tower)

ACCEPTING A HANDOFF: 100 Points. You get this for the first command you give to an aircraft that joins you. The color is muted green when it joins, and changes to bright green after you have given it its first command.

FOLLOWING PROPER RADIO PROCEDURE: 25 Points. If the ADVANCED Setting TRANSMISSIONS OVER NOISY CHANNEL NOT HEARD is checked, then everytime you complete a command successfully without 'stepping' on a previous transmission, you win the extra points.

TIME POINTS: You receive points for every second that you remain on shift. The faster your time flow, the more points you receive.

HAVING A DEAL: You lose 4500 Points for every deal you have.

STOPPING TIME: You lose 2500 Points every time you slow the time flow to zero for any reason. In reality, you cannot stop everything and catch your breath, so while APPROACH allows you to do this, there is a penalty. APPROACH will warn you before deducting the points.

HAVING A MISSED APPROACH: You lose 1000 Points for every missed approach you have.

From the main screen, hit the Register button. This brings up the registration screen. Buy Approach from our website at http://members.ispwest.com/gravassist/Index.html You can also visit it directly from the Registration screen. After buying it, you will receive an unlocking code. Enter it in the box provided in the registration screen and hit submit. You will instantly upgrade your trial version to the full version and have access to all the following options:

As many landings per shift as you can stand. (Unregistered version is limited to 2)

Five new airport scenarios.

Option to model turbulence from heavy aircraft.

International pilots and controllers speak in characteristic accents. You get to choose the accent you want your controller to use.

Option for Airports to randomly shut down runways temporarily, challenging you to keep the aircraft stacked and safely separated until the runway reopens.

Pilots will make requests and keep reporting in until you acknowledge them just like in real life.

More information included for each hall of fame entry.

Tons of new American and International airlines with each pilot speaking in characteristic accent.

The following airlines appear in Approach. Here is some information you may find interesting about them.

Game Concept: Benjamin Ofoma

Coding: Benjamin Ofoma

Game Art: Sarah Ofoma & Benjamin Ofoma

Sound: Sarah Ofoma & Benjamin Ofoma

Documentation: Benjamin Ofoma

Screen Design: Sarah Ofoma

Website Design: Sarah Ofoma

Testing: Sarah Ofoma, Benjamin Ofoma, Uche Ofoma, Nkem Ofoma, Oregon Shearin, Eski Benson, Nils Benson, Kaj Benson, Shigeru Matsuyama