Train Simulator 2013 Saitek ProFlight X-Plane: ATR 72 ... - Aerosoft

Your free simulation games magazine! AEROSOFT Edition 2-2013 

X-Plane: ATR 72-500 

The Ultimate French Twin Prop 

Saitek ProFlight 

Hardware for Flight Simulation 

and Simulation games 

ProTrain Perfect 2 

The big “Deutschland-Box“ 

add-on 

Bus & Cable Car Simulator 

In the streets of San Francisco 


Train Simulator 2013

Train-Simulator 2013 


2 

Train Simulator 2013 


P. 12 

P. 26 

SIMULATOR WORLD 2/2013 

INHALTSVERZEICHNIS 

Index ......................................................................................................................... 02 

Editorial ............................................................................................................... 03 

Simulator News .................................................................................................... 04 

Simulator Communities ......................................................................................... 08 

Imprint / Preview .................................................................................................... 34 

Bristol & Avonmouth add-on ............................................................................... 12 



X-Plane 

The ultimate hardware ........................................................................................ 14 

The big “Deutschland-Box“ .............................................................................. 22 

Bus- & Cable Car Simulator 

In the streets of San Francisco .............................................................................. 26 

X-Plane 

ATR-72-500 Twin Prop ......................................................................................... 30 

P. 14 

P. 30

EDITORIAL 

Simulator WORLD 4th Edition... 

Dear readers! 

The fourth edition of Simulator WORLD again focuses 

on some highlights within PC simulation. 

The new Aerosoft/McPhat Studios ATR-72-500 

is the Ultimate French Twin Prop for X-Plane. We 

have tested and configured it with some desirable 

flight hardware. 

For each Flight-Train-Ship-Truck- and various other 

simulators there is an appropiate controller device. 

Let it be a simple joystick or ultra realistic Flight 

Controller System, a steering wheel with Force 

Feedback effects, a special gaming keyboard with 

mouse or headset. 

In each edition of Simulator WORLD we will suggest 

ideal combinations of hardware and simulators, 

while providing tipps & tricks and how to setup 

and configure them with different simulators. 

I hope you enjoy our latest release of Simulator 

WORLD! 


Frank Moellenhof 

Chief editor Simulator WORLD 

moellenhof@simulatorworld.de 

3

Rise of Flight - Channel Map & Felixstowe 

In this version you can see a new map (if purchased) 

and new graphical effects such as 3D water and our 

first flying boat. You can also recognise the physics 

of interaction with the water surface of aircraft, 

ships and submarines. Also added aremoorings 

and float bases and, hopefully, many hours of fun 

flying. The map will be available in the in-game 

map list or in the mission editor for anyone who 

pre-ordered the map or purchases it in the store 

after release. The new flying boat, the Felixstowe 

F.2A, makes its appearance with its formidable 

modifications (weapon mod and field mod). Two 

of which add additional members of the crew. 

Seaplanes can take off only at special bases that 

are marked with an anchor and we have added 

them on both British and French sides. By changing 

the power of the wind on the channel map, 

you also change the level of excitement of the 

waves. Normal take-off is possible only with waves 

of levels 1-2. Huge waves will damage the plane. 

Be careful and cautious when landing. 

ROF developers have tried to make the Channel 

Map as close to reality as possible with the technology 

and data available to us. The appearance of 

the English coast is different from the French coast, 

which looks very similar to what you might see on 

the continental map of ROF. They have increased 

the number of objects on the map and the number 

of cities and trees, so they recommend that 

owners of less powerful computers slightly lower 

4 


SIMULATOR-NEWS 

quality settings to achieve improved FPS (frames 

per second). This situation was unavoidable as the 

demand for increased detail on the ground is high. 

More info at: www.riseofflight.com

aeroflyFS - New Update V1.0.0.9 

Starting now, the free update V.1.0.0.9 is available 

in the download section on www.aeroflyfs.com It 

includes numerous changes for the Windows version. 

What is new for the Windows DVD-version is 

a virtual cockpit, 33 challenges and view control 

by mouse. 

In the latest version 1.0.0.9, the developers gave 

the aeroflyFS a virtual cockpit including a graphic 

course display, an air speed indicator and altimeter 

as well as an artificial horizon instead of the former 

flight information window. This window can 

be shown and hidden and dragged to any place 

on the screen using the mouse. In addition to the 

existing 35 flight tasks, another 30 new challenges 

have been added as well as an all-round-visibility 

function using the mouse. Further information can 

be found on: www.aeroflyfs.com 

Aerosoft MiG-29 Fulcrum for X-Plane 

The MiG-29 is a twinjet military fighter, which 

passed its first flight in 1977 in the old Soviet Union. 

X-Plane’s MiG-29 model provides accurate 

flight dynamics and lots of features. The list of features 

is far way too long and therefore you need 

to visit Aerosoft at: www.aerosoft.com 

6 


SIMULATOR-NEWS


Train Simulator 2013 - ALCO RS-11 Road Switcher 

The RS-11 was built by Alco in the early 1956 as a 

diesel electric locomotive and classified as a road 

switcher. With 1,800 hp, two axle trucks with B-B 

wheel arrangement the RS11 was Alco‘s answer 

to the GP9 produced by EMD. Advantages of the 

RS11 were faster acceleration because of turbo 

charging and a higher tractive effort rating. The 

locomotive could be found in heavy haul freight 

as well as passenger services. In over eight years 

production time, 425 units were built for the American 

and Mexican markets. A few examples of this 

model are still in service, found working for various 

railroads in the US. 

Add-on available at www.simmarket.com 

Class 218 by Railtraction 

The class 218 by Railtraction is the latest add-on for 

Train Simulator 2013. The locomotives of the class 

218 the latest developments of the V-160-locomotive 

family. It includes the similar developments of 

class V 160 to V 169 (later 215 to 219). The powerful 

B’B’-locomotives (2,500 to 2,800 hp) reach 

140 km/h and are equally used for passenger and 

freight trains. The 218 proved itself in operational 

service and were considered the most important 

diesel locomotives of the DB until the year 2000. 

Add-on available at: www.railtraction.eu 


7

Schwebebahn-Simulator 2013 

The Wuppertal floating tram began operation 

in 1901. Even after 112 years, people are still intrigued 

by this historic transportation. In the year 

2013, fans of the floating tram can virtually relive 

this Wuppertal landmark – Rondomedia’s Schwebebahn 

Simulator 2013 makes it possible for 

the first time ever. The simulation includes highly 

detailed models of the current floating tram, 

navigable original railways featuring numerous 

characteristic buildings and all 20 stops, several realistic 

events as well as simulated weather, times 

of the day and realistic passenger behaviour. 

Further information on: www.rondomedia.de 

New VATSIM Vice President Pilot Training takes 

over 

It gives the VATSIM Board of Governors great pleasure 

to announce Mr. Pan Lalas as Vice President 

Pilot Training (VATGOV14). Pan Lalas, 42, living in 

Hong Kong, was born in Greece. 

He joined the VATSIM network back in 2005 and 

was active on the net in certain management positions 

especially in the Staff of VATUSA, where he 

developed and redefined the training setup. He 

took care of the programming, the whole training 

document section, LOAs etc. Pan holds a JAR-FCL 

ATPL(a) license and has flown more then 12.000 

hours for a major operator in Southeast Asia. He 

is also working as examiner and Check Captain for 

that carrier. In Flight simulation, he has worked on 

several documents e.g. for the PMDG 737 NGX and 

8 



was one of the technical advisors for the PMDG 

team on the development of that aircraft. VATSIM 

is a global working online flight simulation and 

Air Traffic Control network. 

More info at: www.vatsim.net

SIMULATOR-NEWS

Aerosoft Airbus X Extended 

The Ultimate FBW Experience 

The Airbus X Extended builds on the successful 

Airbus X product, but offers far more complex and 

realistic navigation tools and a rewritten Fly By 

Wire implementation. Let’s have a closer look at 

some of the new features: 

The following Airbus A320 Family models are included: 

- A320 (A321) IAE- and CFM engines, 

- A320 NEO demonstrator. 

• Dozens of non-standard animations, all 

with sound effects like sun screens, windows, tables, 

tiller, jump seat, standby compass, flight surfaces 

and much more. 

• Included is a web server that allows you to 

access and use the MCDU via any web browser, 

which is ideal for tablets. 

• Fully custom Fly-by-Wire systems with flight 

envelope protection, stall protection, pitch and 

roll limiter, g-load limiter, over speed protection, 

Alpha Floor protection, auto trim. 

• Fully custom thrust computer systems (FA- 

DEC), throttle with detents, FLEX take-off. 

• Comes with NavDataPro navigation database 

and is also compatible with Navigraph. 

• Complete Runway Awareness and Advisory 

System (RAAS) included. 

• Full featured Digital Flight Data Recorder 

10 



(DFDR) with 25 hours storage capacity and external 

display program. 

And this is only the tip of the Airbus X Extended 

iceberg! 

Now that you have a better understanding of 

these new or modified features, how about using 

your keyboard to control this aircraft? No, that’s 

out of the question! You must fly the Airbus X Extended 

with a joystick. And, not only is a joystick 

mandatory, a throttle unit must also be connected 

and configured. This is a minimum requirement 

for the Airbus X Extended! For example, without a 

Saitek X52 Pro throttle unit, you can’t control the 

throttle system. 

But how do you configure this? 

Once you have connected the Saitek X52 Pro to 

your computer for the first time, it will detect the 

new devices and load the drivers accordingly. But 

it’s better to download the dedicated Saitek’s drivers 

and install them afterwards. If you feel confortable, 

you can also install Saitek’s SST software, 

but this software program is not an absolute necessity. 

Connect the X52 Pro, start FSX, and select 

from the menu “Options-Settings-Controls”. Click 

the Calibrate button and if everything is OK, you 

should see your X52 Pro in the pop-up window. If 

OK, click the Properties button. This window allows 

you to check your X52 Pro movements (outputs) 

versus FSX detection. If all movements and 

button outputs are OK, click the OK button twice.


Using the 2nd tab, “Buttons/Keys”, you‘re able to 

assign keyboard or joystick commands. An important 

assignment, which is activated by default, is 

the View (pan) or HAT switch. 

The last tab, “Control Axis”, is, by default, correctly 

assigned for ROLL, PITCH, YAW and THROTTLE 

movements of your X52 hardware. 

In-depth information about assigning joystick and/ 

or throttle unit buttons, keys and others, can be 

found in the Microsoft FSX user manual. This concludes 

our three articles about different flight si- 


mulator airplane types in relation to Saitek’s Pro 

Flight hardware. 

You can find more details at : www.aerosoft.de 

and www.saitek.de 

11

The rail network 

around Bristol


Bristol & Avonmouth 

Add-on for Train Simulator 2012 

The city of Bristol in Southwest England already 

played a significant role in a previous Just Trains 

release. In the extension “Bristol to Exeter”, the 

station Bristol Temple Meads is where a lot of train 

trips start and end in the daily work of the virtual 

train driver. Whereas in the aforementioned addon 

the individual railway plays the main part, the 

rail network in and around Bristol comes to life in 

the new add-on by Dave Capps and Ben Garfirth. 

In this extension, which covers a rail system of 

about 45 miles, we get to know a town with an 

interesting history and explore a region that has a 

lot to offer even for experienced train drivers. 

With about 433,000 inhabitants, Bristol is England’s 

eighth most populous city and the eleventh largest 

city in the UK. Between the 12th and the 18th 

centuries, today’s twin city of Hannover was an important 

port and trading city. 

Thanks to its convenient location, the town quickly 

evolved into the centre of shipbuilding and slave 

trade. In addition, the Knights Templar used Bristol 

as their main port for pilgrimages and trading 

missions until their dissolution. 

Even today, names reflect this heritage, e.g., the 

station Bristol Temple Meads which is derived from 

the nearby Temple Church. 

This station is currently used by three well known 

railway companies: First Great Western, particularly 

responsible for regional connections, Cross- 

Country and South West Trains. 

At first, you will mainly see First Great Western 

Ltd. trains on the virtual rails as this train painting 

is part of RailWorks’ standard material. As in real 

life, the station has an essential part in the extension 

and thus a hub for numerous trips. 

The two depots “Barton Hill TMD“ and “St Philip‘s 

Marsh T&RSMD“ (Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance 

Depot) which are located in the immediate 

vicinity to the station have been modelled fantastically 

and encourages the driver to stable the 

train after his shift. 

Sights of the town 


Leaving Temple Meads in the south-western direction, 

you have two possibilities: you can either 

drive eight miles to the suburb Pill and the connected 

“Royal Portbury Dock” or go on a trip to the 

museum railway “Bristol Harbour Railway”. But 

either way, you first pass the main track to Exeter 

along the district Bedminster to the station Parson 

Street. This is where the track branches off and 

continues single-track. 

Along the museum railway you will get to Bristol 

Harbour where you find the SS Great Britain, the 

13

LANDWIRTSCHAFTS-SIMULATOR LANDWIRTSCHAFTS-SIMULATOR 


first ship built of iron with a screw propeller, in 

its dry dock where she was built. Today, the museum 

ship is a popular tourist attraction. A trip to 

the nearby “M Shed” is equally as worthwhile. A 

former transit shed at the harbour, it currently is 

home to a museum featuring lots of exhibitions 

on Bristol. Unfortunately, the four characteristic 

loading cranes are missing in the simulation. 

If you leave out the museum railway and go to Pill 

instead, you will come across a well known landmark 

of Bristol, the Clifton Suspension Bridge. This 

suspension bridge, which crosses the river Avon 75 

m above high water level, was completed in 1864 

and also offers a breathtaking view to train drivers. 

At the end of this route, you finally reach “Royal 

Portbury Dock”. This is an important transhipment 

centre for imported cars and coal. 

Avonmouth 

Leaving Bristol Temple Meads in a northerly direction 

will lead the train driver through Narroways 

Hill on the Severn Beach Line. This route of about 

twelve miles has been highlighted by Thomas Cook 

as one of the scenic lines of Europe. In the past, 

the route was mainly reduced to single a track for 

economic reasons. Today, passenger trains reach 

Severn Beach via nine stations, including the suburb 

of Avonmouth. 

14 


Avonmouth, including its huge docks is another 

important transhipment centre for a large variety 

of goods. However, most freight trains do not travel 

on the Severn Beach Line but use the Henbury 

Looper freight route through the suburb of Filton 

to Bristol. 

Here, the trains pass the Airport Filton where different 

companies of the aviation industry are situated. 

In the process, the attentive train driver 

might discover another highlight, “the queen of 

the sky”. Concorde No. 216 which embarked on its 

final flight from London Heathrow to the aviation 

museum in Filton on 26 November 2003 is parked 

not far away from the rails. 

On this very flight, Concorde also flew over the 

Clifton Suspension Bridge at low altitude to symbolise 

the engineering achievements of the region 

around the city of Bristol. 

The extension also features a 17 mile section of 

the South Wales Main Line. This part covers the 

route from Bristol Temple Meads via Bristol Parkway 

to the Severn Tunnel Junction railway station. 

Here, the train driver passes through Great Britain’s 

second longest railway tunnel. The seven kilometre 

long tunnel is located beneath the mouth of 

the river Severn and connects England and Wales 

using rails.


Get on the train and depart 

The route package offers 15 scenarios of which ten 

tasks use the standard rolling stock and the other 

five require additional add-ons by Just Trains. The 

trips are very varied and offer a mixture of passenger 

and freight train missions. 

Furthermore, another four scenarios are available 

for exploration purposes. Unfortunately, it can be 

difficult at times to earn a green check mark when 

you have completed a mission because the developers 

have not properly executed an editor detail. 

Off to Bristol 

If you experience the route extension, you feel the 

desire to go to Bristol yourself to see some of the 

landmarks in reality. 

The RailWorks version offers numerous beautiful 

details and a variety of new objects. 

Moreover, the buildings along the rails make a 

good impression and the entire rail network has 

the potential for lots of exciting scenarios. 

It should be noted that part of the proceeds is 

donated to “SSAFA Forces Help”, a British charity 

organisation supporting former and current members 

of the British Armed Forces. 


So you can disregard the fact that only standard 

rails are featured and some characteristic objects 

are not modelled fully realistically. 

Daniel Wolfram 

Article from Train Sim Magazine 5/2012 

Infobox 

P r o d u c t _ S p e c i f i c a t i o n s 

• RailWorks 3 Train Simulator 2012 

• 3.0GHz PC or any Dual Core 

• 512Mb RAM (1.0Gb for Vista) 

• 256Mb graphics card 

• Windows 8 / 7 / XP / Vista 

• Direct X 9.0c compatible sound card 

• 25MB hard drive space 

Price 24.95 € (Download-Version) 

available at: www.justtrains.net 

15

Mega Airport Düsseldorf

Saitek Pro Flight 

Saitek Pro Flight…The ultimative Hardware 

Mad Catz are the developer/producer of Saitek 

Pro Flight PC peripherals. Not just PC peripherals 

but an impressive line of Flight Simulation hardware. 

Actually, you can split the Pro Flight hardware into 

the following sections: 

- Pro Flight Sticks 

- Pro Flight Controllers 

- Pro Flight Rudder Pedals 

- Pro Flight Panels 

- Pro Flight Accessories 

When you talk about Pro Flight Sticks, you deal 

with the X52, X52 Pro and the X-65F. The latter is 

specially made for combat pilots. 

All can be used and programmed in combination 

with most flight simulators such as Microsoft FS9, 

FSX and Laminar Research X-Plane. 

The moment we switch to the Pro Flight Controllers, 

we are talking about the Yoke System with 

the Throttle Quadrant or TPM Unit (Throttle/Prop/ 

Mixture). The Controllers are a dedicated Yoke, 

Throttle and Trim Unit for use with Cessna aircraft. 

Want to go for real? Then go for the Cessna Pro 

Flight System. Want to go for even more realism? 

Then you add the dedicated Cessna Rudder Pedals 


to your system.It’s a good idea to add rudder pedals 

to your add-on aircraft. 

Saitek offers a wide range of Pro Flight Rudder Pedals. 

One for general use, one for the previously 

mentioned Cessna simmers and one for combat 

pilots. 

Then we have the Pro Flight Panels. The previous 

Saitek components are bare equipment, but the 

Pro Flight Panels are components that bring you 

even closer to reality. 

One component Saitek offers you is a BIP or Backlit 

Information Panel. A combination of a caution, 

warning and information panel such as we see on 

real aircraft. 

Then there’s the Multi Panel. Here you can control 

your Auto Pilot from a panel with switches, pitch 

(V/S) wheel, annunciators and a display.Alternatively 

you can opt for the Radio Panel. 

With this panel you can control your COM, NAV, 

ADF and XPDR frequencies/value, in combination 

with LED displays. 

Always wanted to control basic aircraft systems 

from a panel instead of clicking the system with 

your mouse? Saitek has the solution. The Pro 

Flight Switch Panel. 

17



Saitek’s Cessna Pro Flight 

Yoke; made of high quality 

materials that give 

the yoke the “as real as 

it gets” feeling. 

Want to make your flight 

experience as real as 

possible? With the Saitek 

Trim- and Throttle Units 

you can! 

Saitek Combat Rudder 

Pedals; partly made of 

Di-cast alloy, adjustable 

damping system and 

more. With these pedals 

you’re ready for every 

flight combat! 

18 

SIMULATOR WORLD 2/2013


Last but not least are the Saitek modular Instrument 

Panels. Featuring a stunning 3.5” colour LCD 

screen, the Instrument Panel can display six of the 

main cockpit instrument panels. 

Choose between these six different flight instruments 

at the touch of a button. You can go for the 

altimeter, attitude indicator, airspeed indicator, 

vertical speed, compass or turn and slip indicator. 

And finally, the Pro Flight Accessories! Accessories 

generally don‘t ring any bells for me, but hold on 

a minute. 

Saitek Accessories? Perhaps their accessories are 

more important than you think! Actually, it’s one 

important accessory, the only and original Headset 

with boom microphone for flight simmers. 

Saitek says “heighten the realism of your flight 

simulation experience with the Saitek Pro Flight 

Headset. Constructed using high grade materials 

and closely modeled on professional pilot headsets, 

the headset looks, feels and sounds just like 

the real thing.” 

X-52 Pro Pro Flight Stick 

According to Saitek “The most fully integrated Stick 

and throttle flight controller and built to meet the 

demands of the best virtual pilots in the world! 

The MFD screen (Multi Function Display), first in- 

troduced on the X52 Flight Controller, is now interactive. 

New metal parts increase durability and the 

unique dual-spring mechanism provides a progressive 

spring force on the stick’s movement, making 

it more resistant the further you move it from center.” 

That’s all very interesting, but I’m more interested 

in “for which flight simulators” is it developed or 

“how to connect it”, and perhaps some tips and 

tricks? 

The X-52 is, as all other Pro Flight hardware, connected 

with a USB cable to your PC or a USB hub. 

Ok, here’s the first tip. 

It‘s preferably not connected to a USB hub but directly 

to your PC or Mac. 

As far as I’ve seen and tested, the X52 Pro works 

fine with Microsoft FS9 and FSX, but also with X- 

Plane on Windows and Mac OS X. 

I can’t speak for X-plane Linux, but logically that 

should work too. 

Furthermore, the X-52 Pro is also approved to work 

with Saitek’s Ultimate Multiplayer Combat Game. 

SIMULATOR WORLD 2/2013 19

Then, how to connect it and any problems to 

expect? 

After testing it with MS FS9, FSX and X-Plane Windows/Mac, 

I can say that it’s just plug and play and 

this time not “plug and pray”! The only advantage 

I can think of, when connected to Windows 

XP, Vista, 7 and 8 platforms, is the availability of 

Saitek’s Programming Software. 

With this software you have full control over all 

switches, selectors and knobs on the X-52 Pro. Without 

this, not all functions can be used. 

Therefore, always go for the SST software whenever 

you’re using the X-52 Pro in combination with 

Windows. 

On the other hand, using the X-52 Pro on a Mac, X- 

Plane offers many possibilities to assign functions 

to and although not at the same level as Windows, 

it works flawlessly with X-Plane 9 and 10. 

What was applicable for the X-52 Pro joystick is 

also valid for the throttle unit, however, this time 

the MFD (Multi Function Display) doesn’t offer all 

the Windows features. 

This is partly because of the Windows Saitek device 

driver, which isn’t available for Mac OS X. Aside 

from this, no problems here. 

But the MFD is, only in combination with Win- 

dows, actually a remote Radio Stack. Not too many 

words are needed to see the benefits of this. 

It’s now time to check out how this Saitek X-52 Pro 

works in combination with an X-Plane 10 aircraft, 

the McPhat ATR 72-500. 

I’m aware that the ATR has an ordinary control column 

with control wheel in the cockpit, but for assigning 

flight controls and other functions, there’s 

no difference. 

Angelique van Campen 

Angelique van Campen worked for Lufthansa 

Technical Training as Airbus technical instructor/ 

advisor and has been ground engineer Airbus 

A310/A300 and MD80 Series.

Euro Simulations-Technik 

Truck Sim 2 

CESSNA ® 

YOKE SYSTEM 

YOKE FEATURE SET 

• Accurate 1:1 scaled Cessna yoke 

• Full 180 degree turn radius 

• Stainless steel shaft with precision bearings 

• Quadrant with throttle, flaps, mixture & prop. pitch control 

CESSNA RUDDER PEDALS 

RUDDER PEDAL FEATURE SET 

• Authentic Cessna pedal design 

• Self-cantering pedals with adjustable damping 

• Independent left & right brake axes 

• Tension adjustment dial 

CLOSER TO REALITY 

Official Licensed Product 

madcatz.com 

Cessna emblems, logos, and body designs are trademarks of Textron Innovations Inc. and are used under license by Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. 

©2013 Mad Catz, Inc. Mad Catz, Saitek, and the Mad Catz and Saitek logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. 

All rights reserved. Product features, appearance and specifications may be subject to change without notice. 

CESSNA TRIM WHEEL 

TRIM WHEEL FEATURE SET 

• Designed after the real Cessna Trim Wheel 

• 9 turns of revolution 

• Multi-point desktop mount 

SAITEK.COM

The big “Deutschland-Box“ for 


A truly huge package, a so called “Big-boy-addon” 

with a stand-alone railway simulator, the Pro 

Train Perfect 2, four German routes: Hamburg – 

Berlin, Berlin – Leipzig, Leipzig – Saalfeld, Saalfeld 

– Nuremberg. Two task-add-ons and more than 

100 tasks on a total route length of 1700 km. 

We are going on a journey from Hamburg to Berlin. 

The city on the Elbe with its characteristic central 

station which, like Munich and Berlin, has several 

suburb stations and freight yards and is significant 

enough for a dense public and tourist traffic. 

This ensures a busy central station, including its famous 

station hall that offers dining and shopping 

possibilities. 

There are virtually no five minutes that go by without 

a train departing or arriving and this is exactly 

what is recreated in the tasks of PTP 2. The IC 

175, pulled by two locomotives of the series 101, is 

ready for departure. 

Shortly after leaving the hall, you hear the pleasant 

voice of the train driver who informs the 

passengers about the destination, other stops and 

the service on board. 

The train is passing through the densely populated 

Hamburg over the city’s arcades and is approaching 

the first stop Bergedorf. In 1982, the local 

football club nearly eliminated Bayern Munich in 

the German Cup which was only prevented 15 seconds 

before the end of the game. 

Bergedorf is the last stop in Hamburg before the 

train passes through Büchen, Ludwigslust, Wittenberge, 

and Spandau until it arrives at Berlin Central 

Station (low-level). Between stations, the travel 

speed is 200 km/h using LZB and as the number 

of polygons decrease outside of the metropolises 

and the viewable visibility is reduced to 3.5 km, 

the game runs smoothly at this travel speed. 

From Berlin to Leipzig 

22 SIMULATOR WORLD 2/2013 

PTP2 Deutschlandbox 

There are 25 tasks to complete on this route. This 

is the add-on the ICE-connection between these 

two metropolises focuses on with only one freight 

task available. The objects in PTP 2, i.e. 3D models, 

can be mastered using the script language. 

Let me give you an example of the train’s individuality. 

The ICE fleet in PTP 2 can not only be customised 

with different names and train numbers as 

in real life, but the destination signs on the regional 

trains are also fitting for the current connection. 

The ICE T 1505 from Berlin Central Station to Leipzig 

Central Station is at a travel speed of 200 km/h 

and the train is checked by the LZB. You hear the 

original ICE sounds. Controlling the train at such


a speed requires a lot of focus on the route, the 

stops and the signs indicating the kilometres are 

virtually flying by. If you are not sure, you can view 

the map of the route (key “M”) which simplifies 

the task to get the ICE to Leipzig. 

From Leipzig to Saalfeld 

The main line starting in Leipzig-Leutzsch is passing 

through Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. 

At the beginning of the project it was established 

as a long-distance connection between 

Munich and Berlin. 

This section of the route, which was used for 

freight traffic in GDR times, is where most of the 

freight tasks in PTP 2 take place. 

Here, the powerful six-axle freight locomotive can 

prove itself in front of a heavy brown coal train in 

double heading as in former times. But the aforementioned 

ICE trains, which cover this section 

through Jena-Paradies and partly Naumburg, are 

also very present. 

Further new locomotives like the 189 and the series 

152 are pulling freight- and regional trains. In 

addition, Ludmilla takes over a trip. A total of 48 

tasks want to be completed by the amateur train 

driver. 

From Saalfeld to Nurenberg 

This track has a total of 49 tasks to offer. One varied 

task provided me container train pulled by 

series 294 arriving from Kulmbach. Currently, it is 

parked in Hochstadt-Marktzeuln and the train driver 

needs to take it to Lichtenfels where a change 

of locomotives is scheduled to take place in the 

shunting area. 

The slightly weak 294 will be replaced by a 189. 

The latter, driven by the user, shall take over the 

further transport to Nuremberg Central Station. 

The train controller gives the instructions in 

a small window which need to be followed. This 

demands precise working and monitoring of the 

signals when you are shunting. 

Pros and cons 

Announcements provide atmosphere when you 

are driving and the good thing about this is that 

the original voices sweeten the train sim experience 

in PTP 2. Train passengers know these voices 

and connect the simulation with the real train. 

A guard had a little slip of the tongue, so the user 

has the impression that the guard really is in one 

of the carriages, the special one for announcements 

of the staff. On trips through Saxony and 

Thuringia you temporarily hear a compatriot speaking 

in Saxon dialect and the woman’s voice from 


The regional train RB 

18923 to Berlin. The 

Class 143 with double 

stack wagons is ready to 

leave from Nauen railstation. 

The player gets clearance 

to leave at 13:52 

and drives the train to 

Berlin. After shift change 

with a colleague the train 

proceeds to Senftenberg. 

The ICE 908 from Munich 

Central Station to 

Berlin-Gesundbrunnen 

on its way from Saalfeld 

through Jena-Paradies to 

Leipzig Central Station in 

the add-on Leipzig-Saalfeld. 

Here, it is leaving 

Saalfeld Central Station. 

Cabview of the the Class 

155, the “Cablecontainer“, 

so called by personnel 

in former GDR 

times. The driving console 

is fully functional, 

including the electronic 

route schedule, and can 

be operated by mouse 

and keyboard. 

24 


PTP2 Deutschlandbox


tape that announces the next stop or the state of 

instruments is also familiar. 

The high building density in the environment that 

is PTP 2 standard by now needs lots of computer 

performance in spite of optimisations by using LOD 

models (faraway objects contain less polygons for 

calculation). Today’s computers meet the requirements 

of huge routes and good quality models. 

Only in extreme cases will stuttering occur. 

The amount of degrees of difficulty the player can 

choose from when selecting a train protection system 

is great. Do you want to drive using Sifa? Do 

you add PZB which requires relatively high concentration? 

And what about the weather which has 

influence on the mood of the staff? 

This has not been possible in the beginnings of 

train simulation. Selecting all specialties signifies 

the highest degree of difficulty. Pressing the SIFA 

every 30 seconds, keeping an eye on Vmax, distant 

signals, stop signals... a change of travel speed 

below 90 km/h must be acknowledged by the PZB 

90 or the train will brake automatically. 

The security systems protect the train driver from 

running past a stop signal as that is a mistake he 

would not be doing twice in his career. PTP 2 has a 

points system which considers all factors and provides 

an evaluation at the end of each task. 

Sadly, some particularities of PTP 2 routes like LZB 

and PZB cannot be used on your own routes be- 

cause they are protected by special scripts. Pro 

Train Perfect 2, a simulation that resembles a lying 

8. An endless game with a serious and exemplary 

background. 

André Rogalla 

André Rogalla is an ambitious user of PC games 

and theories since the times of Amstrad CPC and 

an enthusiastic model railroader. 

The PTP2-Deutschland-Box is available from 

HALYCON at: www.halycon.de 

Article from Train Sim Magazine 1/2013

In the streets of San Francisco 

Bus- & Cable Car Simulator 

Shortly after the release of World of Subways Vol. 

3 London Underground, the next simulation by 

TML Studios has already hit the market. We are 

talking about Bus- & Cable Car-Simulator. 

In Bus- & Cable Car-Simulator, the user can get behind 

the wheel of a bus, a cable car or a tram in a 

variety of freely accessible streets in San Francisco, 

CA. 

In total, there are 16 different vehicles available 

that have been modelled and animated in an extremely 

detailed way. 

These are used for exploring the faithfully recreated 

streets of the city and discovering many places 

and sights which are known all over the world. 

But the player better not be too distracted by 

them as the dense traffic requires all his attention 

as well as the on-board computer, the schedule 

and - last but not least - the fuel gauge. 

The comprehensive career mode is guiding the 

player through different neighbourhoods of the 

coastal metropolis who is constantly facing new 

challenges. 

At the same time, he is awarded with new vehicles 

as well as additional routes. 

26 

Building upon a legacy 



In terms of content, the Bus- & Cable Car-Simulator 

is obviously attached to the City Bus Simulator 

by TML Studios. 

As the TML simulators are basically based on the 

same game engine, a lot of improvements and extensions 

developed for World of Subways Vol. 3: 

London Underground are featured in Bus- & Cable 

Car-Simulator. This mainly includes improved visual 

and acoustic features. 

Installation, Features 

The box version contains a small manual including 

the main information on control, keyboard commands 

and game play features as well as an outline 

map indicating streets and bus depots. 

The full installation of Bus- & Cable Car-Simulator 

requires about 2.9 GB of free disk space. 

A permanent internet connection during the 

game is NOT necessary. You just have to register 

the game once using the serial number and can 

subsequently play “offline”. 

The selected density and amount of AI traffic did 

not have a huge impact on the frame rate.


The Bus- & Cable Car-Simulator is compatible with 

steering wheels, but the vehicles can very well be 

controlled using the mouse and the keyboard. 

The gameplay 

The game starts with a quite rundown, but rentfree 

apartment in Nob Hill, a district of San Francisco. 

One of the goals of the game is to escape 

that apartment and move to a more beautiful one. 

For this, the player needs to earn the necessary 

money. In addition, he starts out with a car that 

is not exactly what you would call state of the art. 

This can also be changed with the right amount of 

money. 

Essentially, the beginning of the game is all about 

working a couple of shifts as a bus driver. In order 

to do that, you get to one of the three bus 

depots of San Francisco in your pickup truck. Having 

arrived there, you choose a schedule in the 

dispatcher’s office. 

Basically, there are six different kinds of schedules: 

The City Route, a line with lots of stops and short 

distances between them; CrossTown, including lines 

taking you to more rural areas with partially 

long distances between the stops; ExPress, with 

rather long lines, mostly large and broad roads 

and long distances between the stops; Trolley, 

a line travelled on by trolley buses; Cable Car, a 

classic with a total of 3 lines you can drive on and 

Streetcar, the historic line exclusively used by historic 

trams. 

Day and night 


The game has its own time system with the minutes 

passing quicker than in reality. That way the dynamic 

day and night system linked with the dynamic 

weather and traffic system can be better appreciated. 

In case the player returns to his apartment 

and goes to sleep, a leap in time is possible. 

Fleet of vehicles and direct travel 

After visiting certain places on the map – either in 

your private car or during your shift by bus – they 

are enabled as destinations for direct travel. Hence 

you can select these places and can be transferred 

there from wherever you are. 

At the beginning, the player only has a short diesel 

bus at his disposal which he needs to make 

money and collect experience points. In the exhibition 

hall of San Francisco you can have a first 

peek at all vehicles available in the game – and 

also purchase them. Provided you already have 

that kind of money. 

A second possibility to expand your fleet of vehicles 

is the reward system. 

27



The bonus system: Rewards 

In the majority of cases, the reward system in Bus- 

& Cable Car Simulator serves as a reward for certain 

achievements. 

There are plenty of rewards e.g. a reward for being 

especially polite to your passengers, rewards for 

punctuality, refuelling in time, driving under difficult 

weather conditions, economy (for repeatedly 

using the trolley bus), respecting the rules and 

driving safely without causing any damage, number 

of passengers, washing and maintaining the 

vehicle and even for repairing the bus yourself. 

However, there are also negative rewards which 

may result in you losing money. This could be e.g. 

jumping a red light, speeding, causing lots of accidents 

and being overtired while driving. 

Last but not least, you will lose money for speeding 

all the time due to the speed cameras. 

I need a dollar... 

Each trip and activation of a line is followed by an 

evaluation recording punctuality, transported passengers 

and number of kilometres driven. 

Logically, you can earn more money from longer 

distances on which, on the downside, you are 

more likely to make mistakes. The other possibili- 

28 


ty to make money is the aforementioned reward 

system. Getting certain rewards also include an 

amount of money. 

Tasks and sights 

Another way to make money in San Francisco 

would be to take over special tasks. The bus depot 

offers you certain tasks for that: Night shift, breakdown 

service, technical service, refuelling, collecting 

the daily takings and transferring. 

The world of Bus- & Cable Car-Simulator contains 

lots of famous places of San Francisco that you can 

all visit like Fisherman’s Warf, the Golden Gate 

Bridge, Lombard Street, Plaza Farmers Market, 

Union Square, Cable Car Museum, the Bay Bridge, 

Transamerica Pyramid, Coit Tower, Painted Ladies, 

the Broadway Tunnel and the lighthouse of Treasure 

Island. 

Working hours and maintenance 

During the game, the system keeps an eye on driving 

and resting times. In the event you are on the 

road for too long, an increasing risk will be simulated. 

Thus causing an accident in the process is 

high. 

As a countermeasure, you can have a break, approach 

a petrol station or a restaurant to drink a 

coffee. Moreover, you should look after the milea-


ge and refuel in time. In case the vehicle is extremely 

dirty, you might want to go and wash it. 

Conclusion 

The combination of playful and technical elements 

unified in one simulator is very well done. However, 

Bus- & Cable Car Simulator is not the right 

choice for a quick game. 

The title is far too complicated for short sessions, 

although these challenging components enrich 

the simulation aspect. The vehicles, town and environment, 

the weather including sun, rain, wind, 

raindrops and steamy windows are visually and 

acoustically modelled extremely well. 

The buses make a realistic driving impression and 

react accordingly. A strong recommendation for 

all bus and tram drivers among the simulation enthusiasts! 

Frank Moellenhof 

Infobox 


• Windows XP (SP3)/ Vista / 7 

• Processor with 2.6 GHz Duo Core 

• NVIDIA GeForce 9800 or equivalent 

ATI graphics card 

• 2 GB RAM 

• 2 GB free hard drive space 

• DirectX 9.0c 

• Sound card 

• DVD drive 

Demo available at: 

www.world-of-busdriver.com

Aerosoft/McPhat Studios ATR-72-500 

The Ultimate French Twin Prop 

In a continuation of our Saitek Pro Flight article, 

it‘s a good idea to practice with Saitek’s Pro Flight 

hardware along with a highly detailed X-Plane 10 

(XP10) aircraft. A few other XP10 add-on aircraft 

have seen daylight before, and now it’s up to the 

French “Avions de Transport Régional“ ATR 72- 

500. 

The XP10 ATR 72 package is available for the Windows 

and Mac platform and along with that, Mc- 

Phat Studios offers additional freeware HD (High 

Definition) livery packages. 

All together a good formula to start with! 

Right now there’s no need to go in-depth about 

how to install this aircraft, how to add additional 

liveries or how to configure it. For this, I suggest 

you download the Aerosoft ATR72-500 manual 

from the dedicated Aerosoft ATR web page. 

That said, it’s now time to see how to configure 

Saitek’s Yoke System or the X-52 

Pro hardware and after that maybe we‘ll 

have space left for some tips and tricks. 

The modelled ATR 72-500 is an uncomplicated aircraft 

that uses the default XP10 FMS, but it comes 

with a simulated AFCS (Automatic Flight Control 

System) and EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System). 

EFIS consist of an EHSI (Electronic Horizontal 

Situation Indicator) and EADI (Electronic Attitude 

30 


ATR-72-500 

Direction Indicator), but there’s more. 

With certain aircraft systems simulated, it’s always 

fun to fly and test each of them. 

Configure Saitek Yoke System/Flight Stick 

If you haven’t done this before, at the first startup, 

XP10 will ask you to calibrate the connected 

hardware. Otherwise, you can start up XP10 immediately. 

Already configured or not, access to the XP10 

menu is via the Setting - Joystick & Equipment, but 

there’s an important issue. I faced the following 

problem. 

XP10 can detect the PITCH and ROLL yoke/joystick 

movements, but not the YAW movement, so you 

need to assign this manually in the XP10 “Axis” 

tab. Don’t forget … XP10 can only recognise your 

Saitek hardware when you‘ve connected it to your 

PC or Mac before starting XP10. 

If you haven’t done so, shutdown XP10, connect 

your Saitek hardware and restart XP10. 

Many assignments can be made in XP10, but for 

the moment, let’s stick to assigning FLAPS, LAN- 

DING GEAR, TOGGLE BRAKES and ROT (rotary or 

HAT switch). The first three can be found in the 

XP10 menu “Settings - Joystick & Equipment – Buttons: 

Basic”, while the ROT is situated under Buttons: 

Adv.


When that‘s done, it’s time to test the ATR. 

More information about joystick assignments can 

be found in section 4.6 of the official XP10 User 

Manual. 

Once the XP10 ATR is active, it depends if the engines 

are running or not. It’s up to you of course, 

but it‘s more realistic to have this aircraft coming 

up without engines running. 

Therefore, go to Settings - Operations & Warnings 

section Startup. Suppose the engines were already 

running. An XP10 restart is needed. 

At the next restart, XP10 will show your ATR in a 

Cold & Dark situation. 

But how to get the ATR 72-500 alive? Check your 

ATR aircraft folder within the main folder “Aircraft 

- Heavy Metal” and look for the Acrobat file 

“Procedure_Manual”. 

Got that? 

Great, now it’s time to open and assign the “Rear 

Entry Door” and “Cargo Door” and after that, 

join me on my virtual walk-around inspection. 

The only problem is … how do I open or close these 

doors?Right now, closing the doors is not the 

problem since they are already closed, so the question 

is … how to open them? 

For this we need to assign either a keyboard command 

or joystick button. Via Settings – Joystick & 

Equipment, you go to tab “Buttons: Adv”. When 

you want to assign a joystick button to a door, you 

go to the tab “Key”, otherwise you go to tab Buttons: 

Adv. 

For both tabs “Buttons: Adv” or “Keys”, you choose 

from the list “Operation – slider_01” for, for example 

the cargo door. “Operation – slider_02” is 

then for the passenger door or vice versa. I used 

for slider_01 keyboard combination Shift+1 and 

slider_02 Shift+2. Any other keyboard command 

is allowed as long as it doesn’t conflict other keyboard 

assignments. 

I’m aware this is a very short explanation and 

therefore, how to assign and/or using Buttons: 

Adv or Keys, can be found in the official XP10 user 

manual sections 4.6.4 and 4.7 

Now it’s time for my planned quick walk-around 

inspection. Starting at the fuselage nose section, I 

see a highly detailed gear, radome cone and nose 

fuselage section. 

With the cargo door opened, you’ve got a good 

view of what’s possible within XP10. The high definition 

textures are gorgeous and this is applicable 

for the whole model. The livery textures are sharp 

and have a nice gloss. 


There are so many tiny details visible like the 

screws on the flap fairings and even the JET FUEL 

placard is perfectly readable. 

Any interesting details to highlight? Of course 

there are. 

Let’s sum them up - the static dischargers, the top 

red anti-collision light, the white navigation light 

and strobe unit at the end of the fuselage, the 

weathered look of the China Southern blue tail 

etc. 

Also worth mentioning is the weathered look of 

main landing gear and fuselage/wheel fairing. 

The main landing gear is difficult to spot, but once 

you have it in view, you’ll be impressed with what 

you see. 

Although it’s a quick walk-around inspection, it 

confirms my earlier thoughts that McPhat 3D Studios 

and others offer a great replica of the ATR 72- 

500 with HD external textures with lots of detail. 

This McPhat ATR 72-500 article isn’t a review. No, 

not at all. 

The whole idea is to give you some background 

information and tips, if applicable, about how 

to connect and/or assign keyboard or yoke/joystick 

commands to interact with the aircraft. 

32 

That said, it’s time to check the X-52 Pro with the 

recently released Aerosoft Airbus x Extended. 

Angelique van Campen 


Infobox 


• X-Plane 10 (fully updated) 

• Operating System: Windows XP/ 

Vista/7 (updated), Linux, Mac 

• CPU: 2,6 GHz (Duo / Quad core 

recommended) 

• Memory : 2 GB RAM 

• GPU: DX10 with 512 MB 

• Download-Size: 650 MB 

• Installations-Size: 1 GB 

Price 29.99 € (Download-Version) 

available at: www.aerosoft.com 

ATR-72-500


The McPhat ATR 72-500 

offers a hi-quality 3D 

Cockpit with many aircraft 

systems simulated. 

Due to the low FPS, it’s a 

pleasure to fly with. 

High Definition (HD) 

external textures, welldeveloped 

3D model and 

eye for details, make the 

McPhat ATR 72-500 the 

Ultimate X-Plane add-on. 

You want to relax for a 

moment? Take a window 

or aisle seat in the highly 

modeled and detailed 

Virtual Cabin. 


PREVIEW EDITION 3-2013 

subject to alterations 

Bridge Builder 2 

Airport-Firefighter Simulator 2013 

Saitek Combat Pilot 

34 


Imprint 

VORSCHAU Vorschau / IMPRESSUM / Impressum 

SIMULATOR WORLD 

Your free simulation games magazine! 

Homepage: www.simulatorworld.com 

Publisher: 

ALBO medien GmbH 

Lindberghring 12 

33142 Bueren 

Germany 

Tel. +49 (0) 29 55 – 76 03 37 

Fax: +49 (0) 29 55 - 76 03 33 

Company Registry: B 9728 

Tax ID: 339 5801 0442 

FA Paderborn 

Management: Eva Loeffler 

email: kontakt@albo-medien.de 

Address of editorial staff: 

ALBO medien GmbH 

Simulator WORLD 

Lindberghring 12 

33142 Bueren 

Germany 

email: redaktion@albo-medien.de 

Chief editor: 

Frank Moellenhof (V.i.S.d.P.) 

email: moellenhof@simulatorworld.de 

Staff of this issue: André Rogalla, Angelique van 

Campen, Daniel Wolfram and James Woodcock 

Copyright: © ALBO medien GmbH 

All rights, in particular of the duplication, translation, 

microfilming as well as the feed and processing in electronic 

systems, to the utilisation of parts of the technical 

periodical or on the whole remain reserved. All logos related 

in the magazine and protective brands are a property 

of the respective legal owners.

Train Simulator 2013 Saitek ProFlight X-Plane: ATR 72 ... - Aerosoft

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