tower!3d pro Schedule Builder Tool - create your own schedules

[EliGrim]

Important notice:
My Tower!3D (Pro) and Tower! Simulator 3 tools/websites will be discontinued in March 2024. All related content and subdomains will be removed from the servers. Access to the tools/websites will no longer be possible.

With the Schedule Builder you can create your own customized schedules for Tower!3D and Tower!3D Pro.
Real Traffic AddOn is required to play the generated schedules.

SCHEDULE BUILDER TOOL WEBSITE

 

HOW IT WORKS:

Select an airport by typing the ICAO code or click SHOW ALL to get to a drop-down list.

Decide how many hours your schedule should include.

Select a starting time.

Decide on the hourly traffic volume.

Decide whether the first hour should have more arrivals or departures.

Decide if you want a realistic distribution of the airlines or more variety.

Optionally add GA (General Aviation) flights.

Decide whether GA flights should request special flight maneuvers.

Select how the GA callsigns should be processed.

Decide whether airlines of the Retro RC Pack should be used.

Click on GENERATE TIMETABLE to create your schedule.

For each of the options there is a small blue question mark. Click on it to get more detailed information about each option of the Schedule Builder.
For further questions read the FAQ on the website or use the contact form.

 

Once your schedule is created, you will be taken to the download page.
Download each file and save it to a folder on your hard drive. Read the file x_READ_ME_FIRST.txt, it contains all necessary information on how to use your schedule in Tower!3D Pro.

Clicking on a link will start the download, but you will remain on the download page.

When you have downloaded all files, please click on the KEEP SERVER CLEAN button.
Once you have left the download page, you can't return to it. So it makes no sense to leave your schedule on the server.

 

Work on the Schedule Builder is completed. All 28 airports (base game plus 25 DLC airports) that were planned for implementation are available. There are no plans to add more airports.
Many thanks to all who helped with this project and all who enjoy the Schedule Builder.

For bug reports and feedback use this thread or the contact form on the website.

EliGrim

[707FAN]

@EliGrim I have just tried it and it seems good. I make my own schedules but never publish them. I am currently working on RJTT to make it useable.

I will PM you on the subject.

KevM

[707FAN]

@EliGrim I have just tried it and it seems good. I make my own schedules but never publish them. I am currently working on RJTT to make it useable.

I dont seem to be acle to  PM you on the subject.

KevM

[EliGrim]

3 hours ago, 707FAN said:

I dont seem to be acle to  PM you on the subject.

Got your PM and just answered. Thanks a lot. 😀

[ashman99]

Just tried it out and worked like a charm! Can't wait for other airports to be released for schedule creations! The only suggestion I'd say, and it's definitely not a must have, but once the schedule is created, to have it organize it from start time to end time

Example:
PHL, STT, 752, AA, 2521, 07:09, 12:00, 1, AA
STX, STT, CNT, 9K, 8164, 07:27, 12:00, 1, 9K
SJU, STT, E90, B6, 1362, 07:43, 12:00, 1, B6

Instead of mixed up:
MCO, STT, 319, NK,  262, 08:25, 12:00, 1, NK
SJU, STT, E90, B6, 1362, 07:43, 12:00, 1, B6
MIA, STT, 752, AA, 1947, 08:57, 12:00, 1, AA
SJU, STT, 320, B6, 1430, 09:25, 12:00, 1, B6

It's just easier to look up the schedule once playing.

[EliGrim]

4 hours ago, ashman99 said:

Can't wait for other airports to be released for schedule creations!

If you help, they might come sooner! (If I may be so bold as to give this very, very discreet hint!) 😉😁

 

4 hours ago, ashman99 said:

once the schedule is created, to have it organize it from start time to end time

Actually, the shuffling is done on purpose. It could be pure coincidence, but I have the feeling that T!3D distributes the flights better at the terminals when the schedule is mixed.
I have already thought about offering a sorted file for download in addition to the jumbled one. However, it was not as easy to realize as I would have wished and so I have discarded the idea for the time being. Unfortunately my spare time is rather limited and there are already more than 6,000 lines of code in the Schedule Builder.
But I have it on my map and I will think about it again as soon as a certain number of airports has added.

[Zatris]

Hey, 

I just tried one time this builder tools and I played about 15 minutes and I saw that:  
STT, ATL, 752, DL,  569, 12:00, 12:00, 1, DL
STT, ATL, 752, DL,  405, 12:00, 12:02, 1, DL

I don't write all flights but more which difference just few minutes with same airlines  
 

[The Computer Dood]

Eli,

Tried it last night - Wow I was overwhelmed with Flights.  I will continue to test.  I like the warnings, like so many planes, or exceeding maximum.  I made a few mistakes, and the system warned me.  Nice.  I will let you know after a deep dive into tonights flights into TIST.

Great interface - looks very official.

[hexzed]

Hi Eli

I'm pretty sure i have answered my own question, but the schedules are based only on the existing RC pack?

Ben

[EliGrim]

9 hours ago, Zatris said:

difference just few minutes with same airlines

Thank you very much for the hint. Unfortunately, this is the downside of randomly creating flights. For larger airports this should not be a problem, but for small airports like TIST it is of course not very realistic.
I noticed this myself and I had corrected this and other little things for a while. But then I removed these restrictions, because otherwise the same schedule was generated over and over again, with only minor differences.

The goal of the Schedule Builder should be to provide variety in the game in a simple way. The generated schedules should feel realistic to a certain degree, or at least they should feel plausible. When trying to maintain diversity for the schedule generation, this is unfortunately not possible for all aspects. And it is not the goal to replace reality-based, hand-made schedules. I hope it still works for you.

 

4 hours ago, hexzed said:

schedules are based only on the existing RC pack?

Yes. 😄

Quote

from https://forum.simflight.com/topic/88526-beta-testing-by-users-features-andor-airports/?do=findComment&comment=537294

At first I also thought about a database of real flights, from which schedules are created according to selected criteria by the user. But I got away from that and went another way. I call it the No-White-Aircraft-Approach.

With my tool the schedules will be generated using the provided liveries of the RC Pack for the selected airport. So if you have the airport's RC Pack, you will not see any white planes.

The script uses the airlines and corresponding aircraft from the RC Pack, then randomly selects one of the predefined destinations for that airline for the selected airport and generates a flight number from a predefined range that is reasonably credible.
There would be other approaches to generate the schedules, but this is the one I have chosen. I hope that this is okay for most users. My goal for the tool is to create varied and playable schedules. (Of course, this is only true if the user does not completely go crazy with the parameters when creating a schedule.)

[hexzed]

Next time i will use my eyes and read 🤦‍♂️

Thank you

[EliGrim]

1 hour ago, hexzed said:

Next time i will use my eyes and read 🤦‍♂️

Exactly! How can you ask such an obviously uninformed question?! I'm just kidding! 🤔😁

My answer wasn't meant as a reproach. My quote is from another thread, it was just convenient for me to paste it here. ☺️

[Ripskin]

Gave it a run through with 80 regular flights and 11 GA.  Was good fun.

• I saw your post above related to the ordering of data in the schedule file which is fine. 
  • I wouldn't mind seeing each handle on its own line just to make reading through it a little easier.
• I felt like I got too many Cape Air flights, you'll see in Saturday's vid but that was most of all my arrivals against GA. 

Seemed slow for that many planes in the schedule but it did say it may not work right in your warning and it was correct :) 
Good stuff!

[EliGrim]

33 minutes ago, Ripskin said:

I got too many Cape Air flights

I categorize the different airlines for each airport. I looked at some days of real flight schedules and Cape Air and American Airlines seem to have the most flights to and from TIST. So these two airlines are in Cat I.
Jet Blue, Delta and United are in Cat II, Spirit and Seaborne in Cat III, Sun Country in Cat IV and Liat in Cat V.

If you have been getting more Cape Air flights than American Airlines flights, it could be because of the following:

33 minutes ago, Ripskin said:

Seemed slow for that many planes in the schedule

I suppose since there were more flights in the schedule than T!3D can handle for TIST, due to the small number of aircraft stands, the game might have decided to prioritize the small a/c based on the distances on approach, with only one runway. Maybe also because of the GA flights, which is only a wild guess.

Do you still have the schedule and localtraffic file? If so, would you like to send it to me via PM? It might help me with the analysis, especially when I watch your video on Saturday. I may have to edit the code for the distribution of flights.

[Ripskin]

I definitely had more Cape Air than AAL.  The bulk of all flights were Cape Air.  There were some empty slots around the airport so I think it freaked out with the total selected handles. 

I'll PM you the files here in a few minutes. 

Either way it was fun :) 

[ATC AlaskaGuy]

something i saw though online now at tist airport they have remodeled or r going to remodel the airport so it will have jetways and more slips for aircraft, to bad feelthere or nyerges design wont update that airport to have that.

[ATC AlaskaGuy]

here r some pictures of what st thomas international airport will look like when it is remodeled

 

St Thoma cyril Airport 02.webp St thomas cyril airport 01.webp St Thomas Cyril Airport 03.webp

[crbascott]

This thread is about the schedule builder tool, not TIST. You probably want to start a new thread instead of hijacking this one.

🐷

[Zatris]

If you can on this stage can make KLAX or KPHL that would be great and us should see more bugs, errors or smth

[EliGrim]

2 hours ago, Zatris said:

If you can on this stage can make KLAX or KPHL that would be great and us should see more bugs, errors or smth

I would love to do that. But I need your help to do it. And I don't mean you in particular, but anyone who is willing to help me gather information.

This is what I need:
1. Assistance in creating a reasonable terminal file that includes all airlines included in the RC Pack.
2. Assistance in defining a credible flight number range for each airline for the corresponding airport.
3. Assistance in researching which destinations the different airlines fly to from the corresponding airport.

Anyone who is interested in contributing can send me a PM and will receive a link to the forum I have created for this purpose.

With the help of 3 or 4 people, and me focusing on the coding part, the next 5 to 10 airports could probably be added in 2 or 3 weeks. If I have to do it alone, I will need at least 2 to 3 weeks per airport due to my limited spare time.

[WildCard]

If you want to make local GA traffic a little more of a challenge, esp for TIST, you could add some stop and goes, touch and goes, or low approaches. I haven't tested low approaches yet, but I'm assuming they will work. Left and right patterns work, so does extending upwind or downwind. They are just a little annoying as they go out to a 10 mile final instead of the usual 5 mile short final, but that adds to the challenge of working them back into the landing sequence as there is almost no margin for error and you may have to pull a plane out of sequence to make a hole for them 🙂

[EliGrim]

47 minutes ago, WildCard said:

you could add some stop and goes, touch and goes, or low approaches

That's a good idea (I assume). I will see if and how I can add a checkbox to enable this option if needed and then randomly assign these events.

When I created my first schedules, I also played around with the option (Steam version), but never understood how it should work. Maybe it just doesn't work for me. No matter what I tried, the GA flights reported like regular flights, I gave permission to land, they landed and were sent to the apron.
How should I know that e.g. a touch-and-go wants to be performed if the game doesn't tell me? Since then I have ignored these options and kept them at 0.

Like I said, maybe it just doesn't work for me. I'll get into it over the weekend and see if I can find a quick solution to include this option for schedule generation.

[WildCard]

Commands for a successful SnG, TnG or LA

#airplane1; LEFT CLOSED TRAFFIC APPROVED RUNWAY ;#runway1; CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF
#airplane1; RIGHT CLOSED TRAFFIC APPROVED RUNWAY ;#runway1; CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF

or

#airplane1; RUNWAY ;#runway1; CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF

followed by (after takeoff)
#airplane1; ENTER LEFT PATTERN RUNWAY ;#runway1
#airplane1; ENTER RIGHT PATTERN RUNWAY ;#runway1

left pattern will be entered if just cleared for takeoff

then, before first turn, if you think you need to delay landing already

#airplane1; EXTEND DOWNWIND ;#number1; MILES
#airplane1; EXTEND DOWNWIND ;#number1; MILE

then, before base turn, which usually happens when they are abeam the 10 mile mark, if you need to delay entry into landing sequence

#airplane1; EXTEND UPWIND ;#number1; MILES
#airplane1; EXTEND UPWIND ;#number1; MILE

then (the type of clearance and how many are left to do is on the strip). I f you just give a cleared to land instruction, then you have told them they are no longer allowed to continue their practice flight, so they will just land and want to go to the apron.

#airplane1; RUNWAY ;#runway1; CLEARED TO TOUCH AND GO
#airplane1; RUNWAY ;#runway1; CLEARED FOR STOP AND GO
#airplane1; RUNWAY ;#runway1; CLEARED FOR LOW APPROACH

After doing all of their practice runs, they will do one final loop to finish and need a

#airplane1; RUNWAY ;#runway1; CLEARED TO LAND

Issuing a '#airplane1; CONTACT DEPARTURE' makes them fly away, and I don't think the game re-enters them into the landing sequence. I haven't fully tested this yet, but I would consider that to be a bug.

[WildCard]

Also, I haven't tried TnG or SnG with a Regional Jet. I assume, due to their landing and takeoff lengths, that they will either refuse the landing clearance, abort the takeoff, or successfully takeoff by going straight through the terrain 🙂

[EliGrim]

@WildCard slightly off-topic, but actually helpful. 😄

My problem, however, is that if I set e.g. Touch-and-Go to 1 in the gaandlocaltraffic file, the flight, neither as departure nor as arrival, tells me that it wants to perform a Touch-And-Go, but behaves like a normal departure or arrival and can be dispatched that way. Therefore I have ignored this option since then.
In my Callsign Tool (shameless self-promo) I have taken it into account and it would indicate that a TnG is planned when you enter the callsign of the GA flight, but if the game doesn't tell me, I honestly don't see the point of using it. It could be that it is really only for me and it works for others.
As far as the Schedule Builder is concerned, I will certainly include the option there.