This version adds extra options that allow you to play in a more realistic way, and the gameplay controls can now be customized to your liking.
Changelog for version 5.5:
- Added 3 new options to the 'Realism' menu: Air pressure, Random weather, and Frequencies. By default all 3 options are off, but if you want the gameplay to be more challenging and realistic, switch them on if you like.
- The Pressure option adds air pressure simulation (QNH/altimeter). By default it's set to off (like in earlier versions; the pressure is fixed at standard pressure), to keep things simple. But when enabled, you can set the actual air pressure (at sea level) in the Weather menu. The air pressure mainly affects the height of the flight levels and the lowest usable flight level. It does not affect altitudes. To distinguish between altitudes and flight levels, an A or F is added to the label of the airplanes, depending on the transition altitude (the 'highest altitude') at the airport you are controlling.
- The Random weather option automatically sets the weather (wind, pressure, and a small chance of clouds) when starting a new game. The weather can still be adjusted in the Weather menu at any time.
- The Frequency option can be enabled if you like more realistic handoff readbacks: the H/O button is replaced by a 'radio frequency' button. Players that use custom airports may already have seen (or heard) this feature before, but now it's a toggleable feature.
- Added customizable keyboard bindings, and mouse control customization. Press F7 to open the Controls menu (also accessible via the About menu), and click on a function to change its binding. You can setup keys to your liking; you can even bind functions to the A-Z and 0-9 keys, which are by default used for Text Input (like 'A30' for altitude 3000). If you don't use Text Input to control planes, press F6 to disable Text Input, so you can use any key without conflicts. Some mouse controls can also be adjusted, for example the functionality of the scroll wheel in combination with mouse clicks. You can experiment with different control settings and if things go wrong, just press the Defaults button to restore all controls back to the default settings.
- Added 'speech rate' setting to the Sound menu. By default, the speech rate changes automatically based on the time multiplier and the number of planes, but now it can be set at a fixed rate.
- Simplified the Custom Traffic menu; it now has 4 buttons for all of the 4 custom traffic modes, so there's no need to toggle the 'skill' and 'flow' buttons.
- Updated runway names at Luton and Orly due to magnetic variation.
- Text Input 'II' can be used as an alternative to longpressing the ILS or SID button.
- For Custom airports: option to set the maximum climb rate per planetype.
- Various minor adjustments.
- Hotfix v5.5.1: fixed issue where Caps Lock or Num Lock interfered with keyboard shortcuts.