TBAS Study Pro news & patch notes

Adjustments - In response to popular user feedback:

• Terrain ID: The opacity of the Terrain ID test compass buttons can now be adjusted allowing for them to be translucent.

• Multitask Test - Dial Subtest: You are now only awarded points when the dial is in motion. You accrue points slowly when the dial is in the Green, and quickly when it is in the Yellow.

• Aircraft Tracking Test - Horizontal Tracking Test: The "Pedal" cursor must now overlap with the main body of the aircraft rather than just the wingtip to award points. This will make the horizontal tracking test much more difficult than it was before.

Bug Fixes - Aircraft Tracking Subtests:

• Dichotic Listening Subtest (Navy Assessment Mode): Fixed a non-critical bug wherein if a perfect score is achieved, it displays that score as "100/99" rather than the intended "99/99". A perfect score now displays "99/99" as intended.

• Emergency Subtest: Fixed a non-critical bug where the displayed "EMG Accuracy" percentage would reset to zero upon missing a single Emergency Procedure. The "EMG Accuracy" percentage should now be functioning as intended.

Why Windows Only?

I am currently on a work trip until May and have no access to my development Macbook. Expect to see a "TBAS v1.3.6" update dropping for both Windows and MacOS sometime in late May that will bring all these changes and (and likely more) to MacOS users.

BUG FIXES:

An issue with the Navy/ASTB "Emergency" Aircraft Tracking submode was introduced in the previous update whereby inputs that cause the Fuel/Power gauge dials to "Snap" to a color (e.g. Yellow or Red) would not properly register in the program. "Knob"-type inputs that gradually move the dial positions up and down instead of via a "Snapping" behavior would still work fine, for the most part. In the Windows OS version of TBAS Study Pro, this issue is now fixed.

Additionally, there was an issue whereby the "Reset" Emergency mode indicator on the screen would only flash red for a single frame upon the "Reset" input being pressed, but it now flashes for as long as the "Reset" input is being held, as was originally intended.

NOTE: This fix is for the Windows version of TBAS Study Pro only, as I am currently on a work trip until May and have no access to my development Macbook. The only workaround for this issue for MacOS users wishing to take the ASTB is to use a controller with inputs that don't have the "Snapping" behavior, at least until I can get access to my development Macbook again and ship the MacOS version of the fix.

A small update this time.

New Percentile Scoring System:

• Per user request, the online Leaderboards screen now features a "Percentile Scoring" system that shows you what percentile you've scored in compared to your peers, in addition to the usual ranking system. The closer your score is to 99, the better!

Minor Changes:

• The Dichotic Listening Test has been changed so that the voices speak in your left and right ears simultaneously, as opposed to the previous system whereby they alternated instead.

• The "Pause" button now has binding options for gamepads and joysticks. To prevent soft-locking, the Keyboard "Pause" button is still permanently locked to the "ESCAPE" key, but the new binding options for the gamepads and joysticks are unrestricted,

Major Unity Vulnerability Patched:

• Three days ago, Unity (the game engine TBAS Study Pro is built with) released a notification that ALL old versions of Unity spanning back for several years were compromised by way of a discovered software vulnerability. This update features the most recent version of Unity which does NOT have that vulnerability. For your safety, please ensure that you download and use only this version or later of TBAS Study Pro (and for that matter, avoid running any Unity-based software that hasn't been updated yet to address this issue!)

Only one, major fix this time: after a hefty amount of spelunking through Unity documentation, help forums, and tinkering in the game engine, the Thrustmaster T. Flight Rudder Pedals are now supported NATIVELY (out-of-the-box) in TBAS Study Pro. At long last, the previous guide for configuring the TARGET software to get the pedals to work is now OBSOLETE and UNNECESSARY. Unfortunately, this fix is only applicable for PC/Windows systems. I still cannot figure out how to get the pedals (with the USB adapter dongle) to register in MacOS.

New Process for Binding the TFRP Pedals:

There is a quirk that is worth noting... they work "Out-of-the-box", but ONLY out of the box. You cannot bind the pedals like you would bind any other device. If you have previously bound any other input for the pedals, you must click the "RESET" button beside the Joystick "Pedal" input to get it reset it back to the default of "Slider", and then the TFRP pedals should work without any further hassle as long as you've selected "TRudderJoystickHID" as the Assigned Controller. Please do not hesitate to notify me of any issues you have with this update/getting the pedals to work.

As you can see from the above image, the "Pedal" input under "Joystick" has been RESET back to "Slider". It should work by default under this configuration without any further "Binding" needing to be done.

Critical Bug Fix

Changes

• Added "No Controller Assigned" advisory if users attempt to run a Aircraft Tracking test subcomponent with no controller assigned to that subcomponent in the Rebind Menu
• Added formatting lines to the Aircraft Tracking Test Rebind Menu to make it less visually confusing, as well as red text that better explains that a test subcomponent will only work with the explicitly user-assigned controller
• Resetting the dial in the Dial test subcomponent in the Multitasking Test now adds 2 points to your score rewarding users for resetting the dial at the "Last Second", more in line with the behavior in the real TBAS

Details

Fixes

• New scores would occasionally fail to upload to the new online leaderboards. Scores should always update now.
• Leaderboard scores would not upload if you only had one save-file, but that is no longer the case.
• Verbiage in the Stats menu UI has been adjusted to be more consistent.

• USAF TBAS: Shows results for the highest overall USAF (TBAS) Assessment scores. This is the default selection.
• NAVY ASTB: Shows results for the highest overall Navy (ASTB-E) Assessment scores.
• Directional Orientation Test: Shows results for the highest Directional Orientation Test scores. This score will populate whether you completed the Directional Orientation test in the USAF or Navy Assessment Modes.
• Multitasking Test: Shows results for the highest Multitasking Test scores, available in the USAF Assessment Mode.
• Terrain ID: Shows results for the highest Terrain Identification scores, available in the Navy Assessment Mode.
• TBAS and ASTB Aircraft Tracking Test buttons: Shows best scores for Aircraft Tracking test completed via the USAF and Navy Assessments respectively.

Fixes

• The "Two Dimensional Throttle" Toggle (a compatibility setting for Logitech X56 HOTAS Throttles) in the Rebind Menu had broken in a previous update, and has now been fixed.
• New controller bindings set in the Rebind Menu had failed to take effect until the Aircraft Tracking test was restarted. Because I suspect this problem is with Unity's "Rebind" feature, I have a "Apply Settings Now?" pop-up that will appear when exiting out of the rebind menu. Pressing "Yes" will Restart the Aircraft Tracking portion of the test from the beginning, while selecting "No" will cause all changes to take effect whenever the test is reloaded.
• By default, the "Right Alt" key ("Right Option" key on Mac) is used to skip tutorial segments. There was a bug whereby if the "Right Alt" key was pressed during the "Emergency Test Tutorial" portion of the Navy ASTB assessment that the assessment would end prematurely. This has been fixed and now simply skips the tutorial as expected.

Changes

Changes

• Dichotic Listening Test target ear now alternates between left and right during the test.
• Dichotic Listening Test "Even" and "Odd" inputs can now be triggered from two different controllers via new "Manual Rebinding" options
• Emergency Test "Power", "Fuel", and "Reset" inputs can now be triggered from multiple different controllers via new "Manual Rebinding" options
• Emergency Test "Power" and "Fuel" inputs can now be set to be an "Axis" (such as a dial) or "Positive/Negative" (one button for "down", another button for "up") style inputs.

Fixes

• In the previous update, the tweaked save file system I instituted turned out to cause the program to crash after 18 assessment sessions. This has been fixed.
• Without "Manual Rebinding" toggled, the program should automatically detect the controller that the current player intends to use by which controller is currently sending inputs to the program. This functionality became broken in the update that added support for the Thrustmaster 16000M Throttle, but has now been restored.

Fix:

Minor Changes:

Terrain Identification Subtest (Navy/ASTB-E/PBMB)

• Within 35 seconds, find the compass-orientation of a UAV looking down at terrain below by comparing the terrain in its point-of-view with a North-oriented map on the left-hand side of the screen {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44739542/101f501b6e6b331ee3e80af7b93267730cd0dc6e.png
• Having trouble getting the hang of things? Try the comprehensive tutorial anytime to refresh yourself on the problem-solving process {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44739542/2a20676ad9910b72d65c9198a59e3c6e8bf71212.png
• Are you practicing, and you're not sure why some of your answers are showing as "WRONG"? Check the Terrain Identification "Pause" menu to compare your previous selection with the previous correct answer {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44739542/91a022e450f5d04ac22dd36621936436501959cb.png
• Want to practice the PBMB part of the ASTB-E as if you were taking the real thing? The Navy Assessment mode is now updated to include a "Assessment Mode" version of the Terrain Identification subtest

Minor Changes

• New "Stats" Menu Save File Delete Buttons: Previous assessment save files in the "Stats" menu can now be deleted via "Delete All" and "Delete Selected" buttons. This was added because there is a rare bug where save files can get corrupted, and the only possible fix is to delete the offending files. These new options allow the user to delete corrupted save files without having to dig through their file system to find them.
• Rebalanced Assessment Scoring: I noticed that it was possible to achieve decent scores in certain subtests in the previous versions of TBAS Study Pro by doing absolutely nothing. As a result, I have rebalanced Assessment Scoring to be less forgiving. You may notice that your Assessment scores are lower than before, and that's intentional.

FUTURE PLANS

Fixes:

• Inputs did not work for the Emergency Test. Inputs should now work again.
• 2/3rds of the input rebinding screen "Reset" buttons did not work. Their functionality has been restored
• Some of the inputs on the input rebinding screen did not reset when "Reset" or "Reset All" buttons were pressed. They should now operate properly.

Minor Changes:

• Per user request, an option to skip tutorials has been added, and is by default bound to the "R ALT" Key, the "North" button on Gamepads, and the "Next" button ("Button 14") on the Thrustmaster HOTAS X Full Kit joystick. An option to rebind this hotkey has also been added in the rebinding screen.
• "Command" button icons have been added for MAC users

• "Title Screen" buttons replaced with "Menu Screen" buttons that take you to the main menu instead of the title screen (for ease of navigation).
• "Exit" buttons placed in every pause menu on every test, so that you don't have to go to the main menu every time you wish to exit the program.
• Small video previews of each test appear in the main menu when selecting a test, but before confirming selection.
• Estimated time of completion for TBAS and PBMB assessment modes.
• "Are You Sure?" Prompt added when "EXIT" is selected.
• Various other minor quality-of-life improvements

• Directional Orientation: After running the tutorial, the first question is incorrect.
• Directional Orientation: "Easy Mode" button text changes to reflect if Easy Mode is activated.
• MULTITASKING: The radio segment has a 1/4 chance of incorrectly grading an answer as "Incorrect" or "Correct".
• MULTITASKING: "Percent Correct" stats tracking in the pause menu incorrect or not operating properly.
• AIRCRAFT TRACKING: "Test Activation" screen wipes all selected modes when pulled up.
• Text wrapping fixed on certain elements of the Stats screen.
• Various other minor bugs and fixes.

• Custom Assessments: Users would be able to select from a list of tests that they could arrange in any order to compile into a "Custom Assessment", with a custom time limit for each test. The "USAF Assessment" and "PBMB Assessment" options would still be available, but as "Presets" that would preload the Custom Assessment screen with the tests and times that are used in the real TBAS or PBMB (according to publicly available information, or according to a guesstimate, just as the current modes are set up).
• Updated Stats Screen: The stats screen would be updated to be a lot more robust, allowing for a further breakdown of assessment performances such as graphs showing rates of improvement, common errors you've made (i.e. areas of improvement), etc.

IMPORTANT UPDATE - V1.3.4 AND UP (2025-06-23):

In v1.3.4 update (and later), the process below will still work but is NO LONGER NECESSARY and is OBSOLETE. To get the Thrustmaster T. Flight Rudder Pedals (TFRP) to work all you need to do is to set "TRudderJoystickHID" as the assigned controller and click the "Reset" button beside the "Pedal" input binding button (it should read as "Slider") and the TFRP pedals should work from then on without further hassle. See the link to the community post here.

In V1.3.3 and Earlier:

The Issue: By default, Thrustmaster TFRP Rudder Pedals do not work when not as a part of the Thrustmaster T. Flight Full Kit setup (i.e. they do not work when used as a separate controller with they're own USB cable); This is because the game engine that TBAS Study Pro is built on fundamentally does not recognize/support certain inputs from the TFRP pedals when used with its own USB cable.

The Fix/Workaround:

NEW MAJOR FEATURES

TOTAL INPUT REBINDING SUPPORT:

MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS CONTROLLER INPUT SUPPORT - MANUALLY BIND CONTROLLERS TO TESTS:

MINOR FEATURES AND CHANGES

• "Title Screen" buttons replaced with "Menu Screen" buttons that take you to the main menu instead of the title screen (for ease of navigation).
• "Exit" buttons placed in every pause menu on every test, so that you don't have to go to the main menu every time you wish to exit the program.
• Small video previews of each test appear in the main menu when selecting a test, but before confirming selection.
• Estimated time of completion for TBAS and PBMB assessment modes.
• Some minor bugfixes here and there.

HOW TO GET ACCESS:

WHAT NOW?

• Directional Orientation Test Practice: Improve your directional awareness! Present in the TBAS and PBMB.
• Multitasking Test Practice: Improve your memory, fast math, and overall multitasking ability! A test present in the TBAS.
• Aircraft Tracking Test Practice: Improve your ability to track multiple objects and respond to prompts simultaneously! Currently supports Thrustmaster HOTAS Joystick and Rudder Pedals, as well as keyboard and select controllers! The Aircraft Tracking tests features 5 sub-tests: Reticle Tracking (Present in TBAS & PBMB), Pedal Tracking (TBAS), Throttle Tracking (PBMB), Listening Test (PBMB), and Emergency Test (PBMB). You can practice these tests individually, or simultaneously with other tests in the "Mode Select" menu.
• Comprehensive Tutorials: This program makes it as easy as possible to go in blind, and quickly get a feel for the mechanics of each test.
• TBAS and PBMB Assessment Modes: Built from publicly available information on the mechanisms of the real TBAS and PBMB, the Assessment Modes play select tests together in sequence and score your performance on them, as if you were taking the real thing.
• History Statistics: View your performance improvement across various assessments in the "Stats" screen. In the screen will be information such as the date of previous assessments, your scores, and which scores on which test sub-components were your all-time best.