After reading a lot of posts about issues with people not understanding ATC commands - ‘Line up & wait’ for example seems to be causing dramas because of the wording (I still prefer the old ‘taxi into position and hold’) - I have been thinking about how to somewhat solve the problem.
People have suggested custom messages, online chat, pressing the ‘check help pages’ message (which they never do).
What if, on the ATC message screen in IF, there was a small ‘help’ icon, such as a question mark (‘?’) or similar.
For instance, where the pilot sees the ‘line up & wait instruction’ there is a ‘?’ Icon next to the message, and when pressed, just opens up a brief 2-3 sentence instruction for beginners. It could simply read ‘line up & wait means taxi ONTO the runway, line up on the centreline and be prepared for immediate takeoff. Remain in that position and Do not takeoff until cleared from the tower. You do not need to request further takeoff clearance’
For things like ‘enter left downwind’ a small pattern / circuit map could be displayed showing downwinds, base legs etc.
Atleast if these help screens are easily accessible at the time, pilots and even ATC can access them in real time.
Instead of ATC having that command ‘please check help pages for assistance with using ATC’ you could modify it to read ‘please press the help icon next to ATC messages for instructions / assistance with ATC messages.’
If a pilot is unsure of a message, they can check the help icon in real time. If ATC sees they clearly don’t understand a specific instruction, they can remind them to read the in game help tab.