MAAM and previous CD owners ATTN Mr. Rambow

[Guest joea]

All right I am still not clear about the status of previous CD owners as I guess it got buried in that long thread. Just so everyone is clear about it thought I would post here rather than wrting privately. I would be willing to order a new CD anyway, but what will owners of old CDs have to do...just download an update? Will we need a code? I think not but want to be clear. Thanks.

[Guest joea]

bump

[Guest Feek]

I think Bill is away for a few days which is why you've not had an answer.Keith.

[Guest joea]

Fair enough, I'll wait ... not as bad as 6 months for the R4D and B25 sigh.[;-)]

[Guest]

Hi Gentlemen,Sorry, I was off on the Eastern Shore of Maryland helping my 8 day old grand daughter look for a new house. We even let her parents come along in the strasse cruiser (our motorhome) ;-)The issue of what will be done about and for the old CD owners is not settled. But because all the gauges must be reprogrammed, a new sound suite put together, and several other files redone because of Roy's withdrawal of his code (not for the reasons he stated in his PR, I might add) we are really talking about a whole new package here. Of course Jan has already produced a whole new airplane from scratch, using G-Max, and all of my gauge graphics, panel graphics, and cockpit views will not need to be altered, so this means Fred Banting will have the lion's share of the work. Geez! The new guy always gets dumped on! :-) Jan will do the new sound suite from original DC-3 sound recordings provided by our friend Jeroen Plettenberg of the Dutch Dakota Association. As the panel and gauge designer, I will be working with Fred, reworking the flight model, and revamping the manuals, etc. Then of course I have to produce the CD's. So, to say we have a bit of work ahead of is is an understatement! And this is just on the R4D. We have the same task ahead of us on the B-25, too, both of which the museum was counting on to bring in much needed revenue this year.The point of all this is that the new R4D package, unlike the one we had put together for the short-lived CD Edition 8 at the MAAM World War 2 Weekend Show, will not just build on top of the old one. A patch or update is just not going to be practical.IF we decide to have a downloadable version - another aspect that we have not discussed, let alone settled, it remains to be seen how we will handle it. The "time-locked panel blackout" program was Roy's invention (along with Tony D'Ambrosio), so we will certainly NOT be using that same registration method for any downloadable version. Because it is the sad, but undeniable truth that only a tiny precentage of R4D downloaders ever voluntarily gave even a small donation to MAAM as we requested they do in the so-called Freeware versions prior to FS2002, we will in all liklihood require some sort of similar scheme to "force" a small donation. Yes, I know the old argument - if it is forced, it's not a donation. There is truth in that, but we talk about donations instead of payware to emphasize the fact that MAAM is a non-profit institution. We volunteer all the labor, MAAM gets all the money. The "freeware" version was really the true donationware, since we asked for wholly voluntary gifts be made to MAAM, if people appreciated our work. That was a fizzle, and we have had many people actually contact us thanking us for forcing them to do the right thing. It was Roy's idea to do that, and I give him credit. Both Jan and I accepted the idea a little reluctantly, until it proved itself. It also spurred sales of the CD. If you had to pay something anyway, why not go whole hog, get it all in one self-installing package, with no downloads, and all the extra goodies?? (shameless plug alert) You can still get your R4D CD at www.maam.orgWhat people, specifically CD owners, do NOT like is having to go through that same time-lock registration procedure when they had already paid their good money. :~P I don't blame them! Well, that was something Roy insisted upon, and I promise it will not be the case on the next R4D CD. You pay your money, you get to fly immediately and indefinitely -- or until your avgas or spouse's patience wears out! :-)Fred Banting confirms that eliminating the internal anti-piracy security system in the gauges will mean that only one copy of any given gauge is needed in the package, instead of up to three of a single gauge in the R4D, and up to five of them in the B-25 (with VCs) Think of the savings in file size. Smaller archives, shorter downloads, less hard drive space eaten, more space on the CD for extra goodies. :-))So, back to the original question... What was that again?? ;-)Oh yeah! Yes, you will probably want to order the new CD to make another donation to MAAM ;-) That wasn't exactly what you meant? OK, no patch or upgrade, because it will be a whole new package. IF there is a download version (and most likely there will be) there will probably be some sort of registration procedure involved. As before, it will be dirt cheap, when you consider what you will be getting. Maybe a bit more than $5, but less than the CD, which will probably still be $25. Will old CD owners get a break on that? I think we can work something out along those lines. If you have any bright ideas or suggestions about the registration procedure etc, I would be glad to hear it by e-mail, or here. Speaking of suggestions from the field.... I got an intriguing one from one great MAAM supporter, Mike Blier. Here it is:"One suggestion though. I am the proud owner of three (3) copies of the MAAM R4D CD and will buy the next version with out a doubt. As to the current problem of money for MAAM. I have no problem at all donating to MAAM by buying more products however may I suggest you try the following: Accept pre-orders for BOTH the R4D GMAX and the B25 (I dunno, $25.00 each??) with the understanding that if all of you guys die or the groups break up or you just plain get fed up with the project the orders are NOT refundable. I for one will whip out my credit card TODAY and pre-order both and MAAM will get their money now with no risks. (Ok, I am sure some ***hole out there will cry bloody murder if the product isn't delivered for whatever reason). I don't know how much of a headache this would be for you guys to keep track of (or perhaps MAAM) but I would certainly love the idea as I really don't need any more R4D cd's "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I have to tell you, that I have always resisted the pre-order suggestion everytime it comes up, but this sounds pretty good to a museum that had budgeted for expected revenues snatched away at the last moment. I talked to Russ, Pete, and Fred (webmaster, not programmer Fred) and we think this may not be a bad idea at all. The extra, sudden workload it would put on Pete and Fred was the down-side. Then my loyal flightsim widow, Vicki aka Grandma, now), said that she would take on handling as much of it as could be remotely done at home while she's on summer vacation from the school system. Hmmmmmmm So we are all going to get together at MAAM Member's Day on July 20 and discuss this possibility.So what I want to know is, what do you guys and gals think of Mike's brainstorm? Would you be willing to bet on the MAAM-SIM Team of Rambow, Visser, and Banting to deleiver the goods at some unspecified date, with no gaurantees except for our thanks. Would you put your discount donation of, say $20 plus the normal $4.95 world-wide shipping charge on the line, credit card, cash, or check to have one of the first discs out of the burner show up on in your mailbox? Let us know. If you guys like the idea, MAAM will be happy to set up the apparatus to take your money. :-) Such an influx of cash -think of it as a loan to MAAM ;-) would be a godsend. And my wife will stop complaining she never sees me, since she'll be glued to a computer in the same room. The only one to suffer will be me, as V is addicted to endless reruns of "I Love Lucy" and "Leave it to Beaver". There goes the History Channel :-( But hey, I'm an old combat grunt :-sword I'll take another one for the cause - what the heck! :-)So let's hear from ya! You know where to find me. And thanks to Mike for the idea. You could be a MAAM hero, buddy. :-bigangel I know you said you did not want a freebie leftover Gmax R4D CD in return, but could I interest you in a ride in a B-25 named "Briefing Time" hmmmmmm?????? :-) I kid you not! (8-|Sorry, Didn't know you were going to get "War and Peace" when you asked, did ya?Bill RambowMAAM-SIM"The R4D Teaam"(one of these days I'll have time to make a fancy logo and figure out how to post it!)

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

See my email!If that is all you gotta do, then why the heck isn't it done yet??? :-lol

[Guest]

Pre order both CD's?I vote for YESYou may want to start a new thread with the subject of "Who would pre-order the B-25 and R4D"

[rambow 0]

I think that would be a good idea. Thanks Herbie. It's a day for good ideas! Tom, please close this thread and everyone can weigh in on the new one.Cheers, Billhmm seems I have two different sign ons. How dod that happen? Probably because I have two different e-mail accounts and a poor memory!