MAAM B25J and RCS PANELS

[Guest]

I have been anticipating the MAAM B25J for some time and have been visiting Roy Chaffin's web site (RCS panels) on odd occasions to learn about the progress. The B25J has now been released in all its glory....and Even in present times Roy is talking about this B25J, yet in the credits at the end of the manual and on the MAAM site itself there is absolutely NO mention of Roy or any contribution he might have made. Why is this?

[Guest]

The team split. There are TWO B-25's. MAAM is the payware release, but Roy Chaffins new team are just finishing their freeware B-25, with no connection to the MAAM.ChasW

[Guest]

They had a BIG fight last year. Roy left the team and has been trying to harm them ever since.

[Guest]

Harm them? How does a freeware B-25 yet to be released harm a payware B-25 that's already available? It's a rhetorical question needing no answer. We can all draw our own conclusions.Don't let your own bias cloud your judgement. RCS Panels are now allied to an even worthier cause than the MAAM, from the point of view of European simmers. The result of that will be a range of top quality releases never before seen in FS, or only poorly represented. They hardly need, nor deserve your condemnation, unless you have the facts to back up the assertion. Teams break up all the time in FS-dom, so what? ChasW

[Guest progrmr]

I believe he was referring to an attempt to under-cut the profits of the payware team by releasing the same plane at a high quality for free, and most likely soon.You don't need any other information - it's pretty clear and this is the first time I've heard about this!

[Guest UweR]

Well, if offering a high quality freeware release is something we critize from now on, then there

[Guest]

You're right on the mark about that. It's too bad that Roy's ego always seems to get in the way of his talents. I'll bet he would have loved to release his freebie on the same date that the MAAM guys started to ship - maximize the damage and all that. Unfortunately, most folks don't know the full background and will applaud his efforts again. For my part, I think it's a shame that he's chosen to take such a spiteful approach to alleviating a purely personal problem. TripEdited to take out all the foul language which would have conveyed how I really feel about this.

[Guest]

The only people that really know are those involved and I don't expect they will join this thread. The story I heard was that Bill was sacked and as for the MAAM side of it I don't know and don't want to know why they went with Bill and not Roy's team. Anyway if my memory is correct Roy has always been freeware apart from trying to help the MAAM with the R4D-6 project, so it seems going back to freeware is not a surprise really. I for one am glad that just because of the MAAM issue Roy didn't throw all the work he had done on the B25 away. Instead he has carried on working on it and is going to give it away for free. How can that be wrong. I have a great respect for Roy and in my many dealings with him he has always been very helpfull and friendly. People like that we need more of badly in this hobby. David

[Guest phil]

>The story I heard was that Bill was sacked Not too sure where you heard that, even on Roy's site the news section states that Bill decided to leave: no mention of sacking. You've not been talking to Alistair Campbell have you. ;-)In fact Roy's site is quite informative if you read it. It goes from describing the Jan Viser's update to the R4D package on the 15th May 2002 as "Jan Visser's NEW FS2002 R4D model avaialable (sic) at the show, which has full Virtual Cockpits, the likes of which you have never seen before", and continues on the 28th June with praise for Jan (even while saying he was leaving and Roy was cancelling the R4D update) "our talented aircraft designer Jan Visser ", before suddenly changing track on the 12th August with "proposed upgrade was riddled with problems, not of my making and most importantly was not up to our usual standard". :-lolFurther Jan's previous role seems to get air-brushed out in the same post with this: "The RCS Panels Team was (my emphasis) made up of five members, Alan Landsburgh (sound), Steve Wayne (textures), Bill Rambow (graphics and manuals), Brian Withers (aircraft model and flight dynamics) and myself ".There are numerous other sections that give amusement including these two quotes in the same news item. Firstly, "It is with great regret that I announce that the GMax version of the MAAM R4D with VC's has been cancelled. This is a decision that I reluctantly took on behalf of RCS Panels (my emphasis) and its members ". Followed only a few sentences later by, "The operative word here is "team", and as such others' positions, skills and opinions must be respected." Doesn't look like it was a team decision to cancel the R4D upgrade. :-lolNow I doubt that Bill is a vestal virgin, but even reading Roy's own posts doesn't exactly make him appear whiter than white. ;-)phil

[Guest]

Plus trying to claim sole ownership of the entire R4D package, which would have meant that it could not be sold anymore and they'd have to start from scratch on the new version which was already well underway (as it is they did have to start from scratch on the panel, causing a long delay).He's a nice enough person if you talk to him casually, but I guess you don't want disagree with him...

[Guest]

Don't forget that the R4D never was an RCS Panels project.RCS Panels consists of Roy Chaffin (RC-Simulations), and was part of the team that's now called MAAM-sim.

[Steve Dra 7,579]

Hey Trip,Its a real shame that most people don

[Guest phil]

Jereon, I'm not sure that Roy sees it that way. ;-)Of course people less generous than you or I may also think that the sudden announcement of the RCS panels imminent B-25 release (of which there had been no news on Roy's site since 12 August), just as the MAAM's B-25 release is announced might, somehow, be a "spoiler". We all know Roy has been too busy filling his site full of wisdom on graphics card, DVD, OS, RAM, power supplies and CF3 noCD cracks that he's had no time to keep his adoring fans up to date on his B-25 project. Kinda strange really as I'd thought news of his on going FS project would have been more important than DVD writers, power supplies, RAM, CFS no-CD cracks, etc. :-hmmm Just goes to show how little I know. ;-)phil

[Guest ha5mvo]

will somebody do us all a big favour and delete this thread beyond the first two posts before it develops any further (or at least move it to the 'gossip forun' or the 'character judgement forum').I will thank anyone who produces a nice package (even more so if it's freeware) and complain about lousy payware stuff.beyond that - none of my business.