Sonar, many thanks for those links. I'll check them out asap.Meantime, here are some stats: nearly 300,000 hits on the website in less than 2 weeks. That's almost 1,000 hits per hour, 24 hours per day since we launched the site (and it was far from finished when we launched). And this is before we launch our PR phase, including the major sites, magazines etc.Seriously, we see this as a HUGE BOOST for us - we have been given a wake-up call regarding our backend. We'll fix it pronto and when the PR machine kicks in over the next month I can see that figure hitting about 5,000 hits per hour.Re: the payware argument. I love freeware as much as anyone, and I have lots of it. (I mean, the Maule is a masterpiece of freeware, and kudos to those guys for releasing it as such) But I've also spent >$700 on quality payware, and will keep doing so if it meets my standards. The devs have worked on BEV for nearly 3 years so I for one would expect them to be rewarded in some way for their work.Thanks again for those links :)

<>Here's how you figure it. In the Northern Hemisphere, the official onset of winter (the December solstice) occurs on approximately December 21st. In those more northerly regions of the hemisphere that experience freezeing temperatures, the look and feel of late December typically bears no resemblance to the Jan-March period. That is why the lyric goes "I'm DREAMING of a white Christmas."Therefore, for those who elect to fly in the frozen climes, there actually ARE FIVE SEASONS...from a look and feel point of view.For those who elect to fly in areas where snow and ice don't accumulated, buying even 4, let alone 5 seasons might not be such a great idea. For those who do fly in such reasons, elementary meteorology indicates that to cover all the seasonal bases, 5 are required.Regards,Jim

>Hi,>>While the vids and screenshots look great, I was the one who>listed concerns in the other thread. I also feel the>developer has enough time to address and belay the concerns>with proper actions.>>Here is what I have written in the other thread.>>**************>>Keep in mind while you view this add-on, the little disclaimer>they attached over at their site in their forum. It seems>many of the vids and screen caps include quite a few other>add-ons to create their views. And other add-ons means money>of course to get the same effect.>>Once you add in those other costs, it's pretty expensive. They>are also charging for Each season separately. Ahhh, The trend>continues. Break up as much as you can into as many different>chunks. Oh well. To each his own. It's about the money of>course.>>I'd like to see these on a stock system with no add-ons to>really see what the product does or does not do. Just a stock>video comparing default location to Bird's Eye.>>I also see a lot of NON-default Roads, so you will need roads>to get the same effect as well.>>I also think each Video should be listed as what specific>add-ons are being used so consumers are not mislead into>thinking the product is something it is not.>>Perhaps a disclaimer should be stated on the front page of the>site, so consumers are not surprised when their use conflicts>with what the beta testers are seeing.>>I viewed the Ohio and Seattle Vids, and they are excellant,>however, we should be advised specifically what add-ons are>used.>>I also don't like the fact that there is no ABOUT Page or info>on the team developing this. No Company Info, Address,>Contact info, NAMES of Team members, no where on the site that>I could find. Another Anonymous Developer. Whois shows domain>registered to Tucows in California. If they are in>California, they are required to list name, address, phone,>etc... Know who you do business with folks. >>I recommend birds-eye add these things before release.>>Good Luck with your release.>>Regards,>Joe>>From:>http://www.flightsim-bevs.com/smf_1-0-5/index.php?topic=10.0>>"We understand that the feedback from the BEV demo videos>and screenshots is overwhelmingly positive. However, we also>feel obliged to tell you that BirdsEyeView installed with>Flight Simulator, while being a significant part of the>enhancement, cannot achieve the level of detail you see in the>screenshots alone.>>Most of the BEV beta testers have the>following addons installed:>>1. Ultimate Terrain - Canada, Alaska, USA>2. FSGenesis 76m or 38m mesh for most areas of USA/Canada, 9m>mesh for Grand Canyon>3. FSGenesis USA Landclass project (or other enhanced>landclasses)>4. Enhanced clouds and/or weather using either/or Flight>Environment 2004 or ActiveSky V (ASV)>>Please keep this in mind when viewing the screenshots and>videos. BEV, while certainly enjoyable as a stand alone>addition to your FS, was created to be a complimentary addon>and when used in conjunction with other scenery enhancement>creates a world that is several steps beyond the default>product . The screen shots and videos throughout this website >are a result of that union.">>>>>Grab My FREEWARE Voice recognition Profiles here:>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna>172 Voice Profile[/a]>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=60740]FSD>Avanti Voice Profile[/a]>.>You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to>use it, get it here:>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight>Assistant 2.2[/a]One of the guys brought your concerns to my attention and after reading through your post I am in agreement that your concerns should be addressed. Being totally new to any form of personal business, suggestions such as these are certainly helpful and appreciated.At the moment the website is down as we exceeded our bandwidth and I'm looking at various solutions to keep that problem from happening again. I had no idea that the site would have that much traffic in such a short time...so as I said, it's all new to me and each step is a learning process. Again, thanks for your concerns and your suggestions and if you look on the website tomorrow, you'll see the information you requested.Stephen R. SteverBirdsEyeViewDeveloper968 South 1300 EastSalt Lake City, [email protected]

>>I think they need to research their hosts and not go with>the>>cheapies.>>>>What happens when people buy this, and can't download>because>>of bandwidth issues?>>>>Looks like they bought the $7.77 a month deal which limits>>300gb a month, but maybe it also limits to 10gb a day. And>it>>appears that is the only plan they have.>>>>ooops.....I'd also like to add that we are currently working with Flight1 to have the files hosted on their site, so bandwidth will not be a problem when it comes to downloading the purchased product.StephenBirdsEyeViewDeveloper

>In order to get spring for the alleged "Free", you have to>purchase two versions of the season Winter, plus fall and>summer. :-lol Go Figure....>>So you buy, Summer, Fall, winter, hard winter, and only then>after $48.00 plus the amount for all the other ad-ons in order>to get the same effect.>>>Grab My FREEWARE Voice recognition Profiles here:>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna>172 Voice Profile[/a]>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=60740]FSD>Avanti Voice Profile[/a]>.>You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to>use it, get it here:>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight>Assistant 2.2[/a]I would appreciate any pricing alternatives you are willing to suggest. Our price point is based on the amount of work that has to be done to each texture.bmp that corresponds to the area and season. Rather than adjust hue and saturation, which is pretty much how the default textures were created for each season, each texture will be individually hand 'painted' in order to properly reflect the season in the greatest detail possible. If you've ever created a texture then you know that this is long, tedious work.I believe it was also posted else where that it's all about the money...the honest answer to that question is 'yes and no' ... I started developing textures as a source of income...that takes care of the 'yes' part. The 'no' part is that I'm not interested in price qouging... It is important to me and to the FS community that these prices are set to be fair to both parties.Again, I welcome your suggestions and will seriously take them into consideration.Stephen R [email protected]

>Hi Tony,>>Am I reading the web site incorrectly, it states.>>Vol 5 of the 5 volumes will be a FREE gift to any one who has>purchased the previous 4 volumes within the set, effectively>providing a 20% discount on the entire set!>>It states within the set, not any set.>>>Am I reading this wrong?.>>>MikeMike,Please read through the entire announcement. In addition, not only can you mix and match, but every 5th Volume is Free, so if you purchase 8 volumes you'll get two free volumes...which you can choose at anytime. So if an upcoming release is something you're looking forward to...then you can save your electronic coupons to use against that purchase. I couldn't think of a more fair way to approach this. Thanks for all your questions...they're great questions which I'm sure many more would like the answers to...plus they help to clarify!Stephen R [email protected]

>conerning price point: IF the product delivers as promised>$50 seems okay for all FIVE seasons to me. But, being at the>high end, i would be frustrated if I was at all disappointed,>including any FPS hit. I'm usualy tolerant of some>disappointment for add ons below $20, but set a really high>bar for stuff that breaks the $45 mark. I usually need some>sort of trial (not a video demo). >>Also, I find the Flight1 wrapper pretty decent too.>>Not trying to be critical, just helpful. Looking forward to>it.>Thanks again for your questions...I've considered a demo, but not quite sure how to implement such a thing without giving away the farm so to speak. As far as a trial period, well...unfortunately there are those who would take advantage of such an offer and having no control over the end user I would have no guarantee that they would delete the files from their hard drive after receiving a refund. That's the tuff thing about downloadable software. So we are trying to provide as much information about the product that we possibly can, through videos, screenshots, screenshot requests, etc. I'm not sure who requested screenshots of FS in a default setup with only BEV textures, but that is something I am happy to do as I feel that the textures stand on their own as a significant addition to your flying experience. So...again, if you have any reasonable suggestions that would be fair to both parties involved, I'll be happy to consider them. Since I don't frequent forums on a regular basis, feel free to post any suggestions or questions that you might have on the BirdsEyeView Forum (ya... I know it's down...give me one more hour and it'll be back up). Or you can email at [email protected] for your interest and your concerns,Stephen R [email protected]

> One has to wonder about the product when the website>says "Sorry, this site is temporarily unavailable.>(Daily Bandwidth Limit Exceeded)". Success often requires a>little capital up-front.>>Doug>Tell that to Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, etc. etc.Just making a point....To be quite honest with you, I had no idea that we would exceed the 10gb bandwidth in such a short time. It's as much of a surprise to me as probably a disappointment and concern to you. I'm working fevorishly to correct the problem and working on securing a dedicated server. Success depends on your willingness to grow and to learn as you go. Thanks,Stephen R [email protected]

>Ouch! how true. hope this isn't a sign of things to come. >Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained...as the old saying goes....This is indeed a learning process for me and more than a few mistakes have been made along the way...but....hey.....I'm learning! I think the biggest problem is that we did not anticipate the overwhelming response we have received. All I can say is those who are patient with our growth will certainly find BEV to be well worth the growing pains!Stephen R [email protected]

>Hi Koorby,>>Not real harsh, you folks chose a $7.77 a month account. You>should choose a host that allows bandwidth but charges if you>go over, as long as you know what those charges are in>advance.>>Here is a solution you can use though, and it won't cost you a>dime. >>It's probably the video downloads that are causing your>overload. You may want to encourage your beta testers to find>their own hosts for the videos.>>Here are some suggestions for sites that allow them. Then you>can link to them, and problem solved.>>Free Hosting of Video>http://www.ibiblio.org/>>Our Media. (Requires Free Internet Archive account) What I>use.>http://www.ourmedia.org/>>Internet Archive (Open account to host videos at our media)>http://www.archive.org/index.php>>Free Music to use for Videos>http://www.freeplaymusic.com/search/>>Regards,>Joe>>>Grab My FREEWARE Voice recognition Profiles here:>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna>172 Voice Profile[/a]>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=60740]FSD>Avanti Voice Profile[/a]>.>You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to>use it, get it here:>[a>href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight>Assistant 2.2[/a]The error was entirely my fault. I'm not website savy and having spoke with the hosts representative I was pretty much convienced that 10gb per day would do the trick...so I bought in for 3 years! Ouch... I had no idea we'd have such talented BTs making incredible videos and I had no idea the effect those videos would have on the bandwidth. Thanks very much for the suggestions and will certainly look into...printing as I write...Stephen R [email protected]

><purchase two versions of the season Winter, plus fall and>summer. Go Figure....>>>>Here's how you figure it. In the Northern Hemisphere, the>official onset of winter (the December solstice) occurs on>approximately December 21st. In those more northerly regions>of the hemisphere that experience freezeing temperatures, the>look and feel of late December typically bears no resemblance>to the Jan-March period. That is why the lyric goes "I'm>DREAMING of a white Christmas.">>Therefore, for those who elect to fly in the frozen climes,>there actually ARE FIVE SEASONS...from a look and feel point>of view.>>For those who elect to fly in areas where snow and ice don't>accumulated, buying even 4, let alone 5 seasons might not be>such a great idea. For those who do fly in such reasons,>elementary meteorology indicates that to cover all the>seasonal bases, 5 are required.>>Regards,>Jim>Thanks Jim, great explaination...I might add that if you do fly in a more temperate zone...consider purchasing just the 4 seasons...and when Europe is released, you'll get what ever season you desire free (or you can wait for any area and any season for that matter!) Stephen R [email protected]

Same here the wife wouldn't stand for it. These texture replacements are just way too expensive for what appears to be rather subtle improvements over the defaults or Lennarts freeware offering. I would pay something for better than default textures (say $30 for a 4/5 season world set) but not what is being asked for Fscene or BEV.Bruceb

>In order to get spring for the alleged "Free", you have to>purchase two versions of the season Winter, plus fall and>summer. :-lol Go Figure....>>So you buy, Summer, Fall, winter, hard winter, and only then>after $48.00 plus the amount for all the other ad-ons in order>to get the same effect.do you get paid to keep vomitting this crap here? you work for another company?what do you mean by "lol go figure"?all your posts here have but one point: discredit those guys!I really think they deserve a chance, I have been at the site and the screenshots are impressive - dunno if I buy it, I'm low on cash, but if I weren't I'd say it's a must.as for you: please troll someplace else.Chester

Bottom line - too expensive! If there was a Global package that sold for a reasonable cost, perhaps I would entertain it. Soz, I'll be passing on this. Better spending the money on FSGlobal, what an improvement that makes.Del.____________________________________________AMD64 3400+ATi Radeon 9800SE 256MB (softmod to 9800 PRO)2 X 512Mb DDR333 Kingston RAM 200Gb Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200 HDD(x32 XP SP2 Home)40GB Hitachi SATA 7200 HDD (x64 XP Pro)Abit AV8 Pro moboSony DVD-ROMLG DVD-RW"How wide the limits stand, between a splendid and a happy land"http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/800driver.jpg[/img]

>Bottom line - too expensive! If there was a Global package>that sold for a reasonable cost, perhaps I would entertain it.>>>Soz, I'll be passing on this. Better spending the money on>FSGlobal, what an improvement that makes.>>Del.I think the price is very fair, its not just new textures you get, its also new and better autogen.I paid 120 euro for FScene textures, which i dont regret.But i allways look for something that can make my FS9 even better, and this might be it.It would be great if BEV would give us a little trial area, then we can see for ourselve, and not just guess if this is good or not.OHN