RealAir, TJ (ROTW) and the Seneca five

[Guest]

Reading the post below I will lay out our position with regards to Fly!2.When we released the highly acclaimed Decathlon/Citabria we were dissapointed with the total downloads.It became apparent that for every one download in Fly!2 we would get 6-10 times the downloads in FS2002.Larry is correct in the amount of work needed to complete an aircraft to the standards that we want to achieve.A commercial decision was taken to build for fs2002 and to abandon our projects for the Seneca and Lear 35A.At RealAirSimulations we are a tiny unit and there isnt the manpower to build for two platforms.I approached ROTW as they build to the quality that we want and TJ (Thomas Jullien) agreed to build the panel and interior views for the Seneca V.Thomas is doing a superb job and is well advanced on the panel so we will release the Seneca five.We also have the Lear 35A which he or ROTW maybe persuaded to complete too (I havent asked yet).Fly! has always been very close to my heart and in many ways beats FS2002. I was over the moon when TJ agreed to finish the Seneca Five.Should any group here want to work on a Lear Panel and interior maybe the others at RealAir will release the Lear as Freeware but that is just me thinking aloud (I need to ask them :-)If there is a change and a Fly!2 B or Fly!3 is released then we would reconsider our situation.Peter

[LAdamson 240]

Since it's been well over 24 hours with no replies..................On behalf of the FLY community.............. ah, nevermind! :)L.Adamson

[Guest Dean]

Larry,I never thought you would be the last person in here! :-lol Oh, and I am looking forward to that Seneca!

[michal 44]

Never hurts to be honest about it.Michael J.

[Guest Josve]

Just think it's sad it all comes down to money......The joy of a hobby doesn't count anymore :(Johnny"I'LL BE BACK"[div align=center]http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/josve/fly2/vas.gif][/div

[Guest]

JohnnyIt is sad and we do still get involved with freeware. I notice that there have hardly been any replies to this post other than you, Larry and Michael.No one has come forward and said that they would like to build the lear panel. I am sure Rob Young who still does extensive background freeware work would be only too happy to work the flight model for the Lear.I intend to put my very detailed knowledge of the Seneca into the Seneca release with Rob to get the Seneca as close as it gets (the release of the Seneca wont come down to money as no way will its revenue approach a return on the time put into it.Having decided to go commercial with RealAir we have to give it our best shot.All of us have been freeware for years did it for the love of the hobby.If RealAir doesnt takeoff then who knows.People like Rob and Sean Maloney who are at the top of what they do cant be expected to work thousands of hours for the love of freeware only.There comes a time when they have to decide to make a crust from their involvement or severely curtail their outputPeter

[Guest]

Hi Peter,I just wanted to thank you for being forthright. I can fully appreciate the reasons for RealAir's decisions. Goodwill doesn't put food on the table, nor a roof over your head. I just want to clarify that I was expressing a sense of sadness that Fly! II doesn't have the user base to make it economically viable. It's an awesome FS engine and I personally would hate to have to dumb down to anything else. :-) Whoops! Did I say that out loud?! As far as the Lear panel is concerned, I would love to take a crack at it. However, I know that as of right now, there is no way that I could--I simply don't have the expertise to do so. Therein, lies the rub. I suspect there are those of us who want to help with the Lear project, but virtually none of us are qualified.I am trying to learn this stuff, but (egads!) there's a learning curve! All the best in your future endeavors...Cheers, Tony

[Guest]

Hi PeterI think Ren

[Guest Josve]

I know Peter that you and the rest of RAS have been important for the developing of Fly2 as freeware/payware designers :) And your work is really appreciated!!I just think it's kind of sad that the joy and fun developing stuff for Fly2 not longer is present......(seems like it)If I could i'd really wanted to join a group developing freware stuff for Fly2.But I don't have the skills and don't know a thing about programming and so on.So my contribution to the Fly community is to run my Fly site with all info I can get,to provide the latest news to the community,and trying my best to spread the words in several fora to get people to realize that Fly2 is av alternative to F$2002.And in a way I think I have succeded at least here in Norway.I have posted my best shots for almost a year now,and have got the flightsim community to open their eyes,and see that there is another sim that can be a competitor to F$2002.I also do some testing of scenery and planes for other people when I have some spare time :)There is also another issue of course.......and that is when there is no longer further development of new addons to the sim,there is a chance it will die out of itselves....But luckily there are several freeware groups producing addons for Fly2 :)Johnny"I'LL BE BACK"[div align=center]http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/josve/fly2/vas.gif][/div

[Guest]

JohnnyYour contributions and enthusiasm are what makes the hobby what it is.From my own persective I have been with Fly! from the beginning, through their troubled times as well as the high points.My heart lies with Fly! and it is always a difficult decision when the heart is involved.But looking on the positive side We have the Seneca five which is going to be an exciting release for fly!2 and maybe the Lear 35A?????Then again who knows for the future.I would like to see a statement from PMDG on their plans?Peter

[RandallR 446]

Peter,I guess I'm still in a little bit of shock, but I would certainly say that I understand your position. I'm somewhat disappointed in the Fly! community right now - your Citabria package is one of the finest in all of simming at an unbelieveable value!Maybe with a little more push along the lines of Johnny's great web site we can help a vastly uninformed user group become more aware of RealAir's existence. I continue to believe that there are many simmers (no matter what product they use) that never go online, never check for updates, never join forums....Here's wishing you, Rob, and the rest of RealAir all the best in your venture. There are still a number of us working hard to keep Fly! alive and slowly but surely updated and adjusted for the future.

[Guest Hagar]

Well, if Fly II had more planes and modeled airports from the start, it would have sold a lot more. The sim itself is fine, but I always miss more planes to choose from. Not a lot of good-looking planes with the Hawker panel/flight model, but like the PMDG series...true to the real plane inside and outside.If Fly II development stops, well then I just have to quit simming, because I just cant`t swallow "The Other Sim"...I HATE the money-driven world.

[Guest tonyc]

There's a catch 22 in all of this. MSFS needs competition, yet the crowd always seems to be attracted to the safer side. The safer side offers the illusion that everything is going well( when a no patch approach may be a sign that MS knows it does not have to worry about the competition). As a long time simmer ( from fs1 on), I am deeply troubled by the loss of variety, that is of thought that more than one sim was in the works. I still think that what FLy2 needs is ingenuity, rather than money. I say this because it's so close to being a great product. From here, word of mouth would take over. I know I am rambling, but FLY2 has always represented the spirit of how things could be. I am amazed at what a few individual can do to any sim. I just hope that some act of ingenuity triggers new interest in FLY2+. tony

[Guest Josve]

Looking forward to the Seneca5 :) It was my favourite back in F$98.....Johnny"I'LL BE BACK"[div align=center]http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/josve/fly2/vas.gif][/div

[Guest]

Peter,When RAS announced their partnership and launched the web site, I had my credit card ready. Unfortunately, I run Fly!II with a Mac and like the number of Fly! users compared to FS2002 users the Mac community was once again shut-out. I realize this is a programming problem similar to the PMDG aircraft but I think there would have been an increase in sales had there been a Mac patch released at the same time. The Mac community is a quiet one, especially since FS2002 doesn't exist for us and I'm glad for that.Like yourself, I love the Fly series and hope that one day FLY! rises to the top! That's all we Mac users have - HOPE.Peter