The status of Fly!

[Guest Henri W]

Rich,Good luck with the development. Sound really great. I am sure you will put everything in it you can. Take care.Henri

[Guest]

Hi Rich and all the dedicated Fly! team members,I just wanted to give you my complete and utter thanks for enriching my own hobbies (and indeed my life with so many of your examples) over the past four years. Fly! was and is a remarkable community: beyond the code and the sim itself. I think that is your most lasting legacy here Rich - the community you built.I've never had the pleasure to meet a better group of folks, including yourself, in my entire life. That it was online and in response to a "game" only surprises me more. You yourself have been a strong influence on my sensibilities and beliefs: your strength and integrity has taught me more than I would have ever guessed from someone I only barely know... "Online".I'm sure Fly! still has a long life as a cult project for the dedicated, specially if you can somehow find the way to release those core parts of the code (legally of course, unlike the Falcon 4 swapped code).In the end, I must say: it sure has been a hell of a ride... Good and bad, all rolled together, the "Fly! experience" will always be one of my most treasured.I wish you all the strength and positive energy I can muster as always in your battle with health issues. I have complete faith in your longevity and am more than happy to hear of your new "focus" project - it sounds amazing.The absolute best to you and everyone in the Fly! team,http://members.rogers.com/eelvish/elrondlogo.gifhttp://members.rogers.com/eelvish/flyurl.gif

[Guest captbulldog]

> It took us over 6 years and millions of dollars to develop our Fly! technology,It is sad to hear that Fly's developement has come to a hault. There are too many strong points in Fly's engine to let it go like that. Such a waste of an awesome coding, but I understand why it's being discontinued to the 3rd generation. Let's hope the dedicated users and developers will keep the light burning, if it is only for us little community and not expanding outside.Rich, this is a sad news indeed, but we thank you for your honest integrity and being the most exceptional leader. We all appreciate your hard work and are sadden with you that your long term project won't live to the 3rd generation, at least not yet. But it is good to see that you've found another project to keep yourself busy :) Take care, and many thanks

[Guest ben_]

RichWe always look forward to reading your posts and we hope you will have the strength and time to show your presence in our forum community on a regular basis. Good luck and God bless with with your future. Ben

[LAdamson 240]

Rich, Good luck with the new project & take care.L.Adamson

[Guest Gregg580]

Rich, We hope everything goes your way. Thanks for all your support,......... both for the program and on the personal level.Gregg and Joan Clement.......And as always..........

[Guest]

Hi Rich,You and your team created a flight sim that I continue to find to be truly amazing. The Fly! series has brought together a terrific group of people from around the world that at times has felt like close friends.Your strength in life is an inspiration to all of us!Your new project will undoubtedly enRICH the lives for those that have been affected by cancer. What a wonderful and positive idea!Everything you create is done with passion and love.I wish nothing but the absolute best for you and your family in the future.Thank you.PeterPS. If the Mac patch takes another year or two - I'll still be waiting.

[Guest]

Rich, Thanks for doing what you have done with FLY! over the years. I hope your illness is overcome and you continue to do what is important to you. You can't choose the ways in which you'll be tested. -- Robert J. Sawyer Regards, -k. B763 p.s. - Any chance of making Fly! open-source if no pub picks it up by your deadline? ;-) I am sure the community would love to carry the work on.

[Jet Tech 31]

Rich,Just a heartfelt thanks for a program that has brought myself and many others hours of enjoyment. I have used FLY since it was first released for the MAC and am particularily thankful that TRI felt the MAC community deserved a top notch simulator to compare with the PC world. I can honestly say that FLY will remain on the Hard Drive of both my Computers for quite some time to come as I simply haven't found anything else with the comfort level of being in the A/C that FLY always provided. It has rekindled my interest in getting back in the seat again and done wonders for my rusty skills. Best of luck in your future endeavours and Gob Bless.RegardsPaul:-cool

[Guest Josve]

Thanks for letting us know Rich!!Take care and don't give up on the "private" development of this great sim.....And for the rest of us.....it's now the work starts!!!!We have to continue the development and spreading the words of fly2 to the huge masses out there!!I have already started :)Johnny"I'LL BE BACK"[div align=center]http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/josve/fly2/vas.gif][/div

[DMullert 216]

Hello Richard!I have been with the FLY series from day one; actually, if counting time counts, probably since day -365. You gave everyone a good fight and produced a hell of a piece of software. I hope someone can take over FLY and continue your legacy or you continue your own legacy with a good sponsor. Until then, Thanks a Million for the great things you did for us and the flight simulation community. Take good care of yourself and be sure that we'll definitely miss all this, your contributions, and yourself.Thanks Again!Sincerely,Dennis D. Mullert

[emwardjr 0]

Your health!!!Good to hear you are on the mend. Best wishesEd Ward, Jr.Chief PilotWestWind, VA

[Guest]

I am sad that FLY! is dead. The FLY! team and the followers (forum people) were like family here, but that does not mean that the FLY! team will vanish right?About the review where the author has fun hitting buildings...I remember a videeo in the FS directorey on the CD (I thik it was FS98) with the King Lessons. It showed the instuctor flying a plane into the Trade Center Towers and he laughed and said something like 'this is fun'...now that should have gotten frowned upon not the author of a review but anyway that was long before 9/11 so there was a different attitude about Aviation that will never be like that again. :-(FLY!2 is still my favourite even if it's dead and even if I use other sims. It will be a long time before Microsoft achieves the realism that FLY! did. I hope that there will be another sim that can compete with Microsoft otherwise Microsoft will have monopoly and that is not good.Take careMike

[AlaskanFlyboy 7]

This is truely sad. Fly! and Fly!II brought me so much more joy than the MSFS serious ever did. It was the original MSFS developed in 1983 (my birthyear) that fueled the spark I had for aviation as a young boy until I got my first flight lesson 2 years ago. After that lesson I found MSFS to be lacking greatly though, and I saw a pre-release display box for Fly! in the our local Babbages in Spokane and I was skeptical at first but the description of the sim from the box just kept sounding more and more like my sim. When it finally was released to stores I bought a copy deciding to take a gamble on a new sim that sounded promising to me. I haven't gone back to MSFS since. I'm sorry to see a great sim with even greater pontential to beat MSFS being set on the back burner. Well... at least it's nice to know it's on the back burner and not in the trash.------------------------------------------------------John S. MorganReal World: KSFF, Cessna 152 994JP, Student 16+ hours.Virtual: Fly!II, KPHX, AWVA, PMDG Boeing 757-200.

[Guest]

Rich,I was never a big Fly! fan, even though I did purchase both the original Fly! version and Fly!II. While I am mainly a MSFS supporter, I see no harm in seeing things from others' perspectives and getting a clear, hands on view of different technologies and creations from programmers around the world, and I encourage others to do the same.To read that a major line of sims is effectively "dead", is a sad thing to hear, regardless of whose sim you use most. Anyone that has the motivation and strive to create a product which in some cases meets or exceeds a MSFS product line (which is no easy task... considering it has been on the market well over 15 years!) deserves the utmost respect and admiration. The success of the Fly! series of sims is a testament to the hard work by the whole team.It is a shame that no other publishers wish to take on the task of funding a new line of Fly! simulator versions. Unfortunately, even the best works sometimes escape the interest of some publishers only interested in shoot-em-up games. I completely agree with your statement that 9/11 was a major blow to the future of retail GA sims. It is sad to see that because of all of the bad publicity no one wants to carry the burden of having such a product in their line.Regardless of the nature of your upcoming product, I will most certainly make it a purchase on my list if only to support someone who I admire for not only his professional works, but his success with overcoming much more serious, personal tribulations.My hats off to you and the entire Fly! team, your work, even though short in its production span, will without a doubt remain as one of the top works of simulation art in history.Cheers! :-)