"RE: Hmmmmmmm....."
LAST EDITED BY AUTHOR ON Jul-01-01 AT 03:00 PM (EDT)
Hi Evan,
If I have caused you any heartache this morning, accept my apologies.
However. You really must re-read what has been asked of you. Simplicity is the key to everything right now.
In your post above, you state that you will work with any "valid third party to help support them, and provide them an EXE with those fixes to be distributed with their products." What in the world does that mean?? To me it reads: "if you are a commercial developer, we will do what we can to make your product viable". Period.
It says nothing about the hundreds of freeware developers that really expand this sim (and this is not a poke at PDMG - I really appreciate their top notch work!). It says nothing to the problems and concerns we developers have importing our work in Fly! II. Putting the Slicer aside (and its many, many issues - including bugs ADDED since Patch4) - it says nothing about the many other problems we are having. An example? The coastline data cannot be edited in Fly! II. Which means that any TerraScene'd area that was on water STILL IS water - regardless if the area is now land. Just one example.
You state that most of the "gameplay" bugs are fixed. What does that mean? Fly! II isn't a game. Its a simulator. It simulates flight. With real world cockpits, aircraft, runways, airports, etc. If bugs are still there that break the simulation, then what does "gameplay" bugs are fixed mean? That IS the gameplay in Fly! II.
You "infer" in your post that bugs (serious bugs that prevent development work) are being intentionally left in the program so that Rich has something to return to when he is healthy. Come on. I have WAY more respect for Richard than a filmy statement like that. Rich will have PLENTY to return to and his leadership role will be VERY much needed regardless of what you all decide to fix. Where Richard leads, regardless of the avenue, I'll blindly follow. And so will many, many others here. Because his integrity is unapproachable. A statement like yours is simply incredible.
You also say that someone from TRI doesn't have the time to be an active member of this forum. Thats fine. We all understand that. But don't forget this very important point: it was TRI's leadership in this area that raised the expectations for exactly that. It was TRI that set the bar so high - so if that won't be continued, it is TRI that must accept the fallout (if any) from that decision.
Michael has it right on the head. Its fine (yet sad) if the answer is "we're done". You've stated and hinted at that answer here more than once. And you've said this in a more direct fashion in the beta forum. To support that fact, the beta process is now terminated (which consisted of non-paid volunteers helping to debug your product). We need leadership here, not read between the lineership. A simple statement of your intentions to end user developers (eg: non-professionals if that term makes it any clearer) IS all thats needed:
Are you fully committed to support and fix this game for end user developers (slicer that works, a tool to edit the coastline data, etc)? Will end-user developers ever be able to enhance your product with the tools you provide without jumping through unknown bug hoops (if possible with these bugs at all)? Will continued support be available to end-users from the TRI development team?
A direct answer to these serious issues is all thats needed, Evan. I really hope you understand that and its implications for future developers. The desire to expand your product is seriously waning on our end (and I promise you - I'm not alone). And remember, we do this for love, not money. Again, no disrespect to PDMG or any other high-quality commercial developers: they do it for BOTH love and money.
Take care,
Elrond
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