well my heart is broken...sad day indeed

[heywooood]

Jan of MAAM sim is calling it quits...

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/370925-sad-day/


from the Avsim developer support board

and I was so looking forward to the N3N..

I DO hope the best for Jan whatever he decides to do - the models made for FS9 were legendary

[strykerpsg]

Wow! Sad indeed as you could see the attention to detail in his products. He will be missed.

[cheezyflier]

hard to miss what wasn't there in the first place.

[CodyValkyrie]

hard to miss what wasn't there in the first place.

Apparently you missed the FS2004 releases that were absolutely superb, not to mention the dedication to support in making these aircraft ported to FSX, among other things. I almost find this insulting.

[trucker17]

sad true....Jan you will be missed....
Good luck bud...

[Sundog]

Well, hopefully he'll stop by here so he can see me write, "Thank you for the great aircraft." When your fun is more work than fun, it's time to find something else to do. I certainly wish him the best.

[robert41]

I kinda had a feeling about this for some time. And I quite understand. I have several MAAM sim aircraft and will enjoy them for a long time to come. Take care Jan.

[roger-wilco-66]

That's sad indeed, I was forever hoping that the R4D, Avenger and B-25 would be redone for FSX. I still fly them, expecially the R4D / C-47. Wonderful aircraft.



Mark

[CrazyPants]

I hate to see this, I really do. I understand an individual's (or group's) reasoning for moving on from the sim world...and if their heart's not in it anymore then that's ok.
However...I can't help but feel that with the loss of Bill Lyons, MAAM, FSaddon's amazing projects in the past (no offense) etc,...that we are losing the grassroots movement
that spoke volumes to all of us. We recognized in certain developers, whether scenery or aircraft, a specific and tangible level of TLC that wasn't necessarily for the monetary
gain, but for the love of the game (sim). That sense of community is clearly fading. Look at the abomination that is MS Flight...not that it is a terrible creation...but that the soul
of flight sim is absent from it. I can't speak for everyone, but such products that ignore or downplay the rich heritage of MS flight simulator in all its' guises throughout the years should not
be the accepted standard. Now, arbitrarily I understand that we are talking about a mass market product and that no such allegiance to any core group is required or even considered
in the final process of producing a software product...and certainly with RealAir, A2A, MilViz, etc, the bar has been raised...but seeing these iconic, core addon developers leave or move on...I won't say
it is the death knell of this genre, but it hits a nerve. Look at Emma Field X and the outcome of that...did the fans get the product they wanted? Was that ultimately the deciding factor? I dare say
it was not, despite the efforts of others to develop a freeware alternative.
I love FSX, Fs9, etc...I love what the older generations brought to the table, what they taught me not only about flight sim, but
about aviation history. In 2003 I was 19, I loved FS9 for so many reasons...it opened my imagination, broadened my horizons...hell, I STILL dream of flight...thanks to Emma Field and that core group, as
well as all the others involved...I miss multiplayer and teamspeak...hearing those deep, textured voices so reminiscent of my grandfathers, showing me the ropes. Don't know where to fly in the Pacific Northwest? Hell, here's my airport I built using "___". And suddenly a waypoint was born.
I understand that software developers will continue cranking out amazing scenery and aircraft, that the torch will not be dropped per se. However, every time I hear a staple of the flight sim community
move on...I feel my age (28)...and I see something lost that truly can't be replaced. Can anyone remember a recent software package that had the level of love, and that personal touch that Bill Lyons brought to the table? For those that don't know...you could get a download key for an aircraft that had the ignition keys personalized....think about that. Will we ever see that again? I doubt it.
I love flight sim...I love this community even though I spend 99% of my time lurking on forums instead of contributing...and what i fear the most is that some young 18 year old with his/her heart set on flight will come across a google search wasteland, without all the resources i had almost 10 years ago to pursue my dreams, if only in a sim.
By the way, thanks to these forums, Emma Field, all those FS9 contributors, in 2004 I flew a C152 for the first time...and my dreams were realized. I FLEW....something that before that moment was only a dream, only a GAME.
So in closing, I can only say, if we continue to lose those that set the standard, as MAAM's B25 and DC3 did, as well as all the others that are no more, we will continue to accept the fact that losing
the heartbeat of this community and flight sim is okay, and permissible. Now we don't and shouldn't dictate the lives of others when they choose to move on...but the rally cry should always be raised when we lose such a staple of the community...because that will truly toll the death bell of our beloved genre...and all the fingers pointed at Microsoft will be in error....because they gave us a platform upon which to dream, to pretend, to be something that in real life we may never be...and we chose to squander it.
I love all the unique voices on this forum, I love and cherish those that go above and beyond to provide content that we can all enjoy...let us move forward with that in mind and hold fast to the ones
around us that prove the recent trend in the last 6 years is NOT a quickly dying art. Let's continue that rich heritage, that deep tradition. Let's not accept compromise as the standard. Put love of the genre first, and all will fall into place.

From the bottom of my heart, let's not keep losing the foundation of what made this sim so amazing and REAL for so many people, myself included.
I was scared, young, inexperienced...but you guys taught me how to fly, in the sim and in real life. You breathed life into my dreams and made them reality.

Short of my father, no other person or community has contributed more to my life in terms of realizing what is yours to reach out and grab. I will continue to be the voice for the next generation, if one exists...but we all must try.

[alastairmonk]

Sad news indeed, although, as has been pointed out, this is far from the first time a long-standing MSFS contributor has decided to retire. Let us all be thankful for the superb products that Jan has produced in the past and wish him the best for what he decides to do in the future.

Alastair

[Ferry_vO]

Yes, we should focus on what he did give us (And all of it was good!) and not what we might not get. Maam-sim, his Sabre and even some good music too!

Good luck with whatever your future holds Jan, please do visit us here every now and then, and I hope to see you in Lelystad for the annual FS weekends buddy!

[cheezyflier]

Apparently you missed the FS2004 releases that were absolutely superb, not to mention the dedication to support in making these aircraft ported to FSX, among other things. I almost find this insulting.

unless your the maam-sim guy, that's just ridiculous to be insulted by something i said about someone else.

and i didn't miss anything, i've had briefing time for ages. it's a good model, for fs9.
but the guy hasn't put out anything for a long time, and didn't do a whole lot of stuff he said he was gonna do. he didn't do none of that stuff, and he didn't do none of it for a long time. so when i say it's hard to mis what was never there, that's the truth wether you like it or not. there was nothing coming for a long time. he said it himself that it was over a long time ago, and just hadn't gotten around to telling anybody yet. i mean seriously, fsx is already the previous sim, so the whole point of the entire inventory being 2 sims old already just underscores my point.

[CodyValkyrie]

And you're taking THIS opportunity to state your point?

I digress. I shall miss you regardless bud. I know how it can feel at times. No hard feelings and best of wishes with your future endeavors Jan!

[heywooood]

well I can't lie - I didn't really know Jan except from the things he posted here and the helpful way he got the SectionF8 Saber conversion files to the community..he had some pretty humorous posts also..

But I am extremely unhappy that the N3N project is now dead...it seemed fairly close to complete to my eye, though I am not a 3D modeler...

I wonder if Jan might consider making the source files available to another party for completion? maybe as an eventual donation ware for MAAM ?

either way - I only brought that link to this board because this is THE FSX site to my mind and Jan was such a big part of MSFS franchise and I thought people here might have missed

what he had said about moving on.

Not the time to take shots at the guy - or his commitment to the community in seasons past

[TuFun]

Thanks Jan for all your work on those fabulous aircraft. The Mitchell is my favorite for many years since FS2002! Posted this one few weeks ago, but I think its fitting.

Just like it came out of the MAAM-SIM Factory...



Once again thanks very much Jan!