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08/08/2006
A new addition has hit this website. I've just incorporated a brand new photo gallery area that will allow me to
truly showcase the vast collection of diverse screenshots I've accumulated over time. Just press the 'Gallery' button
to get to the new area. You'll be able to browse through the photos, see them in different sizes, search for keywords or
file names, and view them in a slide show. More will be coming soon.
Art
05/08/2006
The wait is over. Version 2.0 is now ready for distribution!!! As I promised it will be available as an upgrade for any user that
purchased Version 1 prior to May 10, 2006. The upgrade still requires all users to download the entire Version 2 so registered users
will be receiving a coupon in their email that will bring down the price of the package for them to $15.95. The full package price
to new users will be $39.95. The file size is nearly half a gig so any customers that require me to send them the scenery via
CD will pay an extra $2.00 for shipping and handling.
The new scenery contains full night textures for the entire area which is now about double the size of the previous version.
MS requires seasonal texture files in place if the scenery allows night textures and I have those textures created but they
are not being distributed with the package. The download size would've simply been too large for most customers so the installer
will simply create summer texture file clones for the Fall, Spring, and Winter textures. Once all files are decompressed and
in place, the scenery takes up about 2 GB of hard disk space.
Please remember that I promised the first 20 purchasers of Version 1 with a free upgrade to Version 2 and that will be accomplished
with custom Flight 1 keys sent to them via email that will unlock their downloads without a charge. The downloadable file will
be available for testing for a short time prior to those keys being shipped so please be patient.
Please let me know if you have any problems at all with downloads or you aren't receiving coupons or keys you're expecting.
Distribution is a monumental task when you have a new release and you're not a huge conglomerate that does this every day so
I'm certain there may be a few bugs. Customers that have dealt with Simulating Art in the past will all tell you though that
we stay on problems until they're solved and are firmly committed to customer satisfaction.
Thanks for your patience. I think it's worth the wait. See you in the Phoenix skies.
Art
03/11/2006
Lots of great new features are coming in version 2 many of which you'll see here on the main website and in the user forums. So far
the valley aerial photo coverage has been expanded greatly. It's roughly twice the size of the version 1 coverage extending as far
South as Gila Bend and as far East as Roosevelt Lake. 19 meter mesh of the entire area will also be included in the new version
greatly enhancing the ruggedness of the landscape. Night textures will be available that make the scenery sparkle when the sun goes
down. A large amount of new GMAX buildings, landmarks, and freeways have been completed with more to come in the upcoming months.
Animations include cars and buses, traffic lights, and other surprises. Watch the user forums which have recently been improved
and upgraded. There's a dedicated forum for news about the upcoming release with sneak preview screenshots.
Our user base continues to expand with not only tons of new users from the Phoenix area but also simmers from around the world.
Simulating Art will continue to reach out to bring the magic of Southwestern flying to the huge number of flight sim users around
the globe. We thank you for your patronage and feedback. All are welcome at our forums.
Art
10/02/2005
GREAT NEWS! The product is officially released even though I haven't made any formal announcements in the major forums.
I might be able to get to that tomorrow. If you press the "BUY" button on this or any of the Simulating Art webpage screens,
you'll be taken to a page where you can download the product. The download file will be in the form of an executable file -
"SimArtPhoenixInstall.exe" which is an install wrapper hosted by Flight 1 Software. For those unfamiliar with Flight 1's wrapper,
you simply download and run the file and at that time you are asked for payment information. After submitting that info, the
payment will be validated across the internet and a product key will be returned to you from Flight 1. This will unlock the
installer and the install files will be extracted to your computer. At this time, you must use the default choice for that
install path of "C:\Simulating Art" if you wish to have the files automatically added to Flight Simulator. I was given the
impression from Flight 1 that they always went there and wrote the auto installer around that. I'll fix that soon. The
auto-installer that will run once Flight 1's software extracts the files will allow you to set the final install directory. If
you're like me, you don't like putting programs or data on your system drive so the auto-installer is configured to allow
plenty of user options. Watch the user forums for any late-breaking news or updates and please let me know how things are
working for you. This is very exciting and also very nerve-wracking so I could use the feedback to know people are happy with
the product. See you over the Valley of the Sun.
Art
09/27/2005
Negotiations are finalizing for distribution with Flight 1 Software. I'm hoping it'll only be a
matter of days now before I can put this puppy to rest and share this fun package with the rest of you.
There's a ton of new screen shots up on the forum now which give a great glimpse into the finishing touches
I've been working on. Please email or private message me if you have any problems with the forum or need any
questions answered. Art
09/16/2005
Support forum is now installed and getting a lot of usage. Fixed bugs in that forum. Hopefully its initial access,
when using Firefox, now has full formatting. Have set up an account with Paypal for credit card processing in
anticipation of putting the product online and available. (for those concerned about not wanting to have to sign
up for a Paypal account, it is not necessary for them to process a credit card payment.)
Began work on the GMAX object for the new Glendale Cardinal's Stadium. Since I'm a westsider, we have a real
need for landmarks out there. From now on, I'm going to put most incidental news about products on the support forum
so check there frequently. Art
09/12/2005
Created flattens around Lake Pleasant shoreline
to prevent water textures from climbing up the sides of cliffs. Flattened dam and downstream areas to give a more
realistic look. Finishing up creating water masking on any scenery tile that has lakes, canals, or other water
features on them. Amazingly enough, even though Phoenix is an arid desert, there's a tremendous amount of water
features around the valley. Many communities have their own lakes winding between the rows of houses. Without
masking the scenery tiles, those lakes and canals are just black or a pale green on the image and do not reflect
light. Water masking also allows landable areas with seaplanes although the task would be pretty tough on small lakes or canals.
Installer is coming along well. Have overcome some rather edgy technical challenges and expect my beta testers to get a look at it very soon. For those of you having a bad taste about installers, options will be available for manual installs as well.
Still to do: User registration for this website, contract with Paypal for credit card processing, support forum creation, and much more. I'm dying to get this to market but I won't until I'm satisfied that users will have an absolutely professional experience.
09/07/2005
Website is beginning to take shape. Final development of the scenery is devoted to creating some last significant GMAX landmarks including the ASU stadium and arena, Gammage, and the new Cardinal's stadium under construction in Glendale. I'm also adding huge amounts of autogen houses and vegetation to all areas of the valley to ensure that flyers have 3 dimensional depth and night lighting even in the peripheral areas. Starting work on the installer for the scenery. This will be heavily tested to ensure compatibility with all expected versions of the operating system, different program installation locations, and possibly language differences. |
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