New Year, new role, new series of posts

So now that I am back and just about dug out from the holidays and some intense management training that I attended, I wanted to engage the community in a discussion about how the Studio is changing, where we are going, and how that is impacting the Studio in general and me personally.

Before I do that, I wanted to offer thanks to 4 teammates who have moved on recently.

Mike Gilbert was Lead PM on FSX and after RTM moved over to Trains2. After a year as LPM on Trains2, he moved out of the Studio and the area and went to Colorado in another part of MS. I personally will miss Miike and wish him well.

Adam Szofran was our lead Terrain engineer and drove the terrain side of things for the last 7 years. Adam moved out of the Studio but stayed within the Puget Sound area in another part of MS. Adam was a great engineer to work with, had a depth of knowledge that was a huge asset, and I and the rest of the Graphics and Terrain team will miss Adam. We all wish him well in his new gig.

Sebby was our "shader guy" and was responsible for water, shadows, and sundry other shader-related tech. He also moved out of the Studio but stayed within the Puget Sound area in another part of MS. I thought Sebby did excellent work on the DX10 port and I will personally miss him and wish him well.

Jason Waskey was our Art Lead and was instrumental in several key areas of FSX tech development. He left the Studio and MS to persue his personal interest in things art and painting related. He will be sorely missed by all and by me personally. I wish him well in this endeavour.

Next expect me to talk about Studio changes and the impact they are having on how we build product and how they impact me personally.

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 15, 2008
  wow, so Phill 4-5 men is gone from Aces.. who take theirs place ? is there anybody fresh in team ? can you told us about them?  since past few months we are only seeing that men by men is leaving Aces ... so my questions... brds

• Anonymous
  January 15, 2008
  Since development on Train Simulator 2 is going, can I please be on the beta? -Orion

• Anonymous
  January 15, 2008
  Janda: the studio has doubled in size just in the time I have been here, from ~60 to ~120. loosing 4 people over that time is very low attrition by any standard.

• Anonymous
  January 16, 2008
  I agree, in a large organization, in a highly competitive market, you could loose 4 or more people just over parking assignments :)

• Anonymous
  January 16, 2008
  While colleagues moving on can be a personal loss, it sometimes has the benefit of providing new points of view. Many times I've seen something that "couldn't be done" get accomplished by someone new who didn't know it "couldn't be done". Things should get interesting down the road!

• Anonymous
  January 16, 2008
  In some ways its going to allow the Team to see with new eyes, and for that matter how the franchise will be seen by its users. FS has a distinct look that is derived from the artwork that has now become part of its legacy, doubtless it will have a new look as the talent behind them will have their own vision. Anyway , there is plenty of talent at the studio and always room for a Guru when one comes to your attention they will take on a large mantle, good thing there is a Taylor around to see that it fits well

• Anonymous
  January 20, 2008
  The comment has been removed