So what happens now?

[Major Disaster]

Putting family first is without a doubt the right decision. But at the same time this is very depressing from a wargammer's perspective! This series is the best thing going in the operational level of wargamming. It is a shame that the community is too small so that the developer's can't make a decent living! Hopefully, this series can continue even if it is at a slower pace but also I realise there is only so much time on a weekend. 
 
Best of luck in your new job.

[06 Maestro]

Well Arjuna,’ you are doing what must be done. I just hope that you don’t “burn the candle at both ends” by neglecting R&R time-stay healthy.

I hope that you can continue the AA series-regardless how slowly. Thanks for all your efforts and dedication [&o].

The best of luck in your new job.

P.S. Perhaps some time in the future, after things have stabilized, you might consider "going public" with Panther games. The numbers are not right, but the quality of the product is. I wonder how much money it would take to make PG big overnight. It really is too bad that the AA games are not on the shelves when there is so much junk sitting there.

[MarkShot]

Well, there is something you fans should realize that I know after five years working with Dave O'Connor. Dave is obsessed with the AA engine. He could no more abandon it than he could his own children. No doubt, development will slow down. But if I know Dave he will probably still be lying awake many nights staring up at the ceiling and thinking of little C++ routines to make the AI a little better and the engine a little bit more realistic. Dave can never step away from this for it is who he is.

Hopefully, despite things slowing down, some will use this time to create scenarios for HTTR and COTA; others will work on translating COTA documentation into French and Korean ... others will write strategy guides and do war colleges ... and the customer base will continue to grow.

PS: If I seem less involved with BFTB than past development cycles, I am just having some health issues which have drained some of the energy out of me. But there continues to an amazingly impressive team of old time beta testers and new blood too. The work will get done and when BFTB finally goes gold it will be no less worth awards than HTTR and COTA were.

[Rebel Yell]

[decaro]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna
No it's not directly related to our game engine. I'm working on a project that is setting up a Decision Support and Simulation centre to assist in the process of determining future defence capability options.

Sounds like a "think tank"; re a 2006 CNN story, an Australia-based think tank projected 142 million deaths and global economic losses of $4.4 trillion if avian flu successfully leaps to humans, and then becomes a pandemic.

When someone says Australia, Mad Max and Crocdile Dundee come to mind; I just don't associate think tanks w/"down under."

Well, it could be worse; after the Lord of the Rings trilogy won all those Oscars, whenever I think of New Zeeland, I think of trolls, farries and elves!

[Plodder]

I just don't associate think tanks w/"down under."

highly understandable [;)], A former NZ Prime Minister was asked if he was worried about NZ'ers moving to Australia, his reply was "No, it just raises the average IQ in both countries"[:D][:'(]

Well, it could be worse; after the Lord of the Rings trilogy won all those Oscars, whenever I think of New Zeeland, I think of trolls, farries and elves!

We don't mind,makes a change from sheep [:D]

[GoodGuy]

ORIGINAL: Joe D.
...whenever I think of New Zeeland, I think of trolls, farries and elves!

Yeah me too, bet the movie pushed tourism in Kiwi land [:D] [;)].