The Interview
20mm: Rick, I have to get this off my chest. Please tell me it’s okay that we messed up our E3 meeting!
Rick: Hehe, it’s very amusing that you still have recurring hallucinogenic thoughts of that day. Well, I will be straightforward and honest with you. 
It certainly happens to the best, and of course worst, of us. It has indeed happened to me on a very small number of occasions… hold on, I take that back! I would never do that to a respected friend such as yourself. One who I know and trust with true conviction, especially and above all, one who is joined at the hip to the sanctified “Holy Grail” of flight simulation web sites… the site that possesses miraculous powers, “The HQ!”, one of my favorite places to visit on the web. I do, however, profoundly understand there are reasons for these unimaginably cloudy judgments a grown man makes, conversely and strangely enough, I do blame it on overwhelming authority of female persuasion, mainly with the finger pointed at the E3 booth babes… Please tell me I did not see you and “guod” on your not-so-clandestine bunny ops training missions. We all noticed the slow, slight trickle of drool dampening down and smudging your itineraries where the Fighter Ops meeting once was penciled in…Hello! Anyway, whatever the case may be, no hard feelings, Tom. If anything it was certainly fun to watch… You’ll probably say “whew!”and thank me later.
20mm: “Whew, thank you!” Now that I’ve passed that hurdle, let’s do the actual interview. If you would, tell us a little bit about yourself. What’s your trade when not working on FO?
Rick: Definitely a family man first! Born and raised in the southern California area, presently part of a production team on a television series filmed at Warner Bros studios in Burbank, where I have devoted maximum physical exertion for many years. I have just recently returned to filming due to the fallout of the recent Hollywood writers’ strike.
I do have wide-ranging experience in numerous areas of film / television / commercials and events production, including directing, producing and marketing and have exhausted countless years in these fields. My hobbies include spending time with my family and friends, and amongst other things, flight simulations, sports and independent filmmaking, as I am always trying to get a film or two off the ground. Filmmaking seems to have a never-ending ingredient of excitement for me, particularly drawn to the Sci-Fi / thriller / horror genre, but always welcome a good drama or comedy. My initial goal after college was to fly for the Air Force, how odd; however I did get sidetracked when I began following my passion in the entertainment field. So now I enjoy flight as an armchair aviator as our Art Manager “3DRacer” would put it.
20mm: Simulations especially combat flight simulations are clearly a passion of yours. What current or past titles do you think stand out, and which ones do you currently play?
Rick: I had my first real flight sim encounter as a teenager helping a friend on a commercial photo shoot for the IBM computer. The company reps were demonstrating subLOGIC’s Flight Simulator during a lunch break. Well, let’s just say that I have purchased every copy since. This soon became somewhat of a compulsive hobby at times, with the trend including many great past flight sim titles such as ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) and Sierra’s ProPilot in the mid 90’s; and then, I believe, a whole slew of flight simulation products inundated the market and emptied my wallet. I imagine my obsession was somehow related to the inherent sensation of wanting to feel free.
Fast-forward through the evolution of PC flight simulations, where in today’s world the feeling to some extent is more of a cathartic stir or sensation for me. Still very puzzled by the feeling I get and not sure if I will ever be able to properly explain it. Not sure if I really want to. Anyway, let’s just say that many civilian and combat simulators have graced my PC over the years. Some of the most memorable for me were Jane’s F/A-18, Su-27 Flanker, as both really started the push for higher realism. At the moment I play (when I have the time) some of my favorites like FSX, Lock On: Modern Air Combat, and once in a while the extremely meticulous Falcon 4.0: Allied Force. I would have to say that Lock On: Flaming Cliffs is my all time favorite. I am eagerly awaiting the astonishing looking Black Shark from Eagle Dynamics and of course Fighter Ops.
20mm: Tell us about the genesis of FO, how it got started. Was the vision and the scope of the project then the same as now, and if not, how has it changed? When did you become involved and what was your role? Has that changed over the years?
Rick: Well let’s see… to chronicle the history of the Fighter Ops development means regressing back prior to XSI and my involvement with the team. But without doubt Fighter Ops started as an enormous vision, largely built out of the frustrations and dissatisfactions from past military simulations, with many of the original members being active in the Falcon modding community. The goal was to conjure up and develop the most extreme military simulation ever made.
The vision and scope has changed in many ways since then. When the project was first initiated, many were under the impression that it was a small, quick and inexpensive project. The early Fighter Ops days for me were metaphorically abstract, basically an unrefined conceptual state of ideas with a lot of potential. But it was evident that the realities, with its multiple concepts, were far too challenging in contrast to the original vision, and arguably a much larger project than anyone anticipated.
Flash forward… My association with Fighter Ops began as a nonspecific supporter while building a friendship on the forums with a few of the original cast members. One of those members was Julian “Buckshot” Leonard. Julian was very instrumental in my eventual involvement. We hit it off fairly quickly, and that friendship ultimately led to a partnership and then a collaboration that eventually started the formation of Xtreme Simulations International (XSI) in late December 2004.
Today that partnership, which coexists with fellow associates, is very resolute. Following the formation of XSI, it became exceedingly clear that, in order to fulfill the dreams of the future, we would certainly have to march to a different beat. Everything that existed prior to XSI was discarded and was started from scratch. It became undoubtedly clear that Fighter Ops would be an exceedingly challenging development from here on out.
My roll today, although somewhat of a collaborative effort, is to be a team leader, a sponge, and basically absorb as much information as possible and to motivate, plan, and make sure we have the necessary resources needed for development. I work around the clock and continuously look for ways to make improvements that will benefit the Fighter Ops development. We are on a limited budget, so team balance and stability is very important for us. Everyone needs to be doing their job. One other thing I constantly kick around in my mind is the importance in keeping the emotional state of the team flourishing in order to drive this project well into the future. That also includes supporting many of the other flight simulation projects out there.
20mm: FO is being developed by Xtreme Simulations International LLC (“XSI”), and as I understand it, the team is made up of specialists from all around the world. Talk a bit if you would about the challenges and rewards of working with a diverse group of folks from all over, some of whom I would assume you have never met in person.
Rick: Fighter Ops is driven by the persistence and very strong commitment of its devoted team members. These members come to us from literally all corners of the globe, which make for an extremely interesting and diverse group of developers. I certainly can’t say enough for them, other than that they are all very passionate, meticulously detailed and fanatical about good flight sims. These are essentially flight sim enthusiasts developing for flight sim enthusiasts, with each individual member delivering a wide-range of knowledge, balance and innate skills to the Fighter Ops development. I speak from experience when I say that one thing is certain, without the right people and balance on your team, you will undoubtedly fail.
One of the biggest challenges was finding the individuals that make up the team. From there it’s keeping the balance and a solid line of communications working between a part-time team that is dynamic and located in different time zones, in some cases poles apart; and although I have only met a handful of individuals in person, I feel as though we are one big family. So, while the balance collectively seems to work very well today, it remains extremely tough, with many of our developers maintaining very important real world jobs and responsibilities. Moreover, with so much talent, creating a part-time productive atmosphere is important, and one that is well suited for their type of lifestyles.
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