The Skypark for MSFS 2020 looks awesome!

[badger2000 168]

10 minutes ago, Keven Menard said:

If NeoFly does it for free and you're ok with what they're offering, sure!

I have not researched what NeoFly does so I can't really comment on what they offer.

 

 

Will Skypark at one day evaluate my flying?
Yes. We wanted to prioritize the experience first for release but stats and a new-style "logbook" will be available throughout the early access stage.

Will it take weight of cargo and pax into consideration?
We are adopting a "wait and see" stance on that right now. We want to see if aircraft developers will follow the built-in SDK for weight and fuel. Once we feel confident things are standardized we will make that happen as it adds a lot to the immersion.

Will the leveling up have any purpose?
Yes, your XP/Level dictates what contracts you have access to. The more XP you have the better the contracts. Most of the Coyote stuff is further up the XP chain, same on the ClearSky side. Like IRL, companies hire pilots with experience to carry sensitive cargo/pax.

Will I be able to do something with the earned money?
Today we don't drain money. Once we get a sense of how fast people are making money we will introduce the drains. transport license, insurance, fleet maintenance among others. We want the play to be around the experience/karma more than money.

Will I be able to promote in rang?
You promote through Levels and get better contracts as a result. You can always fly whatever aircraft you want to get the job done. (What would you like to see in terms of promotion beyond that?)

What will the upcoming subscription part offer exactly?
The subscription will bring the online part. Multiplayer contracts (& split profits), Timely contracts related to real-world events and other things we can't talk about yet.

What will the price be after Early Access?
Pricing will be determined from the feature set we have at that point

 

 

The next few weeks will revolve around fixing and optimizing what we have. We will then begin to introduce the money drains after that among other things. We are still looking at people's feedback and will prioritize features based on what we see.

 

I hope this answers your questions!

 

That's a great response. Very useful and informative.  Thank you.

 

One thing I would like to see (which I've mentioned before in this thread) is LOTS more contract options.  Ideally I'd like to sit at my favourite airport and choose from a good selection of flights that meet my criteria for distance and aircraft type.  Then, when I've arrived at my destination, I'd like the same again.  Maybe even flights with several legs to achieve the objective. At the moment I seem to get one or two options at best. 

 

Just my two cents. 

[Keven Menard 658]

4 minutes ago, tup61 said:

But anyway, it already would make a difference if you didn't simply number the levels but gave them names like cadet, captain, etc. It's a small thing but it feels different, as if it has more purpose.

We're currently looking at badges, I'll leave it at that.

 

5 minutes ago, tup61 said:

Cargo being loaded, pax boarding, messages while flying, that kind of stuff.

We have cargo sounds now and we plan on expanding the audio experience once we venture into PAX transport.

[flyer47 48]

I suggest watching the video with the developers. It's over 1hr long. It is also an early access so many things will improve. It was also mentioned that as an early access the price may eventually go up. As I said before, if you are the type of pilot that enjoys flying the different planes you have, I defiantly would look at this product. By the way I'm not in anyway connected with this company. Just like the product.

[kaosfere 3,115]

I went ahead and bought it because I'm a sucker for any sort of career add-on.  Here's initial thoughts:

1. The interface is slick.  Very slick.  By far the best looking add-on like this I've used.
2. What is there functions very well, I had no issues even when I had a flight paused due to a sim crash
3. There is already functionality in this that's not present in NeoFly.  An incomplete list:
   1. Searching for contracts by runway type (which I love)
   2. Sorting contracts based to topographic roughness (also great)
   3. A very pleasant "yoFlight" EFB interface that's a bit light on details, but, amongst others:
      1. does a better job of showing terrain with both 2d and 3d views
      2. will let you import an external flight plan and show that on the map
      3. includes basic telemetry like alt and airspeed
      4. shows extended centerlines on the map
   4. Voice-overs that are much better quality and not clearly amateur VO and ESL to boot.  (Not a slam on ESL folks remotely, but it sticks out like a very sore thumb in NeoFly)
4. The karma score is entertaining, I like where things are headed with that
5. The developers, both here and on their discord, are very responsive and open to questions and suggestions

The negatives have been gone over a few times here:  there are some features that are in other products that are not present in this one.  How big a deal this is for you depends on what your priorities are.  I really don't give a flip about the "realism" of having to have one aircraft and only going from A to B to C, so that's not a negative for me, but a positive.  However, the overall feature set does seem to lack compared to NeoFly or OnAir.

It sounds, though, like a lot of those features, and more, are planned to be added before too much longer.

(Also, I cannot overstate how nice the interface is.   I like NeoFly, but the interface is hot garbage, and this isn't just a "style over substance" matter.  Some things have improved, like being able to hide non-mission airports from the map, but it's still too difficult to do some basic things in the game.   NeoFly's UI is something you tolerate, and at times curse.  Skypark's is actually pleasant.)

To wrap it up, I don't regret dropping my $30ish one bit.  I don't think this is going to fully supplant other add-ons yet, but if the development roadmap pans out it will, no questions asked.  I do not mind buying things like this early to support the developers and watch a project as it progresses.  However, peoples' time/money values differ.  I'd say, if you question whether it's worth the $30 now even after you see the list of features it does have and have heard from the developer here, wait and watch its progress.  At some point it might interest you.  But, on the other hand, if you're interested and think you might be willing to buy into "early access" and enjoy what's there now, I'd encourage it, by all means, just know what you're getting.

And, if you don't like what seem to be some fundamental design decisions, like the freedom to fly what you want when you want, this probably is not the product for you, and that's fine.   But it doesn't mean the product itself is defective, it's just not for you.

Hope this helps some.

Edited December 16, 2020 by kaosfere

[kaosfere 3,115]

(One suggestion for future features that I would very much like:  something like the off-field missions that NeoFly has.  As a giant bush flying fan, it's a lot of fun for me to get a mission that just says "go here, and find a way to land somewhere close".  That and the sightseeing and "delivery" missions really add some variety that's not available in other products like this.  If nothing else, I would very much like to see off-field landings on offer.)

[RALF9636 1,890]

46 minutes ago, kaosfere said:

(One suggestion for future features that I would very much like:  something like the off-field missions that NeoFly has.  As a giant bush flying fan, it's a lot of fun for me to get a mission that just says "go here, and find a way to land somewhere close".  That and the sightseeing and "delivery" missions really add some variety that's not available in other products like this.  If nothing else, I would very much like to see off-field landings on offer.)

+1.

More generally spoken, the Skypark developers should take a close look at what NeoFly offers for the pilot's job experience and use that as an inspiration to further enhance The Skypark regarding the versatility of pilot's jobs. They can leave out all the fleet management and trading stuff for me though. Actually I also think it is a siginificant positive aspect that we can use any airplane at any location in the world at any time in The Skypark. I don't like all the limitations that come with similar products.

I also agree that the UI of NeoFly is a disgrace which takes away all the appeal NeoFly would have for me otherwise. Since immersion is a key factor for flight-simming the form is an essential part of the function for me - and that is where The Skypark seems to shine compared to NeoFly.

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by RALF9636

[Howiefly13 30]

I am really liking this program, especially the interface.  I would like a little more flexibility in the moving map, like being able to resize the map.  I would it to be the replacement for the VFR map in the simulator.  Any additional information that can be added would also be nice.

BTW, nice job on Brigit's tutorial. One with deeper information would also be helpful.

Thanks for listening. I have been flight simming since 1984 with FSII on a PC Jr. and still love it.

Howard

[ParaMan 53]

I'm having issues with everything slowing down after the transponder is loaded. The Sim takes so much longer to load, and when it finally does - I get no avionics. I love the idea of it, I just need to get it working properly.

[neucoas 82]

3 hours ago, vcarlo said:

I have ZERO interest in someone telling me about a product in which he has never used (beta tested, purchased, or otherwise).  YES, everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to state their opinion. My point was directed at a negative opinion that was being repeated as if he has a grudge against the developer.  If you don't want to buy a product because you feel it is not for you.  GREAT !  State that and then move on.  This was not the case in this thread, hence I stated MY OPINION ! 

Then you just ignore his opinion and move on, because he is making good points regarding why this is not worth the money right now. If there was a trial or we could request refunds, fine, try it by yourself. This is not the case.

Edited December 16, 2020 by neucoas

[Keven Menard 658]

56 minutes ago, RALF9636 said:

the Skypark developers should take a close look at what NeoFly offers for the pilot's job experience and use that as an inspiration to further enhance The Skypark regarding the versatility of pilot's jobs

I'm curious to know, what would you like to see be different from what our contracts offer today?

We like getting inspired by our users instead of the competition. We're always looking outside of what's already being done.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Keven Menard

[Keven Menard 658]

12 minutes ago, neucoas said:

he is making good points regarding why this is not worth the money right now

This is highly subjective. For some it is and for some it isn't. And it's perfect that way.

[kaosfere 3,115]

14 minutes ago, Keven Menard said:

I'm curious to know, what would you like to see be different from what our contracts offer today?

For me, the off-field missions are NeoFly's USP.   I think if the Skypark implemented them, I'd turn my back on NeoFly today even with other stuff missing.

Beyond that, a few things off the top of my head: more multiple-leg flights like the one in the demo video would be great, even if it was just a series of randomly selected airports going in one general compass direction, something to break the monotony of one flight after another.  Perhaps for those only lock the player into a single plane, but still let them pick what it is.

(I've had a look at the stuff in your Persistence directory, becuse that's how I do, and I see it looks like you have a number of other missions like that in the works, which is cool.  Keep that up, for sure, but even if they're not hand-crafted multi-leg hops are welcome.)

Another one: provide collectables of a sort, things you can only pick up by going to a particular airfield, or area.   Let people have achievements ("commendations", perhaps, if you want to keep the immersive flight-company feel) for hitting an airport in all 50 US states, or every EU capital, or what have you.   Also tracking milestones in a career:  get a commendation on your 100th flight, on 10 smooth landings in a row, what have you.  Things to provide some more free-form structure and goals aside from "get money and XP" but without the micro-managey business aspect.

Once the server-side is intact, have rally competitions.  Players have N days to complete this defined list of flights, score for a combination of speed and fuel efficiency, broken down by plane class, maybe hand out gold, silver, bronze trophies.  There an any number of ways this could be justified in lore:  perhaps you add another company that sponsors these things to help select "only the best" pilots, or something like that.

I'll see what else I can dream up.  😄

 

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by kaosfere

[langly 129]

It seems like people are confused about the fact that there is no "working for a company or airline". You are a self-employed, contracted pilot that is working for yourself. Not sure what type of rank or title you expect to be given, that's what your reputation is for.

[captain420 3,099]

 

[Keven Menard 658]

2 minutes ago, langly said:

It seems like people are confused about the fact that there is no "working for a company or airline". You are a self-employed, contracted pilot that is working for yourself. Not sure what type of rank or title you expect to be given, that's what your reputation is for.

Indeed. As a contracted pilot the only thing you should worry about is making sure your aircraft are in shape and that your XP and reliability are high enough to get good contracts.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Keven Menard