Awesome, I'm tempted to purchase but want to wait for reviews. I don't see any mention of an online subscription at all.

i hope its only one time purchase 😇

Just now, lyldz said:

i hope its only one time purchase 😇

Same, so far it seems like it is from OrbX's site! Pay once, and own and use forever. I really hate subscription based model.

 

Here's the link to purchase - https://orbxdirect.com/product/p42-the-skypark

https://www.twitch.tv/theskyloungetv

Live video of The Skypark in action!

Doesn't look vastly different from the many other such add-ons of this nature out there, apart from having a psuedo-iPad app-like interface, although I daresay having that will appeal to some.

Not that this is a bad thing, after all, add-ons of this kind are by definition going to offer pretty much the same things, although it looks to me as though this new offering is a bit limited in scope compared to some of the other choices out there. Apart from the psuedo-tablet interface, it seems very similar in capability to NeoFly, which is free, so it'll depend on whether you want to fork out 26 quid for that difference I suppose.

With now several free as well as payware choices for things of this kind for MSFS, it's going to start coming down which one you like in terms of GUI as well as what features it offers. Personally, whilst I do like that simple GUI, the scope of this one this doesn't float my boat; that's not saying it is bad, I'm sure it will appeal to many.

 

Edited December 15, 20205 yr by Chock

The vital element missing with all these kinds of apps is the REAL money going in to the REAL bank account.

33 minutes ago, Will Fly For Cheese said:

going in to

Going in to?   Or coming out of?

4 hours ago, Chock said:

Doesn't look vastly different from the many other such add-ons of this nature out there, apart from having a psuedo-iPad app-like interface, although I daresay having that will appeal to some.

That was my initial impression as well.   But having spent some time with the video that @captain420 linked above, I'm a lot more interested.  Not only is it slick as an oil spill on an iceberg, but there seems to be some really cool functionality built in.   Missions seem to be generated on a central server, if I'm reading between the lines correctly, and you can actually share them with friends if you want to fly them together, for example.   The "karma" score mechanism is interesting and I like that if you take illicit missions and fail you don't just lose the pay and take a reliability dip -- you also lose the value of what you were carrying.

Most of all, though, as someone who enjoys flying to rugged areas, and who has thought about creating a mechanism for "scoring" a flight for the kind of terrain you fly through, this image from them showing the "advanced" filters has me intrigued.  Sort by topography could be really useful, if it does what it sounds like.  And the runway selection is nice.  (Sorry for the awful quality, the stream was pretty bad.) 

 

It sounds like they have some longer term plans that would be really cool if they come to fruition, like getting "dedicated" routes for a company if you work with them long enough and reliably enough.

Anyway, time will tell how this shapes up, but after watching that I'm a lot closer to buying it than I was an hour ago.

Edited December 15, 20205 yr by kaosfere

Same, it's shaping up to be a very good add-on. It gives me a purpose and an objective to do. And it does it in a very elegant and intuitive way. 

One thing this does seem to be lacking which is present in many of its competitors is the management aspect of hiring other pilots, forming FBOs, and so forth. Personally, I've never had too much of an interest in that because it starts to feel like too much of a job and there are other, better management simulations I regularly play -- my main flight sim interest is flying, when I want to play a spreadsheet I'll fire up Football Manager.  But I know a lot of folks are interested in that side, and this, at least, may be disappointing in that way for them.  They didn't mention it as a planned feature but they did say there are things that are hidden now because they're not done or good enough yet.

Edited December 15, 20205 yr by kaosfere

This is why I like this addon better than OnAir, it focuses more on flying rather than the managing aspect.

I might just bite... not much else to buy myself for the holidays for simming.

14 minutes ago, kaosfere said:

One thing this does seem to be lacking which is present in many of its competitors is the management aspect of hiring other pilots, forming FBOs, and so forth. Personally, I've never had too much of an interest in that because it starts to feel like too much of a job and there are other, better management simulations I regularly play -- .my main flight sim interest is flying, when I want to play a spreadsheet I'll fire up Football Manager.  But I know a lot of folks are interested in that side, and this, at least, may be disappointing in that way for them.  They didn't mention it as a planned feature but they did say there are things that are hidden now because they're not done or good enough yet.

 

6 minutes ago, captain420 said:

This is why I like this addon better than OnAir, it focuses more on flying rather than the managing aspect.

 

I agree. That is what makes this interesting for me. I am not at all interested in managing an airline. My only interest is the flying. I hope The Skypark will remain completely focussed on enhancing the job of the pilot and not dissipates itself in all kinds of airline managing or tradings aspects like other apps do.

 

13 minutes ago, RALF9636 said:

 

 

I agree. That is what makes this interesting for me. I am not at all interested in managing an airline. My only interest is the flying. I hope The Skypark will remain completely focussed on enhancing the job of the pilot and not dissipates itself in all kinds of airline managing or tradings aspects like other apps do.

 

Same for me!