FSExpo 2019: Parallel 42 Unveil The Skypark

A brand new concept for flight simulation has been unveiled today by Parallel 42: The Skypark. Edson Soriano, the managing director of the project, unveiled the product in today's presentation at FlightSimExpo 2019.

The concept is designed around a dynamic job market, allowing the user to deliver passengers and cargo in the flight simulator. This dynamic job market is built on the idea of object persistence, virtual characters and the world being built by the user.

"The SP is the most intelligent, dynamic and the most diverse platform for the gamification of flight simulation."

One of the key talking points is the fact that the user can utilise custom their custom aircraft and airports only, if they are not a fan of default ones. Cargo could be flown in an airliner from airport A to B, and then some of that cargo could be taken in a smaller plane to point C.

It allows the user to do one job: fly, and re-ignite their passion to fly to places they would usually not touch.

Based on this, Edson gave some features of The Skypark:

  1. Over 1,500 Unique Adventures Daily
  2. Point to Point, Multi-Segment & Multi-Aircraft
  3. Fly Direct or Use Advanced EFB Routing
  4. Advanced Filtering
  5. True Object Persistence
  6. Multiplayer Network Independent
  7. Interactive Characters & Agencies
  8. The Future of Flight Logging

Regarding point 4, flights can be filtered by aircraft type, country, flight distances and maximum profits, but a prefer custom scenery option will again allow users to use custom airports.

The image above shows different flights that can be flown, with varying distances and profit shown. Airports in blue are custom.

Feature 5 is about object persistence, the idea that the box we were teased with could be anything, such as a barrel, boxes on a pallet, or suitcases or anything else. The object is live-streamed into the simulator from the server - allowing multiplayer compatibility and for others to see a user's cargo.

Multiplayer network independent will allow the application to be used with other online services, such as FSCloud, projectFLY, VATSIM, JoinFS, IVAO and more. It will not affect the connection and will give flying on these networks a sense of purpose.

Edson then went on to introduce Ivana, the user's flight dispatcher, and the Loadmaster, who flies with the user everywhere.

The flight logging will allow a user to document their flight with up to twelve screenshots, with the idea of a more visually pleasing way to log one's flight.

“ClearSky Logistics is who you work for as a pilot.” As a user starts from the bottom, going broke isn't that easy. As the contracts renew, the pay will get better, but fines and loses will be introduced. Edson says that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Some additional points about the software can be seen below:

The software was said to be "Like a VA, But Not." This feature will be discussed and expanded on later.

Keven Ménard, Creative Director at Parallel 42, then went on to discuss The Skypad - the user's lifeline on The Skypark.

He started by describing the job application app - it will allow the user to pick a flight visually and find a flight that interests them. In addition, what will be onboard and other information about the flight will be visible, and can use the filters mentioned earlier. Flights can be flown direct, or flight plans can be imported from SimBrief, littlenavmap, PlanG, and so on.

YoFlight will be used to reference a user's flight whilst they are in the air:

Skyblogs will allow the user to capture a timeline of events, with the ability to add screenshots to re-discover the flight later on.

The Bank app is there to track a user's economy, and view income and outgoings:

The SkyOS is a web-based application that can therefore be used on any web-enabled device.

John Venema, CEO of Orbx, then went on stage briefly to explain how it will bring a user back to airports they no longer fly to. It will cost AUD $14.95 as a monthly subscription exclusively through Orbx Direct.

The Skypark is due this summer for Prepar3D, and an X-Plane version is confirmed for a later (undisclosed) date.

To see more about X-Plane and FSExpo, check out our hub page here.

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