"In a normal MS-Store installation, (i.e. not a Steam or X-Box install), the master game files are located in C:\XboxGames.  This also contains the digital purchase rights files.  You mess with these at your own risk.

The Flightsimulator.exe file is located within C:\XboxGames\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Content"

28 minutes ago, turbomax said:

great and thanks for your contribution! this is a much easier procedure and would help all those with encrypted .EXE versions.

I wonder what would happen if someone had applied the hack already before, using some other color values and wants to run your method again. I assume it wouldn't work because you are parsing the .EXE for the 3 original values?

your approach is also very popular with other UWP games, like GTA V.

"some games might have weird integrity checks which could cause issues."

the current version of MSFS obviously doesn't, otherwise these hacks wouldn't work.

 perhaps you could briefly describe your method, so people don't have to worry about "overwriting" some original memory. 😊

I check for a pattern of bytes and edit them, so if the 3 values have already been edited, this would not work. If the pattern was not found you will see a message box saying that no changes were made, so it's safe either way.

17 minutes ago, El Diablito said:

I'm excited by this as it seems like a simple drag & drop, something a complete dinosaur like me can handle. Thanks to Drunq for doing this.

Just to confirm - my exe is not in this spot (C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_1.34.16.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe), it's on my D drive. Do I drop these files onto the exe or is there a folder in the G drive I need to specifically drop them to? 

Thanks in advance to anyone who knows what I'm talking about!

 

edit: my G drive path looks like this - D:/XboxGames/MicrosoftFlightSimulator/Content

do I just drop in the content folder?

You have to drop it wherever the .exe file lives in.

10 minutes ago, Virtpilot said:

Same here... Now I should only get the ownership of my WindowsApps folder where the exe file lives... One question though, if one wants to revert back, is it only needed to delete those two files? 

I don't think you need ownership of WindowsApps, but I might be wrong.

2 minutes ago, Drunq said:

You have to drop it wherever the .exe file lives in.

I believe the exe lives in the "Content" folder - so I just drop the 2 files into "Content" or is there a specific folder inside "Content" that I'm looking for? Apologies if this comes across as tedious, I've had previous advice that was vague and cost me a month of resinstalls 🙂

27 minutes ago, Virtpilot said:

if one wants to revert back, is it only needed to delete those two files

yes, as Drunq's method is only modifying temporarily what's in memory, which is volatile, i.e. empty when you turn your pc off.

6 minutes ago, El Diablito said:

I believe the exe lives in the "Content" folder - so I just drop the 2 files into "Content" or is there a specific folder inside "Content" that I'm looking for? Apologies if this comes across as tedious, I've had previous advice that was vague and cost me a month of resinstalls 🙂

Yes you drop it in that folder if thats were the .exe is located. Don't be afraid of breaking the game, that won't happen as we are not overwriting files.

"Yes, just drop in the Content folder" - for anyone else who may need the info.

Excellent mod, completely changes the feel of the sim. Kudos for doing this, Drunq.

Edited October 8, 20232 yr by El Diablito

3 minutes ago, El Diablito said:

"Yes, just drop in the Content folder" - for anyone else who may need the info.

Excellent mod, completely changes the feel of the sim. Kudos for doing this, Drunq.

Sorry for the late reply. Was awaiting mod approval 😉

1 hour ago, Drunq said:

 

I don't think you need ownership of WindowsApps, but I might be wrong.

When I try to open WindowsApps folder, I can´t do that because I don´t have permission to do that. And I don´t have a Content folder in my XboxGames folder... My simulator is from Ms Store.

Wow this is amazing, makes it all so much more like real life, thank you for this 🙂 

 

Daz

1 hour ago, Drunq said:

Sorry for the late reply. Was awaiting mod approval

Not a problem. I appreciate the effort. * slides whiskey across the bar *

1 hour ago, Virtpilot said:

When I try to open WindowsApps folder, I can´t do that because I don´t have permission to do that. And I don´t have a Content folder in my XboxGames folder... My simulator is from Ms Store.

Try searching for your fightsimulatr.exe.  I had two of them for some reason.

The correct one for me to drop the files in was at: -

C:\Users\{your user name}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe

You may need to alter permissions so you can see inside the folder.  It is best to google how to do this.

35 minutes ago, bobcat999 said:

Try searching for your fightsimulatr.exe.  I had two of them for some reason.

The correct one for me to drop the files in was at: -

C:\Users\{your user name}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe

You may need to alter permissions so you can see inside the folder.  It is best to google how to do this.

Wow... I do have access to that folder and the exe file is there.. Now I just drop those two files there?? 

1 hour ago, El Diablito said:

I appreciate the effort. * slides whiskey across the bar *

I'll have the same. 😊

17 minutes ago, Virtpilot said:

Wow... I do have access to that folder and the exe file is there.. Now I just drop those two files there?? 

Yes.

58 minutes ago, Virtpilot said:

Wow... I do have access to that folder and the exe file is there.. Now I just drop those two files there?? 

That is all I did.  I hope it works for you.  Let us know how you get on!