Dear all, 

I'm facing the update scenery challenges of my bunch of sceneries. I’m curious to know what is the flow for small airports from other devs to fix and update to MSFS2024?

I have identified these so far:

• Taxiway lines disappeared when just putting my sceneries into the MSFS2024 community (some are pink). I just need to recompile the scenery.
• Customed SimObject need to be upgraded automatically by the scenery editor during the first opening.
• Polygons vegetation need to be re-assigned with the correct biome
• Polygons elevation need to be checked
• Polygons Falloff had to be reset (warning “you are using the old falloff calculations”)
• Reposition objects correctly based on the “new” Bing satellite images
• I have no idea what to do with the new “Globally Overridden Base Sim Files” tab in the project inspector
• Work on LoD for object in Blender. And here I really need to skill-up as I’m a real rookie that was OK for MSFS2020 and the requirements seems to be challenging for professional, so you can imagine for a leisure/amateur dev.

and certainly many more…

You can obviously reply in this discussion or in the devsupport post I've opened few minutes ago: https://devsupport.flightsimulator.com/t/what-is-your-process-and-what-have-you-identified-to-update-your-airport-sceneries-to-msfs2024

Thank you!

My MSF2020 sceneries are missing all the default MSFS2020 library objects in MSFS2024 (hangars, buildings, control towers, etc).  I'm guessing default library objects are no longer stored locally with MSFS2024 and are streamed instead?  I suppose I could try copying certain default .bgl files from MSFS2020 into the MSFS2024 community folder.

Custom scenery objects with their own texture files that I generated for MSFS2020 work well in MSFS2024.  Not having access to the default MSFS 2020 library objects in MSFS2024 is going require a complete rebuild of my sceneries that use them. 

 

5 hours ago, JillStanton said:

Custom scenery objects with their own texture files that I generated for MSFS2020 work well in MSFS2024.  Not having access to the default MSFS 2020 library objects in MSFS2024 is going require a complete rebuild of my sceneries that use them. 

I had a look through the entirety of the SDK object catalogue. I think almost everything that was once there in 2020 is in 2024 too. 

I'm not noticing huge gaps in 2024, but I'm sure there are plenty here and there, so a stock object you placed in 2020 should show up again in 2024. 

Even if your internet is painfully slow, there should be a grey presence where a stock object is waiting to load further. Maybe you have some sort of connection problem. 

Not working for me.  No default 2020 library objects show at all when my sceneries are imported into 2024.  Exclude files are working, however.  I have 1 gig internet and all regular 2024 scenery, including photogrammetry cities, show up fine. 

17 minutes ago, JillStanton said:

Not working for me.  No default 2020 library objects show at all when my sceneries are imported into 2024.  Exclude files are working, however.  I have 1 gig internet and all regular 2024 scenery, including photogrammetry cities, show up fine. 

Very strange. 

Do you have a link to them so others can download and look?

The freeware airport I did for 2020 (KFDK) generally works when placing it in 2024 but similar issues.  Airport lighting is now 'blown out' and way too bright.  Some of the trees I placed now look like cartoons due to all the new, more realistic tree models.  I lost some of the ground terrain textures I added to cover some bad satellite imagery.  My custom 3D objects look a bit worse due to the new lighting (I think?).  I tried to go in to see if I can start work in order to update it for 2024 but my 3D models are disappearing due to LOD's ( I never spent time doing them as I'm pretty new to Blender and modelling).  I am sure trying to do LOD's on these already complete models is going to be a pain so it looks like I probably won't be able to update it to 2024 standards for now.

On 11/25/2024 at 2:59 AM, superspud said:

I had a look through the entirety of the SDK object catalogue. I think almost everything that was once there in 2020 is in 2024 too. 

You've made me realize something. There are a lot of nice objects in the World Update airports, but I've shied away from using them because not all users will have them installed. But in 2024, because everything is streamed, I can rely on those objects being available!

There's just a small winkle: What if someone disabled an MSFS airport because they installed a replacement...?

On 11/25/2024 at 2:59 AM, superspud said:

I'm not noticing huge gaps in 2024, but I'm sure there are plenty here and there, so a stock object you placed in 2020 should show up again in 2024. 

I've tested just one small airfield, but all of the stock objects I used there still seem to be available.

By the way, it looks as if cars don't get upgraded automatically to the higher-quality 2024 models? I'm assuming those use different object names?

9 hours ago, Flic1 said:

I tried to go in to see if I can start work in order to update it for 2024 but my 3D models are disappearing due to LOD's ( I never spent time doing them as I'm pretty new to Blender and modelling).  I am sure trying to do LOD's on these already complete models is going to be a pain so it looks like I probably won't be able to update it to 2024 standards for now.

(Just a Blender noob myself...) 

Have you tried simply using Blender's "decimate" modifier? The results often look pretty horrific in Blender, but in the sim, when displayed at the distance that the LOD is actually active at, it often doesn't look bad at all.

Looking at the LODs for some of the default objects, it seems they've been done in a similar way... 😉

Another thing that can help is to simply delete thin bits of geometry if your model has them - antennas, guy wires, posts and such - which often make up a surprisingly large part of the total polygon count.

If any have a easy (for worst than noob like me) step by step process to be LOD-compatible with MSFS2024, from the multiple object creation to the integration into MSFS, it would be appreciate. I really don't know were to start from.

Found this for the Decimate modifier: 

And also this project from Erasam https://github.com/erasam/LODs-Easy-Generator which should fit for my basic object although aircraft targeted.

 ... and the SDK for the rules https://docs.flightsimulator.com/msfs2024/html/3_Models_And_Textures/Modeling/LODs/LOD_Selection_System.htm

Edited November 26, 20241 yr by vbazillio

2 hours ago, vbazillio said:

If any have a easy (for worst than noob like me) step by step process to be LOD-compatible with MSFS2024, from the multiple object creation to the integration into MSFS, it would be appreciate. I really don't know were to start from.

Can't believe I'm actually trying to teach you something, but I guess for now, I'm all you've got, so here goes...

There are various tools that automate the LOD creation process. I haven't tried any of them, but here are two that you might want to give a go (I see you've already found one of them):

https://github.com/Devinci297/MSFS-LOD-Maker

https://github.com/erasam/LODs-Easy-Generator

Alternatively, you can create LODs manually -- which is what I've been doing. If you're starting from scratch, the best way is often to create a low-res (high LOD number) version of the model first, then progressively add details to that. But as you already have models, that's not an option here.

To get you started, here's a tutorial that I would recommend watching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8ev0W0va0w

Yes, it's YouTube, which I know isn't everyone's preference (I myself prefer written documentation), but it's actually pretty information-dense.

One thing to note about the video is that I believe it doesn't use the MSFS exporter plugin. I prefer using that, and here are some notes on how to export LODs in the plugin:

https://devsupport.flightsimulator.com/t/handling-lods-in-new-asobo-blender-to-msfs-multi-exporter-exporter/6626

Some additional notes:

• The first thing you'll want to do, if you haven't done so already, is to turn on "Viewport Overlays / Statistics" (pulldown in the top-right corner of the viewport). This will show you your vertex and face counts, so you'll know how you're doing with respect to simplifying the model.
• As noted above, in addition to decimation, it's often effective to simply delete thin parts of the model that wouldn't be visible at a distance anyway.
• A lot of the documentation implies that you need a lot of LODs. This certainly helps avoid "LOD popping", but it's also a lot of work. In many cases, I've found it sufficient (for my purposes at least) to have just three LODs: "Full res", "medium res" and "low res". If the model isn't super-complex to begin with (and mine arent'...), this is often enough to produce satisfactory transitions between the LOD levels.
• Use the LOD debug tool in MSFS to see when MSFS transitions from one LOD to the other. This tool also allows you to "lock" the currently displayed LODs; you can then move closer to the object again to see what a given LOD looks like in the sim.
• In addition to reducing vertex count, it's also important to reduce the number of materials used. This has a large effect on performance in MSFS as each material needs a separate draw call. However, this can also be a lot of work, so if your models already perform well and your only goal is making them compatible with MSFS 2024's LOD rules, you can skip this step.
• If you do want to reduce material counts, a really useful technique for this is to use per-vertex colors, if you're not doing so already. In essence, you use just a single material with the base color set to white and control color using the "Vertex Paint" tool in Blender. Retrofitting this to existing models is a lot of work, though, so again I would skip this if adapting existing models.

The first model that you add LODs to is going to take a _lot_ of time as you become familiar with the process and experiment with how the LODs look in MSFS. The process will become faster over time as you gain experience, but there's no denying that LODding can be a chore. It's easy to overdo things and go for perfection -- but I think it's better to go for "decent, if not perfect", or you'll wear yourself out.

Hoping that others with more experience will add their thoughts too.

Edited November 26, 20241 yr by martinboehme
Fixed formatting

Whaou! This is exactly what I was expected when shoting this post. The community is awesome and @martinboehme, your post is 100% useful. THANK YOU. It reminds me "I'm a super noob in LoD". With your help, I may get into the upper category 😉 Long Blender and experimentation are ahead of me. Oh dear, why did I share 20 sceneries ;(

You might find this interesting. He is going to cover LOD in next video.

MSFS 2024 SDK Tutorial: How to (NOT) convert a 2020 project to 2024

7 hours ago, martinboehme said:

You've made me realize something. There are a lot of nice objects in the World Update airports, but I've shied away from using them because not all users will have them installed. But in 2024, because everything is streamed, I can rely on those objects being available!

There's just a small winkle: What if someone disabled an MSFS airport because they installed a replacement...?

I've tested just one small airfield, but all of the stock objects I used there still seem to be available.

By the way, it looks as if cars don't get upgraded automatically to the higher-quality 2024 models? I'm assuming those use different object names?

I expect more than a few will switch to downloadable options when they're available and disable some streamed world update stuff if that's possible. Depends on how seamless their streaming is. It never will be for me so I'll do it ASAP.  

That'll probably be a fairly small minority but I'm not going to expect every single thing will show for everyone. 

The fancy cars are new and separate. There don't seem to be that many of them and I find the LOD pop in egregious so may not avail myself of them. 

Edited November 26, 20241 yr by superspud

21 minutes ago, superspud said:

I expect more than a few will switch to downloadable options when they're available and disable some streamed world update stuff if that's possible. Depends on how seamless their downloading is. It never will be for me so I'll do it ASAP.  

That'll probably be a fairly small minority but I'm not going to expect every single thing will show for everyone.

Thanks - that's a good point as well. 

22 minutes ago, superspud said:

The fancy cars are new and separate. There don't seem to be that many of them and I find the LOD pop in egregious so may not avail myself of them. 

Interesting - a shame to hear they're not LODded well, because the models themselves do look much more detailed than the 2020 cars.

I think they're a bit excessive really but do look good. 

The Gaya ships simobjects are awesome but must be several hundred megabytes a piece. I'm not seeing one for over a minute after placing it. 

I'm waiting to hear about what the ground image situation is before thinking about scenery. It was supposed to be new in 2020 and 2024 at launch which isn't the case. 

No point doing anything if everything moves again in a few weeks. 

Edited November 26, 20241 yr by superspud