I'm in the process of testing out my 2020 aircraft in 2024. Slow process, lots of 'em. Some work, some don't, but I've noticed that liveries seem to be a whole separate issue. I've had aircraft, the FBW A380 frinstance, that seem to be working fine, but not one of the couple of dozen liveries I had for it in 2020 work in 2024. Seems a bit of an odd thing. Is this anything as simple as converting some files in a livery package to a different format (I say "simple" without actually trying it of course) or is this yet another complete c*ck-up by MAsobo. Anybody know what they've done or why? (as if anyone could figure out why)

When you say "don't work" ... what happens? I've managed to use a few FBW A380 liveries successfully - I may be able to give you some pointers. Also: any specific liveries I could try?

10 hours ago, Adamski_NZ said:

When you say "don't work" ... what happens?

Hi Adam, "not working" varies. Sometimes they just don't show up in the "liveries" section of "configure". Sometimes they appear as a separate aircraft. Sometimes they don't appear at all. If they appear and I select them, sometimes they stop the sim when you start the flight (flight/airport never loads, just spin that ole wheel on the map screen). I've even had some apparently freeze out the sim itself on startup.

Not worth worrying about specific liveries, I've tried so many and it all seems so random, but that's what I'm coming to expect from 2024. Much as I love it and am using it 99% of the time, it is still several SUs away from being in the state it should have been on release.

I'll probably just give up with liveries for now. As I try out my aircraft, if their extra liveries show up on first attempt, fine, otherwise I'll just delete them from my 2024 system and wait for that environment to settle down and new ones arrive. Even those may not work though - I grabbed an SAS A380 livery yesterday from .to that was marked as 2020/2024 compatible and it certainly didn't show on my system. Some stuff seems to be ok though - I have a couple for the Kit-Fox that spring immediately to mind as it's one of my frequently used planes so I'm aware of that.

I just wondered if it was a case of "they've changed the format from xxx to yyy" sort of thing.

OK - I think I have a solution for you! It's all to do with the [insane] way MSFS 2024 groups liveries. You'll need to edit two files: manifest.json and each individual aircraft.cfg.

The procedure may be a little too involved to post here - should I PM you with it?

Thanks @Adamski_NZ, and I would sort of be interested but not if it's going to take you more than a couple of minutes (literally) to document. To be honest, I'm not sure I want to spend time messing around with stuff like that just for the sake of a livery or two. Too much like going back to the P3D days, and I assume the ejits at MAsobo will fix this at some future point.

If SU2 doesn't come up with some serious fixing I can see 2024 becoming a much more restricted tool (toy) for me. It has unbelievable potential but is so broken in some basic areas (and remember, this is a guy that doesn't even do "piloting" stuff so all the bad stuff people bone on about in the cockpit environment doesn't even register with me) I despair sometimes. The LA basin is a prime example - at first glance it is truly wonderful, but get down proper low and slow and all the uglies come out to play. PG vegetation blobs, scenery popping etc, etc.

I know it's all still an order of magnitude better (visually) than the likes of P3D and what we had, but 2024 takes as many steps backward from 2020 as it does forward. Which is absurd.

A very simplified version (!) follows:

1) In "manifest.json", make sure it says "LIVERY" and not "AIRCRAFT".

2) In case you have two versions of the same livery (eg. 8k and 4k), check that you don't have identical folder names for the one below Simobjects/Airplanes. If renaming, then you'll need to re-run MSFS Layout Generator (not a bad thing to do in any event).

In aircraft.cfg:

1) Make sure the "base_container" lines all point to the same root aircraft.

2) Make sure the Title line is unique.

3) Contrary to what Asobo says, I find liveries are grouped by "ui_createdby" and not "ui_variation". Having all instances of "ui_createdby" the same ensures all those liveries appear together in the same "variation".

4) In the "textures" folder, check that textures.cfg files are identical.

There are other tweaks (as 2024 doesn't use many of the old 2020 entries), but they shouldn't prevent the liveries showing up. Similarly, you can try to rationalise all the thumbnail files but, again, that's mainly cosmetic.

45 minutes ago, Adamski_NZ said:

A very simplified version (!) follows:

Thanks for this Adam. I'll have a little play and see what happens.

cheers,

Andy

@Adamski_NZ, I just stumbled upon the "Unofficial Guide to livery conversion" on the official site. I see what you mean now. What a shambles on MAsobo's part.

I'm just posting the link here in case anybody else hasn't seen this and might be interested.

Apologies if that's already been done.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/unofficial-guide-to-conversion-of-liveries-for-msfs-2024-2020-legacy-aircraft-only/677083/57

On 4/10/2025 at 4:35 AM, andy1252 said:

I just stumbled upon the "Unofficial Guide to livery conversion" on the official site.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/unofficial-guide-to-conversion-of-liveries-for-msfs-2024-2020-legacy-aircraft-only/677083/57

A handy link (thanks) - duly bookmarked!!!

Adam.