I've been trying to figure this out for hours now but I still don't understand the behavior of World Updates in FS2024.

According to some forum posts, they are included by default and don't need to be enabled anywhere. Others say they can still be enabled (Steaming) or disabled, and this makes a difference. The idea is that you can disable a WU if it interferes with a third party addon.

It's also very unclear whether a WU comes from FS2020 originally or if it shows up for everyone. I can't tell what's "supposed" to show up in a clean FS20204 installation, since I also own FS2020 and some entries seem to have carried over. Makes me wish I had set up another account for my FS2024 purchase to simplify things.

For example, what about WU II USA? It doesn't have the "MSFS2020" icon, which seems to suggest that it's actually the FS2024 version. Or did they just forget to put the MSFS2020 logo on it? The only sub-entry that has the MSFS2020 logo is the "Points of Interest" at the bottom. Does this mean everything from this WU except POI should be Enabled in FS2024? Or should I disable the entire World Update? If the WU is actually for FS2020, why do the Airport entries not have the MSFS2020 logo on them?

 

Here's another example with what appears to be a mixture of FS2020 and FS2024 components. Are the "MSFS2020" entries carryovers from my FS2020 license or is the entire WU only meant for FS2020 even though some of the sub-entries *don't* have the MSFS2020 logo?

You seem to be massively overthinking this.
They are not enabled by default.
Indeed, you can enable or disable the whole World Update or just a part of it,
As an example, EDDM is a hand crafted model and a part of World Update 6.
You might want to use the Aerosoft one instead.
They do not work together
If they are listed as being able to be enabled, regardless of whether there is an MSFS 2020
marker, they will work.
 

Edited March 8Mar 8 by Reader

Quote

They are not enabled by default.

Well, I just uninstalled FS2024, deleted all the profile folders, and then re-installed it. It seems all the World and City updates are enabled by default. Even those that were originally released for FS2020. WU1, 2, 3 etc. are all enabled and set to "Streaming".

So in order to get the best experience, I need to manually look up which World Updates were released before FS2024 came out, and disable those?

For example, Nordics is enabled ****even though it's a clean install and I didn't touch anything in My Library****

So if it's enabled, I get FS2020 WU5-style scenery in the Nordics, not the new FS2024 scenery which is supposed to be more detailed?

Edited March 8Mar 8 by JimmiG

35 minutes ago, JimmiG said:

So if it's enabled, I get FS2020 WU5-style scenery in the Nordics, not the new FS2024 scenery which is supposed to be more detailed?

I do not think so.. You can leave everything enabled, unless there is a specific conflict with one of your addons.

I have always assumed that all of the MSFS 2020 World Updates have been modified for use in MSFS 2024. Is that not the case?

14 hours ago, JimmiG said:

Well, I just uninstalled FS2024, deleted all the profile folders, and then re-installed it. It seems all the World and City updates are enabled by default. Even those that were originally released for FS2020. WU1, 2, 3 etc. are all enabled and set to "Streaming".

So in order to get the best experience, I need to manually look up which World Updates were released before FS2024 came out, and disable those?

For example, Nordics is enabled ****even though it's a clean install and I didn't touch anything in My Library****

So if it's enabled, I get FS2020 WU5-style scenery in the Nordics, not the new FS2024 scenery which is supposed to be more detailed?

What is "FS2020 WU5-style"? Since SU4 and the last update for 2020, the scenery is basically identical, using the same photoground textures e.g. But of course, POIs and stuff from WU5 originally released for 2020 will still look the same, they did not recreate all 2020-WUs for 2024, obviously. If you really want only WU specifically created for 2024, you would have to check the release date of all WUs and disable those that were released prior release of MSFS2024.

BUT: why should you. Even WUs for 2020 look better than anything 2024 native. So even if it is not on 2024 standards in some aspect, it is still better than default. That is why I would not bother at all (except of course for handcrafted sceneries where you bought an 3rd party addon variant). 

58 minutes ago, AnkH said:

That is why I would not bother at all (except of course for handcrafted sceneries where you bought an 3rd party addon variant). 

That's the way to go for the OP and all of us.

Ok so I did some more experiments to confirm. I wanted to determine whether an Xbox account that has previously been used with MSFS2020 gets "tainted" with non-applicable MSFS2020 World Updates as part of Microsoft's "Let's dump every single FS2020 addon you've ever even looked at funny into FS2024 whether it's compatible or not" policy.

What I did was set up a brand new Xbox account with a brand new email address on a completely different computer (laptop) that has never had any version FS installed on it before (or any other Microsoft game for that matter). I then started a 14-day Xbox Game Pass Trial and installed FS2024 fresh.

What I found was that it will still enable all World Updates and City Updates by default on a brand new installation with a brand new account on a brand new computer. It even enabled those parts that have the MSFS2020 logo. This can also be confirmed in the game, for example the cliffs of Dover have a weird hand-crafted 3D model superimposed on the actual terrain when the UK WU is enabled.

So it seems the default and Microsoft-recommended way is to have all WU's and CU's enabled since this is the default on a brand new install even before you manually go into your Library. So this is what a new player would experience if they don't touch any settings after installing the sim.

Edited March 9Mar 9 by JimmiG

I think some confusion may be related to the new World / City Updates released for 2024. These are not enabled by default; to easily find them all go to the Marketplace -> World and filter the creator to Microsoft to see all the free updates released. You need to "buy" each of them for them to show up in the content manager.

Grateful to the OP for raising this issue as it was puzzling me as well.  I always thought MSFS2024 was an entirely new sim built from the ground up but I see now that this isn't quite the case with large chunks of MSFS2020 stuff also included.

Bruce

I only download WU's from the Marketplace area.  But I do admit their organization is lacking when one browses the "My Library" section.  I always wonder if it's a difference of language/context.