robert young

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Just seen this Bert. So for example I can keep the A for asobo-aircraft- xxxxxx ettc, but I must name any mods starting with B-Z? What about the manifest file? Is that also (in the description) starting with any letter apart from A?

Hi Bert, That works for the bonanza turbo mod, but for some reason a similar mod for the DA62 loads with interior parts missing, no undercarriage and the props won't turn. The same mod works perfectly in FS2020. Oh well....

OK, thanks.

Understood and yes. Well Asobo did indeed not intend so, but it's very challenging to edit/tweak aircraft in FS2024 because of the ridiculously convoluted virtual file system, which is a hell of a palava, whereas edit/tweaking a simple text file or two is so much easier in fs2020 and takes around a twentieth of the time. I need the donor aircraft from within fs2020 rather than fs2024 because it's config files are so easy to access. The question is where does the donor aircraft go. BTW I have the steam version so my packages are in a different place but that's no problem. Thanks for your help. >I think you need your original plane in the location where all the default planes are, and then your mod as usual in the normal community folder. < Maybe so.

Just to re-iterate, I have an aircraft that was "official" in fs2020, and I have modded it to add extra liveries and edited flight models etc, and it shows up and flies perfectly well in fs2020's community folder instead of the original. In order for the mod to work in fs2020 both the "official" Da62 has to be present and the mod goes in fs2020's community folder because there are dependencies in some of the files. This works with no issue. In FS2024 I have deleted the FS2024 version of the DA62 by removing it from the content.xml file in app data/flight simulator 2024/username/packages folder and instead wish to use the official 2020 da62 and then my mod which HAS DEPENDENCIES So for example, I have deleted the fs2024 version of the da62, and I want to know where to place the ORIGINAL DEFAULT fs2020 DA62 AND the modded da62 which I made for FS2020 and now wish to fly it in FS2024. Of course both the default Fs2020 Da62 AND the modded Da62 have to be present because the mod has dependencies on the DEFAULT FS2020 DA62. According to one reply, both go into the plain fs2024 community folder, another says elsewhere. If nothing else this demostrates that Asobo has not properly explained what each of the package folders is for, and so far I cannot find a permutation that works. The nearest I've got is that the mod appears in the Fs2024 aircraft selection menu but it loads in the sim as completely invisible!! With so many conflicting replies I'm trying hard who to believe, but I do appreciate the help!

Fielder - thanks for that. I'm trying to get my head around what you say, but the additional headache of addons linker is making things harder to absorb. I'm trying to understand WHERE the default fs2020 aircraft goes and where the modded fs2020 version goes. BTW I know for certain this all works within just fs2020, but so far nothing shows in fs2024. For example I have an FS2020 mod for the DA62 which works perfectly within FS2020. But it either doesn't show up in fs2024 aircraft selection, or it does, but it loads a blank into the sim. I deleted the fs2024 default Da62 via content xml before this, and indeed the fs2024 da62 doesn't show. In this case the modded Da62 shows in the aircraft selection menu, but it doesn't load in the sim. But you seem to be saying nothing matters except for the plain "community" folder, or Streamed folder. How odd that it creates the other folders. Very confusing,

Thanks for that. I wonder then, what the "fs2020 official" folder is for, as that logically seems the location for default fs2020 aircraft. So, having removed the streamed fs2024 equivalent aircraft via content.xml, are you saying both the fs2020 default aircraft and its modded version BOTH go into the plain community folder. For example , I remove the fs2024 Bonanza from the content xml file and then I have to place the default fs2020 bonanza AND the modded Bonanza (with new flight model and added liveries etc) all in the community folder? I wonder why we have the other package folders? It doesn't make sense but if it works so be it. I've looked up many posts about this subject and it is not clear what the other package folders are for. Thanks again.

I have bizarrely 4, yes four, folders in my steam packages folder : Community Community fs2024 Official fs2020 Official fs2024 I have never heard of anyone else saying they had a "community fs2024" folder but if delete it then start the sim it gets created along with the others. Anyway, what I am trying to do is this: I have a few fs2020 default aircraft that I've tweaked and they fly so well I'd like to fly them also in fs2024. I've also modded a couple of aircraft based on default fs2020 which work perfectly in fs2020, but they don't show up in fs2024. I've tried every combination I can think of, such as placing the original aircraft in "official fs2020" and the modded version in Community, and various other combinations and they simply don't show. So I downloaded RealContentManager which is an excellent content xml editor and disabled a whole lot of default fs2024 aircraft and "enabled" a pile of fs2020 aircraft which I copied across (they fly to my mind better than the fs2024 equivalents but that's another story). Not only do my tweaked aircraft not show up - but not even the default fs2020 ones show up either, yet Aosobo assured us that FS2020 aircraft would work in fs2024. Is there anyone here who is an expert on this subject who can advise me please. Thank you. Robert Young

Fantastic. Another example of Asobo not checking their OWN work before releasing something.

This subject was raised by many modders, including me, and devs on the FS2024 dev forum, and here, and responded to here by Matt from Working Title. Currently the only way to "reload" is to use the Virtual File System in a rather more convoluted way than the quite excellent FS2020 re-sync function. Many, including me, have argued that the now defunct re-sync was totally reliable (I used it thousands of times in FS2020 edits and it never failed) so I too am baffled by the needless end of it in FS2024 - it was extremely useful and very, very quick. You do not actually need to re-start FS2024 after an edit but you do need to know how the Virtual File System works. I must admit I find it difficult to use and really miss the re-sync function as do hundreds of others. It's a case of don't change what works but sadly Asobo obviously does not agree.

Excellent. That's pretty good news! Thank you.

Thanks Matt. Just to be clear, are you saying that you CAN open, say, a flight model cfg file that normally appears encrypted, edit it then save it into the community folder (presumably with an updated Layout Json etc)? And that edited file will now act as a current/over-ride cfg file even with non locally saved, cloud based aircraft?

Thanks Matt. Just to be clear, are you saying that you CAN open, say, a flight model cfg file that normally appears encrypted, edit it then save it into the community folder (presumably with an updated Layout Json etc? And that edited file will now act as a current/over-ride cfg file even with non locally saved, cloud based aircraft?

Good find. The question is: is it possible to edit some of the config files then re-mount them into a saved VFS SYSTEM?

Not really. Config files by themselves are for adjustments of parameters. They do not contain textures, models, sounds, or other core content. You can encrypt content files but leave the config files open for user adjustment. Third party developers who produce addons always leave their config files unencrypted. It's MS/Asobo that encrypt them. Bear in mind FS2020 standard/default aircraft configs were unencrypted and editable by the user, as they have been in every edition of Flight Simulator from around the beginning of the whole franchise decades ago - until now.

Coming back to the sky/clouds in the video at the top of this post - I recommend using REX Atmos in FS2020. It not only changes the cloud shading to whatever you wish. It also allows you to change the shape of the clouds to look (IMO) a lot more convincing than the current clouds in FS2024.

I email any dev producing addon aircraft for either sim and ask whether they provide alternatives to the marketplace before buying. One was kind enough to send me the unencrypted cfg files but the vast majority refuse. So my rule is never to buy aircraft via marketplace because all cfg files are by default encrypted which makes it impossible to tweak flight models or other editing. And this is an historic retrograde step after over 30 years of MS co-operating with livery painters, modders, tweakers and improvers. In addition the instant re-sync/reload feature has been removed and in its place a badly explained and unreliable SDK has to be used. These once user friendly features were the heart of cooperation between MS and users, and were a significant contributor to many prior versions of FS being kept alive for so long and particularly FSX. Ah Well......

Thanks David. I'll try the Windows update. Best Regards.

Actually I do have SU1 beta! Oh hang on: I assumed that an SU1 Beta update would install automatically. Do I have to load it via Steam again? Edit: The beta update was downloaded and automatically installed yesterday.......

Started FS2024 today and loaded in several aircraft - all of them unflyable owing to dreadful frame rates, sound drop outs and a stutter fest. This is very early morning UK and likely US and most of Europe is asleep. Will try later but once loaded I don't get why this sim is so ridiculously varied in performance with exactly the same scenery, detail and aircraft. By contrast FS2020 is as smooth as butter and with Lossless Scaling amazingly smooth. It seems it's a lottery from one day to another. I do wish Asobo will get on with allowing local storage of user favourite aircraft or even locations. It is so tiresome running such a hit and miss sim.

H Bert, If you can access the panel config of this product, you can probably change the cockpit reg colour by altering the black/white option for the interior reg, usually in the last section of the panel cfg.

One thing I miss in both FS2020 and 2024 is the FSX spot view, which you could set either to follow the exact roll/direction of your aircraft (as now) or much better still, you could keep the camera positioned so when you turned it would not follow wingtip to wingtip but allow you to see your turning trajectory without being glued to the aircraft laterally. Getting rid of that excellent view was IMO a major blunder. I hope the new camera brings it back.

Good point. I think the situation then was somewhat different. But if you take the difference between the biggest leaps - say between FS2002 and FSX - there was some radical progress in many areas. I acknowledge that the biggest problem for FS2002 onwards is where all that data is going to be stored and I can see that the streaming solution might be the best one, but only provided the server performance is first class, which it clearly isn't. I'm sceptical about how a modder or developer is going to be able to create something innovative, particularly new aircraft, without either falling back to FS2002 standards or getting their heads around encryption and what is by common agreement a very poor SDK. De-encryption of default cfg files should have been the very first concession but it still hasn't happened. This is unprecedented going back perhaps as far as FS98 or even earlier. But the biggest disappointment is in-house ATC and traffic. Even FSX had quite a revolutionary ATC system which, though crude by today's potential, did work and had some reasonably decent and various default voices. And weather back then had three distinct layers of cumulus, stratus and cirrus which was pretty good for its time. And bespoke traffic was very easy to create using excellent tools at the time.