I understand the concern, but I think this comparison gives people an inaccurate impression of what Marketplace encryption actually prevents.
In the exact scenario you described, Marketplace encryption would not prevent you from fixing the aircraft. Marketplace aircraft can still be modified through SimObject Patches following the VFS layout. With an understanding of the package structure and the SDK tools available, you can still inspect how the aircraft is built and override the relevant functionality to make the same kind of compatibility fix.
This is done through:
- VFS file investigation to understand how the aircraft files are structured
- SDK “Behavior” tools to identify broken behaviors and code paths
- LVar/SimVar Watcher to track what the aircraft is doing in real time
- Creating a SimObject Patch that overrides the aircraft’s default functionality without modifying the protected package directly
And that is only one approach. There are many other methods available depending on what you are trying to change.
Just because an aircraft is encrypted does not mean its behavior is completely hidden or inaccessible. The SDK exposes an enormous amount of information through the VFS, Behaviors Debugger, SimVar/LVar tools, SimObject systems, Aircraft Debugger, and other development utilities.
Those tools exist specifically so developers can investigate, debug, extend, and override aircraft functionality. In fact, this is generally the more robust way to create community patches, rather than directly modifying an aircraft’s source files and potentially breaking future updates, bit-checks, or Community Folder compatibility.
For example, our Man’s Best Friend: Deluxe add-on patches functionality within an encrypted system. This is nothing new. Just because the original source files are inaccessible does not mean you cannot change or override a specific piece of functionality.
You can, and MSFS 2024 makes this easier than ever through its Modular SimObject architecture and the new Merge system, which allows packages to extend and override existing functionality without directly altering the original aircraft package.
More importantly, however, this example involves an abandoned aircraft from a developer that is no longer around to support it. Got Friends is actively supporting our products. If a simulator update causes an issue, contact us. If you have already identified the problem, send us the information and we can investigate it, make the appropriate fix, and distribute that update to everyone who owns the aircraft.
That is our responsibility as the developer, and one we take seriously.
If unrestricted access to every source file is an important part of flight simulation for you, we completely understand why Marketplace products may not be your preference. But the idea that a Marketplace aircraft would simply be “lost” because one of its files is protected is not accurate.
There are several avenues for modification, and more importantly, as long as we are actively supporting our products, you should never be expected to repair compatibility issues yourself in the first place.
If tinkering with aircraft is one of the things you enjoy most about MSFS, I’d genuinely encourage you to explore the SDK’s official methods for patching and extending SimObjects. There is considerably more access and flexibility there than many users realize, particularly with MSFS 2024’s modular package system. For a lot of developers, that kind of tinkering is actually how they got started.