[LIST] Got Friends: Development Hangar

Discussion Hub Aircraft
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624

Man’s Best Friend: Deluxe Official Update!
We heard your feedback! Welcome to Version 1.0.1.

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Changelog:

  • Re-Added Asobo’s Human Copilot Presets and Fixed Various Spawning Limitations that use to Limit Animal Companions
  • Re-Added Snowball (Standard Cat #8) from the Original Man’s Best Friend Avitar Series, Bringing Total Companions to 128
  • Fixed Issue where Head-Tracking and Widescreen Resolution would Limit Animal Animation Speed and Cause Stuttering
  • Integrated our Got Friends Legacy Character Upgrade Add-On directly into Man’s Best Friend: Deluxe for Better Got Friends’ Aircraft Compatibility

Got Friends Legacy Character Upgrade Information:

  • Additionally Added the Got Friends Legacy Character Upgrade Add-On to the Got Friends Official Website as a Standalone Freeware Download
  • Added Native MSFS 2024 Character Compatibility to all Got Friends’ MSFS 2020 Aircraft except for the Astro ONE due to IK Chain Limitations
  • Fixed Native MSFS 2024 Character Compatibility on all Got Friends MSFS 2024 Aircraft (This is Temporary Until we Publish Official Updates)
  • NOTE: You Can Download the Got Friends Legacy Character Upgrade Add-On from our Website and use 2024 Characters without Man’s Best Friend: Deluxe

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Official Purchase Link:
Also Available on Contrail!

(NEW | FREEWARE) Got Friends Legacy Character Upgrade Add-On for MSFS 2024!
Reminder, this is integrated directly into Man’s Best Friend: Deluxe - No Need to Download if your Are using Animal Companions
Therefore this Standalone Version is for users that wish to use Native Characters but aren’t interested in Animal Companions.

Also, the In-game Marketplace Version has also be Submitted, Tested and Signed Off for Release for both PC and Xbox Series X|S. Keep an eye out for the next release cycle.

Cheers!

625

Thanks for the canoe guys - awesome!

626

:hammer_and_wrench: Big Changes Ahead
Growth Through Simplicity

Hey everyone,

We have a major update to share about the future of Got Friends. We want to be completely upfront right away because we know many of you have been with us since the beginning and prefer buying our aircraft directly.

Starting with the Taylorcraft BC-12D, all of our future payware aircraft will be released exclusively on the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace.

Since our start as a small group of enthusiasts building freeware, we have experienced an incredible journey together. We eventually stepped up as 1st Party Partners creating content directly alongside Microsoft. Working closely with Microsoft and Asobo has shown us firsthand their dedication to the future of this platform. We believe in their vision for a highly connected ecosystem, and moving exclusively to the native Marketplace is the next logical step in our evolution.

As our team has grown, the simulator has evolved rapidly. Massive features like career mode integration, rentals, trials, and cross-platform purchases have rolled out, with other features like gifting coming soon. We want to ensure our fleet can take full advantage of these incredible additions right out of the gate. However, delivering deeply integrated experiences across multiple independent storefronts creates complex compatibility challenges, and maintaining those fragmented versions is becoming overwhelming for us.

Managing different file versions and running a storefront takes massive daily energy away from actual aircraft development. Shifting entirely to the Marketplace lets our team step away from administration. This decision allows us to put our focus entirely back into doing exactly what we love, which is building incredible aircraft. For you, it ensures our aircraft are fully integrated into the simulator’s newest features on day one, all in one secure place.

We will officially phase out new payware sales on our website on August 7th. However, nothing changes for the aircraft you already own. Our website is staying online, and you will always be able to log in to download and update your previous direct purchases, freeware, and find manuals or paint kits.

For our external partner, Contrail, your existing purchases are completely safe. You will continue to be able to install and update your currently owned aircraft. We are working closely with the Contrail team to facilitate a reasonable transition and will update the community soon on the timeline for phasing out new sales on their store.

Because we are pivoting our release strategy right now, the Taylorcraft is delayed. We know you were expecting it much sooner, and we are genuinely sorry for the extra wait. However, going exclusive allows us to step away from managing multiple deliverable packages and focus solely on a unified Marketplace version. This gives us extremely valuable time for final polish without storefront fragmentation. We are aiming to submit it in mid-August.

This unified direction is already opening new doors. We are very excited to announce that the AS 33 Me, the Aeroprakt A-32 Vixxen, and Project Crosskart have all received conditional approval for PlayStation 5. We are just conducting final tests before giving Microsoft a green light for release.

Moving away from direct sales is a massive shift, but we want you to know we are genuinely looking forward to this next chapter. This choice is about supporting the future of Microsoft Flight Simulator and making sure our team is perfectly positioned to keep delivering our best work.

The reality is, this shift will allow us to give you more content at a unified pace for the low prices you deserve. Growth to us is taking a step back and simplifying the entire process.

We thank you, as always, for allowing our passion to be a part of your journey.

Here’s to the future! :clinking_beer_mugs: :airplane: :tada:

Got Friends

627

While I understand your reasoning I’m very disappointed in that decision. The Marketplace is still way inferior to any other way of buying addons. First and foremost because of it’s lack of proof of purchase (which is against customer protection laws in many countries) and of course because of the “all eggs in one basket” approach. All purchases are tied to a single Microsoft account. Should that one be compromised for any reason external or internal, every purchase tied to that account is gone, with nothing in your hands to proof which addons you actually owned. So no replacements are possible. No way too backup your addons either. In short: it sucks. And please don’t even try to sell it as a good change for your customers. It isn’t.

628

I’m happy for Got Friends that in their view they’ll improve their creative process with this move.
However, @Jigsaw407 has summarised perfectly why Marketplace sucks. Every time I’m forced to buy something on it, I’m thinking “how is this even legal”, not providing ANY proof of purchase of the product.

Your move is disappointing, but I guess we’ll have to live with it :frowning:

629

I am very happy for your company that it has been accepted for PS5. You did say you were hoping for that.

I am assuming you are now an official partner to MS/Asobo, you may have already been. Is there any room for your company and others to persuade them to provide proof of purchase to customers?

It seems to be a point of contention for many. It need not be though and I agree with others that companies are legally required to provide proof of purchase.

630

I’m sad to have to part way with Got Friends as I’m not able to make a purchase in the marketplace.

631

On top of all of that, Marketplace-only means much slower updates, often invisible updates, the lack of ability to quickly turn things on/off via things like Addons Linker, and the complete inability to mod anything. As a tinkerer who basically never flies a single MSFS plane that doesn’t require a mod, even in a small way, the last one is my biggest contention.

This is a very disappointing move.

632

Understandable decision - bigger group of customers, central point of sales and no piracy.

I was on the fence buying the upcoming Taylorcraft, but I am not buying anything on Marketplace anymore - terrible navigation/filtering, a terrible way of administrating bought and installed items (with duplicated items from 2020 in 2024), unwanted activation or deactivation of addons, extremely slow updates, updates not working/installing and no proof of purchase + encrypted data.

633

Wishing all the best to Got Friends because they are great developers - and I assume that the numbers are showing them that this move makes financial sense (we are a vocal minority here after all) - but for me personally it’s very disappointing and I will not be purchasing their products on MP going forward.

Edit: I assume that what is left unsaid from the announcement is the perceived need to do so to reduce piracy, and it’s fair enough in the context. But still, it’s a sad day for consumers when a business decides to reduce the choices offered, and to provide a worse product overall, in order to stay in business.

634

I’m with the majority - it’s understandable but disappointing. I also won’t be buying now.

635

I’ll go against the majority of the feedback here and say I support this move. Yes the marketplace isn’t great, but it’s not that difficult to find an aircraft and buy it. There was a time where I would avoid marketplace purchases at all costs due to the delays in receiving updates, but I think that situation has improved.

Given a choice, I do prefer to buy direct from devs or through Contrail as I like to manage my library myself using MSFS Addons Linker. However I also worry about the harm caused by piracy, and I think selling outside the MP leaves products somewhat exposed, whereas the MP seems to be a pretty robust form of DRM. It’s disheartening to learn that passionate and often small indie dev teams are seeing their months and years of hard work pirated so quickly and easily in some cases. We need our dev teams to be able to run sustainable businesses!

So I wish GotFriends every success with this - and will be buying the TaylorCraft when it shows up in August.

636

Fine. I have no problem with Marketplace only if the developer has really mastered delivering working updates through it in a timely manner.

The worst thing is developers that started as Marketplace only and then decided to branch out to other stores. I absolutely hate being the stupid early adopter who had to get it on Marketplace and then had to wait longer for updates than other clients, who got it later when it was available elsewhere. Sometimes… many months longer. So, if you stay only there, I’m OK with it :smiley:

637

How much did they pay you? Because that’s the only reason to pivot like this.

Contrail already does this for you. Stay on Contrail and close your own site store if it’s too much work to manage. That’s the point of third party stores, after all. They do the administrating for a small cut of the sale. That’s how every digital storefront works, including the marketplace.

I don’t care about career mode, or any of the other modes that aren’t free flight. Your products are integrated into the sim to my satisfaction, and I want to keep buying on Contrail, but now I can’t. Awesome.

What a boneheaded move, delaying at the 11th hour for this.

I was really looking forward to to this and the Super Cub, but I’m not buying them from the marketplace. Encrypted files, significantly delayed releases and updates, no receipts, no upside for users. Come on guys, what are you doing?

638

Inibuilds managed to push weekly updates for the L1011. It’s quite possible for other companies to do this too.

I think if you were a dev company you all would also want to protect your products from having code stolen.

You would also want access to a huge Asian market for the longevity of your company.

Just because you have to buy in the MP, this is all a little like shooting myself in my foot because I can’t have my cake and eat it. You will miss out on some great products. Come on!

The one point I agree with is a receipt for your purchase and this is within MS’s gift. Ama…n does it on a grand scale so it is not impossible.

639

Any developer moving to marketplace exclusivity simply means I will not give them a single cent anymore. Plenty of other products available.

I like to paint aircraft and most of the time I’m either modifying textures which are NOT a part of the paintkit (if available) or I need to use them as a reference, but that’s not possible when everything is encrypted.

640

As a consumer who exclusively purchases from the Marketplace unless it’s only available externally, this decision is a welcome one as it removes additional burdens on the team which can only serve to further improve the quality of the product in the end.

Looking forward to many great GotFriends purchases in the months and years to come.

641

Let me know which aircraft you can’t get textures from - my MSFS Livery Toolkit can handle texture extraction for stock aircraft in the VFS, I’d like to know how it works on something that’s encrypted but I don’t know for sure what example to test against.

Edit: OK I found a couple to investigate further.

642

This is very unfortunate to hear, and I will no longer be buying the BC-12D, or other GF planes because of this change. I am somebody who always ends up making freeware mods for my planes and this change will make it very painful (or impossible) to do that. I highly doubt this strategy will benefit consumers, in any way.

I always hear developers say that the marketplace makes planes harder to pirate, but i find that hard to believe because marketplace-exclusive always end up on piracy websites regardless (I will NEVER download a pirated plane, I only view the sites out of curiosity).

Switching to the marketplace also comes with all of the problems of the marketplace, like update and release delays. On top of that, I personally don’t support the marketplace because of it’s history with fake reviews and other dubious business practices.

This is a step in the wrong direction for the community of MSFS, and I cannot support it.

643

A developer submitting an update in the morning and it releasing in the afternoon isn’t fast enough for you?

As for modding abilities, I’d much rather buy a product from a developer who releases a quality product that doesn’t need aftermarket modifications to meet my needs - or if it does, the modifications are done by the developer themselves in the form of updates.

If product is low quality or unsupported by its creator, the creator doesn’t deserve my money to begin with.