I created the Liverie folder for the A320 according to the old pattern, i.e. in Community the folder Liveries A320 and in this all individual folders are stored with model and texture directory and a common Aircraft.cfg where all 220 aircraft are listed. So 1 folder in Community for all A320 liveries!
Now I actually planned to do the same with all other models because it seems to make the most sense to put all Liveries from one Aircraft type in one Folder! … But, now Asobo has changed all the necessary files for the planes from the Premium and Deluxe versions.
To protect them from piracy so is it not longer possible to copy them to standart editions, at least that’s how I read it here in the forum. That means there are e.g. with the 787 no Aircraft.cfg anymore because everything seems to be encrypted somehow. The same now applies to all the people who make an effort and make mods to make the aircraft more realistic. The people can now do nothing with the great work they have started and do not get any further.
It is a shame that Asobo chose the way to encrypt and lock the files about aircraft from the versions!
I wish that this change in the file system is reversed and that the copy protection is designed in such a way that the files can still be edited and improved by the modders.
E.g. Asobo could make a query in the basic package that you can only install an entire premium or deluxe package with the check for ownership and authenticity (possibly registration number) and no individual aircraft that were copied from an existing package, something must be possible without the whole to destroy the work of many,
“Please Asobo changes your copy protection so that the files of the aircraft continue to be used for mods and liveries, etc. can be used!”
I dont see a valid reason for Aircraft to have encryption applied at all. MSFS is a platform, not a closed game with permanent outcomes. At least it always has been up to this version. The whole idea of FS always has been that its configuration is “open” so that the Users and developers can improve it to suit their requirements, within the overall limits of what the “Platform” will allow.MSFS is supposed to be “as real as it gets” is it not ?. It always used to be. IMOH if MS is not prepared to allow real Pilots to tweak an Aircraft configuration in response to their expert knowledge of how it should perform, then they should not provide the aircraft at all. To charge us good money for an incomplete product, which the Community Experts cannot improve smacks (to me) of a form of “commercial sharp practice” wh ich cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged…unless of course MS have a really good reason…in which case I want to know what that reason is.
well, if you bought the standard version and I bought the premium deluxe version, the only difference between the two is the airports and aircraft that they come with.
If I were to zip up my airports and aircraft you don’t have and send them or make them otherwise available, what reason would anyone have to ever buy the premium deluxe at the extra cost if you could get the other stuff for free?
That is why there is a system for copy protection…
Any other method than local encryption where the decryption key is downloaded when the account is verified would require a permanent online presence instead of allowing a computer without internet connection (needed for 1 time activation only) to simply run the version it has on it without connecting to the server for every run.
Also, with the simple editable text files, there’s not any good way to secure access to the aircraft that easy modification by the user couldn’t get around.
I agree, encryption of the files is needed to ensure people get what they pay for and no more, yet there needs to be the ability to modify anything to enhance or fix Asobo’s flaws or innaccuracies…I’d love to have a non-G1000 Baron with GNS530/GNS430 and fix the mixture issue if possible in the various files we can’t access, just like the other groups are doing with the non-premium aircraft…
Even if the folders are encrypted, couldn’t someone do this now? I’m not advocating this at all, of course. I have the Deluxe Premium version so it’s not like I need/want it. Just curious what happens if someone who buys the standard addition forces a deluxe edition aircraft folder into their install.
Couldn’t MS/Asobo have released the expanded edition content as stand-alone, passkey protected installers, like how the professional for-profit 3rd party developers tend to do things? Sure, there’s a risk that that data will end up on the torrent sites, but I’m not sure how that wouldn’t happen eventually anyway. There’s always unscrupulous characters out there who will find a way to cheat. But at least then the modding community would have access to the files they need and could release mods for the rest of us with the disclaimer that, of course, the base Asobo files need to be present in order for the mod to work.
Short of that, couldn’t MS/Asobo keep the core files encrypted but make the cfgs and XMLs open for modification? (I’m thinking for aircraft primarily; no idea how scenery files function). They’ve already taken steps in this direction when they opened up the textures the repainters need access to, right? Opening up for light modifications to flight models, systems, and engine configs seems the next logical step to go.
Anyhow, as much as I’d LOVE for some mods to improve the Baron to be a reality, I’m out of my wheelhouse here and don’t really understand what all is involved in a mod (except for cfg edits, which I have lots of experience in from older sims). I may just have an overly-naive conception of the issues, namely access to the proprietary data and protections for the same.
3rd party use dll functions embedded in their systems that require registration…since all files (except mdl and textures) are plain text files, and the instrumentation asobo is pushing is html coherent-based files, so no .gau dll-type gauges which could allow this…unless they implemented a dll that killed the aircraft unless being used on an authorized xbox account but was required to make the aircraft function and couldnt be replaced by a different one or deleted altogether, but with the files being continuously modified, checksums and file version edits can be faked…
Couldn’t MS/Asobo have released the expanded edition content as stand-alone, passkey protected installers, like how the professional for-profit 3rd party developers tend to do things?
Good point Sir !
I am still at a loss to understand the rationale behind MS decision to encrypt the “premium” aircraft in this particularly irritating and inconvenient manner. Why do the Standard Edition aircraft not need copy protection and the expanded edition aircraft do ? I only bought the “extras” to get the Baron because I regularly used it on FS9 as my "fast Twin ".On reflection I do not need the “Deluxe” or “Premium” packages at all. I have managed sort out (with valued assistance) from Github and Utube how to operate the Baron but the cockpit still has a couple of “niggles” and the flight dynamics are still not good eneugh. Most remaining issues could be sorted by the Community experts…but the encryption prevents access to the configuration files.
I understand that FS2020 is WIP but my patience is wearing thin. I am coming to the conclusion, that despite the fine words, MS always intended this Sim to appeal primarily to Casual Gamers who want eyecandy and instant gratification, rather than a stimulating and immersive Simulator for keen Hobbyists and Pilots such as I .
The forthcoming release of the latest Xbox this month, and what MS/Asobo do with FS2020 subsequently, is likely to reveal whether we have, for commercial reasons, been “had”.
Yep, like I said, WAY out of my wheelhouse, lol. But I am familiar with dlls from previous sims and even dabbled in recoding a few back in my FSX days; I had assumed Asobo was using them here. So the take away is, if I read you right, that MSFS doesn’t use dlls but simple plain text files throughout, and since those don’t require registration they’d be freely interchangeable from one computer system to another. So Asobo locks down the folders instead for file protection.
So, there must still be something registered for the encrypted folders to be accessed, right? Something to tell my system it is permitted to read the folder since I purchased the content, but wouldn’t work if the encrypted folder was simply moved to another computer without having purchased that content?
No need to actually answer the questions above, since it sounds like I’m trying to figure out how to bypass Asobo’s data protection efforts. I wouldn’t have the requisite knowledge to be able to do such a run-around but I’m sure there are some on the forum who could, so it’s probably best to not have a fully public conversation about it here. I’m just curious on a conceptual level how it works, because I’m still not sure why at least some of the cfgs couldn’t be made available, such as engines.cfg and flight_model.cfg. Sure, those wouldn’t allow a full scale revamp of an aircraft, but it would at least allow some tweaking to the gross parameters.
You got my upvote. I have nothing against copy protection in general but as buyer of the Premium version, my concern is that aim of the copy protection could be to prevent freeware mods to AC of the Premium and Deluxe version because the marketing plan is to make the standard sim version available for Xbox subscription and offer Xboxers the AC the deluxe and premium versions as 3rd party dev payware to obtain additional sales revenue from not only xboxers but also PC users. If that is the case, I want MS/Asobo to admit to that because I do not see any reason to beta test those AC in addition to beta testing the sim.
I cannot currently see how Xboxers could be charged different subscription charges for the three versions. Hence my suspicion.
I don’t know anything about Xbox and I don’t want to know. I would guess however that the file system cannot be accessed by a user, whereas on a PC it can.
If that is true then copy protection is not an issue on an Xbox and once the FS2020 Xbox is available the need for the present system on PC may disappear. I would also guess that MS is intending to sell many thousands of Xboxes to mainly young “casual gamers” who would not want the complexity of the PC version anyway. We shall see !
(note, I didn’t read all lengthy posts in this topic)
Wew, they need to rethink how they check the validity of the premium content. But for a different reason listed here. (though I agree that being able to edit premium content items is nice)
I was locked out of my premium content and I could not figure out why. I did everything mentioned on the Zendesk and whatever related topic I could find on the forum. Nothing helped. Until I read a post about reaching your monthly data limit.
It turns out you can’t see your premium content without internet connection! That’s horrible…
(I mean I had internet connection, but I reached my limit. But even then the content should be accessible without internet.)
