I installed my Sim on Drive D but as you know, the complete installation has a linked connection. (seems to be installed on C but in reality it’s on D).
Asobos says:
“*We recommend that those who wish to test with us reinstall your sim to a custom path before joining the flight (rather than just moving the files) to avoid full reinstallations in the future.”
So what does it means in detail?
I can move my Package folder out to another location and edit the UserCfg.opt.
I think a complete new installation make also not other.
I’m like you on this, and knowing how MS/Asobo do things, I’m afraid of joining because I think that MSFS 2020 will get deleted and I will have to reinstall everything all over again. Mathematically speaking, I think the chances of MS/Asobo messing this whole thing up? Very high, based on past/previous experience.
No wonder we get updates with so many issues. It does not get tested enough or at least with not enough people. Examples, are you going to tell me that for VR, the whole toolbar issue was not figured out in testing? and well the TrackIR they even knew prior to releasing SU7 which is mind blowing!
If you are beta testing and redownloading is a big deal, you should back up your game folder. If the game is wiped upon completion of the beta you can start a redownload to establish the folder structure, stop the game, then swap in your backup files. The next launch will cause the sim to validate the files.
If you’re nervous about losing your install and not comfortable with file/folder surgery, I might recommend not beta testing.
I’m not able to make a backup (copy) of the files because it’s encrypted or something like else.
But I found out, it is not enought to move the files to another folder and edit UserCfg.opt. You can Do but every time you start MSFS, the Updater will download a new copy of all. So only solution is complete new install and specify an folder outside the standard location.
My solution will be:
I will use the Beta on the original location even when I must reinstall after. When the beta is over, I will reinstall the sim with a content location outside the standard location.
I have been very critical of the small pool of beta testing and NDA’s, this is good news as the people that like to be on the bleeding edge will probably enjoy this opportunity warts and all and that is good for the rest of us that don’t want to or don’t have the download bandwidth .
What Asobo are saying is this is about going into this with your eyes "wide shut’.
It’s the best news we have been given that we will have an open beta test and will let the fanboys enjoy themselves finding bugs and the third party developers test their add ons.
This is simply the best news and for the first time I think Asobo may unleash the potential of this software.
Agreed - there are PLENTY of people in this community that have the knowledge of real flight and the experience of simulators that would be willing to help do QA. The more of that we can get done, the fewer “oh, ■■■■!” moments we get when Sim Updates or World Updates hit us.
I disagree with your “fanboys” statement though. People that want to see the sim succeed and are willing to help test aren’t automatically “fanboys.” We need people to be thorough, critical, and test the hell out of things.
I would if I would know that I wouldn’t have to redownload and reinstall everything because not even that can be guaranteed:
“PC Users: There is always a risk that you may have to re-install the sim when joining/leaving a flight, so please keep this in mind before participating. When the flight ends (date is TBD pending feedback), we ask that you manually remove yourself from the Preview. By doing so, you will get an update to MSFS with the latest public build. If you do not remove yourself from the group, we plan on automatically removing everyone at a later date. At that point, you will get an update to MSFS with the latest public build.
*If you have MSFS content installed completely on a custom path, you will have a much lower chance that a full re-install will be necessary when the update is officially released. However, if your sim content is installed in the default path selected by the in game content manager, you may have to reinstall the whole sim when moving from the test build to the public build. We recommend that those who wish to test with us ensure your sim content is located in a custom path before joining the flight to avoid full reinstallations in the future (Details on how to do this can be found here ) . The best set up would be for your store app to live on the default C: drive and sim content on a custom drive.”
Not even Steam users can join the public test build I think that most of us know that MS/Asobo are lost in the sauce when it comes to these updates and testing, unless you in denial, just read the posts in this forum.
The point of testing is to break things. Make things unstable. I would expect to have to reinstall at some point. It’s not THAT big of a deal.
Yeah, I read the posts. A lot of people just want to put the publisher and developer “on blast.” (Yawn) If it upsets you, or them that much just uninstall the sim and go away.
I am happy that they have committed to this for 10 years. The amount of progress made over the last year has been awesome, and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Does stuff break? Sure. Is it annoying at times? Yeah. It’s still totally worth it each and every time I get to start throwing switches on airplanes though.
I am sure you didn’t mean anything by it, but please don’t call people “fanboys”. It really has a bad ring to it. Thanks
Maybe you should consider that forums are melting pots for the ever-envious, the ever-miserable and the ever-destructive. Just like newspapers sell better when the news are bad, forums are more alive when things go wrong. And having been online in this forum every single day for over a year I can assure you a significant percentage of the negative feedback here is from people who just delight in spreading misery.
Lets not label anyone, “fanboys” “Whiners”…people that do “whine” also care about this Sim and want it to succeed, the complainers do care as well. They are passionate.
I think that most of us know that MS/Asobo are lost in the sauce when it comes to these updates and testing, unless you in denial, just read the posts in this forum.