I was excited to see the Simstaller by //42 released and downloaded right away. There is a YouTube video covering installation and use.
One thing I haven’t seen discussed is the REASON for Simstaller and why you should or should not use it. It is NOT a replacement for managing addons.
The original concept of MSFS as I understand it is that the design and architecture allows for easier development of addons. Addons were supposed to have their own “sandbox” and not interfere with anything else. Many issues over the last 3+ years after initial release have shown this not to be 100% true. Also, developers have been discovering that other addons have interfered with or crippled addons currently in development. Developers are spending time “fixing” their addons to work correctly in MSFS with other addons. This tool was developed to help developers troubleshooting addon issues.
Simstaller checks addons for conflicts potentially causing MSFS issues. If any conflicts are identified, it is up to the user to decide what to do. Simstaller does not make the decision for users. The user can do nothing allowing the conflict to remain. They can choose to not install or remove addons causing the conflict. Or they can contact the developer directly about the conflict.
Simstaller not only checks for conflicts during installation but can provide a report in a text file showing all conflicts found.
The first time I used this program I found a number of texture conflicts where one addon would overlay the stock texture or another addon’s texture. As a result of running this program, I removed a number of addons, many of which were older and had no recent updates. I found one addon that is no longer supported!
Several important (for me) points before using this program:
- It is not intended for casual users who do not have a good understanding of how addons are integrated in MSFS.
- It might or might not fix any of your issues with MSFS.
- Because the audit report shows both addons and their files having conflicts, it is tempting to remove the file conflict instead of the addon conflict. Do NOT delete any files individually!
- It does not and cannot check for conflicts with apps running outside of MSFS unless the app installs files into the Community folder. For example, I use Navigraph as my moving map display. Navigraph uses a communications app that runs outside of MSFS. This external app can’t be checked for conflicts.
Simstaller has given me more knowledge about how MSFS works with addons. I highly recommend this program to anyone who is familiar with adding and removing addons, using the Content Manager, and any vendor provided addon manager. I am now using Simstaller to install new or updated addons. I don’t recommend this for casual users as it may be confusing to use.
Best of all, it is FREE. If you download it and don’t like it, it is easy to remove it because it doesn’t make any changes to MSFS or any addons.