Hello everyone, I’m sorry for my level of English which is not very good, but I wanted to know if other people want the same things as me. Let me explain…
I like it when everything is tidy, that’s why I would like the Community folder to have subfolders for planes, sceneries , addons, liveries etc.
I know there is software to do this, like MFS Addons Linker, but I wish it was native in the simulator
4 Likes
I much prefer to use Addons Linker.
Not only can you make the folders as you suggest, but you can set up different scenarios - loading just European scenery addons or just US scenery depending on where you are flying.
It also makes clearing everything out of the community folder before upgrading very simple.
I agree with you that it is good to have everything “neat and tidy” and use Addons Linker to do just that.
9 Likes
Yes I understand that for the personalization of files it is very useful
I mean they don’t even allow you to put game files where you want to, they are rather in strange folder structures with terrible names and strange read/write rights/ownership status. Doubt they will let you optimize this terrible experience.
Bad idea. Addon linker is best solution. Point.
4 Likes
You are not very open to discution…
1 Like
Agree. But when analyzing the situation with sim problems, the presence of nesting will increase entropy and complicate the diagnosis of problems.
Yes, its true
As others have said, use ‘Addons Linker’ from flightsim.to
6 Likes
I say that in my message…
Your thoughts are correct and accepted. But not in its current form. While the platform is unstable, let it remain as it is. It’s easier to disable addons instead of permanently moving and deleting folders and subfolders. It will be very difficult to manage.
In any case, I agree with you. And that would be great. But I am really against this innovation at the moment.
3 Likes
Yes, I totally agree, currently with the state of the simulator, that would only add problems to all those who are already there …
I’ve been manually managing my liveries into a single folder for all my 100+ liveries that I downloaded separately. While it looks neat, the maintenance is a nightmare.
Tha add on linker mod as posted by @PScaber is the way to go. You can have all of your mods organised however you like and turn them on/off with tick boxes very easily.
1 Like
Indeed, Addons Linker is doing the job perfectly, I also don’t think this should be added natively into the sim.
I totally agree, I’d love to see folders in the Community folder. But I’m pretty sure it will never happen. If it doesn’t work on Xbox, it won’t come to the game, and I don’t think Xbox would allow/be capable of such a thing as file folders as a DLC package organizational concept.
The whole thing about Xbox is to remove such complications from the experience so that anyone can use it. Of all the people who use computers, not many people understand how a file system works or the concept of folders.
I said a long time ago, that this game was developed by an Xbox game developer for Xbox, and, just like other Xbox games, it works on PC, too (since, essentially, an Xbox is a specialized PC with a specialized operating system). People laughed and derided, but, the proof is in the pudding.
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, it’s just something to understand when you look at the functionality of the game and how its being developed, and what to expect from it. I also don’t believe they will take away the extensibility of the PC version (as long as Windows allows that), and will continue to support that extensibility. But core things like the VFS will continue to follow the Xbox model. Unfortunately, I think also, more DRM features will be coming our way.
As everyone has already said above, in answer to your question, if you’re looking for that functionality, Addon Linker is the way to go.
Personally, rather than use the addon linker, I rename all my packages to order them in directory like structures with prefixes like aircraft_ objlib_ scenery_(state)_ livery_airplane_ etc.
Given the system level quality of freeware addons is so low, I have to go through and edit them all the time anyway to avoid CTD’s and to keep my system running cleanly, so it’s not a big deal.
I do not use that software but can appreciate how powerful it is allowing you to do those things.
One thing that does not appeal to me at all is enabling just one area to fly in.
Unless Im mistaken - this would mean that if mid-way through a gaming session if I change my mind I would have to exit, enable the OTHER area I want to fly in and then restart the game.
I would rather have the entire game load each and every time so that anywhere on earth that I have addons will be available.
The load times of the game dont bother me, I just make a coffee 
and Im on a spinner drive. Many people are on SSD so the loads cant be that bad.
I do however see AOLs value in letting you rapidly enable/disable mods for testing purposes.
I do wish we can one day use Vortex as a mod manager, I really like that one.
While you cannot do that (and I highly doubt it will ever change) you CAN rename the folder.
Do not rename anything else within the folder (like the manifest files)
Just the folder name is fine.
This will let you name by type. Example:
- Aircraft - Cessna 206
- Aircraft - Cessna 152
- Aircraft - Boeing 787
- Airport - KLAX
- Airport - WSSS
- Airport - VEGT
- Avionics - Garmin G1000
- Avionics - Better PFD for 787
- Helicopter - R44
- Helicopter - Bell 206
- Scenery - Alps
- Scenery - Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
- Utility - Hide Toolbar
- Utility - HUD toggle
I organise my scenery by country or region so I can have for example, all of USA or just Germany, France and Austria - or everything. It’s very flexible, mostly I leave everything turned on and only have small localised regions which I seldom visit turned off. It also means that when a new FS2020 update causes problems, I can turn off all add-ons with a single mouse click.
2 Likes
I cant argue with how easy it makes all those functions.
When a new update comes I just rename my Community and use the game for a day or two with no mods to establish baseline performance. Then just name it back and carry on.
One thing I hear the AOL does is track the file versions of mods? And it alerts you when a new version comes out? Is this correct? This is an excellent function and one I cannot match with manual Community management. I keep having to to go to flightsim,to to check for versions.