When attempting to add a Box Collision (or any collision gizmo) in Blender using the MSFS 2024 Blender addon (version 6.4.4), the operation fails with the following error:
Python: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "...\io_scene_gltf2_msfs_2024\blender\msfs_gizmo.py", line 306, in execute
gizmo_obj = add_gizmo(GizmoTypes[self.gizmo_type])
File "...\io_scene_gltf2_msfs_2024\blender\msfs_gizmo.py", line 208, in add_gizmo
collision = create_gizmo(gizmo_type)
File "...\io_scene_gltf2_msfs_2024\blender\msfs_gizmo.py", line 121, in create_gizmo
modifier = node_group_asset.append_modifier(object=gizmo_obj)
File "...\io_scene_gltf2_msfs_2024\datafiles\asset_library.py", line 155, in append_modifier
node_group = self.append_asset(link)
File "...\io_scene_gltf2_msfs_2024\datafiles\asset_library.py", line 59, in append_asset
blend_filepath = str(self._get_latest_blend_path())
File "...\io_scene_gltf2_msfs_2024\datafiles\asset_library.py", line 91, in _get_latest_blend_path
raise Exception(f"Blender version {bpy.app.version} is not supported!")
Exception: Blender version (4, 5, 7) is not supported!
Root Cause Analysis:
The error message is misleading. The actual problem is not a Blender version incompatibility — it is caused by missing .blend asset files in the SDK distribution.
The method _get_latest_blend_path() in datafiles/asset_library.py (line 69-93) iterates over versions.SupportedBlender (which defines blender_33 = (3, 3, 0) and blender_42 = (4, 2, 0) in datafiles/versions.py) and looks for files matching the pattern:
datafiles/assets/nodes/gizmos-{major}_{minor}_{patch}.blend
For example: datafiles/assets/nodes/gizmos-4_2_0.blend
These .blend files should contain the Geometry Nodes node groups .MSFS_2024_Collision and .MSFS_2024_Bounding_Volume (as defined in NodeGroupLibrary in asset_library.py, lines 125-134). However, the entire datafiles/assets/ directory does not exist in the addon distribution — neither in the SDK source path (C:\MSFS 2024 SDK\Tools\Blender\addons\io_scene_gltf2_msfs_2024\datafiles\) nor when installed via zip to Blender’s user addons folder.
Testing performed:
| Blender Version | Result |
|---|---|
| 4.2.x | ERROR — same missing asset files |
| 4.5.7 | ERROR — same missing asset files |
| 5.0.x | ERROR — same missing asset files |
Installation methods tested:
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Installing the addon via zip through Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install — fails
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Copying the addon folder manually to Blender’s addons directory — fails
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Linking
C:\MSFS 2024 SDK\Tools\Blenderas a Script Directory in File Paths — fails
In all cases, the datafiles/assets/ directory containing the required .blend files is absent. A recursive search for *.blend files across the entire C:\MSFS 2024 SDK\ directory returns zero results.
Note: A previous version of the addon (pre-6.4.4) used a different approach — creating collision gizmos as Empty objects via bpy.data.objects.new(name, None) in msfs_gizmo.py, which did not require any external .blend files and worked correctly. The current version switched to a Curve + Geometry Nodes modifier approach that depends on these missing asset files.
Expected fix: Include the missing .blend files (gizmos-3_3_0.blend, gizmos-4_2_0.blend) containing the .MSFS_2024_Collision and .MSFS_2024_Bounding_Volume node groups in the datafiles/assets/nodes/ directory of the addon distribution.
Environment:
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MSFS 2024 SDK Addon version: 6.4.4
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OS: Windows 11 Pro
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SDK Path:
C:\MSFS 2024 SDK\
