Bug description: Hi Asoibo,
Not sure if this was mentioned in the 2024 SDK or is going to be fixed. Or maybe you can update the SDK as a warning that any visual effects that do not require a material will no longer fall back to the default blank material. I was forced to assign the Asobo contrail material to my custom project and now it works. Here is a summary on the issue.
Why your 2020 custom visual effect worked, but not in 2024!
In MSFS 2020, some nodes (like QuadEmitter with default settings) didn’t require a material — they’d silently fall back to a built-in blank material.
In MSFS 2024, that fallback seems to be either removed or broken, so the editor now explicitly reports the missing material.
Hello @Flysimware
I’m not sure to understand what you mean by “QuadEmitter node with default settings”.
There is an “Emitter” node type that does not define primitive type or material.
And there is the “Output” node type that is configured to output quad primitives with VFX_EngineSmoke material by default.
The VFX_EngineSmoke material comes from the asobo-vfx-material-lib package, that is part of the MSFS 2024 mandatory content.
I just tested this and this default 2020 vfx configuration still gives the same result when the package is mounted in 2024 for me.
Can you clarify how your vfx is configured exactly?
Regards,
Sylvain
Our 2020 effect did not include a material and worked in 2020. In 2024 no effect shows. Once you open the effect in the editor you would see an error. See image. And once you add the material the error goes aways and the effect works. So 2024 requires a material now rather than falling back to the sims default blank material. So just wanted to report this since I had to fix it. So this way you can allow no material like 2020 as some effects do not need materials. Or updated the SDK if not already that it now requires a material no matter what.
This example shows it fixed for 2024 but where the red error appears if no material!
Hello @Flysimware
I am still unsure what the exact FX config is in your original MSFS 2020 project.
If I setup a ribbon vfx without assigning any material, I do not have any “default blank material”.
The geometry is generated but is invisible:
Regards,
Sylvain
The was my issue. My 2020 effects were not showing and were invisible when trying to use it in 2024. So after loading the effect the template instances was red. After adding the material it was fixed.
I am just reporting that it did not work out of the box as I figured it would since there is a default material in 2020 so this can’t happen. And 2024 is now throwing and error and requiring a material to show.
So I am not considering this a bug but, to me effects that do not need a material should not need one like 2020 to work.
My screenshot comes from MSFS 2020. That’s the behavior I have in 2020 when I don’t assign any material.
This is a 2024 bug report and the issue is using a 2020 effect in the 2024 sim. So, I am not sure you’re taking a 2020 effect that does not require a material and loading it in 2024. The effect will not show. And if you load it in the editor you will get the red error I shared inside the template instances.
Sorry if we are not on the same page as I might be confusing you and you are for sure confusing me. 
So please advise what you want me to add to help out for this bug report. I hope you can now test to see what I mean.
You said that that a 2020 effect with no assigned material, falls back to a “default blank material” in 2020, but doesn’t work in 2024.
I am saying that I don’t find the configuration your are talking about, and that a 2020 fx without material doesn’t display anything in 2020, and I don’t see what behavior you expect in 2020, which I need to understand first to see what the regression on 2024 is.
Please share the .fx file with us, it will spare us further misunderstanding.
Regards,
Sylvain
Your 2020 effect does have a material assigned:
This is a dependency with a material from the Spirit of Saint Louis in MSFS 2020, that is no longer available in MSFS 2024.
Regards,
Sylvain
Well that explains it. I only wanted to report because I thought something might had changed. Originally I copied the default contrail effect and tweaked it for our jettison. So I had no idea it relied on a source the 2024 did not have. I suspected it was a default empty material that was removed not a material borrowed from another aircraft. Thanks.
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Hi @FlyingRaccoon
I am following up on the effect report. The material did fix the effect so it now shows. But just like some others reports here on the forums they claimed the effects no longer showed unless the editor is open. As soon as I click the package name it works. But for regular use it never shows. And the VFS has a loaded package. See image as I click this and then it works. So how to make it work without opening editor? I can close the editor after this and it works until the sim restarts. Seems like there is something missing that initiates the effect. You can test this with the lear project that you currently have.
I was able to replicate this issue and will have it investigated.
How are you supposed to operate the jettison valves in the cockpit?
The jettison switch opens the gravity valves and I couldn’t find any call to valve events where the jettison valves indices/names would be provided.
I had to operate the valves through the fuel debug.
Am I missing something?
Regards,
Sylvain
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Yes the jettison single switch in the upper right. I have no issue using it. I will send you my current logic and cfg I am using. Keep in mind the cfg is still the current one that has transfer issues. But I have it set to version = 5 so there is no flame out.
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Hello @Flysimware
We identified the cause of the problem. The sim expects the VFS path for the effect to be something like VisualEffectLibs<company_name><asset_group_name>.
Yours is in VisualEffectLibs\learjet-35a.
The VFXEditor is able to handle that but the sim will ignore the vfx when the built package is mounted.
Just add a “flysimware” intermediary folder and it should resolve the issue.
We have added a check for this in the package build process for SU5 so that’s such case are reported to the developer.
Regards,
Sylvain
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Works perfect! Was an easy and fast fix! Thanks @FlyingRaccoon
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Hello,
Starting from SU5 Beta, the package builder checks the asset group path and raises errors when it’s considered invalid.
Regards,
Sylvain
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Hi @FlyingRaccoon
That will be very helpful as just setting up the asset naming convention was something most will not see as an issue when it fails to work.
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