Porting a current MSFS2020 title to a true MSFS2024 version

[MSFS 2024] Questions & Community Discussions SDK: Tools/Samples/Documentation
1

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if there is any clear direction in the SDK Documentation with respect to properly porting a current MSFS2020 title to a true MSFS2024 version. Right now, we have a scenery package in MSFS2020 which has been ported (internally) by MS/Asobo to MSFS2024 compatible version, however in MS Marketplace, it has a “MSFS2020 port” badge. Some of my questions are:

  • Is the port worth doing, or is MS/Asobo one “sufficiently good”, as in, will the port on our side be any different than what MS/Asobo produce?
  • Are MSFS2020 SDK projects 100% compatible with MSFS2024 SDK?
  • If so, will the 2024 SDK produce a true 2024 package from a 2020 project?
  • We have hundreds of 3DS MAX assets in just as many MAX files. Is there an automated way of converting 2020 Max materials to 2024 Max materials? Otherwise, we are facing a HUGE task.
  • We noticed that some of our 2020 exclude polys are not working in 2024. Where can we find any clues on what is working and what isn’t?

Those are some of the questions we have so far. I’ll edit this post if we think of any others.

Thanks for any and all clarifications!
Mitch
TerraBuilder Team

2

You need to understand the definition of “porting to 2024” and creating a “true 2024” product.
they are vastly different animals

3

I don’t know that there is a step-by-step guide, but it’s all relatively the same as it was in 2020. Just some new features and some UI changes.

Do your ‘ported’ 2020 products work as intended if you test them? Then probably no real need. You could simply mark them as compatible in your 2020 content portal if you haven’t already.

If you want to get rid of the 2020 badge, you’ll need to convert the project to native. I just make a copy of my 2020 project and rename the project XML to indicate its a 2024 project. When you open this project in the project editor, it will generate all of the new XMLs needed for your textures (you get a pop-up).

The majority of my projects have always converted over fine, besides needing to fix some terrain issues and a bit of environmental cleanup. Obviously some projects are worse than others.

2020 gltfs (at least coming from Blender) work fine in 2024. I still use a lot of 2020 models except where I have needed to update them, for lights and emissives mostly.

As far as your excludes go, it would help to know what isn’t working. I think all of my excludes have been fine so far… it might be possible that they need to be moved slightly depending on what type they are. Some excludes like lights or power poles I believe still need to enclose the first node of their path to exclude. I haven’t checked in a while though.

Overall, if a native project is needed to fix issues that cannot be fixed in an updated 2020 project (some things can be mitigated), at minimum, I would expect:

  1. You may need to add an exclude for secondary elevations. It’s the ‘noise’ layer that adds some dips and variation to the terrain. It can also shift around and cause some models to float.
  2. Vegetation poly, apron, etc, placement/realignment with aerial imagery.
  3. Models with Lights/Emissives will need to be converted and exported with the 2024 exporter.
  4. Check your VFX are displaying correctly, if you use any.
  5. Model LODs will need to be created if not already done, or possibly adjusted depending. Though, the new LOD system does now seem to be a bit more lenient than Xbox optimization recommendations were in 2020. Usually I only need to make some tweaks or rework a model LOD here and there.

Past this, all of the new features are pretty much optional. I have only used them when needed on my converted projects. On my new projects however, I am using some of the new 24 features, like SimPropContainers. Though, this feature is better if you just plan to use it from the start IMO. I spent a lot of time this past week rebuilding some building and hangar interiors from scratch (the clutter placement, that is).

It pretty much just comes down to how much time you want to spend making the project native. You can easily burn a lot of time. I spent a whole year making my projects 24 native. Of course, a good chunk of that time was spent fighting early sim bugs and the old LOD curve, so things have vastly improved since I struggled through that last. :laughing:

4

Oh, I understand the difference perfectly well, thank you. If MS/Asobo take my 2020 pack and make it compatible with 2024 by whatever internal process they are using, then they are PORTING it.

If I have an existing MSFS2020 project and I open and re-compile it for MSFS2024 (including an neccessary changes I asked about), then I am PORTING it as well. And, if I start a NEW MSFS2024 project and re-use 3D assets but compile them using 2024 Max settings, then I am re-creating it - which is the very thing I want to avoid.

And, @Rotornut44 answered my questions perfectly and in detail, highlighting some of the same concerns I am facing.

Mitch
TerraBuilder Team

5

Thanks for taking time to answer with such an attention to detail, I really appreciate it!

Do your ‘ported’ 2020 products work as intended if you test them? Then probably no real need. You could simply mark them as compatible in your 2020 content portal if you haven’t already.

They do - mostly! I noticed a few glitches, and that’s why I am asking whether there are changes to formats that require re-compile with MSFS2024 editors.

When you open this project in the project editor, it will generate all of the new XMLs needed for your textures (you get a pop-up).

There are changes to texture formats in MSFS2024?

2020 gltfs (at least coming from Blender) work fine in 2024. I still use a lot of 2020 models except where I have needed to update them, for lights and emissives mostly.

Ok, so I need to re-compile any object that has MSFS2020 lights (most of my assets are buildings with lighting) and emissive properties?

As far as your excludes go, it would help to know what isn’t working. I think all of my excludes have been fine so far… it might be possible that they need to be moved slightly depending on what type they are.

I have a simple default generic building exclude poly that clears all the default residential houses in the Kennedy Space Center. It works in MSFS2020 but in MSFS2024, I see a few residential houses right smack in the middle of it - quite annoying :slight_smile:

You may need to add an exclude for secondary elevations. It’s the ‘noise’ layer that adds some dips and variation to the terrain. It can also shift around and cause some models to float.

This is exactly what I am seeing - the flattened areas in 2020 are for some reason bumpy in 2024, and the vehicles look like they are crossing a tough off road trail.

Models with Lights/Emissives will need to be converted and exported with the 2024 exporter.

You mean, 3D assets inside Max/Blender, right?

Check your VFX are displaying correctly, if you use any.

I do, extensively. They display ok, but with some bugs that are a result MSFS2024 optimization. I raised that with Asobo and the fix will be included in SU5 (hopefully)

Model LODs will need to be created if not already done, or possibly adjusted depending. Though, the new LOD system does now seem to be a bit more lenient than Xbox optimization recommendations were in 2020. Usually I only need to make some tweaks or rework a model LOD here and there.

Yes, indeed, I encountered that as well. :+1:

It pretty much just comes down to how much time you want to spend making the project native. You can easily burn a lot of time. I spent a whole year making my projects 24 native. Of course, a good chunk of that time was spent fighting early sim bugs and the old LOD curve, so things have vastly improved since I struggled through that last. :laughing:

That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid! What about MSFS2020 vs MSFS2024 materials in MAX/Blender? Do I need to convert all my asset’s materials to MSFS2024 materials? Is there a converter option in the MSFS toolkit? (haven’t seen one)

Thanks again for taking time to answer my questions!

Mitch
TerraBuilder Team

6

It gets compiled to KTX2 instead of DDS now. So each of your texture sources needs to have an XML file that tells 2024 what channel to use. This is also where you would define HighQuality now, instead of using a FLAGS file. As I mentioned, any new 2020 project opened in 2024 will get these files generated. Anything new you add, usually the model exporter plugin will generate the XMLs.

You need to upgrade the lights to use the new 2024 specific lights. At least in Blender, there is a conversion option. I’m not sure if this exists in Max. The emissives I just change the night multiplier to 50 and leave the main emissive value what it was before. Last I checked 50 was pretty close to the brightness of my emissives in 2020.

Do you just have one building type set in the exclude? You might just need to check off more of the exclude options. They might have moved from being something like OSM buildings to Asobo detected (I cant remember all the options off the top of my head).

You don’t necessarily need to for the majority. Just the ones with Emissives. I’ve not seen a huge difference in how a material renders, though I wouldn’t be surprised if there are subtle differences. I would say that a good 90% of my materials are still 2020.

I work in Blender, so I cant speak for Max, but at least in Blender the material just gets converted automatically if I open the project with the 2024 exporter plugin enabled. I’m unsure if there are any converter options past that.

7

Im not sure thats phrasing it exactly right
they run in Legacy Mode if they are 2020 addons in 2024 similar to aircraft I think
my understanding is there are some core differences in the way they handle these Legacy addons

if you ‘convert’ them they become native and are treated the same as any other 2024 package