Just passing along some frustration from the community about SimFX and the Immersion Packs not making it to MSFS 2024. These visual effects were a big deal in MSFS 2020 and really pushed the sim’s immersion to the next level. Now with the current state of 2024, it sounds like they’re completely blocked from being ported over, not due to lack of effort but because of hard technical limitations.
From what’s been made public, the core problem is that the changes to Model Behaviors in MSFS 2024 prevent effect placement from working properly. These aren’t minor tweaks. The effects need to be injected in very specific ways that MSFS 2020 allowed but 2024 doesn’t.
Here’s what seems to be causing the issue:
- The SDK no longer allows for the deep access needed to place aircraft-specific effects.
- The new architecture, while optimized in other ways, cuts off control at the level required by advanced VFX frameworks.
- Efforts to find alternative methods have failed, with developers concluding that most of these effects simply can’t exist under the current system.
- Communication through devsupport took a while, and by the time a response came, the window to fix things was already narrowing.
What makes this more frustrating is that many of us bought these products with the understanding that MSFS 2024 would be compatible with almost everything from 2020. That statement set a clear expectation. And now we’re finding that it doesn’t apply to some of the most visually impactful add-ons out there.
So the wishlist is simple:
- Please revisit the restrictions around Model Behaviors and find a way to give back the level of control needed for complex visual effects.
- Open up deeper SDK access or provide new hooks that let developers insert effects in the precise locations required for aircraft immersion.
- Communicate more clearly and directly when a system or feature has changed in a way that will break compatibility for advanced tools like SimFX.
- If full compatibility isn’t possible, at least publish a roadmap or set of goals for restoring this level of extensibility so developers and users know where things are headed.
We know MSFS 2024 brings a lot of improvements and changes under the hood, but some of those changes have sidelined things that made 2020 special. Would really like to see Asobo help open the door back up for this kind of content. Stop limiting creativity Asobo!!