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Inside MSFlight


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#1 _NW_

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Posted 22 March 2012 - 09:53 PM

Alright so I went ahead and downloaded flight to see what it was like..  and boy is it arcady.  

Anyways, we already know that MF uses the same engine as MSFS...   so I wanted to see the file structure of the airplanes.

Low and behold, the structure is setup very similar.  The aircraft still requires a model folder, texture, panel, and sound.  Gone are the .air and aircraft.cfg file.  Instead, we have a new folder called "SIM."  I haven't found a program yet that can open these types of files (notepad won't decode it properly), but just by looking at the name of these files, they chopped up the FDE into dozens of smaller files, called .sbd files.  I have no idea what the .meta files do.

.mdl files are gone, replaced with .model.  The model setup is probably still the same from FSX.  Separate models are still required, one for exterior, and one for the VC (interior).  New are light models, pilot animation models, and lightglow models.

Textures are in .dds format (for the most part).  You can open them up in Dxtbmp still.  The basic layout of the textures is still the same as before, where you have one texture being used on dozens of materials in the model.

The good news is, or maybe it's just regular news..  is the scenery still appears to use the same .bgl format.  Textures are now .dds as well, not sure if .bmp's would work.   There is a scenery.cfg as well, so we might be able to install scenery.  I might give this a shot one day just to see if I can wreck MS Flight.

I doubt this is anything new, I'm kinda just posting what I've found on my own.  If you want to browse the stuff, it's all located in the CoreContent.pak file.  You can open it with 7zip (I'm sure winzip works fine).  Make sure to back everything up first before saving.

Edited by NWilkinson, 22 March 2012 - 09:53 PM.


#2 jcovelli

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Posted 22 March 2012 - 11:36 PM

when i had flight.. i messed around with it

seems you can't change anything at all in the .pak files...   the game won't even start

#3 ollyau

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 12:07 AM

The SHA1 cryptographic hashes of all the core files are cross checked and verified against the digitally signed security catalog, and if any of the hashes don't match, Flight won't start.  Put simply, don't modify any of the files, or Flight will no longer run.

#4 Cortez

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 03:04 AM

 ollyau, on Mar 22 2012, 10:07 PM, said:

The SHA1 cryptographic hashes of all the core files are cross checked and verified against the digitally signed security catalog, and if any of the hashes don't match, Flight won't start.  Put simply, don't modify any of the files, or Flight will no longer run.
They prepared for the Simmers trying to alter the game.

#5 Brad

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 09:49 AM

 ollyau, on Mar 23 2012, 01:07 AM, said:

The SHA1 cryptographic hashes of all the core files are cross checked and verified against the digitally signed security catalog, and if any of the hashes don't match, Flight won't start.  Put simply, don't modify any of the files, or Flight will no longer run.
Is this a joke or is this real?  Serious question.

#6 n4gix

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 10:10 AM

It's not joke at all. Much of the effort over the last few years was invested in re-engineering the core platform to ensure that it remains a controllable environment. In short, any add-on from any source will have to be vetted and assembled for release by Microsoft Game Studios.

#7 EduardoSpaz

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 10:14 AM

Pukessssss.

Lets team up, buy enough shares in microsoft and become a majority, and then have a board meeting and fire the team responsible for creating Flight, and then make it open source, but then sell our shares back, and creat a plethera of items for Flight?

Edited by EduardoSpaz, 23 March 2012 - 10:16 AM.


#8 -Dexter

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 10:45 AM

 ollyau, on Mar 23 2012, 01:07 AM, said:

The SHA1 cryptographic hashes of all the core files are cross checked and verified against the digitally signed security catalog, and if any of the hashes don't match, Flight won't start.  Put simply, don't modify any of the files, or Flight will no longer run.
:hrmm: This is not true.

#9 Spam

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 11:53 AM

What about the shader models? Maybe the ones that would control cockpit shadows would be compatible for FSX?

#10 ollyau

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 12:16 PM

 -Dexter, on Mar 23 2012, 08:45 AM, said:

B) This is not true.

And why not? :hrmm:

#11 SuperCar1000

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 12:38 PM

 ollyau, on Mar 23 2012, 11:16 AM, said:

And why not? :hrmm:

yea, why not?

They are going to a closed platform I fear

#12 -Dexter

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 02:44 PM

 ollyau, on Mar 23 2012, 01:16 PM, said:

And why not? B)
Because I can extract and run any of those files without decrypting them. :hrmm:

#13 ollyau

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 02:51 PM

 -Dexter, on Mar 23 2012, 12:44 PM, said:

Because I can extract and run any of those files without decrypting them. :hrmm:

Sure you can extract and read the files, but you can't modify them and expect Flight to continue working.

 ollyau, on Mar 22 2012, 10:07 PM, said:

Put simply, don't modify any of the files, or Flight will no longer run.


#14 -Dexter

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 03:12 PM

I take back what I said earlier, ollyau, you are exactly right. :hrmm:

I apologize for being hasty with my claims!

#15 SwitchFX

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 05:23 PM

 Brad, on Mar 23 2012, 07:49 AM, said:

Is this a joke or is this real?  Serious question.
It's serious. I posted something similar months ago and people waived it off. It's a strictly proprietary system so DLCs will be the only way to modify the game. It rubbed developers the wrong way. From the big guys to the small guys.

Edited by SwitchFX, 23 March 2012 - 05:24 PM.


#16 Mohammad

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 01:58 AM

The more I know about MS Flight, the more I'm hating Microsoft.

Seriously did they drink too much coffee or something? I know Microsoft are headquartered in the world capital of coffee. Did that suddenly affect their thinking?

#17 SwitchFX

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 03:04 AM

QUOTE(Mohammad @ Mar 23 2012, 11:58 PM)  
The more I know about MS Flight, the more I'm hating Microsoft.

Seriously did they drink too much coffee or something? I know Microsoft are headquartered in the world capital of coffee. Did that suddenly affect their thinking?

I'd say they've gone onto snorting cocaine. Betting you Windows 8 will be a flop as well.

#18 Mohammad

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Posted 24 March 2012 - 04:24 AM

Windows 8 is a definite flop.

#19 Quaxth

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Posted 25 March 2012 - 05:31 AM

Windows 8 will be the same flop as Vista!

Windows 8 will be the testing platform for top test the Tablet market/software on one hand. On the other hand Windows 8 will be well adopted be a huge community because of it's improvements compared to Windows 7.

So final Windows 8 will n a fl;op and an great success as well.

#20 -Dexter

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Posted 25 March 2012 - 11:22 AM

The way I see it, Windows 8 offers nothing new over Windows 7 unless you're a tablet user (which I, and many most other users) aren't.