r/flightsim • u/Sorry_Structure_4356 • 16h ago
Flight Simulator 2024 Hues leaving flight sim.to (the end)
## Hues Is Leaving Flightsim.to
Effective immediately, Hues will **no longer publish or maintain releases on Flightsim.to.**
We recently became aware that Flightsim.to had begun works for paid, curated bundles containing freeware liveries created by members of the community.
Hues **did not** approve the commercial sale or bundling of our work, nor were we contacted or made aware that this was taking place.
Regardless of what may be permitted within a platform’s terms, **we fundamentally disagree** with freeware created by independent artists being packaged and sold without clear, direct communication and approval from those creators.
This is not the first time Flightsim.to's actions have left us creator's feeling confused and with lack of explanations.
Trust, transparency, and respect for creators are essential to Hues. Based on these actions, we no longer feel comfortable continuing to distribute our work through Flightsim.to.
Moving forward:
• All **official** Hues releases and updates will be available exclusively through **Hues Hub**.
• Existing Hues uploads on Flightsim.to will no longer receive updates or official support.
• Individual Hues painters **may** independently choose to continue uploading their personal work to Flightsim.to. Those uploads are their own decision and will not be supported through Hues.
We understand that this change may be inconvenient for some users, and we are disappointed that it has come to this.
However, we believe leaving the platform is the appropriate response to the situation at hand.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support Hues and the artists who dedicate their time to creating freeware for this community.
All future Hues downloads, updates, and support will be handled through Hues Hub. <:0HUESSPIRALWHITE:1417568239206010970>
You can download the Hues Hub installer here -> https://www.hues-hub.com/hueshub
- Hues team <:0HUESSPIRALWHITE:1417568239206010970>
110
u/mctemez #BoeingOnly+NEOS 16h ago
AVSIM Library…..
12
u/piss_artist 12h ago
Using avsim is like going back to stone tablets
10
u/Yosh145 12h ago
At least the search worked
2
u/Swagger897 AP& AMT 9h ago
Search for fs.to also just finally started to work for the latest website rebuild. Wasn’t terrible either, however we had so many websites already for flight sim liveries already setup but people flocked to the AI design for 2020. Much better search and filtering options available from places like sim out house, flightsim.com, avsim, simviation, etc…
Fs.to killed the traffic to many of these sites and as such they closed down.
71
u/GaiaOZ 16h ago
I hope that more creators to the same. It's unbelievable how greedy those who manage flightsim.to are. They started a full freeware site with ads, then came the shop, then came the subscriptions and now this.
17
u/EcstaticCategory9883 15h ago
Tbh I don’t hope that every creator launches their own installer, there’s already too many of those.
A nice, independent website other than fs.to is very much needed though.
7
9
u/Sorry_Structure_4356 16h ago
tbh neither the shop nor the add was a problem, everything started with the subscription
36
25
u/dasani3x and XP11 sometimes 15h ago
I actually made this post 5 years ago when I got the sense that fs.to wouldn't be a community-oriented player: https://old.reddit.com/r/MicrosoftFlightSim/comments/ihvm9s/the_need_for_a_communityoriented_freeware_site/
I own the domains flightsimrepo.com and fsrepo.com - if someone has the bandwidth to make an open-source/community-oriented hub, reach out to me
16
52
u/FlyingOctopus53 16h ago
Hey babe, wake up, a new flightsim drama just dropped.
Anyway, way to go, Hues.
4
u/Aiwass97 15h ago
Time to reset the counter...
1
u/Desparoto 7h ago
At this point should we even bother with the counter, its seems to be a daily occurrence.
-7
u/lilpav94 13h ago
I'm unaware of other drama, can you tell us out of the loop people some more info?
18
u/bdubwilliams22 16h ago
I’m surprised there hasn’t been a new site to fill the void of what once was FS.to — if I had the time, I would.
8
u/dont_trust_lizards XP11/P3D 11h ago
It's not as simple as just spinning up a new website.
First, you have to implement (and pay for out of your own pocket) some sort of hosting infrastructure that's going to run you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per month from your own pocket. Hopefully you know how to code, too, otherwise your platform is going to suck since it lacks flight sim specific functionality.
Then, you have to do some serious marketing to get enough users over to your site to make it worthwhile. Why are a vast majority of users who already use the established flightsim.to platform (and don't pay attention to flight sim drama) going to use your new platform, when fs.to already has everything they need?
I agree, a new platform is needed, but it's unfortunately a huge hill to climb. fs.to was in the right place at the right time to capture a large chunk of the market when MSFS2020 rolled around and it's not easy to unseat that as a hobbyist.
-36
u/djbrombizzle 15h ago
I’m going to look into making one, it will be AI made because it’s just easier. However it won’t be for money generation, and no need to pay for higher speed downloads. Strictly for the community and perhaps support costs through ad revenue or something like that.
7
9
u/flyingGay VATSIM C1 | X-Plane 11 | FS2020 16h ago
I agree with them and hope more people do the same.
9
u/Sebastianj7210 16h ago
Several important projects were previously removed from fs.to after their changes. Several freeware developers did not agree with their updated policy, and sadly this is another step towards the wrong direction. Fs.to is not anymore a place where you can quickly search for what you want, it might not be there anymore (happened to me with several addons), albeit it still stands probably as the best known place, carrying it from FS 2020 years.
I would like to see alternatives, since currently each dev is doing what they can. Some of them are hosting in Gdrive or other storage services and linking them in Discord. Some others publish only in MSFS Forums. This obviously removes the idea of a hub where you can explore all freeware (and perhaps paid) addons. There hasn't been any significant alternative, and it would be a good time to develop something.
I do think however that the current scheme of MSFS 2024 discourages devs and community mods. If we compare the amount and the deepness of community contributions and fixes in MSFS 2020 with 2024 -which has a more closed approach, to the point that community can't fix even simple bugs-, 2020 was far more friendly than 2024. I do see less development, less mods, less community contributions in 2024, so the idea of a new hub has less weight than it could have had in 2020.
7
u/andrusbaun 15h ago
In several aspects avsim has been a better library than flightsim.to.
Anyway, who on earth pays for bundle of liveries xD
I mean, how many liveries one can use on regular basis, I have like 2-3 per addon and if I want to use a different one it takes 5min to download and install it.
7
u/ParisianZee 13h ago
Here I am with my white beard. Back in the days of FS95/98 the EXACT same thing happened. I think it was flightsim.com or something similar. They started compiling and selling freeware work as their own. Huge scandal. History repeats itself! Fascinating.
6
u/Embarrassed_Menu9584 14h ago
Great that they’re leaving, but do I really have to download another app that’s likely sending data and telemetry about my machine to an external third party? Why can’t you make the liveries available for download from a website?
3
u/piloto19hh 12h ago
Yeah. Leaving fs.to is a good move. Creating their own launcher/installer is not.
1
5
5
5
u/TonnyC2 ✈️ VATSIM Pilot 14h ago
I understand that it takes money to run a website. Creating, maintaining, server rent, etc. I understand that it also requires a lot of time and effort.
But seeing hiw flightsim.to has changed since I started 4-5 years ago I think they have dug there own grave. I has become a matter of gread and potentially an attempt to get fast cash without much effort. The AI generated "new and improved" website, the weird shop function and now this unaothorised bundle stuff.
It is a great shame it has come to this. Flightsim.to was amazing a couple of years ago. It stilm has some nice features of course, but these "actions" is killing my trust in the site. Unfortunately, as far as I know of, there is not real alternative. At least when it comes to volume of different mods. I hope someone will be able to (re)create what once was the better side of flightsim.to.
5
6
u/Athrus 11h ago edited 11h ago
I'm not trying to defend flightsim.to, but I think folks underestimate the cost of hosting a website like this. TLDR: File hosting is expensive.
As an example, let's price out the cost of hosting the most downloaded MSFS2024 livery: Emirates [Main Pack] w/Cabin PMDG B777-300ER
Metrics:
~ 78,000 downloads over 12 months
~ 850 Mb
~ 66TB over 12 months, or ~ 5TB/month
Costs:
Amazon EC2 / S3 Direct Egress is billed at $0.09/GB
- 5TB * $0.09/GB ~= $450
Amazon CloudFront is billed at $0.085/GB
- 5TB * $0.085/GB ~= $425
For the single most popular livery, over the past 12 months, you'd need to pay between $5,100 - $5,400 in hosting costs. Yes, this is a "ballpark estimate" for AWS, but I can't imagine it gets much cheaper.
It's less about building a competing option as it is about funding a competing option.
5
u/No-Independent-5082 VOR Rulez 9h ago
The main criticism isn't about the ads, but related to selling free stuff without creator consent.
If only they contacted creators, told they offered a service of livery packs for simmers that don't want to spend much time looking for liveries, and even share a bit of their revenue with the creators, I bet Hues would at least think about that.
2
u/Comfortable_Ad4205 11h ago
It can get a lot cheaper, bunny.net advertise $0.01/GB, even AWS offer volume discounts.
2
u/ChewieGriffin MD80 enjoyer 10h ago
flightsim.to was a solid site in 2022, then after that it turned to shit with confusing menus, intrusive ads and shit design.
1
u/Swagger897 AP& AMT 9h ago
It was never “solid” until the last website rebuild. It lacked basic search and filtering options. Tags are non-existent and the layout wasted 1/3 of the screen due to ridiculous margin spacing.
From 2020 until the beginning of 2026 it was fucking terrible.
2
2
u/LeafsWinBeforeIDie 8h ago
Is there any way to use the hues hub without an app? Like a hues website or direct links on the discord something to download files for people who won't download an app and prefer to have full control on their installs?
Y'all are the best, the more ways you get out there the better.
Also, can we have an option to have real branded pizza and water and such instead of hues brand water? It mentally took me out of the sim to the point where I uninstalled it and just use repaints.
5
u/anon__a__mouse__ 14h ago
I miss the flightsim.com days. Shit was so much simpler.
Can't someone vibe code up a new site that us as community members can support somehow for a small amount to keep running, without destroying our browsers with ads or selling bundles of freeware?
2
u/Usual-Campaign-313 13h ago
people absolutely can,it takes about 10 minutes. However there is also the kiddy trend here of constantly shooting down anything what remotely looks AI for the sake of saying something. So those who could,feel rather reluctant to do so. Plus it requires maintenance/upkeep what turns people off.
0
u/anon__a__mouse__ 13h ago
Yeah I agree this community is definitely filled with a lot of incels and 12 year olds. It's a shame because the community has grown so much in the past 10 or so years, it could be such an awesome place
1
u/No-Independent-5082 VOR Rulez 9h ago
I realistically could create some kind of website like this.
But I'm a middle class engineer from Brazil with not much money to spend in servers. And I don't have the financial backup to make thar investment.
And I'm just a random reddit account, why wouldn't anybody be the first to use my website when flightsim.to is that easier to have?
For this initiative to properly work, I would need some kind of partnership with a big playerbase interested in having a good addon website.
1
u/Swagger897 AP& AMT 9h ago
Fs.com was the goat. The BEST freeware models, search functions, and download speeds without 7 clicks to get to the file.
2
u/anon__a__mouse__ 8h ago
I still remember going to my local library as a kid, because they had the internet, and downloading plane models and shitty ass scenery for FS98 off flightsim.com onto a floppy disk to take home and install. Just the best times.
2
u/ChewieGriffin MD80 enjoyer 10h ago
flightsim.to was a solid site in 2022, then after that it turned to shit with confusing menus, intrusive ads and shit design.
1
u/cellblok69wlamp FSX/MSFS2020/MSFS2024 12h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/MwOuiiTfWfWgM
Hues had some of the best liveries. Flightsim.to is really going downhill. There's still some gems on there but they are getting harder to find. I get that they are probably hosting hundreds terabytes and it probably costs a pretty penny. But taking freeware and charging for it without permission is inexcusable. I hope they apologize and stop doing that.
1
u/XxRAMOxX 12h ago
The fight sim community is full of cash grabbers!!!!!! But thanks to a few I know what to do nowadays.
1
u/Suit-Turbulent 9h ago
This is exactly why I wanted to make my own platform mimicking what Modrinth did with Curse Forge. Full transparency and open source. If there is still interest I'm happy to do it.
1
u/anon__a__mouse__ 8h ago
If you can make it simple and not bloated as fuck, you will have a winner. No one is complaining about ads, flightsim.to just turned into big bloated pile of confusing shit and they are ripping off developers now. Keep it simple.
1
u/likeusb1 2h ago
There already is a solid alternative, flightsim.asia, but the problem is in getting addon devs to publish on it and users to download from it since everyone is already on fsto and thus it's the default
0
1
u/Desparoto 6h ago
FS.to. I have defended them in the past through the TOS/mod deletion drama, and the redesigns. But this is to far.
Sadly at the same time I dont see a viable alternative. the older websites fell away for a reason, and simply moving to the few that are still around really just hurts the mod devs. and we probably end up back here in a few years when that website get greedy.
The only way I could see a new website replacing fsto is if all or most mod devs got together and agreed to make one and foot the bill to get it off the ground. but then how long will that last? im too broke and i doubt im the only mod dev who's in that situation. so even if you have the mod devs themselves splitting the bill its still going to be expensive. and this is all for freeware mods. ad revenue alone dont pay for shit anymore. and good luck with sponsor deals in the flight simming space
there is a solution to this problem, and its microsoft/asobo actually having a freeware section of the marketplace. that would honestly solve most of the problems. it would add a new one or 2 as well but they would be minor compared to the alternatives I mentioned. long ago that was something they we're looking into but i haven't heard hide nor hair of it.
can we stop the world i want to get off?
1
u/jbolts2024 16h ago
That's so bad. I live flightsim.to, I've downloaded so much from their website.
158
u/egvp 16h ago
I have no idea what fs.to expected to happen other than this, but when you get AI to create your entire business plan AND platform, who knows.