VST Transit multiple Halion 2SE loading same preset

I created a project purely built on a few of Halion Sonic 2SE tracks and a vocal track.
Halion Sonic SE2 is used of drums, bass and a pad, so a very simple project. However, when my firend downloads the project it opens all Halion tracks with the same preset, which clearly doesn’t sound too good, having drums being played on some pad sound. Do I have to freeze each Halion track for this to work or is this a bug?

Second question, I understand that only Cubase 8.5 VSTs are supported at the moment. Can I use 3rd party VSTs and freeze the tracks to share the project or do I actually have to render proper audio-tracks?

/Donald