If you’ve ever flown a night VFR leg over rural Nebraska, the Australian Outback, or the plains of Spain in Microsoft Flight Simulator, you’ve likely noticed something that pulls you right out of the immersion if you know how the rural landscape looks like at night: there is too much light!
In Microsoft Flight Simulator, we’re used to seeing a world where rural roads, lonely highways, and farm tracks are lit up with the same intensity as a suburban neighborhood. In reality, flying over these areas at night should be an exercise in solitude, with only the occasional farmhouse light or distant town breaking the inky blackness. Instead, we often get what looks like a glowing spiderweb spanning the continent.
This week, a new freeware project titled MSFS DarkStreets has been released to finally fix this. Developed by community member kiwikat, DarkStreets uses data from OpenStreetMap and the US Census Bureau to generate exclusion polygons that strip away street lights from non-urban areas.
The goal is to restore the natural darkness of the world, making the lights of actual cities and towns pop with much greater contrast and realism.
Better in MSFS 2020 than in 2024… for now
While this mod seems to be working great MSFS 2020 users, those flying in MSFS 2024 need to be aware of a significant technical caveat. Due to a bug in how the new simulator handles LOD for exclusion polygons, the effect in MSFS 2024 is currently limited to the immediate area around your aircraft. As you fly, you may see lights disappear in front of you and reappear behind you, creating a “bubble of darkness” rather than a consistent horizon-to-horizon effect.
The developer has been transparent about this, noting that Asobo is aware of the issue and it is in their backlog. Until that bug is squashed, MSFS 2024 users will have a suboptimal experience compared to the flawless implementation in MSFS 2020.
Global Coverage
Despite being in version 0.4.3, the scope of DarkStreets is already massive. The developer has moved fast, including support for:
- North America (NA): USA, Canada, Mexico.
- Europe (EU): Iceland, UK, and most of the EU west of Russia (including Turkey).
- Australia & New Zealand (AU): Comprehensive coverage.
- Pacific (PAC): Islands north and east of Australia, including Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
- Central America & Caribbean (CA): All countries north of South America.
According to the developer’s roadmap, South America is the next major region currently under investigation.
If you are flying in MSFS 2020, this is an essential download that instantly modernizes the night flying experience. You can grab it for free at Flightsim.to.
For MSFS 2024 users: The best way to get this working properly is to help prioritize the fix. If you want deep, realistic nights in the new sim, head over to this bug report on the official forums and politely contribute to the thread to get Asobo’s attention.
