Is the night lighting better now than it used to be?

[captain420 3,099]

About 2 years ago, the night lighting screenshots in some of the alpha/beta builds before MSFS got released was the best they could be according to a majority of the people. Now, fast forward 2 years later. Do you guys feel that the night lighting has improved and is better now than it has ever been?

Edited March 28, 2023 by captain420

[abrams_tank 7,397]

15 minutes ago, captain420 said:

About 2 years ago, the night lighting screenshots in some of the alpha/beta builds before MSFS got released was the best they could be according to a majority of the people. Now, fast forward 2 years later. Do you guys feel that the night lighting has improved and is better now than it has ever been?

The night lighting now is way better than it was on release.

[captain420 3,099]

Even better than the pre-release builds?

[bobcat999 8,473]

It is subjective, but I liked it on release - I thought it was stunning and one of the first things that really stood out to me along with the sim performance.

Not saying it is bad now though, but there seemed to be more variation originally.  When they tried to get rid of the sepia masks, they kind of threw the baby out with the bath water, but they have pulled it back to being quite good since then.

Edited March 28, 2023 by bobcat999

[Fiorentoni 4,218]

Having used P3D in the past, MSFS' night lighting is outright stunning. I know it's different for ex-XPL users, but that's still a debate on a high level in my opinion.

[Langeveldt 281]

Amazing how subjective this is, isn't it?

It's the absolute worst thing about the sim for me.  And I don't fly at night because of it.  All pretty beautiful until you get to about 10,000 feet, with the crisp street lights giving way to damp, brown splodges where cities would be.  The worst is flying over the Middle East at say FL330.  Dubai just looking like yellow street lights fading into damp yellow splashes.  I wish there was a way of getting rid of the sepia mask, or maybe a better alternative.  But I seem to be the only one who absolutely hates what we've currently got!  I've got TLOD at around 150-200. I'd rather not be able to see distant cities at all than have these blobs. 

If someone could show me some great looking night shots of urban areas from FL100 or above, i'll eat my words. 

[The Flight Level 2,113]

General lighting is okay for me … flying less than FL100. The downtown city building lights is the immersion killer for me. The lights need to glow. It is like the power went out just in the tall buildings.

[Max Kraus 339]

I'm not a fan at all really. Not so much the point lights but the repetitive "blobs" everywhere are a bit of a buzz kill. 

On that note, is there anything like in FSX where you can use different light textures for point lights and airport lights ie large or small star shape lighting that has more of a sparkle? The old Active Sky used to give you that ability to change these.

[honanhal 1,420]

8 hours ago, bobcat999 said:

It is subjective, but I liked it on release - I thought it was stunning and one of the first things that really stood out to me along with the sim performance.

Not saying it is bad now though, but there seemed to be more variation originally.  When they tried to get rid of the sepia masks, they kind of threw the baby out with the bath water, but they have pulled it back to being quite good since then.

Agree 100%. It's very good now, and obviously miles ahead of any previous sim. But I'd say that, in contrast to all the many areas where MSFS has moved forward in the last two years, night lighting and clouds are the two big things that were better at release.

[jcomm 5,923]

One of it's strongest point is how clouds get illuminated by city lights, the Moon, etc...

I really like night lighting in MFS, above all other sims (haven't tried AEROFLY FS4 or the latest versions of DCS World with the new clouds).

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

12 hours ago, Fiorentoni said:

I know it's different for ex-XPL users, but that's still a debate on a high level in my opinion.

Me being one of them 😄 

[odourboy 1,289]

13 hours ago, Langeveldt said:

I'd rather not be able to see distant cities at all than have these blobs

On this we'll have to agree to disagree. 

[Soulflight 97]

I noticed very different expectations in myself ever since I started using MSFS. Before, I used FSX and I was happy for every additional detail scenery gave me without getting into OOM or FPS trouble. With MSFS, i kind of got used to expect photorealism and compare the image to reality. Depending on both POVs, the night lighting in MSFS is either horrible or a huge improvement over FSX.

I think street lighting outside cities is a bit overdone, you see roads going cross-country having continouus street lights on them.  This was probably done to enable VFR flying at night but nowhere in the world it is that way (especially as of today with all the energy debate) I remember UTX having a few lights on roads and continouus lighting only on major highway intersections or within cities.

Second, yes, the yellow blob at a distance is a problem. And it could be easily solvable by not removing the light spot with distance, but the shine it creates on the ground.

But overall i think its OK and better than what i was used to.

Me being a night owl myself I think it is very hard to simulate night lighting conditions accurately in any video game, mostly because of the color spectrum of monitors being very limited compared to what the human eye can percieve.

[Farlis 2,287]

2 hours ago, Soulflight said:

This was probably done to enable VFR flying at night

I assume it has more to do with the fact that they do this stuff AI Generated and they don't have a reliable database that would know the difference between a street that has streetlights and one that doesn't. Therefore all roads are drawn with lights even if there are non in reality.

[V1ROTA7E 718]

It is pretty crazy how subjective it is. I absolutely love it, especially in VR. Was just buzzing around Baltimore doing a performance test at night, and it was incredible. The slight ground illumination, draw distance, etc. I do miss how with orbx we were able to change the size of the bulb…if I had my way, I’d make the orbs a bit smaller, otherwise I think it looks amazing.