HomeFeaturesMicrosoft Flight Simulator

Best Microsoft Flight Simulator modsPriceless air looms

Priceless air looms

I’ve already taken a small look at what thecommunity has made, which spurred me on. The game is so new that there’s no single place to find add-ons. Generally,Flightsim.tois a good place to grab things from, as it does its best to talk to the mod authors about how they want their mods presented. But even it will send you elsewhere to grab some downloads, as per the author’s request. If the mods just have download links I’ve done my best to provide some context and information about where to find any potential updates.

One thing I won’t be listing is anything that removes the giant monoliths that dot the world. I want to make the map more interesting, not less. Chock’s away!

How to mod Microsoft Flight Simulator

You need to find your main game folder and the “community folder” within that. There are many places to download the game from, and each seems to place the main folder in a different location. As long as you know where you put it, you’ll be able to find the community folder. This video will help if you struggle.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Cover image for YouTube video

When you download file, you place the mod’s main folder in the community folder. That’s really all there is to it.

There’s a mod manager that should help you add and remove any files. It was made for DCS, but the author has updated it for Flight Sim. Download it fromhereand extract it wherever you want. After you point the program to your “community” folder, you can use it to add or delete any mods you want.

A screenshot of Mod Manager X. It shows a program window with highlighted mods that can be installed and deleted by the user

The manager only works with new mods. It won’t work with previously placed folders, but all you need to do is move them out of the community folder and you’ll be able to start again.

Best Microsoft Flight Simulator mods

Scotland’s capital didn’t fare terribly well in the transition to Flight Sim. The city of castles and monuments is filled with generic lumps. Do you know what they have spanning the River Forth? A sunken road.

Captain “SirLeinad4” has been speedily swapping out those basic bridges with fabulous facsimiles from, ahem, Google Maps. The current list also includes the likes of Murrayfield Stadium, the Scott Monument, and Holyroodhouse, and would make for an excellent little tour if you’re up for it.

A Microsoft Flight Simulator showing the three bridges across Scotland’s River Forth

Download Edinburgh Scenery Pack

Not every city in Flight Sim has been rendered photogrammetrically. Lyon wasn’t, so “robin00795” ripped and converted the whole city for anyone who wants to see the Cathedral Saint Jean Baptiste or the offices of Dishonoured developers Arkane. This FPS chewing beast is only suited to a powerful PC, but those with the CPU cycles can enjoy the urban sprawl.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Cover image for YouTube video

Download Lyon

Buffalo is another city where the buildings were swapped out for shifty-looking alternatives. Until now, you’d have been wasting your time if you went looking for the McKinley Monument or the Statler Tower. But with this mod? Eyyyyyyyyyy!

A Microsoft Flight Simulator screenshot. It shows the city of Buffalo, New York. The mod has added accurate buildings to the game

Download Buffalo NY Skyline Pack

Iceland’s terrain bugs have turned the dramatic scenery into a bit of a lumpy oddity. That’s why “baddweapon” has taken on the task of overhauling the island with obsessive zeal. This is the sort of thing you can expect: “I used a map of Iceland’s forested areas as a guide on where trees should and shouldn’t be.”

Reykjavík Cathedral, Harpa concert hall, Brautarholtskirkja, and theDC-3 plane wreckare in this download. It’s not been uploaded to a handy site, so I’ll be linking to the Reddit post with the download link. I’d keep tabs on baddweapon’sReddit accountif you want to know when the next update is.

A Microsoft Flight Simulator screenshot showing a single wooden church in Iceland

Download Iceland Overhaul

A Microsoft Flight Simulator. A plane is flying over Stonehenge during the solstice.

Download Stonehenge

I love it when modders get specific. “Timhuckle” found the Cheshire landscape missing one crucial element: the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank. With this, you can restore the 50-year-old landmark AND scan the heavens for meteors and other planets.

A top-down Microsoft Flight Simulator screenshot. A plane flies over a radio telescope, settled into the English countryside

Download The Lovell Telescope

A Microsoft Flight Simulator screenshot. A small plane flies over the Alaskan landscape. A flat river runs between two mountains.

Download Alaska Water Height Fix

A Microsoft Flight Simulator screenshot. A plane flies over Bergen in Norway. Below is a small city with a lot of lakes and rivers

Download Fixed Bergen Scenery

You can fix, flatten, and tweak every broken corner of the globe, but you can also have fun if you choose to take your simming with a hint of satire. “GhostofSatan” crafted a San Francisco skyline dominating Godzilla model. It’s a bit plasticy close-up, but having it on the skyline has made it my game of the year.

A Microsoft Flight Simulator screenshot. It shows the San Francisco skyline, with a large, sky-scraper sized Godzilla statue in the middle of them.

Download Godzilla

You can replace more than the buildings and monuments. “Eggman28’s” simple model swap will let you drop in an X-Wing, a Tie Fighter, and the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars into the game, though they will fly around like regular aircraft, and you can only use one at a time. To make things a bit more Lucasy, you can add a Star Destroyer to Sydney Harbour as well. I’ve linked to their Itch.io page below, where you can find all the downloads.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Cover image for YouTube video

Download Star Wars Addons

Here’s what it looks like.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Cover image for YouTube video

The mega pack has a discord server, so the best place to find the most updated versionis there. The link below goes straight to version 8.

Download MSFS Liveries Mega Pack Version 8

This is something I dearly needed—a more straightforward VFR map. I’m not quite good enough to rely on the in-game VFR map. I need more detail, and that’s where VFRMap helps out.

Download it and load the game. When you run the app and open a browser window tohttp://localhost:9000/, it will show you where you are, your speed, and altitude, but in a browser window and with OpenStreetMap providing the overview. For me, it’s an absolute must-have. I can’t parse the blue and green in-game map all that well, but with this, I know exactly where I am. You can even use it to drag and drop your plane elsewhere on the globe. It’s the training wheels I need.

A screenshot of VFRMap. The addon shows an Open Street Map image with a plane icon overlaid