Fix melted photogrammetry in MSFS by diagnosing streaming, cache and LOD problems, and learn when poor source data is the real limit.
Photogrammetry looks melted when Microsoft Flight Simulator is showing imperfect source geometry, a lower streamed level of detail, or stale cached data. Enable online scenery and photogrammetry, check your connection and data limit, rebuild the rolling cache, then tune Terrain LOD. If one area stays distorted, no graphics setting can repair its source model.
Why does MSFS photogrammetry look melted?
The melted effect usually comes from either the original 3D reconstruction or the way Microsoft Flight Simulator is streaming and displaying it.
Photogrammetry converts aerial photographs into textured geometry. Roofs and roads photographed from above can look convincing, but obscured walls, vegetation, narrow structures and bridge openings must be reconstructed from incomplete information. This produces lumpy trees, rounded rooflines, stretched textures and solid-looking bridges, especially when viewed close to the ground. Our explanation of how streamed photogrammetry is constructed and delivered covers the underlying process.
Source quality also varies between cities and neighbourhoods. Capture resolution, shadows, trees, moving vehicles and the age of the imagery all affect the resulting model. A building that has been replaced since the aerial survey may simply be out of date.
How can I tell whether it is the source data or streaming?
A repeatable defect confined to the same building or block is usually baked into the source, while widespread softness, slow refinement or missing cities points to streaming, cache or settings.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The same roof, tree or bridge is malformed after every reload | Imperfect source photogrammetry | Accept it, disable photogrammetry for that flight, or use compatible replacement scenery |
| Buildings start as blobs and sharpen after several seconds | Data is still streaming or loading from cache | Check bandwidth, remove data limits and test the rolling cache |
| An entire supported city appears as generic buildings | Photogrammetry is disabled, unavailable or failing to download | Check the online-data settings and connection |
| Building shapes are correct but every texture looks soft | Low render scale, aggressive upscaling or graphics settings | Test at native render resolution and review texture settings |
| The problem appeared after installing scenery | Conflicting or duplicated add-on coverage | Disable the add-on and retest the same location |
If whole cities are reverting to generic buildings rather than merely looking rough, follow our checks for online scenery that fails to load.
How to improve poor photogrammetry in Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Confirm that the area has photogrammetry. Not every location uses scanned 3D scenery. Areas outside supported coverage use procedural buildings, so changing Terrain LOD will not add photogrammetry where none exists.
- Enable the online scenery options. In the simulator's data or online settings, look for Online Functionality, Bing world data and Photogrammetry. The wording and menu location differ between Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024. Multiplayer does not have to be enabled.
- Check the data allowance and connection. Make sure the simulator has not reached a configured data limit. Pause large downloads, avoid heavily congested wireless connections and test without network filtering or a VPN. More bandwidth can deliver higher-detail data sooner, but it cannot improve a malformed source model.
- Rebuild the rolling cache. Use the simulator's data settings to delete the existing rolling cache, restart the simulator and create a fresh cache if you want to use one. The first revisit may initially look worse while the area downloads again. With a fast, uncapped connection, temporarily leaving the cache disabled is also a useful diagnostic test.
- Increase Terrain LOD carefully. Terrain LOD controls how far higher-detail terrain and photogrammetry remain visible. Raise it in small steps and watch CPU performance and stutters; our Terrain LOD tuning guidance explains the trade-off. It improves distance and transitions, not defective geometry.
- Test without third-party scenery. On PC, move add-on packages temporarily out of the
Communityfolder. On consoles, disable optional scenery through the simulator's content management controls. Two products covering the same location can cause duplicated buildings, elevation steps or broken exclusions. - Reload and compare the same view. Use the same location, altitude and camera distance after each change. Randomly testing different cities makes source-quality differences look like a settings problem.
Which graphics settings affect photogrammetry quality?
Terrain LOD and render resolution have the largest visible effect, but neither can reconstruct detail missing from the streamed model.
- Terrain LOD: affects detail distance and the point at which lower-detail terrain or photogrammetry appears.
- Object LOD: mainly affects separate buildings, trees, airport objects and other placed models; it is not a direct repair for the underlying photogrammetry mesh.
- Render scale or resolution: low values make textures and edges look soft. On PC, native resolution is a useful troubleshooting baseline before re-enabling an upscaler.
- Texture quality and filtering: can improve surface clarity when hardware permits, but will not straighten melted roofs or open a blocked bridge.
If the geometry is correctly shaped but the whole scene is hazy or low-resolution, use our broader troubleshooting sequence for blurry MSFS scenery instead.
Should I turn photogrammetry off?
Turning photogrammetry off is often the best choice when one region has poor source data or the connection cannot stream it reliably.
Procedural buildings usually have cleaner walls and sharper rooflines, although they will not match the real city as closely. Disabling photogrammetry can also reduce bandwidth use and may improve consistency on hardware struggling with dense urban scenery.
- Keep it enabled for recognisable skylines, sightseeing and areas with good source coverage.
- Disable it for low-level flying where malformed geometry is distracting.
- Turn it off temporarily when diagnosing bandwidth, cache or add-on conflicts.
Can add-on scenery replace bad photogrammetry?
A compatible handcrafted city or airport can replace or mask poor photogrammetry, but only if it includes the necessary exclusions. Avoid stacking several scenery packages over the same area, and check whether an add-on expects default photogrammetry to be enabled or disabled. If the defect remains with all add-ons removed and a fresh stream, it is almost certainly part of the source data.