Realistic Dark Night – Realistic for Euro Truck Simulator 2
Darker nights in ETS2 1.61: shadows up to 47 times darker and more stars, while headlights, streetlights and dash barely dim. 2 MB, free, optional in Convoy.
Download Realistic Dark Night – Realistic
More screenshots on Steam Workshop ↗
What this mod does
Realistic Dark Night, by junseo2709, makes Euro Truck Simulator 2 nights much darker, so driving at night truly depends on your headlights. This page covers the Realistic variant, the one the author recommends.
What it changes
- Shadowed areas up to 47 times darker and moonlit scenery 12 times darker.
- Night sky 5 times darker and distant haze 25 times darker.
- Stars and the Milky Way 1.4 times brighter; the moon stays almost the same.
- Headlights, streetlights, traffic lights and the dashboard lose little light: 1.6 times on dark roads.
- The effect kicks in at dusk and fades at dawn based on the sun’s height.
Variants
There are three intensities, Mild, Realistic and Pitch Black, published as separate items on Steam Workshop. Enable only one.
Compatibility
It’s made for 1.61; according to the author, the weather files are identical in 1.60. It only changes the sun’s night profiles in nice.sii and bad.sii, so it conflicts with other mods that replace those files, such as some winter mods: only the one higher in the list takes effect. It’s purely visual and flagged as optional in Convoy.
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It's in Documents › Euro Truck Simulator 2 › game.log.txt. It's read in your browser: the file is never uploaded.
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User rating
Highlights and things to keep in mind
- Truly dark nights without losing your truck's lights
- Only 2 MB
- Three intensities to choose from
- Incompatible with mods that change the weather nice.sii or bad.sii
- Enable only one of the three variants
- Recent mod with few ratings so far
Requirements
- Euro Truck Simulator 2 1.61 (also works on 1.60, per the author)
- Steam account
- Don't combine it with another Realistic Dark Night variant or with mods that replace def/climate/default/nice.sii or bad.sii
How to install it
- Open the "Realistic Dark Night - Realistic" page on Steam Workshop and click "Subscribe".
- Launch Euro Truck Simulator 2 and open the Mod Manager.
- Enable the mod and disable the Mild or Pitch Black variants if you have them.
- Place it above any mods that change the same weather files.
- Try it at night, away from cities, to notice the difference.
Version history
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26 Sep 2026Current
Release
Common problems
Which variant should I pick?
The author recommends Realistic; Mild is softer and Pitch Black is much darker.
Does it work with winter mods?
Not if they replace nice.sii or bad.sii: only the one higher in the list applies.
Can I use it in Convoy?
Yes, it's purely visual and flagged as optional in Convoy.
More mods for ETS2
✓ ETS2 1.61 
✓ ETS2 1.61Multiplayer 
✓ ETS2 1.61 
✓ ETS2 1.61 
✓ ETS2 1.61 
✓ ETS2 1.61Multiplayer