DoubleYou

That's a totally different version, so I would recommend waiting to see how this plays out and skip it for now.

I think it is worth noting that this mod is incompatible with ENB, as it makes the shrines transparent. This is a known bug mentioned in the bugs tab of the mod.

Timing is Everything modifies the timing of these types of quests. Perhaps you don't meet its timing requirements, but because of Mod conflicts, still was able to access some of the dialog relating to the quests?

Does MO switch to letters after 9? If so, you're at 249 plugins, which is close, but still under 255. You haven't modified the amount of plugins during the playthrough at all?

BethINI doesn't touch Creation Club files, but I think I have a toggle for it under Interface.

Your load order indicates 467 line items. Please verify that you have not gone over the limit for esp plugins. You can easily find this out in Mod Organizer. Look at the Mod Index. If it has FE in front of it, it is an ESL/ESPL file, which will be fine as long as you don't have over 4096 of them. If it doesn't, look at the last one in your load order. Anything higher than 15E is over the limit. If you go over the limit, it will definitely cause weird bugs like this, because you will be overwriting records from Skyrim.esm.

Easy way to check if the INI files are causing Skyrim not to load is to generate them from scratch. 1. Move Skyrim.ini and Skyrim Prefs.ini to your desktop or some other safe location. 2. Run Skyrim through Steam (not by SKSE). 3. The Launcher should assign a preset. Click play. If that doesn't work, it's probably something else, such as a plugin enabled without its master. If that does work, pastebin the ini files so I can see what is wrong with them.

I think I remember that it could cause things to clip? Not sure, as I use Flawless Widescreen to fix the FOV

More values for this setting need tested, but I like 2800 as a reasonable distance.

I have been using it in my current playthrough without issues.

It can definitely run it, but what resolution is your TV? And what fps expectations do you have? One can always improve upon fps by lowering ini settings. But then, you will likely find that the tradeoff between performance and quality when adding an ENB may be too high. I ran with a 4690k and a r9 380x (which is weaker than your 1060) with full STEP and a Cathedralist's ENB (very lightweight) on roughly medium INIs at 2560x1080 resolution with fps dipping down as low as 24fps.

Yes, it definitely could be. AMD drivers suck. I think I am definitely going NVIDIA next time, which I think is fast approaching.

It seems that bDisableShadowJumps=0 can sometimes cause blinking shadows. The funny thing is that restarting the computer will fix it on my system, but if I don't, setting bDisableShadowJumps=1 will fix it.

I don't think it is useful for anything. It caused the game to freeze on one of my tests, and I had to force close it.

I updated the Tree Shadows Compare. The interesting thing I see is that it seems to only affect the smaller trees. Perhaps that's the reason behind all the other tree shadow settings. bTreesReceiveShadows=1 bTreesReceiveShadows=0

Default value for uiCompression is 2. Why would you change this? Edit: Nevermind. I see now.

iShadowMaskQuarter actually works in SSE. However, changing it only produces bugs. Here is an example of iShadowMaskQuarter=2 so that you get an idea of what it is doing. Basically, by halving the value, it removes a quarter of the shadow mask. In order to have all 4 quarters of the shadow mask, you need to set it to 4. Setting it higher or lower produces game-breaking bugs.

bDrawLandShadows and bTreesReceiveShadows should definitely be left at 1 (enabled). The shots are marked in the correct order, so I'm not sure how you seem to like the off versions better. iEnableShadowCastingFlag is rather a mystery to me. It seems like it disabled volumetric lighting (Godrays) by setting it to 0, but it also altered the shadows from simply disabling Godrays, so I really need to test more scenarios to figure out what is going on there. iNumSplits=3 definitely looks better to me. I will be testing it on my playthrough and see if I run into any bugs. This is the most promising tweak for shadows that I have seen so far. fShadowClampValue appears to be affecting shadowing only on grass. Lower values cause darker shadowing on the grass, whereas higher values seem to brighten the shadows to the point of removing them altogether. I doubt that it improves performance, however. The default value of 0.3 is probably best, but it may be useful for weather authors who have trouble with too bright grass.

This is why it is "recommended" but not a part of general "Recommended Tweaks" or presets in BethINI. This issue is only an issue if you notice it, and should be left up to the user if they find it problematic.

Fixed.

Shadow Optimization for SSE The goal of this thread is to discover the best vanilla shadow settings for SSE. Sun-Shadow Transitions Skyrim.ini [Display] bDisableShadowJumps=1 fSunShadowUpdateTime=1.0000 fSunStaticTimeUpdateScale=0.1000 fSunUpdateThreshold=0.5000These settings control sun-shadow movement. SSE modified shadows so that they move constantly with the movement of the sun by default (bDisableShadowJumps=1), in which case fSunShadowUpdateTime and fSunUpdateThreshold are ignored. This can cause constant shadow flickering at places, so many users find it best to go back to the Oldrim method by setting bDisableShadowJumps=0 and utilizing the fSunShadowUpdateTime and fSunUpdateThreshold to modify how often the shadows update in relation to the sun. However, setting bDisableShadowJumps to 0 may cause blinking shadows, so it is recommended to leave it at its default of 1 if you experience blinking shadows. fSunShadowUpdateTime sets the speed of sun-shadow transitions in seconds when bDisableShadowJumps=0. It is recommended to be adjusted to minimize the transitions.fSunStaticTimeUpdateScale sets the amount of time in seconds that passes between updating the shadows with the sun when bDisableShadowJumps=1. There is no transition using this method.fSunUpdateThreshold sets the time between sun-shadow transitions when bDisableShadowJumps=0. A value of 0.05 is equal to 1 second, so a value of 1 equals 20 seconds. Increasing this also increases the distance the shadows will move during the transition. It is recommended to be adjusted to minimize the transitions.Current recommendation: Skyrim.ini [Display] bDisableShadowJumps=1 fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.25 fSunStaticTimeUpdateScale=0.1000 fSunUpdateThreshold=1.5Shadow Bias Skyrim.ini [Display] fShadowDirectionalBiasScale=0.3fShadowDirectionalBiasScale sets the directional bias of the shadows applied to surfaces.Low values reduce peter-panning (detached shadows), but cause more shadow acne (AKA shadow striping). Please note that while fShadowBiasScale does exist in the INI files, it does not appear to work, and is presumed to be a leftover from Oldrim.Current recommendation: Skyrim.ini [Display] fShadowDirectionalBiasScale=0.47Land Shadows SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] bDrawLandShadows=0bDrawLandShadows toggles the ability of land objects such as rocks and mountains to cast shadows.bDrawLandShadows=0 bDrawLandShadows=1 Current recommendation: SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] bDrawLandShadows=1Tree Shadows SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] bTreesReceiveShadows=1bTreesReceiveShadows toggles the ability of trees to cast shadows on themselves.bTreesReceiveShadows=1 bTreesReceiveShadows=0 Current recommendation: SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] bTreesReceiveShadows=1Interior Shadow Draw Distance SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] fInteriorShadowDistance=3000fInteriorShadowDistance sets the distance that shadows are cast from the player while indoors. In Oldrim, and presumably also in SSE, increasing this greatly increased the likelihood of seeing blinking lights, so it is recommended to be left at its default value.Current recommendation: SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] fInteriorShadowDistance=3000Exterior Shadow Draw Distance SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] fShadowDistance=8000fShadowDistance sets the distance that shadows are cast from the player outdoors. Increasing this decreases the relative resolution of shadows. Increasing this has a small performance cost.fShadowDistance=8000 fShadowDistance=2800 Current recommendation: Reasoning for recommendation: 1 cell is 4096 units. 2 cells is 8192 units. 2 cells seems far enough. SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] fShadowDistance=8192Detailed Shadow Draw Distance Skyrim.ini [Display] fFirstSliceDistance=1250fFirstSliceDistance sets the distance that full resolution shadows are cast from the player. You can sometimes visibly see the line where the detailed shadows (fFirstSliceDistance) stop and the lower resolution shadows (fShadowDistance) begins. I believe this value is used only in exteriors. Increasing this does not lower the relative resolution of shadows like fShadowDistance does. Increasing it has a small performance cost.fFirstSliceDistance=2800 fFirstSliceDistance=0 Current recommendation: Reasoning for recommendation: 1 cell is 4096 units. Hypotenuse of cell is 4096√2 ≈ 5,792.6188 1/2 of that is about 2896 Skyrim.ini [Display] fFirstSliceDistance=2896Shadow Splits SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] iNumSplits=2iNumSplits sets the number of shadow splits. Acceptable values appear to be 2 or 3. More experimentation with iNumSplits=3 is warranted. Setting this to 0 or lower crashes the game. A setting of 1 is buggy. 4 is buggy. It may prove in future that iNumSplits=3 is the superior value, as initial testing indicated that it vastly improved shadows. However, in-game testing reveals that it seems to cause issues in some areas, showing a shadow render line more often. Therefore, it is recommended to leave it at 2 unless this issue can be solved.iNumSplits=2 iNumSplits=3 Current recommendation: SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] iNumSplits=2Shadow Resolution SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] iShadowMapResolution=2048iShadowMapResolution sets the resolution of shadows. This value controls virtually the entire performance impact of shadows.Current recommendation: SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] iShadowMapResolution=2048 Settings to Be Tested The following shadow settings (or presumed shadow settings -- some might not do anything to shadows at all) are relatively unknown and need to be tested to determine exactly what they control and how they can be usefully modified: Skyrim.ini [Display] bCreateShadowRenderTarget=0 bDirShadowMapFullViewPort=1 bDisableHighTreeShadow=1 fExponentialShadowMapScale=10.0000 fLoadingMenuShadowBias=30.6400 fLoadingMenuShadowFallOff=0.0000 fMaxFocusShadowMapDistance=450.0000 fMaxHeightShadowCastingTrees=5000.0000 fShadowClampValue=0.3000 fShadowSparkleIntensity=0.2500 iEnableShadowCastingFlag=2 iLoadingMenuShadowLightFlags=1fShadowSparkleIntensity propably modifies the intensity of snow sparkles in shadowed areas.fShadowClampValue=0.3 fShadowClampValue=3 fShadowClampValue=-100 iEnableShadowCastingFlag=2 iEnableShadowCastingFlag=0 SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] ffocusShadowMapDoubleEveryXUnit=450.0000 iNumFocusShadow=4Unused/Broken Settings The following shadow settings are believed to be unused or broken: Skyrim.ini [Display] bActorSelfShadowing=0 bShadowsOnGrass=1 fShadowBiasScale=1.0000bActorSelfShadowing is leftover from previous games and did not work in Oldrim.bShadowsOnGrass toggled the ability of shadows to be cast upon grass in Oldrim, but disabling it appears to break grass entirely in SSE.fShadowBiasScale set the shadow bias in Oldrim, but appears to have been replaced by fShadowDirectionalBiasScale in SSE.SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] iShadowMaskQuarter=4iShadowMaskQuarter actually works in SSE. However, changing it only produces bugs. Here is an example of iShadowMaskQuarter=2 so that you get an idea of what it is doing. Basically, by halving the value, it removes a quarter of the shadow mask. In order to have all 4 quarters of the shadow mask, you need to set it to 4. Setting it higher or lower produces game-breaking bugs.iShadowMaskQuarter=2 Current Recommendations Skyrim.ini [Display] bDisableShadowJumps=1 fFirstSliceDistance=2896 fShadowDirectionalBiasScale=0.47 fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.25 fSunStaticTimeUpdateScale=0.1000 fSunUpdateThreshold=1.5 SkyrimPrefs.ini [Display] bDrawLandShadows=1 bTreesReceiveShadows=1 fInteriorShadowDistance=3000 fShadowDistance=8192 iNumSplits=2 iShadowMapResolution=2048

Honestly I think this is the intended look after playing awhile with Cathedral Landscapes (hadn't used it earlier).

I have updated this guide to provide descriptions for almost every INI setting. Everything else I haven't sufficiently tested yet.

I have. I was super powerful, and my blocking was the only thing I had need of leveling up, so I stood there with a shield and leveled up a few times during the "fight." 😜

You know, where you actually complete all the quests in the game, battle the Ebony Warrior, and try to find all the little quests just to make sure you got them all... 😂