phazer11

I'm really not in the mood for markup code... Tell you what I'll post the galleries I'm making through my image host and you guys can handle it however you think is best.

You have any suggestions for a name? Maybe Cave Comparisons? Ugh how exactly would I set the page up since I won't be adding the mod links this is just compares. I'd need to have a lengthy list of tabs (around 50). Also I'll be uploading for another hour at least.

More or less. I'll run the batch files on my vanilla textures. I haven't yet tried them. I'm still in the stone age of manual.

Then I'll just link to the galleries it's side by side at least.

Anyone have any thoughts on my question above? I messaged Zed about it. I'm afraid of the strain putting 200+ images in a post will put on the server and load times.

Yeah I'd edit it but it won't let me lol my language filter goes out the window when I'm tired. I have the first part of the compares uploaded. It'll take me a while to post it... though I'm making separate galleries for each of the compares (with the 4-5 variations per scene) and since there are over 200 of them I'm not sure if it'd just be better to post the links to the albums. They are side by side (like how you'd do it on here) in each of the galleries (and they're labeled this time)

Here are all of the compares. I will need to retake the Vanilla + Beauty of Skyrim, and both sets Hectrols 2k but everything else is there. Vanilla Vanilla + aMB 2k Vanilla + Hectrols 4k Vanilla + Snow and Rocks HD Current STEP STEP with aMB 2k STEP with Hectrols 4k STEP with The Beauty of Skyrim I will be uploading to an image host soon for the OP or side by side compares. The archives contain the unaltered .bmp whereas I'm having to compress the image host ones as I don't want to push my capacity so they'll be somewhat more blurry.

No see the problem is I take the first screenshots and saves in a vanilla profile with just the unofficial patches the dlc and skyui, borderless window etc. The when I'm testing the STEP profile the saves which don't have the mod data from the STEP profile in MO has to lod it every time I load one of my pure vanilla saves: @ tech this is what happened with the pondfish retexture thread with the messages in the top left. Damn am I responding to posts now? I pooping hate insomnia.

I'd hope they'd have the decency to let me finish my compares. I'm roughly 50% done (the part that takes the longest is naming the damn things). Though for some reason I'm having trouble getting the screenshots while in ~ tm mode which is what I'm having to do because of the verbose messages I'm getting since I go from the completely vanilla texture compares to the full on STEP texture and other mod ones. Actually I'm too tired right now (read 30-35 hours of sleep a week for the last 5 weeks) to finish the compares so all there is right now are the Vanilla and Vanilla + Mod compares and only on dropbox. Links: Vanilla Compares Vanilla + aMB 1k Compares Vanilla + aMB 2k Compares Vanilla + Snow and Rocks HD Compares Vanilla + Hectrols 2k Compares Vanilla + Hectrols 4k Compares Vanilla + The Beauty of Skyrim Compares Current STEP (with S&R) Compares I can't find the Beauty of Skyrim or the Hectrol 2k ones but they're here somewhere. I'll look sometime tomorrow (I don't know how long I'll sleep)

I'm only doing 325 compares as it's a. 5 "caves" b. a mixture of normal and frozen c. I'm doing the compares both with only HRDLC and with all STEP packages but SR (except for the SR compare). I'll do a image host compare as soon as everything is done but until then... Links: Vanilla Vanilla + aMB 1k Compares Vanilla + aMB 2k Compares Vanilla + Snow and Rocks HD Compares

From my testing the only thing I can say that is "better" about Snow and Rocks HD are the ground textures which if I'm not mistaken Cabal hasn't touched yet. I'm 33% (100 compares) of the way through my 300 compares. For those of you that wish a head start on the crap ton of compares... Vanilla HRDLC + aMB 1k (with 1k uncompressed normal)

TPC (Texture Pack Combiner) is not easy to provide help on. For any textures used in exteriors. Logs, trees, grass etc use 1k texture sizes. For interiors say caves and buildings you should be ok with 2k texture sizes. I would highly recommend NOT DDSOpting the whole folder.

Ok then so I won't optimize any of them to make it fit S.T.E.P. baseline 1k. My custom aMB pack is fine since they were files provided by Cabal through his two packs. I'll be doing 2k aMB here in a minute followed by S&R and then Beauty of Skyrim, then Hectrols. After that I will be doing a "Current STEP" a full STEP install as the guide is now. STEP + X Mod where X Mod replaces S&R (for interiors) etc. I'll probably be at this for another few hours. I should have them submitted before noon tomorrow. Friend called and wants me to edit his script so I'll finish the aMB compares and then head on over there to help him for a few hours tonight.

Yes, Kelmych you're right. My point in asking is so I can have a bit of consistency when doing my compares and to try and get this thread back on the test track since I do not feel the cave textures have been definitively compared enough to where we can say one way or another which should go in S.T.E.P. as things are right now. I will be doing aMB 1k with uncompressed normals and S&R full 1k. Also would one of the admins makes sure the no image limit is still good please? I just finished taking my Vanilla compares and there are 25 of them. (2 normal caves,1 mine and 2 frozen caves)

For The Beauty of Skyrim should we DDSOpt it to 1k from 2k? I have a custom file of aMB caves here with the 1k version diffuse and the 1k uncompressed normals from the 2k pack. Also should I do Vanilla + X Mod, then current S.T.E.P, and then S.T.E.P. with S&R removed and X Mod substituting?

If you're going to compromise at least compromise right and get a 4GB GTX 760 it's basically a GTX 670 with higher clocks and one or two blocks of CUDA cores disabled.

FTFY mate cheers and good luck with your setup.

Geez man you act like we're some wet behind the ears snot nosed brats or something. @Tech and Cabal can you both please play nice? @Cabal no one is dissing your textures in fact most of us like them. Tech is bringing up some suggestions for the ground textures that he has noticed aren't quite up to your usual standards and is only wishing to give you constructive critisism. I admit he has seemed to make quite a few back-handed compliments or at times seemed to be trashing it but I don't think anyone here thinks you or your work is bad/trashy and only want to see you improve. In fact if you look at sheer volume you have many more mods/textures as part of STEP:Core than a great majority of mod makers and this I would take as a compliment. There is no need to resort to angry posts. @Tech since I and others have likely had it with the tone of your comments could you please I don't know... wait before posting something or maybe have someone else read through it for tone as I really don't think you mean for some of your comments to be so nit picky and mean but to some of us it comes across that way and these "discussions" that you and Cabal are having aren't constructive. I admit your last two or three posts have been like night vs day in comparison to your earlier posts in a good way Anyways I'll be giving this and the other cave mods the royal treatment here soon as none of the other compares are up to my anal standards. There will be Vanilla, HRDLC, Hectrols, S&R, BoS (am I missing any?) @Zed thanks for removing the image limit that thing was a pain in my ass when I did the Pondfish Retexture compares. >V<

Anyone find some good testing locations? I seem to have lost my list over the course of filming my documentary which is quite annoying as I had a great number of locations and of course I don't remember any of them lmao.

Make an archive of the files you optimized (in a folder of course) then add that to Mod Organizer, and follow the steps Neovalen explains in the Skyrim Revisited guide for adding SKSE to get the mod info correct. Then delete your old mod from Mod Organizer (making note of it's load order position number). Then place your optimized archive in place of the old textures in your load order.

Well first off you probably shouldn't be using the Legendary Edition guide lol. I'd explain it but it would be better for me to show you and to do that I'd need to make that damn DDSOpt video I keep getting delayed on.

Ok so a lot of things I would change. Bear with me it will take a while to edit my post. Those are the mods I think are going to cause you problems. I'd need more info on your patch names to know which is for which mod. The race height mods get rid of. I'd do away with SkyTEST too sadly. Unique region names nix. Destructible bottles should be thrown into the last century by a cannon. I wouldn't use the dragon combat overhauls. I think Antz in my Pantz adds too much. Tribunal masks and robes... do you need them? Get rid of Player Headtracking. The only mod like headtracking I'd use is AutoPV. Your moon size .esp's can be gotten rid of by merging the records from the .esps into your general patch. You can free up several slots by using the combined Book Covers Skyrim .esp and using that file for the TES5Edits from Skyrim Revisited and Iroha's SkyRe add-on. Get rid of ASIS, the loading screen mods, and the ABT plugins. Also I would try to use SUM and use the merge plugin setting (I don't care if you have problems with it tinker until you get it to work) it solves alot of problems with skyproc patching. That's all I can come up with for now there's almost definitely more but... Also again this is just my personal advice you don't have to nix the mods I said however I think alot of the ones you added like ASIS and Dragon Combat Overhaul, Immersive Patrols etc. are your problems as I have not personally used them in my setups as ASIS is outdated and the others just seem like compatibility nightmares. You can wait for someone else's opinion several of the super mods have used those mods.

You can do them all in one go but if you want to resize just the normals (so you half-size them) then you need to do the search for _n as you said.

Lol wut?

Umm... I call shenanigan's. Otherwise it just goes back to my cynical world view of how the hell have humans survived this long?