mooit

All I know is, running Skyrim vanilla, and letting it create the INI for the first time, then going back over the Bethini settings and putting it on High, has made an amazing difference. Now I only see slight slow fading in/out shadow movements, and no on screen flickering. Not sure what I had messed up before in the INI, I thought I was very careful when I made other adjustments. Soft Shadows was originally called Shadow Diffusion, as you may be aware of, as it Diffuses shadows, supposedly still does. Look back at the images on the home page, showing a shadow under the archway at Riverwood, showing the shadow being diffused. That Vanilla look of the shadow, when I enable Soft Shadows, mine stay exactly the same, I see no diffusion at all. The only thing I see Soft Shadows doing, is actually introducing more shadows on the map, and creating more shadow movement flicker/shimmer like the videos I posted. Soft Shadows looks really bad for some reason, and now I am using default INI settings too. I get how shadows can also look diffused in the real world, but that vanilla look at Riverwood, shadows can also look very bold and prominent too. For me personally, that diffused look, doesn't really look like much of a shadow. I personally like that vanilla look better, diffused looks to washed out. THANKS

Hmm, I thought 8000 is the max for fShadowDistance, I ran Bethini over relooking over the Wiki and setting it HIGH, and it gave me; fShadowDistance=8145.0000

With fShadowDistance=8000.0000, the look so far has been the best I've been able to achieve, then I tried Soft Shadows again, and it exacerbates the issue. There is now actually more shadow rendering like having fShadowDistance on a lower value. In the ENB Menu, when I disable and enable Soft Shadows, it doesn't diffuse or change the look of the shadows, nothing happens. The only thing the mod does, is create more shadows with more flickering shimmering like my videos. Soft Shadows doesn't work... THANKS

Hi DoubleYou, Soft Shadows didn't change anything. After posting this, I kept digging further, and I didn't consider before the fShadowDistance, I didn't think this had anything to do with the rendering/flickering I was seeing. I used Ultra settings for Bethini then made everything pretty much like the Wiki and I ended up with fShadowDistance=5000.0000 I placed it on fShadowDistance=8000.0000 Now I hardly notice any of this, it's like it's cut out 95% of this, with just slight small movements here and there, hardly noticeable. After just making up the number 8000, I then saw it mentioned here that 8000 is actually the Ultra setting. https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/Guide:SkyrimPrefs_INI/Display#fShadowDistance I guess for now, this is maybe the only solution fShadowDistance? I'll go back and install Soft Shadows and see what it does now. THANKS P.S Do you think Shadow Boost is also good to use?

Hi, I'm using SSE 1.6.353.0 1. I have gone through all of my mods in MO2 disabling a few at a time to try and track this down, nothing worked. 2. I recreated the INI with Bethini using only HIgh settings, this also didn't work. I have also followed the Wiki guide with all the same INI settings. 3. I disabled DynDOLOD, then saved the game, then disabled xLODGen, TexGen, DynDOLOD in MO2 and restarted the game, it didn't work. I have not been able to track down what is causing this, odd/rapid shifting, and flickering of light and shadows. I've made a few videos, but please be aware, for the videos, so you can see this, the camera is being moved around extremely slow. But when I am moving around in the game at normal walking or running speeds, these shifts of light are extremely distracting, popping rapidly in an out of few all over the place, just bloody driving me crazy. In this video, you will see shadow like movement going up the ramp on the left, and it also shimmers on the walls on the right too, next to the steps. In this video, the bush on the upper right, next to the walkway, you will see the ground changing, also at 20 seconds, as I'm looking at the bush, there's a shift in light out across the Tundra. Then when I face the look out on the left, the roof on the top also shifts with this shadow like effect. Next as I walk forward, at around 1:05-1:07 you can also see more flicker out in the Tundra. Next I turn towards the archway, and the roof at the bottom shimmers, then the wall on the right side in several places. What is causing all of this shimmer/flicker, I hope there is a solution to this? THANKS

Thanks

Posted by mistake... THANKS

I have done everything, exactly according to all the recommendations. I guess it just depends on the grass mod, maybe some more noticeable than others. As for the GitHub link, I have not done any Bounds Data Recalculation, as I've not seen a need for it, with the grass mods I've been using, they all seem to have object bounds ok. Everything else I've done the same. I'll keep fiddling, isn't that what most of us do anyway, mod more than game... LOL THANKS

Grass fade is disabled; bEnableGrassFade=0 I could see ever so slightly a little pop in, with your 'Grass lod with modified high DynDOLOD preset' video, but it was really hard to see, compared to what I actually see in game, which is quite dramatic. I can't remember how the FadeDistance works, I assumed the greater the number with the fade would be better, than using 6144? THANKS

I've been using and playing with all of those, doesn't help. Grass pop in is extremly noticeable, I get close and POW, just pops in, and I could of sworn in the past, when I was playing at another time with this, I was able to get it to fade in slower somehow. This really kills the immersion, looks really bad... I would greatly appreciate it, if a couple of members could post videos, so I can see it from the perspective of two different setups, what this looks like for comparision. THANKS P.S. Iv'e been playing with these, reading the MinStart works better with like 4000, not sure though, and what if the values were the same for Max & Min? Skyrim.ini fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=6144.0000 fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=? SkyrimPrefs.ini fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=6144.0000 fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=? fGrassStartFadeDistance=6144.0000

I installed Cathedral Landscapes again, since I noticed there was an update for object bounds, and it's also my understanding that Cathedral Landscapes is suppose to do better with pop in. But, I still see the grass popping into view, which I thought you can make it slowly fade into view and not be so noticeable? What are all the INI settings, and other choices/options to try and make this better? Even the Description says; with complementary landscape and terrain LOD to eliminate grass pop-in. I'm using LODGEN Textures for v3, it does not elminate grass pop in. hmm

If it comes to mind, please let me know. THANKS

Correct as an example to try? GrassBillboard=3 or 5 GrassGlowMap=25 GrassBacklightMask=25 THANKS

Ok... What I meant to say, is I only see this with one piece of this grass, the one in the screen shot at Riverwood, none of the other grass spread around the area does this, and I was just trying to understand why it's only happening with one. Also, if this is normal for any object on the ground, rocks, foliage, etc., I've only seen this a few times in SSE, so, it's not like everything clips/culled when I'm close to it. With all the running around in the game, and all the objects I've been right next to, I've only seen this like 3 times in the game. hmm THANKS

Ok, I just assumed, that meant, all this grass would do the same thing. So is just some engine issue, where some might be culled/clipped and others aren't? THANKS

Ok GrassBillboard=3 or 5... I'm still confused how to apply/change certain things. To me a semicolon means you can also use options in computing and uncomment them. So, these two are only explaining the differences betwen 0 & 100? ; 0 = keep texture defined in billboard NIF ; 100 = textures\white.dds And then for these two, I make them any value between 0 - 100? GrassGlowMap=0 GrassBacklightMask=0 THANKS

Ok, so besides TexGen Direct/Ambient, just play with these 2 if non-cg? GrassGlowMap=0 GrassBacklightMask=0 And, if ComplexGrassBacklightMask=25, is 25 also a good starting point with GrassBacklightMask=25? THANKS

Ok on Z... So at Riverwood, there is a field of these bushes, at 20, several would disappear when I moved the camera. Now I changed it to 15 and all of them are ok, except one still disappears. What would cause only one to still disappear? hmm THANKS

I was changing it from 15.0000 to help with Z-Fighting, if that is still an issue. I have it set to this; fNearDistance=20.0000 I'll put it back to 15 and see if helps. THANKS

Ok on the descriptions... I had some other questions I was asking in that last post, if you could please be so kind, with trying to match colors with Texgen Direct/Ambient... Also, even though I have the colors right now matched somewhat ok, it's the fact that the distance view of grass POPS into view, not slowing fading in. I thought with the fade options, you can make it subtly fade into view, not just pop? For the fade I have these settings; Skyrim.ini fGrassFadeRange=14128 SkyrimPrefs.ini [Grass] fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=6144.0000 fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000 fGrassStartFadeDistance=6144.0000 THANKS

Hi, I'm running SSE 1.6.353.0 With Tamrielic Grass the snow grass tg_snow_bush01, I just noticed over at Riverwood, if I am standing near them, and move the camera just a small amount, left or right, some of them disappear, then I move the camera back and it reappears. I read online that this is an engine issue, and happens in unmodded SSE too. I'm not sure if this is the truth here, why I am seeing, just a limitation. So do I need to make sure Object and Grass fade are at their max, if so, I forgot what INI settings these are, or could this be something else? I'm using the grass with Tamrielic Textures SE 1 - Landscapes, I also have Skyrim 202X, and some other flora mods, but Tamrielic Grass has the highest priority over everything else. THANKS Here's a screen shot standing next to one, red arrows pointing at it. Now I move the camera slightly to the left and it's gone.

I forgot to ask, anything commented out ; like the ; alt1 = without backlighting ; alt2 = with backlighting If I want to use either of these alt, I need to uncomment them? Wasn't sure if they are simply just auto assigned... When it comes to the TexGen Direct Ambient, overall, I'm not sure between the two, the best way to adjust between them to make grass match the best in all hours/weather etc... Like I know Direct is always higher than Ambient, of course the weather, grass and enb, all I'm assuming come into play. So with PI-CHO ENB, Tamrielic Grass (No CG), Azurite Weathers, I'm getting ready to test in TexGen; 50 Direct 15 Ambient. One of the most difficult challenges I've been trying to overcome, is when it's either crack of dawn, early morning, or later in the day, 5pm-7pm, the distance grass is always a lot darker, the realism/ambience of this just throws the look off, because in real life, I've never noticed grass out in the distance to have such a variation like this. So maybe this is just a limitation of things, or there is a way to keep the colors more consistent in the distance regardless of time of day or weather? hmm ;/ Here's a screen shot 6am at Whiterun, now is this an accurate representation of the distance/near colors, matching? It just seems like the distance shouldn't be so dark, if correctly matched? THANKS!

Ok 0.500 I was also asking for NGIO; ExtendGrassDistance = True or False? I was only asking before about the grass LOD brightness multipliers and now I just see only these two sections below. I'm not using Complex Grass, GrassBillboard6=Internal is the only change I make for non-CG settings? I see these changes I highlighted, I'm assuming are the new changes you were talking about? ; Billboard templates to use for grass LOD done in static object LOD ; alt1 = without backlighting ; alt2 = with backlighting GrassBillboard1=Internal GrassBillboard2=DynDOLOD_flat_2x2alt1_lod.nif GrassBillboard3=DynDOLOD_flat_2x2alt2_lod.nif GrassBillboard4=DynDOLOD_flat_4x2alt1_lod.nif GrassBillboard5=DynDOLOD_flat_4x2alt2_lod.nif GrassBillboard6=Internal ; Billboard template to use for grass LOD billboards created from "normal" grass without normal map textures ; 1 -> Billboard1, 2 -> Billboard2, 3 -> Billboard3 etc. GrassBillboard=1 ; Billboard template to use for grass LOD billboards created from "complex" grass with normal map textures ; 1 -> Billboard1, 2 -> Billboard2, 3 -> Billboard3 etc. ComplexGrassBillboard=5 ; DEFAULT=4 ; glowmap and backlighting mask textures replacements if corresponding texture slot is set by used grass billboard NIF ; 0 = keep texture defined in billboard NIF ; 100 = textures\white.dds ; other values generate and use a 4x4 pixel grayscale texture with RGB = 255 * value / 100 GrassGlowMap=0 GrassBacklightMask=0 ComplexGrassGlowMap=0 ComplexGrassBacklightMask=25 ; DEFAULT=0 If I'm not using ComplexGrass, what about changing these settings? GrassGlowMap=0 GrassBacklightMask=0 THANKS

'grass LOD brightness multipliers' is not mentioned in the sticky you posted. For now I just left them on their default settings, because I was looking around before, trying to see if there had been any changes I should make different from before. Before I used 0.500, not sure I remember where I saw the 1.0. So 0.5.00 from here is still good to use on all of them? https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/SkyrimSE:Grass_LOD_Guide GrassBrightnessTopR=0.400 GrassBrightnessTopG=0.445 GrassBrightnessTopB=0.450 ; make bottom darker to fake shadowing GrassBrightnessBottomR=0.200 GrassBrightnessBottomG=0.223 GrassBrightnessBottomB=0.225 I'm using the default grass load distances via the INI as indicated in the Step SSE guide. Another thing, that grass guide has for NGIO; ExtendGrassDistance = True and False shown which I assumed True was better on a higher end system? If I use True, does it really take a big hit, also, I thought this helped with the render distance? THANKS

Well... I'm using PI-CHO ENB, Cathedral Weathers, Tamrielic Grass without Complex Grass for it, TexGen Direct 100 Ambient 10 for the settings at the moment. Using different ENB in the past and Cathedral Landscapes, I'd see the same thing, grass popin at short distances too. I've tried probably 6 different grass and enb mods and various TexGen direct/ambient settings, and I still see this, I've never been able to change this, if anything, just make it less noticeable is all. The only way I've made it less noticeable in the past, is playing with the fade settings is all. hmm The last I remember with DynDOLOD grass settings were these, not sure if they are still the same? ; grass LOD brightness multipliers - applied to grass LOD billboards created from "normal" grass without normal map textures GrassBrightnessTopR=1.0 GrassBrightnessTopG=1.0 GrassBrightnessTopB=1.0 ; make bottom darker to fake shadowing GrassBrightnessBottomR=1.0 GrassBrightnessBottomG=1.0 GrassBrightnessBottomB=1.0 ; complex grass LOD brightness multipliers - applied to grass LOD billboards created from "complex" grass with normal map textures ComplexGrassBrightnessTopR=0.500 ComplexGrassBrightnessTopR=0.500 ComplexGrassBrightnessTopR=0.500 ; make bottom darker to fake shadowing ComplexGrassBrightnessTopR=0.500 ComplexGrassBrightnessTopR=0.500 ComplexGrassBrightnessTopR=0.500