Kelmych

Right, I didn't mean that anyone should change the instructions that Z prepared for optimizing the HR DLC and Skyrim Textures optimization. I was discussing the general case.

I optimize the vanilla textures and make a new BSA for them; I haven't done any detailed comparisons before and after. Personally I like to keep the size of the texture pack sets from being too large so I don't combine the HR DLC (with fixes/tweaks) into one file (I have one archived set of loose files using 7zip for each of the HR DLC) and I break the optimized TPC into two archive files with the loose textures. Whenever you uninstall a texture pack that overwrites one or more HR DLC or TPC files (e.g., the 2 Yuril gold rings file in STEP), WB has to go through the archived file to find and install the textures that are no longer being overwritten. This doesn't happen quickly, and having smaller archives helps a little. DDSopt will simply copy any non-texture files that it finds if you use the standard configuration parameters in the STEP guidance, so you can run it on an entire folder containing text, meshes, textures, etc.

I'm using the updated iHud since it fixed the main problems it had and no longer interferes with the colored map markers I use with the compass. Are you using the recently updated version?

I used Zs instructions and batch file when I optimized the HRDLC. I'm surprised by the author's comment since the mod description says it should be incorporated into the fix file.

This mod has been renamed Skyrim Weapon De-LARP-ification Project , and now also includes Dawnguard support.

Midas Magic was one of the most popular magic mods for Oblivion; it had had a set of quests that added a lot of Oblivion. In Skyrim it is just spells, but they are different than what the other magic mods add so it is typically compatible with other magic mods. I prefer Mighty Magic to Empowered Magic based on the authors goals and approach; both of these change the perks and are not compatible with each other. For example, I like the way Mighty Magic added Fortify spells, limits the ability to do Uber enchanting, has potions affect the cost but not magnitude of spells, and moves more spells to the Illusion category. Skyrim Illusion spells IMO seem very limited compared with previous games, and I still haven't seen a magic mod that does enough to fix this although some of the mods have improved it somewhat.

I play a magic user and I use 4 different mods (Midas Magic, Mighty Magic, Apocalypse, Revenge of Colette) to get a more extensive set of spells and behaviors. I have noticed that it is harder in Skyrim for a magic user to be involved in melee combat than it was in Oblivion, and there are very few magic spells even in the 4 mods I use that help with this.

It seems to me that the DLC section of Wiki STEP Installation Guide needs a little update. In the high VRAM case it mentions the HD Textures DLC fix, but doesn't mention the HighResTexturePack DLC Tweaks that should be applied after the HD Textures DLC fix as Z described in an earlier post in this DDSopt thread.

The DLC section of the STEP Installation Guide on the Wiki describes the steps (and files used) depending on how much VRAM you have in your graphics card; the files used aren't the same for all situations. You don't have to have the High res DLC in an ini tweak as Korentin mentions. In the future if you want to go further you can use a texture optimizer like DDSopt to optimize the High Res DLC textures as described on the Wiki; if you do so you can then load these textures as loose files.

It seems like another essential Arthmoor mod to provide something that Bethesda should have included in Skyrim. Since Everyone Get Inside was never completed this new mod will be very helpful. Deadly Dragons has a batch file that changes some NPCs to essential, but that's only a partial solution while this addresses the fundamental problem. Hopefully Arthmoor or someone else makes a similar mod for Vampire attacks with Dawnguard.

What would we need to do to be able to include a pointer to the latest version in the STEP Wiki?

Some of the armor mods are specific to a particular body such as UNP or CBBE; there are some reasonable replacer armors for both of these. There has been some discussion of Immersive Armors in these forums.

If you keep the Bethesda vanilla and HR texture files as loose files in a .7z archive then the installer (e.g., Wrye Bash) installs the textures as loose files in the Texture directory in Data. These particular collections of textures will be overwritten a lot, of course, with all the higher quality textures that STEP installs. Which ends up being more (or less) compute and memory efficient in the TESV executable: - dealing with three BSA files containing the vanilla and HR textures, or - having a larger set of loose files in Data\Textures that includes all the textures from the BSAs? My impression from some Bethesda forum discussions is that Bethesda considers the BSAs to be more efficient at least when only a small percentage files in the BSAs are not overwritten by loose files.

WHen D3DOverrider is enabled the game crashes partway into the loading cycle. I tried several combinations of .ini preferences and AMD Application Profile settings but I didn't find a combination that worked.

Besidilo, how did you configure the Skyrim and Catalyst Control Center configuration files so you could use D3DOverrider? I get a CTD during loading when I try to use it with my AMD 7850.

If you click the ? icon on the bottom of Wrye Bash, there is a detailed description in one the the menu items of what the colors indicate. A yellow box usually just means that a resource, such as the file you mentioned, overwrote one or more resources from Water. It is a normal occurrence.

He also posted a loose files version but it is still in the Nexus version of limbo.

Spiffyman: Thought you might be interested that Emma is porting Vilja to Skyrim and Sulteric Drums is porting Underdark, or at least significant parts of it including Viconia, to Skyrim.

Thanks for doing all the work of creating the mod. I installed it in the game I'm starting.

I've been using Colored Map Markers Updated which is an updated version of the Colored Map Markers in STEP. It provides colored map markers both on the map and on the compass. Is the updated iHUD compatible with this mod, does it provide its own colored map markers, or just it only provide standard black and white markers on the compass?

It's the sort of video that I would think Bethesda developers would want to make to show their concepts for new DLC. If you can't make a compelling video that outlines your concept then your DLC is unlikely to be that great.

I'd like to do the the Companions guild quests, but there are a lot of errors in the guild character skills and in at least the Proving Honor quest that makes this difficult. I'd prefer to use a mod that affected only the Companions since many of the followers mods change many characteristics of all the followers, precluding me from using other mods that, for example, change the appearance or characteristics of one or more followers. That's one of the attractions, for me, with this mod. Having to use the console is, for me, a minor annoyance if it lets me continue without large issues. I'm still not sure that this mod is what I need, so I'll keep looking at all the options. At minimum I would like to have solutions to the following issues: - Companions have weapons consistent with their skills (e.g., unlike vanilla Farkas with high 1 handed skill and a 2 handed weapon) - Companions have skills consistent with their role/lore (e.g., unlike vanilla Farkas whose low Heavy Armor skill is inconsistent with his role as trainer) - Companions drop and pickup weapons automatically when entering/leaving Werewolf state I'd also like the Companions (and any other followers) to improve skills as I advance levels.

Better Followers seems like a useful comprehensive solution to many follower issues with class inconsistencies and levelup problems. Unfortunately the author hasn't been responding to comments for this and the other mods he developed for months, and there are recent comments that Better Followers and the other mods (e.g, Big Dialogue Overhaul) aren't compatible with Dawnguard. The Better Followers author mentions Amazing Follower Tweaks, which is being maintained, but AFT doesn't seem to do what I'm most interested in which is fixing the class/levelup problems with followers especially the Companions.

Perhaps at some point in its development this mod will include reduced crime radius effects so we won't need the extra esp.

That's what I do for the UNP textures and meshes.