Kelmych

We will need to recommend the new parameters they will add to the ini files when they add the memory patch

+1 we also don't have enough background to answer questions about problems

You followed the pointer Nearox provided to the SR:LE instructions. These steps appear several places in the SR:LE instructions and are used for multiple BSAs. Did you leave them off for every BSA and for every set of steps or only some? One of the main reasons that the batch file approach used in the DDSopt guide was developed was that users following instructions that involve using DDSopt for filtering were making small errors, and all too often they had to start over. The other main reason was to preserve the graphic quality of some of the better quality textures in the vanilla texture set. Personally I find the batch approach to also be more straightforward and less tedious (the current simplified version of it is in the "Optimize Vanilla Skyrim Textures" discussion here) in part because all the vanilla texture BSAs are optimized at once so there is a lot less need for going through DDSopt steps to change filters, etc. (you have to repeat the SR:LE instructions 7 times). However, many users find the approach in the DDSopt guide to be more complicated than the SR:LE instructions, in part at least because Windows batch processing is unfortunately very fussy about system configuration and provides little or no understandable information when there are problems.

Nothing changed that would affect what you did. The vanilla optimization didn't change at all from 2.65; it should have made more clear (I'll edit my post to do so). The only changes lately to the vanilla batch file was that an explicit path was added for "robocopy" to fix a problem and that a 2k uncompressed male body MSN is now moved directly to the output since it can't be reduced in size without corruption (as discussed in the troubleshooting forum), and these changes are included in 2.65. The batch files probably need an actual changelog vs. the running one that is posted here. The major change is to the processing of STEP mods. The QuickStart now has a fairly short process for optimizing a set of STEP mods. I tested it yesterday and it worked well and takes much less time than the vanilla texture optimization since the vanilla textures are much larger than any other collection of mod textures such as the textures in section F and G of the STEP guide. Sorry it wasn't clear in the initial post.

No, I just don't happen to agree with that recommendation. I should have said "revisit the recommendation".

I admit I had never looked at the weapons; daedric is extreme and having the skill to properly use these weapons is even more extreme. Maybe we can suggest to Manny that he look at this issue; I do like the immersion of having someone light the lanterns.

A new simpler (and more robust) approach for handling uncompressed files is now used for the batch file and subsequent optimization for optimizing STEP mods and other non-vanilla textures. (the approach used for the vanilla textures is fine and didn't need revamping). These changes are reflected in the new version 2.7 of the batch files on the guide. The QuickStart guide and the Vanilla texture optimization sections have been updated for the new batch files. The "Optimizing the STEP Mods" section is still being edited for consistency with the new batch file. This version changed only the batch file ("4_Mod_Sorting_Pre-optimization.bat") used to process STEP (and other) mods. It also didn't change the resulting optimized texture output for the representative mods optimized in the QuickStart tab when using the previous version, but it made the batch file much more reliable in handling arbitrary Skyrim mods. The previous batch file sometimes needed be be reconfigured to handle mods with uncompressed textures that hadn't previously been tested with it . The new batch file version and instructions uses DDSopt in a way that it handles all uncompressed textures properly even when they are mixed with compressed ones, and the batch file no longer needs some special configuration steps for uncompressed textures.

windows\system32 is supposed to be in the PATH variable but apparently on some systems it isn't. The change to fix this was added to both batch files that sort textures, by the way, in the new version 2.7 of the batch files We'll edit the comment on the guide page (in the notice on the page) to include that it can take 30 minutes or so. The old comment about this seems to have been lost when this section was edited to be more concise because of user comments that this guide description was too long :facepalm:. I've seen HearthFires, Hearthfire, and Hearthfires. I'm never sure what name to use for folders with Hearthfire data.

You can get the same effect as the BCF if you eliminate the two textures mentioned on the mod wiki page when installating with MO (if you use it) or by deleting these two textures before installation.

They are out by themself without a cadre of guards. What kind of weapon would you carry if you were lighting lanterns? I'll admit it would be more realistic if there were a few guards with them, in which case the weapons should be ordinary guard weapons.

Does STEP want to add recommendations for the sound removal choices in the wiki?

Visible Windows BCF needs 2 files (it also needs Reduced Night Glow as mentioned on the Nexus page); I fixed the STEP mod page to also note this. The baseline version of Enhanced Dragon Bones is 1K, but the BCF needs the 2K version (it says this on mod page in the BCF name but it's a bit cryptic) I have "Terrain_Bump_Landscape_Normals-BCF.7z" in my Bain Converters folder and "Terrain Bump Landscape Normals-37950-1-4b.7z" in the Bash Installers folder, and the conversion works fine for me.

The batch file for organizing the vanilla textures, 2_Pre-optimization.bat, has been changed to eliminate optimization of a few uncompressed model space normal maps that could be corrupted while optimizing. An additional test was added for the presence of the "robocopy" program used to do the copying in the batch file. Batch_Files_for_DDSopt_guide_v2.65-beta.7z is now available in the guide.

Thanks for the output, it was helpful in understanding the problem. The "robocopy.exe" system program isn't being found by the batch file. Check the c:\windows\system32 directory and see if "robocopy.exe" is there. If it isn't see if you can get it restored, or read the note about robocopy on this page of the DDSopt guide. If the file is present then try the new batch file version and see if it works for you. The new version of the batch file now includes a test for the presence of robocopy, and uses full path names for it (vs. assuming that the path to it is in the normal windows PATH variable)

I expected so; I thought a more deadpan response to your comment would be interesting. I will change the batch file tonight.

That seems a little extreme. The guide mentions that these need to be treated carefully, and the batch files separate these body-related textures (even the compressed textures) from other textures so they can receive special treatment. We can certainly strengthen the comments about optimizing these textures in the guide. The current batch files for optimizing the vanilla textures prevent any of the uncompressed body-related (and terrain folder) textures from being changed except for a few model space normal space normal maps including the one that causes problems. If it doesn't cause problems for lower end systems the batch file can be changed to eliminate changing these also; there is only one large uncompressed MSN in the vanilla textures and this is it.

Thanks for looking at this in detail. Did you try using R5G6B5 at 2048x2048? If that works properly we can recommend using that option, or suggest leaving it at 2kx2k lossless. Converting normal maps to compressed causes noticeable quality loss.

I've used BCF files for three reasons: to support users with Wrye Bash as a mod manager (of course, meanwhile STEP is moving toward MO since it has several unique useful features for STEP installs)to selectively keep individual files from being installed from a mod archive (unlike WB, MO can do this with manual mod installs; is there a more automated way that MO can do this?)to create a single mod installation files that combine multiple archive files associated with a single mod; e.g., combining the Elemental Staffs mod and its update, or the Skill Interface Retexture and its Dawnguard addon. (I haven't seen any simple automated way to do this other than BCF files. I think we should use BCFs for this more often unless there is an alternate way to do this; I haven't seen anyone do this with Fomods. IMO it's probably the most useful capability of BCFs for use with STEP.)

Q3 has been added to the General FAQ in the DDSopt guide. It provides a summary of the functions performed by the 2_Pre-optimization batch files used with optimizing the vanilla textures. Of particular note, since there has not been much discussion of this on this thread, is the processing of uncompressed textures from the vanilla BSAs to ensure that these remain uncompressed after DDSopt optimization.

The Quickstart tab now has brief instructions for optimizing the mods in the STEP guide that gain the most benefit from optimization. Overall, the Quickstart tab is now organized like typical Quickstart guides providing an initial set of useful steps to perform.

I'm using Windows 8.1 on the computer I assembled recently and previously I used Windows 7, but it's obviously hard to compare unless I had the 2 OSs running on identical machines. Once I installed some programs that hide all the tablet-related UI, it doesn't seem very different than Windows 7.

The DDSopt.ini file is used only by DDSopt, so if you haven't used it to optimize anything it's not too late.