Vrugdush

Tech, here is a quote from RUSTIC SILVERWARE's description page, that might help answer your question: "The vanilla silverware textures are low-res and frankly uninteresting. In our world, silverware is expensive and people tend to pass it down in families from generation to generation. The patterns tend to be rather traditional for that reason. I thought that in Skyrim silverware would be even more precious, and the same tradition of passing it from generation to generation would exist. The design should therefore look very old. The vanilla normal map is shared between the Skyrim silverware and the Sovngarde "goldware", so I felt it was important for the pattern to look appropriate in both settings. The ancient Nordic ruins show animalistic designs and scrollwork, which is similar to Norse or Celtic design. Therefore, I went with a pattern that incorporated a scroll design with dragon and bird motifs. I felt that this design would be suitable for both Skyrim and Sovngarde. Since the silverware would be used by families for many many years, I gave the textures a very rustic and used appearance."

It's difficult to capture the difference True Circlet Gems makes with just static screenshots - it really needs to be seen in motion, as the light shifts and hits the gems from different angles. Vanilla gems look quite dull in comparison, but the effect might be a bit too much in some cases. Either way, I suggest that you check it out in game before making your mind up.

Looking at the updated comparison pictures, what strikes me is how much sharper the AOF textures seem compared to the others, which also makes me prefer them in most cases. I see what you mean about the wood seeming dry, though. The only pictures where I don't prefer AOF would be the indoor stone floor, where it's a toss-up between SRO and AMB for me, and the outdoor stone walls, where I like AMB better.

Here's the thread: Plugin Count May Matter (More). Also, the latest SKSE alpha seems to have added a new function, Game.GetFormEx, to help combat the problem.

There's now a semi-official reply to this issue from SmkViper over at the BethSoft forums: https://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1485192-having-more-than-127-mods/?p=23282131. So, apparently this is only an issue with mods using the function "GetForm". Luckily there seem to be alternatives and workarounds. Now to figure out which mods might be using this function...

I didn't see Langley's Wood Metal and Stone Textures Workshop mentioned yet in this thread. It also contains Dragonborn landscape textures, among many other things. I know it's been up for testing before, and that it's a tricky one because its sprawling nature makes it conflict with many S.T.E.P. mods. However, the Dragonborn textures are a separate download, so maybe they can be considered on their own? Since you're doing a comprehensive comparison, I didn't want this mod to be overlooked, even if it unfortunately means an increase in your already considerable workload.