Smile44

Superior rough gets my vote, it improves on vanilla but does not look as though it has "product" in it. Quite close to vanilla in many respects.

Hectrol's caverocks01.dds is not overwritten by amb. But all else is. It might well be worth comparing those 10 other textures See which look best. Between the two they overwrite all of BoS. and Re-defined dungeons and probably all of S&R (cave sections of course) :) Edit: Had a quick look in Gimp and prefer Hectrol's for cavebasewall01*, *02* and *04* and AMB for everything else. In the game it looks good but not sure if I prefer it to pure amb (big picture). Of course this is utterly subjective, some of amb's textures look less sharp and well defined - of course there is a ton of this stuff that I do not know about but certainly worth a look.

Gosh! It seems so simple. I've often wondered but not to a great degree, like an annoying mosquito I never bothered to catch it and pull the sucker off it's face. TILL NOW!! :) "I like a combo of aMB and Hectrol's for STEP:Extended, since they are the most realistic and "pleasing" IMO. I am not impressed by either BoS or S&R for many reasons, most notably the smearing-painted look of many of the textures (IMO)." +1

Having looked at a few more, AMB and Hectrols don't edit the mines so those compares are invalid - only caves should be contrasted with the others (probably already been pointed out somewhere). Still don't think that S&R HD or BoS offer any improvement on vanilla (HRDLC) - only Hectrols and AMB do so and much prefer the style of AMB to Hectrols. OK stupid question time - What is the OP? Where is it and does it smell? :) EDIT: Have to agree with you there Tech, at least as far as the screenies don't just show the textures of the mod in question. A true comparison would show specific competing textures from each mod and voting on those (headache anyone?). This is probably why some appear so close to vanilla in many shots. Vanilla is my vote for CORE (if it ain't broke don't fix it) but then in Extended I would like AMB as I prefer the atmosphere and look in Cabal's work.

Interestingly (though I have not looked at all the pictures yet) there is a marked similarity between S&R HD and BoS, very little change between those two and neither is particularly close to vanilla.

To be honest I don't think any of the other options are better than HRDLC - in core STEP mods should not be added just for the sake of it. AMB is different to vanilla and is my preference because they look and in essence feel more like caves. My point is that if vanilla is as good or better than mods put forward to improve on vanilla while staying true to vanilla then surely it makes sense to stick with vanilla. After all less is more as they say. SRO was so popular because it improved on the vanilla look whilst staying true to vanilla design (because it was vanilla design essentially). Meshes and textures should only be added to CORE if they repair or fix or etc... mistakes, errors or poorly rendered meshes and textures from Bethesda. This approach could and probably should be applied to every aspect of CORE STEP in order to literally present a fixed and improved version of the vanilla game and nothing more. This would greatly simplify. The textures used in STEP and SR look amazing but are they superior in every aspect - I expect not. The design of Skyrim has always been good, just the execution has lacked consistency. Users can choose to change the way Skyrim looks by using textures that they like e.g. AMB on top of a basically fixed Skyrim. This was my understanding of the aim for 2.3 and IMHO that idea is perhaps being lost amongst all this discussion. BoS is too bland Hectoral is too busy and both are different to Vanilla but neither are clearly better than HRDLC in either look or feel just different and so neither should be in CORE STEP, for the same reasons put forward against this mod. If it ain't broke don't fix it, but if it is then that's where to STEP in (forgive the crappy pun). :)

I'm just going by SR instructions - perhaps they need more clarification if that is the case. :)

It is quite interesting you saying that because I think are definitely problems with scripts, particularly in the wilderness. Graphic mods aside if you have several mods which spawn creatures in the wild over and above vanilla then it is highly likely that between them they will cause a CTD or possibly an ILS. You may not even see what has been spawned in a cell that you have entered, imagine SkyBirds, Immersive Creatures, Deadly Dragons, Automatic Variants, SkyTest all running at once out in the wilderness and it is not hard to see that problems can occur - result a random ctd, random because spawns are random. ASIS probably doesn't help if you are running increased spawns. I'm no expert but I think this idea is worth testing - and if true then perhaps there is a facility to reduce the number of spawns in some mods - or perhaps something could be developed that manages the number of spawns in any given cell. :)

@Eliian Where it shows different sizes for *.dds (textures) and *_*n.dds (normal maps) files then they will each need to be processed separately with those constraints as instructed in the guide. If they are both the same then they can be processed together by just selecting *.dds again as per instructions. @pendragon11 Optionals should be merged. :)

Thanks for that - I expect you are correct. I doubt its the textures as they are generally all very well optimised. I did discover that turning off enb helped. Ironic really as that is precisely one of the key things that this set up seeks to avoid. I shall redo my ini files though because that is one area that I have not looked at for a while. :) EDIT: Turns out the problem was a couple of .esp files with deleted navmeshes. Removed that mod for another time when I can figure out how to repair them.

Infinite Loading Screens is what I was trying not to have to type out in full - FAIL. Oh well, I did wonder if that was a new one. :)

The general rule of thumb is that texture, animation, and weather / lighting packs OK. Everything else needs to be checked. The recommended mods are shown in the first post the rest is decided by considering what this mod does affect and what it doesn't. Here is modlist. And the load order. This particular configuration has not been fully tested yet but seems to be working well so far. I hope this helps to answer your question. :)

Interestingly I have generally found these to be stable but recently I seem to get lots of ILS problems especially in towns. I do not yet know why but without ENB and related files then it's all fine. Something bizarre going on there - oh well back to the drawing board.

It can be used in a modular fashion as described below. All seem to work very well and a useful combination can be achieved with a little work. Of course some of the esp files render some other mods in either STEP or SR obsolete. The author seems very keen to keep as close to vanilla as possible. I for one am very keen on the un-levelled skyrim approach as it makes no real sense that all npc's monsters etc.. are the same level as you or lower, and that merchants stock as well as various treasure items increase in quality and value as you increase in levels. There is almost no real incentive to train your skills and level up. Of course in a general gameplay sense the vanilla approach makes sense - but then this game was made for consoles. It is supposed to be an RPG but the vanilla game pretty much leaves out the role playing element as well as any real need to learn strategy to solve difficult combat situations. Which is a lot more fun than running into any given dungeon waving a sword about, killing everything in sight and grabbing all the treasure - which is pretty much the case with vanilla. :)

Definitely not for CORE STEP but is a good idea for a package as I stated. Especially useful for those who want a more challenging game but with a vanilla feel - and by extention the closest overhaul to the STEP mandate. This changes about as much as Requiem does in terms of how much it touches in the game and somewhat more than SkyRe does. But it does so unobtrusively with lots of nice touches. AI across the board is much smarter, dragons much harder, combat trickier especially as monsters will now chase you outside. Not for everybody but definitely worthy of far more attention than it has received. :)

Yet Another Skyrim Hardcore mod - YASH, by dAb. This mod is an overhaul that is highly underrated. Some of the top modders around were contributors in some fashion. It is very lore friendly and works very well. You do not need a large number of gameplay mods if you run this and it can be installed in a modular fashion or via 2 .esp files. It deals with just about everything and feels like part of the original game - BUT much harder. Thinking and planning go a long way towards making this work. Not a CORE STEP mod but as a package installing this along with Alternate Start - Live Another Life, ASIS, Frostfall, Immersive Armors, Immersive Creatures, Immersive Weapons, Run For Your Lives, Wet And Cold and When Vampires Attack as your gameplay section and you have quite a challenge on your hands. This is true of both STEP and SR. Of course other overhauls included in SR such as Deadly Dragons, Realistic Needs and Diseases and SkyTest would need to be looked at and or removed. REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW Anyway though I have mentioned this mod before in passing as it were, I am still very stunned at how little notice this mod is getting. Please consider and enjoy. :)

Glad you approve, it;s taken a long time and I'm sure you have an idea how much work and patience is needed to get this level of modding working. I have had no problems with CWO. It seems to fit in seamlessly, just can be problematic with "sands of Time" as that mod keeps adding reinforcements (which can be adjusted in the MCM) and it can mean nearly all your fellow soldiers (which ever side) get wiped out by overwhelming numbers. Not gotten too far in the civil war quest line yet so can't guarantee it's stability but I suspect that it is far more likely that another mod interacting badly with it's scripts would be the cause. "SoT (The Way of the Dovakin) as it is now called is a good alternative to ASIS but not a good idea with a large overhaul mod like SkyRe, Skyrim Unplugged, YASH or Requiem as there are far too many chances for scripting issues causing problems. ASIS works well with big overhauls but you need to check which elements you need and only install those. For instance in both the above profiles I would only use Increased Spawns and possibly NPC potions from ASIS depende on wether the overhaul adds in chages to NPCs. I am gradually getting to what for me would be and awesome looking playable skyrim - but am still torn between elements of these two profiles. I may come up with a YASH profile next as it is brilliant and one of the most underrated mods on the nexus and is extremely lore friendly and as such the most likely to fit into STEP and or SR:LE at least lore wise. It is extremely challenging though. for example I started as a thief in the thieves guild but could not get past the guy in the room above the tavern on my way out, but because enemies will follow you and bring the fight to you, all I needed to do was get him to attack and then run back into the tavern and let the patrons, thieves guild members etc.. take him out. You really start out weak with skills on 0 except for racial bonuses. So lots of prudence is required but levelling up and really thinking about your skills soon gets you moving towards being useful in a fight. Anyway off to check out Manny's house mod before going after the Dragonstone which is exhilarating with Requiem especially the last chamber. :)

Check that you have installed the mod correctly - Common/Skyrim/DATA/SKSE/plugins/BW_plugin.dll - beyond that if have set your screen resolution to the native resolution for your monitor - then it should work.

Steady! Woah there woah!Whoops my mistake, you mean you like the cut of my mod list.

Mostly by reading the instructions I have made no patches my self other than merging all the patches from SR into one so that I can get under 255 limit. The key part is optimising the textures. What I will try and do is post my mod list and load order for this and my Requiem profile and you can then see what I have done. Incidentally I am using "Relighting Skyrim" in my Requiem install instead, I am still experimenting, very important IMO is to be careful of mods with scripts - check where they conflict and which ones you want to have priority. In some cases two mods may have the same script but work in different areas so changing the name can work (still looking into that, could be badly wrong) in that way the scripts may not conflict and you can have both. This first profile uses no major overhauls and less scripts as ERSO is fully modular and relatively script free. And now for the load order. Mod list for requiem - Bleak falls barrow with Requiem and "YASH open zones" is just the most awesomely difficult fight - not to be done on early levels or without a small army of followers. EDIT: I removed SKYTest from Requiem Modlist - twas an oversight that left all the animals and birds standing around like stuffed toys - this is one of the many things that Requiem covers. Fixed now. Load order. This is what I'm playing with at present, I do still get random CTDs not too many and mainly outdoors but not related to the 3.1gb as not going anywhere near it according to SPM. So likely script based. Open to any tips from interested parties. :)

Yes I am using ELFX and my install is pretty much identical to LE except where he has only brought stuff over from SR and has not looked at it yet. I have all the patches from SR within the relevant mods that need them e.g. AS-URN patch etc.. I have used the order in LE and all the optimisations but the patches from SR. I have also added a ton of mods on top including "sands of time" and ERSO - the game works really well. With the 0.200 patch for ENB running I have yet to go anywhere near 1.gb of Ram or above 2gb of vram. Doesn't stop the occasional random, outdoor ctd though. I think these are mainly script based or perhaps something to do with the temperature of the GPU - not sure yet. Then again I do have a seriously large amount of extra mods. Bottom line is in my testing before adding extra mods the SR:LE combination works really well no problems - explored countryside took out a dungeon I had never come across before, without a blip. So follow LE for order and mod list etc but SR for patches. That said with ELFX he does not include the enhancer .esp which is the one that causes incompatibilities. It may be that this plugin is needed and I have made a mistake - but then again it will need more testing. Infact if you were to just use SR then add all the optimisations from LE - you will have a very good and stable base from which to run skyrim. I hope some of this 'late night back from pub quiz' rambling is of any use to you. :)

There are quite a lot of changes but it is working really well - but that said I'm using a hybrid version of both as the compatibility parts of the guide are not there yet, but patches from SR work fine it would seem and the optimizations from LE don't hurt either. It is looking very good so far. That said there are likely to be quite a few changes and additions before LE is done, as well as a few more optimisations. Looking forward to seeing how it continues to take shape. :)

I know it's not really fully there yet, author states that many of the textures are not ready yet and has created a sticky just so that people can pass on ideas critiques etc.. Of course Cabal will eventually get to all the others and then it will get really interesting. It's good that textures are being worked on by current modders / texture artists so that largely the texture packs that are no longer maintained and or worked on, are not the only recourse. Good packs they may be but will never be perfect and can therefore always be improved upon I am really curious to see if amb book of silence becomes basically the bulk of all textures recommended in game.

Yeah I knew that textures were missing I was just looking for a short-cut to finding out which ones, yada yada. But above process worked fine and I now have SRO working properly in my new build. Now to overwrite most of Starac's files with Frozunwaldon and Cabal's textures - yay. Thanks for help. :)

Thanks a bunch, that is a help. Nice to know I was on the right track with resizing just didn't know about steps 4 and 5. I have since solved the problem in that I re downloaded SRO, then during extraction noted all of the broken files. Then discovered that these files show up as having 0 kb of data and that the new-extracted originals did have a size so extracted and replaced all the broken files individually which should eventually solve the problem. Aren't textures fun!!!