TechAngel85

Now I'm no texture guru, but something seems off here. The below image has the texture and associated normal for the "tamriel.16.-64.-48_n.dds" file. The first is vanilla, the second is EDT2, the third is the normal from vanilla and the fourth is the HQLODs normal: The first two are blank or with added noise; however, the normals appear to be adding depth or something to these blank textures. But something tells me that the HQLOD normal shouldn't have a hard 90 degree angle in it. These issues are scattered throughout the HQLOD normals (if they are issues). EDIT: These are all from the 256x256 matching files.

This is the type of analysis I was looking for on this mod. Detailed about different sounds. Any audiophiles around here?

I've contacted the mod author to see if he'd be able and/or willing to point us in the right direction.

Soo... tracking down these snow normals is going to be one hell of a chore (1344 files sift through). At this point I honestly don't even know what I'm looking for. Most of the associated textures look like "map view" textures. Then there are just textures with noise in them (which I've found out that DDSopt reduces them to a single pixel file with optimizing...don't know if this effect is desirable or not). Any help in pinpointing or how to pinpoint these normals that are making the snow brighter would be appreciated!

Possibly, but for now it's staying the same.

Correct. Their "okay" in the snowy terrain; however, in the tundra they become completely noticeable due to the color difference. Think blonde to brown contrast. Not something you want in your game. The Hi-Res Meshes and the normals will be the recommendation. First we have to find the snowy normals so they can be recommended to be deleted from the mod to resolve the bright snow effect.

I guess the next step is pinpointing the snowy LOD normals. This will be fun...

All the screens are will a full STEP:Extended install. Hi-Res Meshes are with the meshes only. Meshes+Normals are the the meshes and the normals for the HQLODs. EDT2 is present in all screens because the only thing being tested here is the HQLODs. I think the best recommendation would be EDT2 + HQLODs + HQLOD Normals (but deleting the snowy terrain normals.). This can easily be done with a FOMOD for MO users if there happen to be a lot of snowy normals...or a batch file.

Why you wasting arrows? Haha! jk

I've testing in other areas and the texture seams happen just about everywhere; however, they are mostly hidden by terrain or flora when playing at eye level. The only time you may notice them is look down from a high point (sight seeing). The one I found outside of Windhelm was a rare case I believe due to the position of the character and terrain combination. There is another in these shots; however this is a compare of the normals for non-snowy terrain. It would appear they only add slightly darker areas to the LODs, which is nice but is it necessary or needed? Hi Res Meshes >> Hi Res Meshes+Normals I agree that EDT2 is the best in non-snowy terrain, however, the HQLODs do add some needed detail in distant terrain that mainly falls in the category of "terrain outlines" (you can see a small sample of this above in the snowy shots) which I think is all STEP needs. I agree with your recommendation. High Res meshes only for HQLODs. @Neo, Since you mainly tested near Whiterun you might want to reconsider those normals...at least in snowy areas.

I did find some texture seams area Dawnstar and other ares; however, they are mostly hidden by the terrain in these areas. I did grab a full set of compares to show one seam that didn't disappear with the additional textures like the previous one did in my other compare. I'll let you all be the judge of what combination looks the best. EDT2 Only >> MedRes Meshes >> HighRes Meshes >> MedRes+Normals >> HighRes+Normals MedRes+Textures >> HighRes+Textures >> MedRes+Normals+Textures >> HighRes+Normals+Textures Now I also wanted to do a compare the what is being recommended and it's affect in snowy areas. Lets take a look: EDT2 Only >> High Res Meshes >> High Res+Normals >> High Res+Textures As you can see, with the normals in snowy areas the LODs are brighter than those of the non-LOD textures. This isn't ideal. You will also notice some odd things happening in areas with the normals when it comes to snow. The best is the second images with only the Meshes installed. I would say that if the normals are going to be recommended, then we should delete the snow LODs from them.

Unfortunately, my role here requires a little more time than that. There's a lot to do. I have a notepad with notes filling half a page of things that need to be done. lol

This is from HQLOD Skyrim realistic textures option. You must be using the 256 textures. Reinstall the mod using the 512 textures.

That works too rather than having TES5Edit instructions on the mod pages.

I've also wondered why some of the patches weren't either merged together or at least merged into a few different mod versions. At least that why you wouldn't have XYZ mod with 3 patches for it equally 4 ESPs for one mod.. You'd just have XYZ mod - patches version equaling 1 ESP. More authors should do this rather than just adding optional patches that take up extra ESP slots.

Glad I'm not the only one that does this! I have several games I got for free or super cheap that I haven't played yet (Mass Effect 3, Torchlight, Amnesia: The Dark Descent). Still have yet to even finish Mass Effect 2 even though I LOVE those games. Spend all my free time here.

I'm on Windows 8 and can say there's not much of a reason to upgrade form Windows 7 unless you can get it cheap. My was free via college and that's the only reason I have it. Many got it for $40 when Microsoft was doing that deal. It's pretty much the same as Windows 7 besides having to do some things a bit differently. Btw, the start button is returning with Windows 8.1; however, it's still not the old style like Windows 7.

I'm home! So I'll fly around some areas and see if this happens everyone or if I just found a lucky spot. I still don't advocate the normal though because the the obvious color difference. It's at least obvious to me, but we'll see what some more testing reveals. It might simply come down to using a set of textures (like just using the snow textures from HQLODs and leaving the rest as EDT2).

No snow seams for you in SR without the textures? These were taken outside of Windhelm.

That's the second image above. lol

No HQLOD period. No textures, no normals, no meshes.

I was using WB back then so everything was put in the Data directory. I also didn't uninstall things properly. The instructions back then were even more vague than they are now. I will probably give it another go in the near future.

How bad is the compare in TES5Edit? Major conflicts with SOS or can they be used together with a bit of patching?

Unfortunately I have to start getting read for work so someone else will have to do the checking in other areas to see if these compares hold true. If not, I can do it later this evening.