TechAngel85

Bump. No one knows?

It's Monday and the poll is now closed. This mod will be accepted and installed after Re-Defined Dungeons.

I tried this with this ( https://forum.step-project.com/showthread.php?tid=3057&pid=46058#pid46058 ) post and it still gave me the message that there are too many images in the post when trying to update the OP. Is this a forum limitation or a limitation that was put in place by you guys via a setting somewhere? I've been here over 6 months and the only time I've even seen this issue pop up is during texture compares. Any spam we get is mainly text and links and I've never seen an user try to abuse it. So if it is a limitation via a forum setting, it would most likely be safe to remove it.

How in the world did you get all those images in the OP with the "10 images per post" limit? I can't add the vanilla shots. It would be quite helpful, as a Release Coordinator, if I had the ability to pass the default limit for things like this.

I didn't realize those textures had been put in the OP. I'll grab the vanilla shots in the next couple of days when time permits.

Mod updates are common and it's perfectly okay to install the updates to most of the mods in STEP when they release.

Waves optional is still present in 1.75 FINAL.

No issues with lip syncing and no official word on 3.0 at this moment (it's actually 2.3). We'll be doing a server move (i think) and porting the forums to a new forum software before the 2.3 release really starts to take shape. There have been a few things nailed down, but nothing in the public knowledge yet. We'll be releasing an announcement when things are a little more solid.

Time limited initiated. Poll will be only until Monday the 12th. Do your testing and voting by then. Once poll is closed, so will be testing and this will be accepted (most likely) or moved back to MS.

Okay, so I have Tapatalk 4 downloaded and installed and account verified. How do I log into the STEP forum? I have it pulled up and can read the forums; however, I can find no conceivable way to log into the forum from Tapatalk to reply and post using the program. Does the plug-in need to be updated for use with Tapatalk 4 or...am I just plain dumb?

Those shots are not my sole basis. They, as you said, were to point out the issues that I was noticing from a further distance away; providing the closeups to simply pinpoint the issues. The mains ones being, embossed (concave) rocks that look unnatural, stretching on these rocks (the other compares solved this by not including larger rocks in there ground textures), the shiny/noise that is noticeable in the ground, and the green shiny plastic-like stuff on the walls. These may in fact be lighting issues with this particular cave, as Aiyen suggests, and so I will test in other caves to see if this issues persist. However, with that said, I'd rather have a texture that works everywhere without "noticeable" issues rather than a texture that might look better; however, has a few noticeable issues in certain lighting conditions. The former would be a better option for STEP rather than the latter because it is "noticeably" bug free whereas the latter is not and this has been the main point I've been trying to make in that BoS is the better option for STEP, atm.

Check again...vanilla images magically appear! None of the textures are even close to vanilla...haha!

Haha! I've been debating whether or not to give up on this project. It would seem that everyone is geared towards WATER. Myself, I can't decide which I like better. WATER look better in some locations while Pure Water looks best in others. I know STEP has used WATER forever and Golpher promotes Pure Waters as his water mod or choice. I see merit in both and I think in the end it's going to come down to personal choice.

The circles on BoS ground texture is pointing out patches of "noise". Arrows are to general areas except for the ground texture of aMidianborn which they are pointing to the shadows I spoke of that are making the rocks look embossed into the texture. BoS is my choice texture because it has the least issues or at least the least visible while in-game (the issues are much more pronounced in Photoshop in all compared textures) while still being an improvement over Snow & Rocks HD.

To address you CaBal, There are only two specific issues that I have with these textures that are either not present or not noticeable in the other textures compared. As far as coloring and realism you're very close to spot on and you're also correct that there is no real discernible "patten" in your textures. Here's the issues which I've documented in the shots. Graininess / Noise in the Ground Vanilla >> Snow & Rocks HD >> Beauty of Skyrim >> aMidianborn  https://i.imgur.com/rbgVFpT.jpg >> https://i.imgur.com/ooprFQr.jpg >> https://i.imgur.com/GzQiL5q.jpg Shiny Green Stuff on the Walls Vanilla >> Snow & Rocks HD >> Beauty of Skyrim >> aMidianborn  https://i.imgur.com/IKUeyhq.jpg >> https://i.imgur.com/zQbG9ej.jpg >> https://i.imgur.com/UsfUpB3.jpg Yes, I am very analytical and picky when I do compares, but that's only because I want the best for STEP and the mass majority of users. Links to original images provided because STEP forum gallery is not robust enough to maintain quality. Used vanilla lighting in Helgen Keep with 2K textures.

Thanks for your review. Other have reported similar. I hope the author is diligent and irons out these issues because the potential for this mod is great.

Okay, I'll admit that there are very few mods that really impress me but looking through the shots on the author's page from the users, this mod has done just that. It appears to add an atmosphere that was missing from the game and it looks absolutely stunning! I did notice one clipping issue in one shot. I'm curious if this is a common occurrence or just a once in a great while type of issue. I'm also curious as to how it "feels" in-game compared to the shots provided. This mod is one that will require in-game testing and not just screenshots.

Well, that is frustrating. The detail is so fine within the game that I can't find a capture or encoding format sharp enough to maintain the detail in the image. Even with H26 1080p, you can barely see the detail of what I'm trying to capture. Even hooking it up to my flat screen TV didn't help to see the detail. I'd like a couple Admin to really jump in on this one. I'll PM Z and Farlo to see if they can take a look in-game and do a bit of testing before this is added.

The lighting I'm using is 100% vanilla because the profile is 100% STEP. There are no extra anythings (mods, adjustments, etc). Sparkle is a good way of describing it as well rather than grainy. I have capture some video and just need to put it together. Will get that done by sometime tomorrow.

Cabal, to answer your question - STEP aims to enhance the visual aspect of Skyrim - but it also vows to stick to vanilla style of the game as much as possible. Purely from STEP point of view anything that is similar to vanilla would be better. This was the principle of this project since the very beginning. So quite often mods that look stunning would be ditched in favour of mods that may look worse, but are closer to vanilla graphical style. Now, personally I installed Beauty of Skyrim, then I let Hectrol's overwrite that and lastly I added your mod on top of that. This way I get ALL your textures, but also BoS and Hectrol's for the ones your mod doesn't cover (yet?). I am sure that many users will also favour your mod to BoS, but - again - from STEP point of view this may be not the best choice. yep...i know about the principle rootstrat... clearly always hope for an "out of the box "option...finding it more creative and way more interesting... but i know the step point of view :)i agree without any problem bout the line, what blocked my digestion was angel's prospective (i'm kidding eh...better to remember this detail) which is simply unilateral. for respect for other modders i will not put my analisis here... but if we go on the tecnical matter  the list of things to write is long... about all the 3 mods. angel cannot just end the discussion with his impressions (again hoping he's able to see the more and bigger problems on other textures sets) is a comparison? let's compare then....otherwise is an opinion on a showcase. hope noone get offended....i repeat that does change nothing for me if this or any mod of mine is added in core options...i'm not pulling in any direction...i'm just saying that analisis should be less fancy Beauty of Skyrim had aready won the voting on the other thread and all my discussions about those mods that were included in that compare are included in the Hectrol thread. If you wish to know of my assessment on those mods, including BoS, you can head over there. I'm not going to repeat myself on mods that aren't even being discussed in this thread. With that said, I probably should have repeated myself regarding BoS for the sake that it is being discussed here. My train of thought was that the only member that visit these threads are the same ones that were a part of those compares, as well. Thus, they should know of my review of Beauty of Skyrim; however, I can repeat myself if need be regarding BoS here in this thread. Sorry techangel I think the votes so far make a case against what I feel is improper reasoning on your part. If you look at most of the compares Cabals textures are much closer to current STEP than Beauty of Skyrim and in my personal opinion better. That is not to say the normals or UV maps couldn't be worked on but we're talking mostly about diffuse maps and normals here and as always Cabal has delivered. That's my opinion take it for what you will.@Cabal and phazer11, If you're read my post, my main issues was the graininess while "moving". Standing in place it's fine (thus it makes for great screenshots); however, as soon as I start moving about the "noise" is present. I shall make a video in the next couple of days to put this at rest so all can see what I am seeing from this mod. With that said, if this one issue was fixed, I could safely say this mod has a very real possibility of being included in STEP. As long as the issue remains, I can't see it being added to STEP because the other compared mods did not produce this grainy/noisy effect while in motion.

My only issue with this mod is the smaller fish. It doesn't just change the color, but changes the design to look like a completely different species of fish altogether. I think the colors are more vanilla friendly though. So, I'll mark this for testing and put up a poll. I think it could replace the one we have now; however, it will not be Core.

My personal review is this: Beauty of Skyrim still wins over current STEP for me (Snow and Rocks HD). When comparing Beauty and aMidianborn, the difference is night and day. I don't care too much for aMidianborn to be completely honest. The direction of the mod is great; however, that's where it ends for me. aMidianborn makes for good screenshots, but while playing in-game the textures appear to be "grainy" and "speckled" while moving about and not in a good way. The other thing is the "pits" of the textures. I'd expect caves to be a little more smooth and this pitted effect also adds to the grainy look; making it worse. These pits are very visible in the last three shots on the ground texture that I took and was the main reason for those shots. I don't know much about textures, but is it the normals that causes these "pits"? If this was toned down a bit, it would fit much better into the game in my opinion. Finally, I feel the coloring of aMidianborn is accurate as far as realism; however, it's too far away from vanilla to be considered for Core. All-in-all, it's still Beauty of Skyrim for me; however, let the people decide (this is a democracy). Vote! EDIT: Here are two of the issues I think: Here you can see all the scattered pieces on the ground that looks like gold. It's everything and it's reflecting light (I think) and it's makes the ground look grainy (not in a good way). In-game, it looks like the ground texture has been put through a noise filter to add noise. I just want to load in into Photoshop to despeckle it. Haha! Here is all the "glowing green stuff" on the walls. This is present in Beauty (I checked) but not anyway near the extent as it is in aMidianborn. This is also reflecting light (I think) and making the walls like grainy as you walk (not to mention the pitting (tiny little dimples everywhere) I mentioned above).

Vanilla >> STEP >> Beauty of Skyrim >> aMidianBorn Caves 2K Â

As promised, here are the compares: STEP >> Beauty of Skyrim >> aMidianBorn Caves 2K

Thanks! I edited your posts to get rid of the spoiler tags. These are good compares.