TechAngel85

Google "Compressonator"Thanks! That's much better. I have the Photoshop plugin but using Photoshop for comparisons is a bit over the top.

I've seen this before and for me it doesn't really add anything into the game besides helping you avoid bounties which could be considered cheating in the right light. It might also help those who have faction mods installed. From my point of view, it's good for personal use but not for STEP.

I've decided to create a custom TPC for myself. It'll have the SRO files (just not 1.6...didn't get it in time) combined with the updated TPC 1.81. I'm using mostly lower res textures; 1024x1024 where available, because of my system. All the credit goes to the mod authors, I'm just tossing it all together. The file product will be a completed Combined archive folder ready for WB. I'm having to do this by hand and compare files to the .bat file because all I have to work with for the SRO files is a previous combine folder (i was dumb and didn't keep the original SRO files...it'd be wonderful if Starac would be kind enough to provide those to me for my own personal use ) so it may be a day or two before it's completed. Should run good on my 1GB VRAM system. I started this because I was going to make a SRO free version of TPC. If Cestral liked it he could have it. Then I seen just how many comparisons it would take and many of those textures look the same, IMO. I still may do that but it'll takes weeks probably. I could throw together a quicker version that simply replaces the SRO textures with those from Skyrim HD as a quick fix. Completely replacing SRO would take hours and hours of comparisons. I see now why Cestral dreads doing it. Haha! Btw... does anyone know of a better texture viewer for comparisons than Windows Texture Viewer?

Welcome to the STEP forums. It's always good to see new members. :)

I grabbed it because I still have a lot of the SRO textures.

That's what I was trying to say there. I'll update it to better wording. These are the sources I used for that:https://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2288589 https://benchmark3d.com/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-february-2012-benchmark/3 EDIT: Got that updated to be more correctly worded.

Updated OP. Hardware guide revision is done. Also added nVidia Inspector guide as a new suggestion. I may take a bit of a break to actually get some game time in. Wiki was my second job for the last week. LOL! I'll still be present on the forums.

If you're using the PDF, the mod names should link directly to their nexus pages.

You should follow the nVidia guide on their Web site: https://www.geforce.com/optimize/guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide#1 Inspector Guide is on the to-do list for the Wiki Editors but there is a small one in the guide above.

Skyrim Unplugged no longer works with the current version of Steam. For now, I believe you can just skip it. The main reason for SKyrim Unplugged is because in STEP many mods are Skyrim Version specific. Skyrim Unplugged prevented Steam from automatically updating Skyrim; thus, keeping all your mods compatible. I don't think there is a work around for this yet.

Thanks! These two settings seem a little redundant. Do you happen to know the difference in them?

I have nVidia so I really don't have to worry about it. Though taking another look at my settings I have AO Setting set to Off and AO Usage set to Enabled....so I'm not really sure if I'm getting the effect in game.

It's such a small change that you wouldn't even realize was missing if you didn't see the shots. The biggest change in on the vegetation which it adds depth and a sense of density to them.That's exactly what I noticed as well. I also noticed a few extra shadows, but they were so minimal it was hard to notice.What AO functionality do you refer to? nVs, RadeonPros or the ENB AO? I really try to get Skyrim The best optical fit and Im still unsere wether to get a nV-GPU specifically for their AO.I'm referring to the shots above in my statement which is RadeonPRO AO.

You get a thumbs up for that question! Thanks for that! I have Cinematic Fire Effects installed. I'll have to grab some before and after shots when I test it.

That's amazing! My only concern is what you mentioned...what does it look like in actual gameplay? Does it look too real like the recent rock texture that was discussed. The screenshots are awesome and it's right on the edge for me of possibly looking too real to go with the art style of the game. I would like to test these out myself but I'll be a while before I can. I'm currently focused on the wiki and haven't gotten to play much.

It's such a small change that you wouldn't even realize was missing if you didn't see the shots. The biggest change in on the vegetation which it adds depth and a sense of density to them.

Arrow Pickup Fix is now covered by the Patch: "Arrows fired into havok enabled objects cannot be picked up from the visible arrow model on screen due to mesh errors. (Bugzilla #8236)" I didn't find any others.

I just posted this over in a troubleshooting thread:

Yep, very strange. I have not experienced anything like this, and I have used all the same textures in the same config, so it must be a bungle or a glitch ...It's erasing my text....

I haven't even used DDSopt yet. The Guide, IMO, isn't detailed enough and needs to be expanded. I get confused just reading it and since I've heard it's easy to screw up textures with it, I've just stayed clear of it until the Guide is better written. @Farlo I think revising the DDSopt guide should be a priority #2 for the next release. Though optional at this point, everyone boasts using it here on the forums and how great of a performance boost you can get. I think it's even more important for those who are just running the Baseline install to use it as they're the ones (like you and i) that are running most likely only 1GB of VRAM. In it's current form I don't find it that user friendly.

If this is true then looking at these individually won't do much good if the author's aren't going to be actively supporting and updating them with new areas and new DLCs. Would be nice to find that out or not.

Ambient Occlusion You're welcome! :D 1. Volumetric Fog is suppose to add depth to the fog making it feel "thicker" than vanilla fog. I use the light version on the manual install and have never used the Customizer so I'm assuming it's whatever the default is. 2. Original Cinematic. I've never tried the Brighter Metals version. 3. I turn off SSAO on all the ENBs I've tried for two reasons. One, my system isn't that great (G7 laptop with GTX 460M) and it affects performance more than I like. And two, I force AO via vNidia Inspector which I've found to have little to no performance loss. You are right about it making things darker. It's suppose to make lighting more realistic. That's the best explanation I come up with. Just note that SSAO and AO in nVidia drivers are not exactly the same thing though they have a similar effect. AO is global and SSAO is more local (idk what that means...just read it from wikipedia). Maybe someone who uses SSAO can give you a better explanation. From Wikipedia: Here is a very good comparison from nVidia: Ambient Occlusion Just scroll down a little bit and they have 7 comparisons. Use the sliders to see the changes. These are nVidia AO samples; not SSAO. EDIT: from what I read AO is not available on AMD drivers...someone correct me if I'm wrong. Here is a screenshot. Just mouse over the picture to see SSAO on and remove the mouse to see it without SSAO. PS. I also turn off DOF because I don't like it and I move Bloom quality from 0 to 1. I set my AF in Inspector to x16 as well.

Sure and you're welcome! Just so you know, TC changed from the Vibrant to the Vanilla preset back in v1.4 because of lighting issues he was facing. You can view that in his change log on his Nexus page. The only other lighting mod I have installed is the Real Candle Effect mod. Everything else, lighting wise, is strictly RCRN with the Classic night preset (not RCRN Plus) and SkyRealism Cinematic. I took all shots with the ENB feature. Using the console, ~ key. Type in tm and hit enter and the ~ key again. Press "Prt Sc" button to take your shot. This toogles the menus off so you get a nice clear shot. Just hit the ~ key, type in tm again and hit enter to bring the menus back. Your screenshots will be in your main Skyrim folder by default and saved as a .png file. You can also type in tfc into the console to have free contol over the camera. Here's a good tutorial. 1st and 6th shots are at High Hrothgar in the main area right inside the door. 2nd shot is interior of Dragonsreach in Whiterun. 3rd and 4th are outside of Riverwood on the path leading to Bleak Falls Barrow. The last one is on the edge of Yngvild, Northeast of Dawnstar (used Real Ice textures).

New update was released for his Tree Lods by Spanian77 which is included in STEP.