Kuldebar

No accounting for taste, but I rather like them. I find them superior in every way to the default ones. Additionally, Visible Windows by Isoku never changed them (at least it never showed up as a conflict). So, the games blurry, fuzzy bluish blobs have been hanging over heads inside Inns and Taverns since the game was released.

OK, I'll make my summation as well. You make plenty sense, but it would make everyone's life easier if the official "Unofficial Patches" kept a tighter focus on substantive bugs and not innocuous ones. After all, as kryptopyr reminds us, "adding new things or even restoring things left out of the official game (particularly if their absence isn't creating any issues) is more appropriate for a mod like Cutting Room Floor". Aesthetic fixes are problematic in their nature. As much as I love Crafting Overhaul Remade, I wouldn't want it to be rolled up into the Unofficial Patches. There's choice involved, the tacit idea was that it's a no brainer in regards to whether or not to use the unofficial patches, but the more it creeps into highly discretionary, areas the more problems it will cause for its user base and the modders who also fix specific and desired things.

I think Fire is making a very valid point here. Compensating and compromise (and a lot of work on Tannin's part) in order to support previous (arguably) questionable compromises made by others can lead to the generational Xerox copy of problem solving, or as people used to say, "bailing wire and bubblegum". It's not that it won't work, or can't work; it's that it perpetuates a mess -a mess you yourself didn't make. There needs to be a firewall break and it's best to keep logic intact and not just go along to get along. The lie down with dogs and wake up with fleas, also works as a descriptive image. I don't think I left out any pertinent metaphors. :)

Yeah, I ran it up last night, it really is to my liking but out of the box, I grind down to 17 FPS average which is outside of my gameplay comfort zone. I'm fine with 25+ FPS as long as it's smooth, consistent and no jitters. Serenity Extreme Performance gives me that FPS range plus the ability to swap styles out if the mood hits me. Using 01 Sepia Toned atm)

It should be noted that the particular and popular housing mod by an exceptional mod author requires Hearthfires, so that point is moot. The patch changed the environment for the sake of a relatively small discrepancy. I really think kryptopyr stated it best:

You might still try PPR and check the results. You will know pretty easily if the mismatch is severe. Depending on the texture pack and the author's style, if the textures follow close to vanilla than the PPR vanilla will work just fine. Also keep in mind, if you delve into the file structure of the PPR folders, you can hide or single out specific cities and areas, etc. basically deciding what you wish to use. Here's my Frankenstein texture mix: Also, there's been a longstanding issue with at least three PPR related meshes, they will mess up certain architectural elements so I hide them: CJ was the person who gave the heads up about the Windhelm related ones, I later found a Solitude one as well.

I'm using imgur.com, pretty happy with it...I've never been too serious about uploaded images, just like to keep it simple. Also, those pictures will open larger for you if you right click open in new tab/window. I'll tried that, using base and interior alternates atm, somehow overlooked the exterior wall alternate. Oh, my screenies are with PPR installed. It's a preReq for the Osmodius City Packs. Just install PPR and have Osmodius' City Pack load after it. There's some redundancy in his but it is intentional.

Snow brightness and other bright objects is a sticky wicket when it comes to adjusting in the ENB...not for the faint of heart because they are all interrelated. You could get snow "exactly" right and then discover that Glowing Mushrooms are way off in brightness, or candles are too dim, etc. Imaginator makes it seem simple because it is essentially a blanket adjustment that lies on top of everything...which can also lead to some mal-adjustments on a broad scale. The easiest thing to do, unless you are a enb author/guru is establish a good baseline by choosing an ENB that fits your taste so any adjustments/tweaks can be kept smallish in nature. From WolfGrimDark:

Yeah, what CJ said, it's all laid out there for you. The left pane mod stuff is listed backwards (makes sense if you think about it)

CJ, you know I always loved the green paint in Falkreath, but after using Gamwich's Rustic Windows...the ETaC windows are fuzzy/blurry rectangles. :( You think MJB might be able to change up those window textures at some point?

It's very nice but a performance killer to those who can't afford its favors. I'm using Serenity Extreme Performance Preset and am very happy with the compromises.

Yeah, SRO is a blend if I recall, there are higher interior textures in the pack I used before, but all exterior were 2k or less. I like SRO, but chaging out texture packs before new playthroughs helps keep things fresh. The worst that can happen is...crap I made a bad choice and have to just switch it out on MO. The parallax related ESP's a bit of a pain because no one like changing esp's out in a save if they can help it, but those type records are literally just texture/mesh path edits; nothing more.

Now come on, everyone knows if it isn't 2k or higher, it sucks! :p

Uggh, I just ran through Solitude on different trips with Langley over Osmodius, Osmodius by itself and Osmodius over Langley.... Let's just say when you start looking at textures you start noting things that can't be unseen: -gaps/seams that exist in vanilla and no amount of good texture can cover up...ignorance is bliss! But, all was not in vain, here's some shots of Osmodius over Langley's Solitude:

Yeah, not a lot of self promotion with Langley, kinda requires some searching out to uncover some real gems, imo. But, Langley's stuff is never real high resolution so many people automatically go to other more popular packs.

Langley's replaced the walls with it's somewhat smaller stone blocks and greenery. So, I may have overlooked swapping that out.

I did use the two alternates: base and interior prior to moving Langley's Solitude down and enabling it. And, I checked out Windhelm and decided to go with the alt. ground texture....the demarcation points between the usual pavement and icy dirt/mud were very jarring. The solution of dispensing with the pavement in those areas seems to have helped a lot. I don't miss the paving stones at all...stuff gets covered over by dirt and debris, I can "act like" the pavement is down underneath it still. :) But, let's be honest: until Windhelm is remeshed, if ever...it will still be a hot mess despite nicer textures.

I agree that farmhouses aren't the most exciting texture packs all in all, I've used just about every texture pack out there and while I never have exhaustively compared them side by side; I work off my impressions a lot when it comes to textures. Sometimes it may just be one thing that can ruin it for me. There's no accounting for taste, after all, right? I have a very short list of what I look for that Gamwich provides: Thatch Roof: It should have detail and not be some smooth-ish mass of cookie dough. After all, it is supposed to be built from dried stalks and reed-type plants. The over all color palette of the work. I want the wood to not stand out from its environment too much, it has to belong there. Realistic door construction. I suspect that most people who play Skyrim and create textures may have never lived in a craft built home or log cabin. Doors need to be based on a coherent design concept and not just be a bunch of massive half log planks mashed together. Details. Gamwich wins the day with his windows. His is the first Farmhouse Texture Replacer that I have ever seen that replaces the default windows. Even Visible Windows by Isoku never touched those...I always wondered why. Lastly, texture size. Gamwich is noteworthy because he sticks to sanely sized resolutions. Like any decent medicine, most of us don't like it but we need more of it.

Cooking spits and pots are separate objects, one can exist without the other, after all. :p Now if the pot was floating in the air with an invisible hook...sure, patch away. But to me, it sounds like the house kitchen just needs a mod. This is in the same league as adding smelters or grinder or tanning racks. Or Bethesda forgot doors in the College of Winterhold, let's add them into the patch! One can say that something was intended, and thus it should be "fixed" or perhaps even better, one could say, it doesn't matter, we will mod it the way we want it, no universal patch needed. The difference is that the patch messes up all the mods downstream of it because the USkP is given privilege of priority and place, etc. So with such awesome prestige, the patch makers should always tread lightly as they cause ripples wherever they move.

Arthmoor, like many other geek-types, I include myself in that crowd, don't always come off very well when it comes to conveying facts to real living breathing human beings. But, they more often than not know what they are talking about...they just often lack the patience of a saint when it comes to conveying that information to people who desire understanding. Arthmoor was correct in regards to his questioning of my use of MO's BSA Extraction in the Vampire Fix techno-drama in another thread. But being right earns no one the right to never be questioned, challenged or critiqued, that free pass crap is seemingly only reserved for powerful political leaders. Some of the decisions the Unofficial Patch Team have made hint at mission creep into areas best left to regular modders. Arthmoor himself has released mods (CRF is a good example) that would itself never be in a (more or less mandatory) patch but work just fine as an optional mod. The kitchen fix in this topic should never have been part of the patch. That's what housing mods are for, they add stuff Bethesda never did.

Helgen Imperial Armory by Kristoffer Did you ever find that the starting gear in Helgen is just a little bit limited and skewed toward one or two particular play styles? I've played through the Helgen Intro 100's of times, it's a great start but it pigeonholes player characters a little bit right when they first taking those baby steps. Helgen Armory simply adds a few chests and items to the game that make complete sense for an Imperial Keep to have: As you see, none of that is overpowering, but it does allow almost any play-style character to get fully geared out before leaving Helgen Keep proper. Think about it, if the Zombie Apocalypse happened while you were in a military tactical headquarters , don't you think there might be a decent selection of gear lying around or at least available after some effort? I play my Skyrim with harder enemies and harder dragons and adjusted racial abilities. My new character can only carry around 100-110 pounds that is including equipped gear...so looting everything in sight is not an option. At level 100 his weight capacity might be 280 or so.

It had a few issues that were easy to overlook and generally didn't result in bad things happening, but those appear to be fully fixed now in the very latest version. Being able to toggle off carriage locations will make this mod great for compatibility right out of the box.

I tried that one before, I can't recall but there was something that didn't work for me, it's been a while...it may have been VRAM issues for me at that time. I might take a new look again, though Langley's is really nice.

There's really all lot of gems hidden throughout Langley's Mod page. The title "Langleys Wood Metal and Stone Textures Workshop" doesn't really capture the imagination. The screenshots posted on the page don't do it justice either because it's hard to find a picture that's representative of so much of the work. My favorite textures to date: High Hrothgar, Solitude, Riften, Markarth, Riften Underground, Ships, Clutter. I often interchange various textures, and even I don't use 100% Langley Textures everywhere, I often do so for major areas.

Langleys Textures Workshop by Langley The file section has them all broken down into themes/areas. My favorite is her High Hrothgar Textures, but there are many other nice reworks. Nothing too crazy large or anything, not that kind of texture pack.