thommaal

The current 2.2.9 guide includes "The Skyrim Distance Overhaul LOD Improvement" and "Dynamic Fires". It looks like they conflict. Could someone else test this to confirm/refute the result?

The problem is the interaction of Dynamic Fires ("dynamic fires.esp") and SDO's Giant Camp Fire module. I hadn't installed Dynamic Fires before but added it when I duplicated your mod list. I switched both mods around in the installation- and load-order but to no avail, so far. They don't work well together. Since this is relevant for the STEP 2.2.9 mod list, I hope some more players test it to confirm the conflict between those two mods. And the mod authors might be interested to hear about this through STEP.

Oh no, I made a mistake, you did not. I wasn't criticising you, not at all. I just wanted to share the reason for the conflict that was only present on my side. I didn't follow good practice in this case and it showed. When only esps are installed, the optional esp-folder is a quick way to get rid of the unnecessary ones -- but t's never a good idea to use it when other files were installed that are associated with the deactivated esp. I really don't know why I did that.

oqhansoloqo, instead of solving the mystery of the psychedelic bonfire, I did what only the lazy detectives in the movies do: I went out.But my carelessness in the case of the missing nif is one of those cautionary tales that might help someone avoid the same stupidity.I actually did realize - belatedly - that you did not use the ELFX exteriors file. But instead of re-installing the Mod immediately, I thoughtlessly swapped the superfluous esp into the optional folder and forgot about it.And that's so stupid that I should be banned from using MO if I were to repeat that mistake again.Options often don't just install an esp, they also add other files -- and those files don't disappear by deactivating the associated esp. They stay active and can easily lead to conflicts that are not apparent by looking at the installation- or load-order.The optional folder is a nice short-cut but also a dubious one.

If "Enhanced Lights and FX" is still beneath "Animated Clutter" in the mod-installation-window on the left, the mentioned file should be overwritten. Otherwise, it's fine. Its path is: Animated cluttermeshesarchitecturewhiterunwrterrainwrskyforge01.nif It's already clear, why you had no success in isolating the culprit for the blast-effect. It's added to any save-file made with your mod-list. I had to go back to my STEP-profile and load an earlier, still untouched save to see a normal fire again. So, deactivating mods won't help you -- unless you have a pure STEP-save. At least, I know now for sure that the problem is hidden within your added mods. So, I am going to start deactivating. Let's see what happens .. ADDED: I loaded an infected save to see if Guldun Rock showed a normal fire in my duplication of your mod-list - and it does. So, it looks like the problem manifests itself the same way on both machines. If I solve the problem here, you have a good chance to get rid of the problem too -- but you might not be able to use any save made with the responsible mod. I have already tried to get rid of the effect with the save cleaner. Didn't work. But it's too early to say anything for sure.

I have deactivated it. It's still not robust enough and seeing townspeople run around with invisible lighting sources in their hands is too immersion breaking.

I have duplicated oqhansoloqo's installation- and load-order and the effect is plain to see: (Secundas Kiss) I have a couple of suspects for this LSD-blast - but I will enjoy the real sun first. :) Btw, oqhansoloqo, ELFX overwrites a file from Animated Clutter in your installation order ("wrskyforge01.nif"). You might want to hide the overwriting file to enjoy the animation effect. ADDED: Wait, the installation-order needs to be changed anyway.

I've experimented with "EnableCompression=false" too and my experience is also positive. My ReservedMemorySizeMb is at "768" but I haven't enabled Autodetect; might do that.

The visibility of the seams depends mostly on lighting conditions (XCE + SG Textures + Battle Hardened): Barely noticeable (light-toned Redguard; Breton): Noticeable (light-toned Redguard, Ork, Breton): Even the usually almost invisible seam at the arms can become apparent again depending on skin tone and lighting (Elf): I'd still like to find a texture mod that works better with the XCE-vanilla body: Nords are looking a bit too plasticky and the seams are still too prominent. Otoh, they are also present in the current setup which also looks worse overall. It's two steps forward: a better skin tone combined with a slightly tougher look. But it's not on par with a body replacer. Though there is none, apparently, that plays nice with vanilla armours, so they are out of the picture .. Regardless, can we agree that this setting is an improvement to the status quo and should be tested further? Added: I think, "Better Freckles" looks out of place with the new textures.

Is this still under scrutiny? Frankly, I hadn't even considered that MO could be unreliable; after all, I let it extract bsas all the time and so, when it was time to ddsopt the vanilla files, I simply right-clicked them under Archives and clicked "extract". After reading about EssArrBee's experience, I extracted all the bsas again with MO and DDSopt and the folders had the same number of files, the same size and a sample comparison of the HR1 folder with Beyond Compare showed no deviations at all. I don't doubt his experience, but I can't confirm it. I don't know if it is already mentioned in the guide, but antivirus tools or other programs that delay such copy intensive processes are better deactivated.

I also don't touch uGrids - but, so far, I have tried to reduce "popping" by adding .. well, more and more. But it leads to less immersion, not more and I am currently getting around to a similar point of view. The experience needs to be tweaked toward the way we actually use our visual sense, how we focus and what we dismiss. The information we are actually aware of while seeing is minimal compared to the data we process. Of course, that is the result of an overwhelming amount of (potential) data provided by reality all the time for free. Visual virtuality is still the opposite. But when we add as much information as possible while leaving the data out, the game should run much smoother even on midrange machines. The question should not be how we can cram more data into the stream but what data should be in there and what can be left out.

TechAngel85, have you tried out the XCE-compatible vanilla version of "Battle Hardened Body Mod Vanilla UNP UNPB UNPC CBBE ADEC" yet? The only problem I detect is a plastic-like, smooth shine to the feet. The XCE-feet seem to be a problem for many texture packs, I think they don't use the same grittiness as the body. I have added the SG textures to the battle-hardened "femalebody_1_msn.dds" and the result is pretty good but not perfect. The feet have definitely improved and the body still looks more warrior-like than before.

But its problems with the vanilla armours are prominent. Of course, if STEP plans to incorporate a play-style that turns Skyrim into "Death by Snu-snu in the lands of the Warrior Babes", clothing beyond bikinis ceases to matter. Hmmm ...

Luckily, MO makes a duplication of an installation pretty painless. I simply copy my STEP-profile, name it oqhansoloqo and paste your inis into it. :) However, you use a couple of mods that I haven't downloaded, so I need to do that first. You have DDSopted mods that I wouldn't touch - but if it looks fine in your game and led to a reduction of file-size, go for it. I am rarely convinced by the results, but I blame my NEC 271; he isn't the forgiving type. A pure gamer display with normal resolution would be better - but it's not what I need. That's the conflict I mentioned earlier. Immersive Creatures hides the effect of SDO at Guldun Rock - coc to the location; you should see a normal camp fire there and not the blasty one. Of course, if you added an overwrite, you need to deacivate that esp first.

I confirm the seams with BI Phenotypes, here is the Base UNP with an added grainy specular map (I was hoping one of the optional maps might make a difference) I have tried variations of navetsea's textures from this mod and while the seams at the arms and legs were less noticable, the neck seam was unbearable. Real Girls Realistic Body Texture for UNP UNPB and SeveNBase - WIP looked nice but showed a visible neck seam as well. I have finally looked at the SG Textures, too. The neck seam is the least visible compared to any other texture I have tested so far. Arm and leg seam are more visible than with the Real Girl texture mod - but that mod has a more identifiable neck seam. Added: The coverwomen textures show a very hard neck seam, even with the seamless unp addon.

Windows 7 64bit, Catalyst Display Driver ver. 13.251. But, IIRC, Neovalen had no problems with his SLI 670GTX. If you published your installation-/load-order as well as the inis, I could duplicate them to see if the problem is going to loom up. I have already dragged mods around a bit, added a couple of ENBs and changed ini-values beyond the reasonable and the camp fires still look normal. So far, this looks indeed like a problem bound to specific configurations. Giant Camp Fire Secundas Kiss

Since I had finished a pure STEP installation anyway, I added the SG textures too. I have not yet looked for seams closely though they are not apparent. I will play around with different weights a bit. But the appearance is not just glowy, it's also a bit .. plasticky. Gerdur looks like a dirty doll .. yeah, exactly ... Darker toned NPCs look much better, however. But it's far too early to say anything definite.

Well, I looked for other posts that showed a similar experience on SDO's nexus thread and the only one I found so far was TechAngel's. So, this might be a problem that occurs under pretty specific circumstances.

I tried it again with a basic ENB-setting and Vividian 5.24 and still no problems.

Okay, I finished the STEP 2.2.8/9 profiles with SDO and all Giant Camp Fires are perfectly normal. I used my already cleaned SDO-files but didn't put any effort at all in optimizing installation- or load-order: it's simply a STEP/BOSS-build. [spoiler=Load Order]Skyrim.esmUpdate.esmUnofficial Skyrim Patch.espDawnguard.esmUnofficial Dawnguard Patch.espHearthFires.esmUnofficial Hearthfire Patch.espDragonborn.esmUnofficial Dragonborn Patch.espSkyrim Project Optimization - No Homes - Full Version.esmLanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Main.esmHighResTexturePack01.espHighResTexturePack02.espHighResTexturePack03.espBrawl Bugs CE.espUnofficial High Resolution Patch.espWeapons & Armor Fixes_Remade.espClothing & Clutter Fixes.espADS.espAOS.espAOS2_DGDB Patch.espBWS.espIHSS.espImproved Combat Sounds v2.2.espCutting Room Floor.espStaticMeshImprovementMod-DragonbornTernFix.espStaticMeshImprovementMod-FurnitureChestSnowFix.espTradeBarter.esp83Willows_101BUGS_V4_HighRes.espAuto Unequip Ammo.espBring Out Your Dead.espClamsDropPearls.espDead Body Collision.espDisease Descriptions.espDD_Dawnguard Additions.espDD_Dragonborn Additions.espDual Sheath Redux.espfFastTravelSpeedMult_4.espMoss Rocks.espMoss Rocks_DB.espORM-Arvak.espPilgrimsDelight.espPoint The Way.espSDO Full-LOD - Giant Campfires.espSDO Full-LOD - The Morthal Swamp Complete.espSDO Full-LOD - Whiterun Trundra Creeks.espSkyrim Flora Overhaul.espSkyrimImprovedPuddles-DG-HF-DB.espTraps Make Noise.espWetandCold.espWetandCold - Ashes.espFootprints.espFootprints - Ash.espNoxUE2.00.espRaceMenu.espRaceMenuPlugin.espSkyUI.espiHUD.espElemental Staves.espImproved Closefaced Helmets_Legendary.espimp_helm_imp.espimp_guard_helm.espComplete Crafting Overhaul_Remade.espLock Overhaul.espGildergreen Regrown.espRun For Your Lives.espWhen Vampires Attack.espThe Paarthurnax Dilemma.espSkyrimCoinReplacerRedux.espAppropriately Attired Jarls Redux.espDiversePriests.espDiversePriests_BringOutYourDeadPatch.espGuard Dialogue Overhaul.espParalyze.espSkyFalls + SkyMills + DG + DB.espSoul Gems Differ - E.espTheChoiceIsYours.espTheChoiceIsYours_Dawnguard.espThieves Guild Requirements.espaMidianborn_Skyforge_Weapons.espaMidianBorn_ContentAddon.espHearthfireChimneys.espBFSEffects.espDeadlySpellImpacts.espdD-No Spinning Death Animation.espBeards.espBrows.espSPTConsistentOlderPeople.espNonEssentialChildren.espdD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.espDawnguardRuneWeaponsFXSReplacer.espRealisticWaterTwo.espRealisticWaterTwo - Legendary.espDiversePriests_ConsistentOlderPeoplePatch.espCCO_WAFTrueWeapons_Patch.espSTEP Core Patch.espBashed Patch, 0.espDual Sheath Redux Patch.esp Something is amiss in your installation, oqhansoloqo. Btw, I had forgotten how appalling Skyrim looks without further modification.

Interesting; another reason to only use it temporarily.

Yes, it does help, thank you. I had the same information about (1), and I haven't seen the problem occur since I use this enblocal-setting. But I couldn't find a reference to cite its use, when we had a discussion about the function of this fix. I agree, a basic guide would be useful that recommends a range of settings and explains why to use them when. It should also include information about the function of the fixes. 1. What does ENBoost do? + an added paragraph to distinguish it from ENB 2. How to install it 3. Basic enblocal.ini information and recommended settings 4. What do the fixes do? 5. Links to more information and discussions

I am not aware of any problems with the overwrite folder itself at present. It's simply good practice to add the contents as mods into the appropriate profile. If you only have one profile, it doesn't matter - but why should you? I have 1) a vanilla profile that contains only the DDSopted textures from the Skyrim+DLCs bsas and inis with basic adaptations to my system. 2) A STEP-profile that builds upon the vanilla profile, adds the pack-mods and includes adapted inis for use with ENBoost. 3) A STEP-plus profile that adds mods I like and adapts the inis further. 4) Currently, I am adding a STEP 2.2.9 profile to look for some oddities that others have reported and I didn't encounter in any of my profiles. 5) A Basic ENB-profile that builds upon vanilla and includes all adaptations for the use of, well, ENB, of course. Unfortunately, MO doesn't hide installed mods in the left window if you don't use them in a profile. So, I have added a second MO-installation to add STEP-clutterfree a) vanilla, b) SRLE and (in progress) c) SRLE + REGS profiles [both MOs share the same download-folder though.] In both installations of MO, the use of the overwrite-folder can only be temporary, otherwise I'd soon run into problems.

TechAngel85, I thought about it some more, and I think, you are right to stay with the vanilla body if possible. If one of the available body textures a) solves the problems of the XCE textures, b) doesn't add different ones, and c) improves appearance in a vanilla-friendly way, it leads to the least changes and doesn't complicate matters for further, individual modding, regardless of its direction. If a superior vanilla-body texture is found or created, it's also no fuzz to replace a previous solution on the fly without the need for any farther-reaching adaptations within the mod list. Any available body mod leads to an unwanted snowball-effect. Your solution is isolated and solves the main problem within the current mod list. It's the most economical intervention. So, I stand corrected.

True, TechAngel85, every single body replacer opens up its own universe of mods while closing incompatible ones out. However, every popular replacer has plenty of textures, clothing and armour mods at its disposal. Compatibility with other mods is improved by XP32 Maximum Skeleton -XPMS or specific patches that are far more likely to be present for a popular mod than a STEP-specific one.Add Bodyslide (not into STEP, of course) and there is no end to content for the dedicated gamer.I've tried all the popular replacers -- and I really don't care which one is chosen; they are all flexible enough to allow further adaptation at will.No replacer is ideal, I agree - but any popular one is better than the current state of affairs.