Starac
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Everything posted by Starac
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What should i rearrange? What do you suggest? Textures can be designed differently, but that's it. I doubt this can fix the problem?
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I have forget to fix one texture and to add ruins furniture file in 1.4 version. That's why 1.5 is out so quickly. Btw, most of the update textures have been created long ago. And i'm a little bit to old for school :)
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This is probably extreme UV-mapping case? Not a texture problem.
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Anyone knows where this texture is located?
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This is high-res pack. Read the description below. Later i'm gonna upload low-res.
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Has anyone who play Dawnguard visited Forgotten Vale? I need saves from this location to check how my new textures fitting. Don't have time to play, btw. So if someone can upload saves form this location, it would be very helpful.
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That is normal. Textures are much higher quality which makes everything more clearer. Also light reflects better. Correct normal maps are also very important. My first normal maps were (first SRO release) incorrect. Or should i say incorrect for this type of lighting/engine.
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This is how it should look. And it was just matter of better normal map.
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I'm uploading new 1.3 update right now.
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That's ice, but to much pixelated. Low resolution texture. My final version:
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@Starac As Vond states, I have proven that your textures are properly compressed in almost every instance (if there is an exception, I will let you know, but I cannot verify right now). DDSopt will not automatically alter compression or mipmaps if it finds them already in the proper format. When processing your textures, there was only a roughly 3 Mb in/out byte difference, which is nothing compared to vanilla and SKYHD, which each have much bigger in/out byte differences (indicating many fe. DXT5 that should be DXT1, etc.). DDSopt is not like other texture optimizers . It was developed by Ethotron (NIFopt) with the assistance of many texture/graphic artists. He is also an "expert" in compression formats and has a dev record to prove it. Can you tell me which of the following look right to you with regard to vanilla Windhelm ice? You don't understand. Before i compress or resize a texture i use Bicubic filters. Concerning DXT formats, all my textures use proper format. There are maybe 5 or 6 textures in my mod which should be removed. I've forget to do this. But they don't affect game at all. Your pics look almost the same. Change your angle when you make screens. On second screen ice looks more white, which is not a big deal. To me they look both ugly :)
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Reflections are normal. Pixelation can be solved with high resolution normal map. I see that some people here use so called texture optimizers. Maybe textures in oder mods are not compressed properly, or whatever? But in case of my mod there's nothing to optimize. These programs can only decrease quality because they compress textures automatically. My textures are compressed manually with proper filters.
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Roads are man-made, but dirt is not. And remember that this is a game, and you can have only one color for mountains. Ideal would be to divide mountains to lower and upper, and to have 2 different textures. Lower more yellowish, upper more grayish. This Windhelm texture is frozen mud. Dirty ice. I have actually forget to include this texture normal map in my mod. Next 1.3 update will have it. It looks like this: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/518782-skyrim-realistic-overhaul/page__view__findpost__p__5131637 To achieve ice effect you need ice texture and whitish alpha channel applied to normal map. Ice texture can also be blended on top of dirt texture. Or you can paint ice on dirt texture, something which i did. I think that reflecting effect also can be enhanced through mesh. I don't work with meshes though.
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I would not even consider this. Main texture and normal map must match if you want to enhance details. That's the rule. In case of mountains details are the most important because mountains are low-poly, and to much streched - UV mapping. They did this also because of consoles. And "Better Rocks and Mountains" normal maps are not better. They are different then my normals. Because of this snow look good in some places, but in other places it looks very bad, to much pixelated. Snow on mountains is not a texture, so it can not be improved with normal map. It is a vertex color shader. The best solution is "Better Dynamic Snow" mod, but it also is not perfect. And i don't agree that vanilla colors are totally off. This game is placed in the North. This is not Oblivion. Actually the best way to change colors is through the textures and then to create proper lighting. Because lighting affect everything, and some textures can look different. Also, your combination looks very weird to me. I'm looking at this picture https://dl.dropbox.com/u/74280697/rocks4-SHD-SERIOUS.jpg and i'm not even sure what this is? It looks like some alien plants. Strange, non detailed. At least my textures look like rocks with snow. It's very simple actually. Roads, dirt, and grass cover most of this game and have brown/yellow color. Also lower rocks always look yellowish in nature and blend better with dirt. Peaks can look more grayish, but in game this is not important because peaks are covered with snow. And problem is that you can have only one color for all mountains. I mean really, you look at brown/yellow road and on the side is gray/blue rock. It makes no sense. Also the problem with this small snowrocks texture is that it must be designed practically stone by stone, something which i will make later. Stock photo is not solution here. And this texture snow will always look differently because it's blended in the texture. So intensive normal map will deform snow. But it must be intensive cause texture must not look flat.
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Yes, i like vanilla textures. But i don't like blue mountains. In nature mountains are mostly yellowish or reddish. They can be blue, but mostly it is mixed with yellow. Blue, vanilla, mountains don't blend well with dirt which is brownish or yellowish. Grass is also mostly yellowish. This is why i have decided to change color. Also, color of lighting can change their look. But my mountains definitely don't look gold, and i didn't notice that they break atmosphere. I mean as a big Stalker fan and also modder of this game i value good atmosphere. Your point make no sense. You can make mountains to look blueish or yellowish, but imperative are details. I didn't change snow on mountains at all. They look a little bit better because mountain normal maps are more detailed. Next update will have better mountains snow. Btw, what is SHD? Skyrim HD or Serious HD?
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Absolutely. This is why i said that you can't combine them.
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I will give you just one example with "riverbededge" texture. It is a texture with big river coast stones. This texture is very important because it fits river area perfectly. So it was imperative for me to make new much better looking texture, but to look practically the same as vanilla. This was a process of combining many photos/textures, cutting stones/materials from them, putting these materials in one texture, designing to look like vanilla, and finally painting additional details. This was texture with many layers and i have spend more then 20 hours to finish it. That's why it looks so good. Nebula texture is just seamless stock photo, and totally out of place. This can be created within 20 minutes. Now I know that it is not simple to create texture like this one, and that it takes time end energy. Because of this it is funny to read some comments from people who simply don't understand this. I hope that this will clear some things a little bit.
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You did raise some good points when it comes to creating a texture pack that I have not thought about. However, if you had followed the early discussion in this thread, you would realize that the original images were being questioned as to how accurately they were portraying SRO. In any case, your approach to being constructive could use some work. While I understand that an artist/modder probably sees things differently than most, not everyone shares the same insight. And most people here do realize that pictures are not the most accurate way to portray the greater beauty that can be had in Skyrim. But pictures are the fastest way to get first impressions, and doesn't make them any less valid. If you want to help folks, continue to educate them, rather than criticizing them for not seeing things as you do, which is the opposite of being constructive. I have already said that screens are bad example. Now, criticizing can be helpful. In this case it is. And look, STEP is not my mod. I don't wish to tell anyone what to put inside. I did suggest some ideas and mods. That's it. Mods take to much time.
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If Nebula said your mod was a "mixed bag", because you were perhaps too inexperienced or lazy to make anything better, you wouldn't be insulted? No, i wouldn't be insulted. It is very hard to insult me especially without something concrete. Now, the fact is that Nebula can't say this. And i didn't insult him. I have no reason to do this? I said MAYBE he is just this or that. Big difference. I don't like to insult people. I was already constructive. But as always some people tend to perceive my statements in a wrong way.
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This maybe looks insulting, but from your point of view. SRO is not finished yet. Well, i can give some advices or suggestions. But this is not my mod. I have created my compilation :)
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This is primarily console game with console textures and meshes. That's why they didn't get everything right. Don't forget this. You can easily make better meshes to look exactly like vanilla, and put better texture on it. Your point make no sense. You can not judge someones work if you know nothing about it. You can say i like this or that. Some people would love to see Skyrim without snow (there was an request on Bethesda forum for this mod). They don't like snow. That's not normal. Now, people like this one can not judge. Some modders have put scorched/cracked land texture on the bottom of the river, or totally different type of leafs below Aspen tree. Below this tree should be Aspen leafs. This is case with Skyrim HD. And these are just some examples. Modders like this can not judge. You understand my point. Concerning my mod, on Nexus forum about 98% of comments were positive. But from people who actually tried this mode. Here i see negative comments from people who don't have this mod at all, or have installed only part of it. I also mix other mods with mine. Isokus water textures for example. Great mod. Also Vurts flora, except Pine barks. And of course Brumbeks SMIM. These are great mods as a whole. Now Skyrim HD is mixed bag, average textures, some very out of place. I like some wood textures and Glaciers.
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Now, you have said that my work isn't much better then others. And i heavily disagree, especially when you consider size of this mod. It is by far the biggest. There are some textures which i will improve. But later.Of course, that's your opinion and i respect it. But i more respect opinion from some experienced modder, like Brumbek (SMIM author) for example. He is fascinated with this mod. Actually what surprised me is reaction that these are just upscaled and resized vanilla textures. That's not true. Experienced modder should notice this instantly. Nhf, again.
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First of all i want to say hello to members of this community. Btw, i'm a creator of Skyrim Realistic Overhaul mod. And i want to give some critics and advices based on my experience and ideas. I'm gonna probably sound a little bit harsh, but that doesn't mean that i disrespect anyone. I also want to say that i like idea behind this, to create some compilation of the best available mods. First, I want to criticize The Compiler. Nhf, but you sound to me like an unexperienced modder. It's true that i have used some architecture vanilla textures, but as a base, to create even better textures. You create high-res texture and blend it with vanilla, with overlay or some other blending technique. It depends what type of texture is in question. Also this requires changing of normal maps, which i also did. In this way details are increased and it is preserved original look and design of the texture. This is very important. Why it is important to preserve original look and design. Simply because vanilla textures are created by professionals. They fit Skyrim perfectly. One example is Markarth stone floor where in Skyrim HD this texture doesn't fit with other rock texture. In my mod it fits perfectly because design is 100% the same, while details are way better. Vanilla textures are beautiful. Only problem is that they are low res and to much resized in some cases, because of consoles. 512x512 and 256x256 res is way to low for todays standards and PCs. If someone can drastically increase quality of vanilla textures, that's the way to go! That's my goal. It is ok to listen some peoples ideas for this mod, but in the same time this can be bad. Many of them aren't modders, or are inexperienced modders, or don't have any sense for this kind of art, etc. I'm saying this because modding isn't just changing textures to look different. It's much more then this. Also i don't know how much this idea of mixing mods with similar content is good? My textures and Skyrim HD textures are pretty much different in design, color, and quality. Also SHD textures are to much different from vanilla. Some can be mixed, but very small number. To others: It is impossible to talk about mod looking at the screenshots. You must try it and see how textures blend, are they detailed enough, do they fit the game, how they look at different weather types, are normal maps intensive enough, etc. Now, i hope this mod will become something big. Thanks and respect.
