Wolrajh

But isn't the whole fiery horse thing a completely non-lore-friendly addition to the game in the first place? As a regular user I'd find it very weird to add this to STEP :p

continued from #10 Grass on Steroids : SkyRealism - Grass : Vanilla : As you can see, GoS and SR-G do not really renders the same feeling. GoS is more wild / uneven / almost lush. SR-G is trying to stay a bit more vanilla-like with short grass, but it may look a bit "systematic". Also, GoS still looks ok the higher iMinGrassSize goes, while SR-G benefits from lower ( and heavier ) values. Actually, GoS looks "bad" with low values. Oh, and since GoS essentially "cheats" its way through success by actually boosting the various grass meshes sizes, the textures may look pixellated as they are scaled and stretched along with the meshes. On the other hand, SR-G looks sharper, crisper. As for the average recorded framerate : Behind character ( first batch of screenshots, more distance to see ) : Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |Â Â GoS - SFOÂ Â |Â Â Sr-GÂ Â |Â Â Vanilla -------------------------------------------- Â Â Â Â 40Â Â Â Â |Â Â Â Â Â Â 11.4Â Â Â Â Â Â |Â Â 14.8Â Â |Â Â Â 23.3 -------------------------------------------- Â Â Â Â 75Â Â Â Â |Â Â Â Â Â Â 21.3Â Â Â Â Â Â |Â Â 25.2Â Â |Â Â Â 26.6 -------------------------------------------- Â Â Â 100Â Â Â |Â Â Â Â Â Â 22.3Â Â Â Â Â Â |Â Â 28.5Â Â |Â Â Â Â Â 32 In front of character ( second batch, horizon quickly occluded by mountains and trees ) : Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |Â Â GoS - SFOÂ Â |Â Â Sr-GÂ Â |Â Â Vanilla -------------------------------------------- Â Â Â Â 40Â Â Â Â |Â Â Â Â Â Â 15.7Â Â Â Â Â Â |Â Â 19.8Â Â |Â Â Â 27.8 -------------------------------------------- Â Â Â Â 75Â Â Â Â |Â Â Â Â Â Â 26.2Â Â Â Â Â Â |Â Â 26.6Â Â |Â Â Â 27.8 -------------------------------------------- Â Â Â 100Â Â Â |Â Â Â Â Â Â 30.1Â Â Â Â Â Â |Â Â 33.5Â Â |Â Â Â 36.4 As we can see, Vanilla is always giving better performances away, which is quite normal. SkyRealism fares quite well, with Grass on Steroid falling behind. However, one should take into consideration that GoS will make grass quite dense even at higher iMinGrassSize values, so it would be inaccurate to compare GoS and SR-G scores for the same entry. One should compare the SR-G / vanilla fps scores for iMinGrassSize=40 to the GoS scores for iMinGrassSize=75, or even 100 ! This way, we can see that GoS actually beat SR-G and almost reach Vanilla scores. The mod author claims that setting iMinGrassSize to a value above 100 ( like 128 ) will actually boost performances, but I didn't see any differences beyond 100. Same grass pattern, same fps. I believe this parameter is capped to 100. I asked the author about that issue, still awaiting an answer. In the end it's still hard to call a winner. Grass On Steroid gives very good, vanilla-rank performances, even with shadows enabled, and the wild and unevenly distributed grass in which wild beasts may hide and pounce on their prey ( the player! ) will probably win over a lot of people. On the other hand, SkyRealism - Grass may seduce people with a better rig that are looking for an improvement over Vanilla, more grass density but still the same overall height and sharp textures. That said, GoS is not really going against Skyrim lore either... It's just a slightly different take. Thanks for reading !

Hey, So I finally took some time to pseudo-benchmark Grass on Steroid against Vanilla and against SkyRealism - Grass. I decided to leave all my effects enabled, the most relevant active mods being Skyrim Flora Overhaul and Lush Trees and Grass. Other than that, it's pretty much STEP. FoV set to 100 in order to see more grass. I used the Goldilock version of GoS-SFO, as the standard version definitely used a grass size which seemed too tall, as well as having a bigger hit on the framerate. I do not own any DLC. Other options including : I tested with iMinGrassSize set to 40 -> 75 -> 100. screenshots : Grass on Steroids : SkyRealism - Grass : Vanilla : [to be continued in another reply for more pictures and conclusion]

Hey, While I'm trying to find some free time to benchmark a few other mods, I stumbled into that single Skyrim.ini line. It doesn't seem to be very well known, although its effects are pretty neat. What this does is essentially display more than just your equipped weapon on your character : with this you can have up to - 2x 1-handed weapon ( there are restrictions though ), - 1x bow, - 1x 2handed weapon, - 1x dagger, displayed at the same time. In a nutshell, you have to favorite the weapons you want to show up. Dual-wielded weapons are a bit unpredictible : it is said you have to equip two weapons of a different category ( sword/axe ) for them to show up correctly on both side, however it didn't work for me with vanilla daedric axe + sword. Worked with daedric axe + Dawnbringer, so go figure! It is possible that Dual Sheath Redux or any mod that put the shield on the back when "sheathed" could also enable the shield to be permanently visible even when wielding a two handed weapon or a bow. I'm not sure yet. [edit : it indeed work with DSR ] Last, there is a bug where the previously equipped weapon won't disappear from the hand when switching weapons without sheathing first. This may or may not be an immersion-breaker depending on the playstyle. All in one, the feature was probably de-activated and hidden because it wasn't 100% working ; however it looks badass, lore-friendly, and doesn't require another mod. Mods like "Armed to the Teeth" on the other may very well get it right and bug free, but I for one do no feel the need to risk another mod dirtying my saves to get virtually the same result. ( ATTT however can display a lot more weapons ... ) Sorry it this was either very well known but dismissed from STEP, or an integrated feature in either of the DLC. I'm still playing Vanilla, so please bear with me :)

Yeah, an issue with Skyrim ( and which was already there in Oblivion ) is the scale of the world. In order for them to accomodate multiple "cold"/"northern" settings in the same, "small" world, Beth dev team had to create some regions that blends together far too quickly. It's not as rough as it could be in a MMO ( where most of the time you can litteraly tell "Here is the frontier" ), but it may still seem unrealistic : from lush and green forest to tundra to ice glaciers in a matters of minutes. Anyway, yeah, it may seem like breaking a bit with Vanilla, but then again there are as many 'Skyrim' as there are players. One may first think of the frozen wasteland of the Northern Coast when told of Skyrim, one may first think of the hot springs near Riften, one may see the hard mountains around Markath, etc. Thing is, GoS looks really good and add this wild feeling to grass where grass is meant to be. Now, I have to admit that a ground covered with short green ferns in a shaded grove, may be more appealing and believable than being neck-deep in giant ferns and tall grass there. On the other hand, a sunny hillside with glorious wheat-like grass and purple flowers, unmowed, un-evenly distributed, is also very believable. Hell, it's just as if both were good for different situations :p And there is still the claimed FPS gain to test. I noticed a better FPS with iMinGrassSize at 80+, I didn't think about testing my FPS ( and visual quality ) with SkyRealism - Grass and the same ini setting...

Hello, Grass on Steroid https://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33582 Pros: - It really may help gain some fps since it's relying on "iMinGrassSize" in Skyrim.ini being greater than 75; - Uneven distribution of grass type, height, and density, resulting in less repetitivity in the grass patterns; - Can give a new feeling of danger when walking though the tall grass; - Perfectly compatible with Lush Grass and SFO; Cons: - tall grass may seem out of place in Skyrim, often considered a barren region; - Since the grass is now oversized, the textures appear scaled and blurry. I've been going back and forth between this and SkyRealism - Grass which is quite good looking too. Hard to decide. Grass on Steroid's main strength resides in the fact that not only does it help gain some FPS, it also unevens the grass distribution, making it feel less systematic. It's nothing like simply setting iMinGrassSize to a lower value to virtually increase density. I'd say that, maybe, a good rig could benefit better from SkyRealism, while a lesser rig could bet on Grass on Steroids. All in one, it's worth a look. The author also released Beautiful Landscapes - Skyrim Grassification Project, which sadly isn't quite as interesting as it first appears. Mainly because it makes grass grow everywhere, even in places where it doesn't make sense like the frozen wastelands on the North Coast.