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You have Billboard 4 really close. Test with this in SkyrimPrefs.INI (same as BethINI in Step guide): [TerrainManager] bShowLODInEditor=1 fBlockLevel0Distance=57344.0000 fBlockLevel1Distance=147456.0000 fBlockMaximumDistance=327680.0000 fSplitDistanceMult=1.0000 fTreeLoadDistance=0.0000 Set your Billboard brightness in DynDOLOD back to default 0. Before you run TexGen, change ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\Presets\DynDOLOD_SSE_TexGen_Default.ini like so (first will impact Billboard1 at LOD16, and second will impact Billboard4 at LOD8 (which are too bright): TreeBillboards=1 TreeBillboardsDirect=175 TreeBillboardsDirectLR=0 TreeBillboardsDirectFB=0 TreeBillboardsDirectTB=-100 TreeBillboardsAmbient=75 TreeHDBillboards=1 TreeHDBillboardsDirect=100 TreeHDBillboardsDirectLR=0 TreeHDBillboardsDirectFB=0 TreeHDBillboardsDirectTB=-100 TreeHDBillboardsAmbient=85 This should make distant billboards a bit brighter and more variant and closer billboards less bright with a bit less brightness variation. Also, try lowering slightly default (FlatLODVertexColor=0.55) in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini (but not at same time as the above changes, or you won't know the cause of the change for better/worse ... this setting will conflate with previous). It seems like you may have changed this from default (FlatLODColorVariance=0.1), since your billboards vary wildly from too dark to too bright. Yes, this is true, but it can help with the blotchiness when set just right (but it can also cause them to change shape with higher mips). It works really well with HLT and AA billboards to set it a bit higher than the defaults ... I run with 144 by default (EVT). I would try a value like 172 next so see if that helps or play with this setting further using higher/lower values.

#1 - you are exactly right. It adds a bit of grain to terrain to break up the tiling. It's just a noise map like on old TVs when the channel is dead. Typically, the average color is around #747474, so grayscale. Bit it's not going to have any transparency, since that is an effect of the alpha channel (black is 0% opacity and white is 100% opacity in alpha). I'm pretty sure terrain has no alpha opacity and lighting effects are limited to the normal map (IDK if the normals use alpha, but I doubt it). It's not black or white, because this effectively darkens or brightens terrain waaaay too much, respectively. Just grab some variants and enable them to see the diff. I have found that terrain mods generally use the best for the terrain (i.e., authors usually pick what's best for their mod).

We are only using the AOS and Trade & Barter patches. They are very simple but still relevant. We are handling WACCF patching in the Step patches.

I love Linux for the same reasons. My first bout was Fedora, and then I built Gentoo up from a minimal base. I've also tried OpenBSD and Linux Mint (which is a nice alternative to Ubuntu flavors). I even tried building a Linux router once (never finished). All of it was just fun to mess with and learn. I prefer non-Debian. Never ran Slackware. Over the past 10 years, it has been strictly CentOS, which is where I basically live now. I have CentOS 8 running my Plex server using my old Intel i5-760 box. I also maintain this website on CentOS 7 in the cloud. It's always fun to get things working how you want on a Linux box, and I quite like server-ops stuff. That said, I appreciate well-orchestrated software and ease of use for my gaming/every-day productivity OS (Windows).

Marked accepted for 2.1.0

Thanks for posting ... I had intended to look at this one for similar reasons and forgot all about it. More on that later ... In the meantime, we are picking up this one:

Ditto. As I understand it, connecting MO to Nexus API and querying info invokes the same exchange ... perhaps hijacking is the issue from the Nexus page itself. I rely on the law of large numbers with respect to this sort of exposure. Overly-zealous security consciousness (my subjective POV) is a real hindrance for me getting things done.

Nechigawara has given me permission to edit/host his movedaquarium plugin, so we will eventually bundle this into our patch or share the the HFE MA if possible. In the meantime, the original Mediafire link is re-enabled.

You may want to revisit Steam setup in Step 1 - System Setup Guide to be certain that Steam is in the correct path. Steam game path should be under Steam, not the reverse. You also may have had an unwanted DLL in the game directory or a corrupt file. I assume when you say "start over" you also mean installing/validating the game files? ... if you mean the "Games" folder as instructed in the guide, then disregard. It's also possible that you had a corrupt or otherwise incorrect copy of one of the Extenders, but if you placed a 1 or a 3 in the frameLimit, this could have cause the issue. I will clarify the SSE Display tweaks instruction to make it more obvious it's a minus and not a dash.

No worries. If you use the method @Mousetick describes, you get the best of both worlds: metadata and manual/secure. Then the 'merge' action makes sense and allows you to be more efficient. I think I will be adding a note about this to our System Setup Guide MO section ... a few people may read it, and it gives us something to link to. Just remember that whenever you install a mod into an existing mod, you get the prompt to 'replace' or 'merge'. Replace does just that: all the mod's content is replaced by whatever it is you are installing. Merge replaces only like-named files in the archive (which are ultimately unpacked and placed into the MO ../mods/ folder) and leaves all other files intact (perfect for adding options under a single mod). It is perfectly valid to install into separate mods as you have done, but with this one, they are only plugins and having them under one mod makes sense (MO provides the "Optional ESPs" and "Hide/Unhide" features to enable/disable single plugins/files inside a mod in the left pane.)

So two of you at least it seems. Well, we never would know it, because nobody has ever had this much trouble with 'merge' or other standard MO behavor as a result ... I assume you must've experienced it or used the "download with mod manager" button at least ONCE before? Thanks for confirming that you do so because of an 'assumption' I'm a tinkerer, so it's hard for me to relate to people that perform a hobby that is all about tinkering and yet don't tinker with the tools they use

Yes, "download with mod manager" is a choice ... and you have never tried it in two years? Not once? That's incredible ... truly. Also, I have seen you post on Nexus, so you DO log into Nexus (just not to download mods evidently). Why not take advantage of what was built to make things simpler for the user? Again, unlearn what you have learned. Create a new MO instance. Start from scratch from the top of the SSE guide. Follow all instructions carefully, read the system setup guide. Expand the instructions in the mod tables. Read, read, read. Ask questions about what you have read if you have read it and all before it. I promise you that you will come away knowing much more and will find installing mods much simpler. Logging into Nexus when downloading is important for telling Nexus what mods you have used and when you have downloaded them (in addition to all of the valid points DoubleYou makes). I would also recommend subscribing, as your download rates will increase remarkably (but that's $ and I understand if you don't do it). I too am a Llinux user, but Skyrim can only run on Linux via a VM or emulator (if there is one). No hard feelings, but you really do need to more carefully read posts before responding ... and also read the guide as mentioned here many times..

My frustration is my own fault. I could have just not posted. One last time, I will try: You ARE making assumptions ... for example, by assuming that nobody else would use the "download with mod manager" button. You are assuming that this is somehow not as simple. It seems you have never tried it or you would see just how simple it is. Of course this is what everyone using a mod manager does (except you and maybe someone else?). Writing the guide in excruciating detail for all potential user interpretations is an exercise in futility. We write the guide according to expected and intuitive behavior, because it decreases our chances of typos and reduces maintenance (outdated instructions cause confusion for many users). It is intuitive (if you follow the guide explicitly) to use "Download with mod manager" ... because MO IS a mod manager, and 99.9+% of people will do this. From the system setup guide (part of the SSE guide you said you were explicitly following), there are instructions for setting up you modding environment, including MO. We also link to our MO manual. We simply cannot rewrite the guide for 0.01% of users.

WHY would you do a manual download?? Use the "Download With Mod Manager" option. As I said, for two years, you have been doing things in your own personal way and have not tried what is considered 'standard' methods (e.g., download with mod manager). THIS is why you are confused and do not see 'merge' and do not have mod names in your left pane same as everyone else those of us trying to help (nexus mod name). I don't understand why you would make it harder on yourself and everyone else those of us trying to help by doing things in a non-intuitive way. MO is data driven. Nexus has a API that MO talks to. You are not using it for some reason. AGAIN: Read the system setup Guide ... unlearn what you have learned.I apologize, but I must step away for another day lest I get more frustrated

Default behavior of MO is to install using the Nexus mod name, so if you install multiple files from a single nexus page, they default to the same mod name, and you get 'merge'. Every time. So you are evidently renaming files from MO default. MO remembers the names you choose, so you cannot test this without completely uninstalling the mod or starting a new instance. Seriously, you are the only person that has ever had this issue that I can recall. It just works. Why would we have you download archives, unpack them, re-archive them, and reinstall? Besides, MO doesn't require archives in mods in left pane. They can all be loose files. AGAIN: If you were to create a new MO instance and pretend you have never done this before, all instructions would "just work". The problem is you have adopted a personal behavior and never experienced (or do not recall) the default MO behavior.

No. AE = SSE = latest game version = 1.6.xxx 1.5.97 is an old version of SSE and is only being used because people won't update their mods and others refuse to run the updated game. The Anniversary Upgrade ('AU' if we must have an abbreviation) is the non-free, pay-for CC DLC. EDIT: for may complex reasons, SKSE and mods dependent upon it MUST match the game runtime version (1.5.97 or 1.6.xxx). It's much simpler to use 1.6.xxx and all compatible mods.

But it IS 'evident' if you were to start the guide from scratch. Evident, because 'merge' is explained previously in the guide or at least one of the mod pages during the install. By the time you get to Smooth Shores, it really is 'evident' if you hagve been folowing the guide. 'Merge' replaces with overwrite ONLY the conflicting files, so if one file is updated and another is not from same Nexus page, the 'Merge' works perfectly. 'Replace' does just that. The only case where merge is 'wrong' when one of the files is updated is the rare instance when one of the files is updated and one of it's assets becomes redundant or not wanted ... very rare. you are correct though: you can install all separately (but we don't want to maintain 6 file names on one mod page, and instructing to 'merge' is much simpler for us and user). that said, I will make this instruction more clear for posterity.

Please see my previous post. There is much in the guide and on this topic that you have not read. It really is explained. unfortunately, reading is a requirement ... we created the guide to avert having to explain it over and over again. There is no bug in the guide that I am aware of, but if there is, we have a topic on which you should post. This is obvious if you actually go to the guide and start at the beginning.

But you aren't reading what has been posted already. This is what I am trying to say. We created the guide to explain all this stuff ... but if you think you know better, you sort of need to figure it out. Otherwise, follow these instructions (posting again, as I did previously):

you are getting way ahead of yourself. To follow the guide exactly means that you don't have your own grass cache. Just create a new MO instance and start from scratch. Read the system setup guide. Or simply disable all of you existing mods. Follow the guide exactly, and you really cannot go wrong. If you are trying to follow the guide with your existing build in place, you are not really following the guide exactly. unlearn what you have learned, padawan

yes

It's probably a good application, but I never had need for it, favoring the control afforded by SSE NIF Optimizer, which has more options for NIF and is simpler to use, IMO. For versatility, I'm sure CAO is better ... but what Mouse linked may be good alternatives, IDK.

If you follow the guide exactly, you will not go wrong. Simply disable your grass cache. In our next update (2.1.0), we will not be using the CGID /grass files, since DynDOLOD has the new option to use only the GID. Either way it works, but we only support what's in the current guide.

I mean to install ALL of those mods listed into a single mod called "Smooth Shores Patches", reusing the name. This is how we advise installing all mods with multiple files from the same nexus page. You can certainly do it using unique names as long as you understand overrides and you don't care if you have > about 500 mods in the left pane of MO. As mentioned, this is evident if you follow the guide, because many mods have multiple files, and installing/merging is explained at least once previous to this mod.

Just disable any grass cache you have in your mod list and use what we provide instead. It was created specifically for use with the landscape-altering mods we are using in Step. Otherwise, let if override yours and keep both active.