SMC with SRLE Extended: LotD

[reddvilzz]

I'm using SMC with a slightly modified version of Rudy ENB (NLA version), along with ELFX+Vivid Weathers+ELE Lite+Relighting Skyrim for ELFX and so far, so good.

 

Glad to see there's more people interested in getting SRLE LOTD to look its absolute best!

 

https://i.imgur.com/qnr6b7Ah.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UjJm5Xuh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lFywuekh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ttKhZpmh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WpzYmMwh.jpg

Rudy ENB NLA Version with Vivid Weathers?

Didn't think that would look that amazing with different weather compatibility

[jdsmith2816]

Are these all using the same textures? I'd like to see flora, terrain, roads, buildings if you don't mind doing it. :)

Yes, I think they were all using same textures.  I'll run around and take some fresh shots of what you requested in a bit.   Hmm maybe I should throw on a more neutral ENB...I'm currently running Grim and Somber Azura.. very different from what most people are experienced with.

[jdsmith2816]

Wow. Your Skyrim looks beautiful! Do you get good FPS though? I'm actually still stuttering a bunch, and I'm using the Extended Guide, with Darth's specs (except for 32GB RAM. I have 16GB).

Also, how did you manage to find ENBs that support ELFX+Vivid Weathers+ELE Lite+Relighting Skyrim for ELFX? There are a lot of mods to keep in mind when trying to install an ENB that deviates from the guide. I tried to install Tetrachromatic ENB, so I removed all patches and mentions of ELFX in the CR, but my skyrim actually looked worse off. Can you list some ENBs that you found to work well with ELFX+Vivid Weathers+ELE Lite+Relighting Skyrim for ELFX?

 

I'm currently running at 3440x1440 with a demanding ENB so I'm only averaging in the 30s according to Skyrim Performance Monitor. When I turn off ENB in game I peg out at 60 so I know that I were to use a more performance friendly ENB or dropped to a sane resolution it'd be buttery.

 

I REALLY like G&S Jyggalag and G&S Azura and a few other presets based around vanilla lighting and weather so I decided to ditch VW & ELFX.  I'm currently running the full version of Relighting Skyrim (not the chopped down version from neo) and ELE only.  Removal of these mods required more than just cutting out the master from darth's CR... You also need to go through the CR guide and override or remove all noted ELFX resolutions.  I chose to override so that I wouldn't have to keep removing all of those records each time darth updates the CR patch.

 

If you're stuck on weather mods and elfx I'd suggest swapping over to NLVA w/ NLVA, Rudy, or Tetrachromatic ENB. It'll let you keep all of the lighting mods in place, have tweaked vanilla weather, and still a much nicer looking ENB than Vividian imo.

[MattsDaZombieSlayer]

I'm currently running at 3440x1440 with a demanding ENB so I'm only averaging in the 30s according to Skyrim Performance Monitor. When I turn off ENB in game I peg out at 60 so I know that I were to use a more performance friendly ENB or dropped to a sane resolution it'd be buttery.

 

I REALLY like G&S Jyggalag and G&S Azura and a few other presets based around vanilla lighting and weather so I decided to ditch VW & ELFX.  I'm currently running the full version of Relighting Skyrim (not the chopped down version from neo) and ELE only.  Removal of these mods required more than just cutting out the master from darth's CR... You also need to go through the CR guide and override or remove all noted ELFX resolutions.  I chose to override so that I wouldn't have to keep removing all of those records each time darth updates the CR patch.

 

If you're stuck on weather mods and elfx I'd suggest swapping over to NLVA w/ NLVA, Rudy, or Tetrachromatic ENB. It'll let you keep all of the lighting mods in place, have tweaked vanilla weather, and still a much nicer looking ENB than Vividian imo.

Thanks for the advice, but isn't tetra incompatible with ELFX?

[jdsmith2816]

Thanks for the advice, but isn't tetra incompatible with ELFX?

Hmm, maybe it is.  I haven't looked in a while, sorry if I misspoke there.

[MattsDaZombieSlayer]

Hmm, maybe it is.  I haven't looked in a while, sorry if I misspoke there.

I'm not sure I got the message straight. So, in your original message you said to keep all of the weather and lighting mods from SR:LE Extended, and add in NVLA with either NVLA ENB, Ruby ENB, or Tetrachromatic ENB, right? Or do I need to get rid of ELFX and install NVLA instead?

One more thing, should I uncheck "Gender Specific Animations" in FNIS because we aren't using the idle mod anymore?

[jdsmith2816]

I'm not sure I got the message straight. So, in your original message you said to keep all of the weather and lighting mods from SR:LE Extended, and add in NVLA with either NVLA ENB, Ruby ENB, or Tetrachromatic ENB, right? Or do I need to get rid of ELFX and install NVLA instead?

After switching to SMC before going vanilla weather/lighting I started by removing the SRLEX Vivid Weathers and Vividian files replacing them with NLVA (which has you reinstall Vivid Weathers with different options than SRLEX) and NLVA ENB / Rudy ENB.  These combinations were gorgeous and already the best looking skyrim I had seen.   After this though I ran into the Grim and Somber presets and decided I wanted that darker feeling to my skyrim and went that route.

 

Does that make sense?

 

1. Remove VW & Vividian

2. follow NLVA installation instructions.

3. Profit? :D

 

I'm not sure how it looks without the SMC pack as I didn't try NLVA until after that.  YMMV

[MattsDaZombieSlayer]

After switching to SMC before going vanilla weather/lighting I started by removing the SRLEX Vivid Weathers and Vividian files replacing them with NLVA (which has you reinstall Vivid Weathers with different options than SRLEX) and NLVA ENB / Rudy ENB.  These combinations were gorgeous and already the best looking skyrim I had seen.   After this though I ran into the Grim and Somber presets and decided I wanted that darker feeling to my skyrim and went that route.

 

Does that make sense?

 

1. Remove VW & Vividian

2. follow NLVA installation instructions.

3. Profit? :D

 

I'm not sure how it looks without the SMC pack as I didn't try NLVA until after that.  YMMV

Do I also need to remove ELFX? Or just the Vivid mods?

[jdsmith2816]

Do I also need to remove ELFX? Or just the Vivid mods?

For NLVA you do not need to remove ELFX as it's only incompatible with ELFX Weathers which isn't installed as part of SRLE

Edited July 29, 2016 by jdsmith2816

[MattsDaZombieSlayer]

For NLVA you do not need to remove ELFX as it's only incompatible with ELFX Weathers which isn't installed as part of SRLE

K thanks so much for the advice. When you guys talked about SMC, I thought you were talking about the Skyim Texture Pack Combiner. But, I looked it up and this mod looks crazy good, and supported too. I'm just concerned about how much stuff I'll need to be worrying about when installing this mod, as some of the texture mods are already used in the guide and require conflict resolution/merging/patches. I assume it's worth the trouble, though...

[jdsmith2816]

K thanks so much for the advice. When you guys talked about SMC, I thought you were talking about the Skyim Texture Pack Combiner. But, I looked it up and this mod looks crazy good, and supported too. I'm just concerned about how much stuff I'll need to be worrying about when installing this mod, as some of the texture mods are already used in the guide and require conflict resolution/merging/patches. I assume it's worth the trouble, though...

Did you catch my post a few pages back?  I put up pretty much a mini guide to getting it working with SRLE LOTD.  Feel free to ask me any questions you might have during the process... I can help you work through it.

 

https://forum.step-project.com/topic/10924-srle-extended-legacy-of-the-dragonborn/page-49?do=findComment&comment=175330

https://forum.step-project.com/topic/10924-srle-extended-legacy-of-the-dragonborn/?p=175331

 

GL :D

Edited July 29, 2016 by jdsmith2816

[MattsDaZombieSlayer]

Did you catch my post a few pages back?  I put up pretty much a mini guide to getting it working with SRLE LOTD.  Feel free to ask me any questions you might have during the process... I can help you work through it.

 

https://forum.step-project.com/topic/10924-srle-extended-legacy-of-the-dragonborn/page-49?do=findComment&comment=175330

https://forum.step-project.com/topic/10924-srle-extended-legacy-of-the-dragonborn/?p=175331

 

GL :D

Yeah I was looking at that. So you used SMC to combine the textures you already had in the guide, but you didn't add any. Now I get it. I thought I needed to install ALL of the mods in the SMC supported list, which is not what I'm supposed to do. Thanks.

 

Edit: NVM, I read the post AGAIN and you suggested to install the "whole SMC pack". I assume you mean all of the mods supported by the pack?

Edited July 29, 2016 by MattsDaZombieSlayer

[jdsmith2816]

Noo, that's not what I did at all.

 

I installed the FULL SMC texture pack including the ones no longer 'available' on the nexus MINUS Ashes of something or other and Book Covers Skyrim.

 

I placed that in the place shown in the screenshots... removed the various mods that were included.. moved some mods that conflict but provide extra textures/meshes above SMC so that SMC wins those conflicts.. Moved the various ESPs such as Ash Rocks that are included in the SRLEX merges out into individual folders based on merge... all of which were screenshotted.  Then I added a few DSR/ELFX meshes that I needed.

 

The linked posts go into more detail.

Edited July 29, 2016 by jdsmith2816

[MattsDaZombieSlayer]

Oh ok so, to get this straight, you downloaded most of the mods, including the ones you already had in the guide, and put the archives into a folder. Then, you specified where the archives were in SMC, and then combined them. So, with your method, you have to re-download the mods on the guide (if they are on the guide) and add them to SMC. You don't use the versions that are from the guide in the /Mod Organizer/mods folder. Completely new stuff.

[jdsmith2816]

Correct.  Freshly download everything that SMC asked for, put them in a TexturePacks folder, point the SMC interface to that folder, check all, and combine.  The SMC page near the bottom shows you what the various color combinations stand for.. it's kind of like TES5Edit foreground/background combinations.

 

The reason for doing this is that SMC picks and chooses which textures/meshes to install from each of the mods and expects the file to be structured and named like the original file from Nexus.   If you were to just zip up the mod from your mods directory it could be missing files that SRLE told you not to install.  Also if it was a FOMOD the file structure would be totally wrong.  If it was a BSA and you are extracting BSA's again the file contents would be totally wrong as SMC will be expecting to extract the BSA to grab the files.

 

Also make sure that you've read the instructions on the SMC mod page as it's thorough and answers most every question one could have about utilizing the SMC program.

 

One gotcha that I didn't notice for a while is that SMC wasn't detecting my DLC content so it wasn't offering mods that required DLC...  

 

SMC/settings.ini

BSAoptUnpack           = 1

CreateArchive            = 0

UseCompression        = 0

ForceEnableDLC         = 1

EditorMode                 = 1

Edited July 29, 2016 by jdsmith2816