My step by step S.T.E.P. procedure - [SOLVED]

[eperdos]

So, I write in here to let others, more experienced, to assist me and maybe to let others, less experienced to see how things goes by... So:

 

Hi all,

 

after I practically killed my system by installing way to many mods and my Skyrim stuttered in an unacceptable way, I started over and discovered S.T.E.P. witch I believe should provide a better starting point.

 

My specs:

 

Skyrim v1.8.151.0.7 +Downguard and Hearthfire

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @3.00Ghz

MSI geforce 560ti OC edition

4 Gb RAM (2x2)

500 GB HDD (7200rpm)

1600x1200 rezolution

!!!running with FPS Booster v1.1 and Razer Game Booster

 

Step 1

 

- clean install (as stated above) + official HD textures packs

- SKSE (v1.06.05)

- edited settings starting from ultra and changing:

-----AA 2x

-----AF off

-----shadows medium

-----grass distance maximized

-----everithing else at 50%

- nvidia inspector with these settings: https://wiki.step-project.com/images/b/b8/Nvidia_Inspector_Settings.png

- modified Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini according to STEP (so AF goes to 16x from here)

 

made 4 saves in 4 diferent locations. Testing is as follows:

- for every load I freshly execute the game again.

- I note the starting FPS as I spotted for 3 of the 4 location a most lower FPS spot.

- I note peak memory and peak page file memory (through Elys MemInfo)

- I benchmark with fraps a standardized running walk throughout that location.

- I go into game`s menu and note the new peak memory and peak page file memory

- I exit the game and check maximum video memory load (through GPU-Z)

- I note the min, max and med FPS from fraps` benchmark

 

Results on this clean install, v1.8.151.0.7 with officiall HD textures packs and changed settings and INI files, noting minimum, maximum and medium (rounded) FPS:

 

1. Riverwood: 45-77-68

2. Whiterun: 49-76-65

3. Markarth: 52-78-67

4. Riften: 42-77-63

 

So, that`s it! This is my first step into improving Skyrim by S.T.E.P. method. Even though they say a minimum of 50 FPS is needed in every location, I hope these result can be ok.

 

If anyone has any advise or remarks about these, please write them here, but in a constructive manner, please

[torminater]

UFO is completely compatible with convenient horses. Why don't just use both? STEP is only a baseline modding project, all the actual gameplay related stuff you can add in yourself. Modd your own game, man! 8-)

[TechAngel85]

Sorry it took so long. In just the one scene below, you can see all the extra distant details provided by this mod. These are details, that in the real word, you would normally be able to see from this distance. This mod mainly only works on larger objects: rocks, trees, etc. and this is where the immersion and realism comes from. Instead of these objects "popping in" when you get closer, they're already there and as you can see...there is quite a lot of detail. The FPS hit was 4 FPS loss from having this mod activated.

 

Distant Detail on  >>  Distant Detail off  >> Area affected by Distant detail.

 

 

*The far distant detail on the mountain is a bit hard to see due to the gallery shrinking the images, but it's definitely noticeable in-game.

[JudgmentJay]

While the FPS hit isn't great on Skyrim Distant Detail/Skyrim Distance Overhaul, they can very easily lead to infinite loading screens due to the engine being overloaded. Just something to be aware of!

 

There's also a new distance mod: https://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/29363

 

This one contains a bajillion .esps for specific objects. One for giant campfires, one for roads, etc. So you can pick and choose what you want to be viewable at a distance. Not great if you're near the limit of .esps though. Have yet to test it, but it seems good.

[TechAngel85]

While the FPS hit isn't great on Skyrim Distant Detail/Skyrim Distance Overhaul they can very easily lead to infinite loading screens due to the engine being overloaded. Just something to be aware of!

Interesting... I've never experienced that before.

[JudgmentJay]

Interesting... I've never experienced that before.

 

Yeah you won't unless you were close-ish to what the engine can handle. I've had it happen to me.

[TechAngel85]

There's also a new distance mod: https://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/29363

 

This one contains a bajillion .esps for specific objects. One for giant campfires, one for roads, etc. So you can pick and choose what you want to be viewable at a distance. Not great if you're near the limit of .esps though. Have yet to test it, but it seems good.

 

You could probably create a bash patch to house all the ESPs that you wish to use; however, I can image that the performance hit for using this entire mod would be quite hefty. Especially after seeing the author's quote, "Only for owners \"supercomputers\"!".

[eperdos]

In did, I do see the differences. I also saw them in mod description but in actual game, though I see the rocks and trees in distance, in the very near vecinity trees and waterfalls still pop-in. So... what`s the real benefit of it if still having pop-ups that ruin the immersion...

 

Still, well, Distant Detail mod is on my list and will eventually be activated if performance will alow.

 

For now, I will test my game with all STEP mods (well not quite all, I already left some out but also added a few) and will try to install ENB (of course, installing appropriate mods for it). More of it tomorow...

[eperdos]

How do you guys feel about Complete Crafting Overhaul (and it`s companions Smithing Perks Overhaul and Weapons and Armor Fixes)?

 

Please again understand this question as a technical one, not one concerning preferences. I would like to have this mods but I don`t want them to conflict in any way with what STEP already has.

 

Thanks!

[Besidilo]

How do you guys feel about Complete Crafting Overhaul (and it`s companions Smithing Perks Overhaul and Weapons and Armor Fixes)?

 

Please again understand this question as a technical one, not one concerning preferences. I would like to have this mods but I don`t want them to conflict in any way with what STEP already has.

 

Thanks!

It has been ditched from STEP since it wasn't made using Creation Kit, unlike Ars Metallica - Smithing Enhancement mod.

 

The Weapons and Armour Fixes were good, and covered more fixes for the armoury of Skyrim than USKP, but they were made mostly redundant with some other Smithing mods.

[eperdos]

So, should I understand that Ars Metallica - Smithing Enhancement mod is better than Complete Crafting and its companions? Having Ars Metallica all problems that Complete Crafting solve are also solved?

[Kelmych]

I don't think Ars Metallica does quite as much as CCO/SPO for Skyrim. I used CCO and SPO and liked them, but I became concerned since they have not been updated since Mar 2012. I haven't looked at CCO/SPO and Ars Metalica carefully to get a detailed comparison; clearly CCO/SPO have no support for the DLC mods. My problem with most smithing enhancement/overhaul mods is that they are all or nothing - they change the smithing perk tree in ways that make them incompatible with almost all other smithing mods.

[eperdos]

Finalized S.T.E.P.

 

ok, with pretty much everything intalled after graphical mods (of course, preferences come into play and some mods weren`t intalled, like 3D maps) I ended with pretty much same performances like in previous step, witch is great. Minimum, maximum and average FPS:

 

Riverwood - 39,74,59

Whiterun - 48,77,65

Markarth - 46,77,64

Riften - 29,75,60

 

This leaves room for some ENB and so I choose the SkyRealism - ENB Evolved (with inject SMAA). I play with bloom, detailed shadow, sun rays enabled while adaptation, ambient occlusion, depth of field and sky lightning are disabled. Here are the results, min, max, average:

 

Riverwood - 30,57,46

Whiterun - 35,60,49

Markarth - 34,65,50

Riften - 26,61,46

 

Not bad, isn`t it?

 

Now, for me, it still seems there is room for more and I surely not like the pop-up shadows from 2500, so I set it to 8000 (like nvidia sugests). Even more, I set the uGrids to 7. Now, that somehow made the performance hit the lowest aceptables, so I set AA to 0. I did 2 ouside towns saves. This was my framerate, minimum, maximum, average:

 

Before uGrids set to 7:

 

Ouside Riverwood - 30,54,44

Ousite Whiterun - 36,52,44

 

After uGrids set to 7:

 

Outside Riverwood - 26,46,38

Outside Whiterun - 28,48,41

 

Seems a bit low in the minimums, but acceptable in average. This would me the final set-up for my Skyrim game. 

 

Do anyone have any coments regarding it? Please make them! And thanks for all the support!!!

[TechAngel85]

Looks good!

 

If you're using uGrids you don't need the Distant Detail mod. uGrids would have a noticeable performance hit as it basically tells the game to render all objects at greater distances. I would suspect Distant Detail has less of a performance hit than uGrids though.

[eperdos]

Yes, indeed. Distant Detail made me lose 3-4 frames on average. uGrids 7 made me lose around 20%. But it is worth it. Of course, I would like to set it to 11 ;) but I don`t want a still Skyrim, but a living one ;) ;) ;)

 

Any way, of course Distant Detail is disabled. Like I already stated, I didn`t even like it so much, as it didn`t helped immersion much.

 

So, if you say it looks good, i`m very happy. I do hope bad things won`t happen like unacceptable stuttering or very low framerates. But just for asking, what is the most intense spot in Skyrim, that very spot that drain your machine of all it has to offer and even more? Just curios to make a test with it, to see how it behaves.

 

Thanks again for your help and for everyone`s help!!!

[Besidilo]

Looks good!

 

If you're using uGrids you don't need the Distant Detail mod. uGrids would have a noticeable performance hit as it basically tells the game to render all objects at greater distances. I would suspect Distant Detail has less of a performance hit than uGrids though.

Last time I checked, uGrids=7 didn't have that much of an impact, were just as stable as the default values and looked a lot better since the drawing distance was higher.