SKYRIMLE Hectrol CAVES DELUXE HighRes Retex (by Hectrol)

[WilliamImm]

Well, what about comparing Hectrol's mod to the recently released Beauty of Skyrim - Caves and Mines?

 

I posted a mod thread for that here: https://forum.step-project.com/showthread.php?tid=1492

[thalastwon]

My vote is still for Hectrol all the way. It looks really good in the places I've seen it.

[Cestral]

Yes, Hectrol is the best, then comes Beauty of Skyrim, and last Snow & Rocks HD. Both BoS and S&R have extremely flat and smooth surfaces when viewed from afar compared to Hectrol which looks a lot more detailed, deeper and 3Dish.

 

Beauty of Skyrim does have SOME advantages over Hectrol's, but in the big picture Hectrol's is the best by far.

[Deathwing514]

So out of curiosity, Is this mod still in the process of replacing Snow and Rock HD?

 

From the recent comments and screenshots, it seems many agree that Hectrol is better than Snow and Rocks.

 

What is the STEP Teams decision on this matter?

[WilliamImm]

Marking for testing, for comparison with Beauty of Skyrim - Caves and Mines, as well as Snow and Rocks textures HD.

[WilliamImm]

OP updated

[exploiteddna]

Didn't see this one anywhere on the board, so I would like to go ahead and throw this mod into the pot. Been trying out random mods just for the heck of it and came across this.

 

https://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/29145

 

It is a caves retexture that seems to keep decently close to the vanilla, while adding some better bump mapping. So far its been gorgeous inside caves.

 

 

I disagree with this statement completely. These textures aren't even remotely close to the vanilla textures. The coloring is entirely different, the texturing/patterns are entirely different. Now, that's not to say they aren't good textures. I like most of his work (including this), but to say its close to vanilla is not right.  

Is this a great piece of work? Absolutely. Is it too far from vanilla to be considered for STEP? Personally, I think it is. 

[phazer11]

I have to disagree mate if you look at the compares the new ones are pretty close to the originals they're very similar if you can stomach looking past the blockiness and plasticy veneer of the vanilla ones.

[TechAngel85]

Some are close, some are not.

[exploiteddna]

I have to disagree mate if you look at the compares the new ones are pretty close to the originals they're very similar if you can stomach looking past the blockiness and plasticy veneer of the vanilla ones.

i agree with you in that vanilla is terrible.. theres no denying that. Im certainly not advocating for vanilla textures ;)

Some are close' date=' some are not.[/quote']

Youre right, Ive taken another look at them and my opinion is this:

 

 

cavebasewall01 has bright orange spots all over the place, no resemblance of the vanilla theme.

 

 

 

 

cavebasewall02 and cavebasewall03 both have pretty intense "rainbow" effects, again no resemblance of vanilla

 

 

 

cavebasewall04 and cavebasewall05 are most similar to vanilla. Both have darker, less-saturated colors with some greens and browns. These textures fit nicely. 

 

My only hesitation is with cavebasewall01-03.  Dont get me wrong, I think these are great textures. I have used them on my own games. But from day one, ive always considered them to be a little outside the normal "flavor".  

I am trying to approach this as delicately as possible because I do not want to offend anyone (if I have then I am sorry) or come off as argumentative because thats not the case. I just felt as if this was a large enough deviation away from vanillla to warrant a discussion about it :D

[WilliamImm]

Well, while vanilla friendliness is important for STEP, no definite conclusions can be made just by looking at the texture files. You'd have to actually view it in-game without running any post-processing mods. As long as it doesn't just out and loudly scream "I'M A MOD!" when viewed next to other vanilla or vanilla-friendly textures, this mod would be welcome in STEP.

 

Looking at JudgementJay's screenshots, Hectrol does appear to be better.. but those seem to have ENB tacked on... not really what you want for STEP.

 

Calling all mod testers... calling all mod testers... can you please provide comparison screenshots of this mod, Snow and Rocks Textures HD, and Beauty of Skyrim - Caves and Mines without using any ENB? Optionally, you can do screenshots of all three mods combined (Snow and Rocks first, then Beauty, then Hectrol), to see if the texutres look in place when in game.

 

I will set up a public poll if screenshots are provided.

[exploiteddna]

Well, while vanilla friendliness is important for STEP, no definite conclusions can be made just by looking at the texture files. You'd have to actually view it in-game without running any post-processing mods. As long as it doesn't just out and loudly scream "I'M A MOD!" when viewed next to other vanilla or vanilla-friendly textures, this mod would be welcome in STEP.

 

Looking at JudgementJay's screenshots, Hectrol does appear to be better.. but those seem to have ENB tacked on... not really what you want for STEP.

 

Calling all mod testers... calling all mod testers... can you please provide comparison screenshots of this mod, Snow and Rocks Textures HD, and Beauty of Skyrim - Caves and Mines without using any ENB? Optionally, you can do screenshots of all three mods combined (Snow and Rocks first, then Beauty, then Hectrol), to see if the texutres look in place when in game.

 

I will set up a public poll if screenshots are provided.

Ill get some comparisons for you soon. Ive been working on the performance data for SDO, but i can take a break from that and do the comparisons for this

[WilliamImm]

Well, it should go fairly quickly. Helgen Keep has a cavern section about mid-way though, so if you have to start a new character, that is your best bet. Most dungeons anyway should have a cavern section, so it shouldn't be hard to make a comparision between the mods. Especially if you use Mod Organizer.

[exploiteddna]

Well' date=' it should go fairly quickly. Helgen Keep has a cavern section about mid-way though, so if you have to start a new character, that is your best bet. Most dungeons anyway should have a cavern section, so it shouldn't be hard to make a comparision between the mods. Especially if you use Mod Organizer.[/quote']

ok ill get something posted in the next hour or so.. starting now

[exploiteddna]

Comparison set number 1: Helgen Keep cave, game brightness set in the middle, ELFX and CoT are both active

Comparison set number 2: Helgen Keep cave (further), game brightness at lowest/darkest, 100% vanilla lighting

Comparison Set #1 is on the left and Comparison Set #2 is on the right

 

Snow and Rocks HD 2048

 

     

 

 

The Beauty of Skyrim - Caves and Mines

 

     

 

 

Hectrol CAVES DELUXE HighRes Retex 4K