ACCEPTED Skyrim Realistic Overhaul (by Starac)

[stoppingby4now]

An update for that ice would be awesome. I'm getting light reflection on my end both with Bethesda's textures as well as yours, which I'm assuming is due to you not modifying the meshes. But the reflections are very pixelated and look ugly. I'm also seeing what looks like ice between stones in the ground all over windhelm. In most places the reflections just don't look right.

[Starac]

Reflections are normal. Pixelation can be solved with high resolution normal map.

 

I see that some people here use so called texture optimizers. Maybe textures in oder mods are not compressed properly, or whatever?

 

But in case of my mod there's nothing to optimize. These programs can only decrease quality because they compress textures automatically.

My textures are compressed manually with proper filters.

[Vond]

Reflections are normal. Pixelation can be solved with high resolution normal map.

 

I see that some people here use so called texture optimizers. Maybe textures in oder mods are not compressed properly, or whatever?

 

But in case of my mod there's nothing to optimize. These programs can only decrease quality because they compress textures automatically.

My textures are compressed manually with proper filters.

 

 

There's no need to run your mod through DDSOPT no, but it also doesn't hurt as it already finds your textures as saved in the proper format. But yes, many mods have textures that are not compressed properly, so using DDSOPT can help performance (lower VRAM usage) quite a bit.

[z929669]

Reflections are normal. Pixelation can be solved with high resolution normal map.

 

I see that some people here use so called texture optimizers. Maybe textures in oder mods are not compressed properly, or whatever?

 

But in case of my mod there's nothing to optimize. These programs can only decrease quality because they compress textures automatically.

My textures are compressed manually with proper filters.

 

 

@Starac

As Vond states, I have proven that your textures are properly compressed in almost every instance (if there is an exception, I will let you know, but I cannot verify right now). DDSopt will not automatically alter compression or mipmaps if it finds them already in the proper format. When processing your textures, there was only a roughly 3 Mb in/out byte difference, which is nothing compared to vanilla and SKYHD, which each have much bigger in/out byte differences (indicating many fe. DXT5 that should be DXT1, etc.).

 

DDSopt is not like other texture optimizers . It was developed by Ethotron (NIFopt) with the assistance of many texture/graphic artists. He is also an "expert" in compression formats and has a dev record to prove it.

 

 

 

Can you tell me which of the following look right to you with regard to vanilla Windhelm ice?

Ex1

 

Ex2

[frihyland]

Where are you looking? it all looks exactly the same to me.

[Starac]

 

Reflections are normal. Pixelation can be solved with high resolution normal map.

 

 

 

I see that some people here use so called texture optimizers. Maybe textures in oder mods are not compressed properly, or whatever?

 

 

 

But in case of my mod there's nothing to optimize. These programs can only decrease quality because they compress textures automatically.

 

My textures are compressed manually with proper filters.

 

 

 

 

@Starac

 

As Vond states, I have proven that your textures are properly compressed in almost every instance (if there is an exception, I will let you know, but I cannot verify right now). DDSopt will not automatically alter compression or mipmaps if it finds them already in the proper format. When processing your textures, there was only a roughly 3 Mb in/out byte difference, which is nothing compared to vanilla and SKYHD, which each have much bigger in/out byte differences (indicating many fe. DXT5 that should be DXT1, etc.).

 

 

 

DDSopt is not like other texture optimizers . It was developed by Ethotron (NIFopt) with the assistance of many texture/graphic artists. He is also an "expert" in compression formats and has a dev record to prove it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you tell me which of the following look right to you with regard to vanilla Windhelm ice?

 

You don't understand.

 

Before i compress or resize a texture i use Bicubic filters. Concerning DXT formats, all my textures use proper format.

There are maybe 5 or 6 textures in my mod which should be removed. I've forget to do this. But they don't affect game at all.

 

Your pics look almost the same. Change your angle when you make screens.

On second screen ice looks more white, which is not a big deal.

 

To me they look both ugly :)

[z929669]

@frihyland

Just look at the ground. Very easy to see the diff if you download both images and open in Win Photo Viewer and simply use your arrow keys to switch between. You can also load each image into a new tab and quickly switch between that way.

 

@Starac

Yes, more white 'spots', but also more depth. I am wondering which is more true to the original intent and which one is more 'correct'. I also am no fan of those textures (but I really HATE the meshes).

 

As I said previously, I have new-found respect for your work and that of others that go the extra length to do things correctly and meticulously.

 

Cheers

[stoppingby4now]

Where are you looking? it all looks exactly the same to me.

 

There are several spots on the steps as part of the bottom portion of the pictures. In the first image, there will be several spots that kind of look smudged. In the second picture, more white is shown. I'm assuming it's reflections, but I can't tell based on that view.

 

A better picture would be looking down at those areas.

[stoppingby4now]

Here are some images comparing the ice reflection between HDDLC and SRO. For the most part, the reflections are nearly identical. Both are pixelated and ugly when viewed close up.

 

View 1: HDDLC

 

View 1: SRO

 

View 2: HDDLC

 

View 2: SRO

[z929669]

Well, if THAT is ice, I am amused :D. Notice that these are on a slope

 

Clear, shiny, ice should behave like puddles...

[stoppingby4now]

The unfortunate thing is that it's much more evident that it's meant to be ice when you are moving around and watching the reflections change based on position. Screenshots in this case do not do it justice. It's still pretty bad.

 

So I guess a question to you zMan...do you see the reflections when moving around with your HDDLC textures when optimized with DDSopt? Do you see them with the non optimized version?

[z929669]

Thanks for this tip. I have never noticed, so I will make it a point to investigate in game and post a video here for all to witness ;)

[Starac]

That's ice, but to much pixelated. Low resolution texture.

 

My final version:

 

[Vond]

That's ice, but to much pixelated. Low resolution texture.

 

My final version:

 

 

 

Me likey. A lot. Any ETA on when we can expect this? ;)

[stoppingby4now]

That looks much better Starac. Can't wait to see it included.