Which lighting mod / ENB combination do you use?

[rootsrat]

Hi guys.

 

I am finishing off my base Skyrim installatio in next couple of days and I cannot decide which lighting mod and/or ENB to go with. I am aware of the official STEP lighting solution thread, however I also realise that it's looked at mainly from STEP mandate point of view, which is not my goal really. 

 

In my previous playthroughs I was using either Enchanced Shadows + Project ENB or Climates of Tamriel + Project ENB or Climates of Tamriel on it's own.

 

I know there are some more solutions available now, like RCRN, ELFX etc. 

 

So I wanted to ask you guys which one(s) are you using and why if possible please?

 

I basically would like to achieve bit more saturated colours, dark nights & dungeons, but I don't want over the top bloom. 

[MontyMM]

ELFX

The Wilds 3.0 ENB - dark interiors and dark nights (but with the bloom.fx file from The Goddess ENB, and some tweaking of brightness in the ENB gui)

Further Dark Dungeons for ENB

 

I'm still tweaking, but I'm really enjoying what I have with just those. Certainly boosts vibrancy and provides atmospheric interiors. I find the bloom at an acceptable level, and a greatly improved image quality.

[WilliamImm]

Realistic Lighting Overhaul with Skyrealism Vanilla. Also use Climates of Tamriel weathers.

[Besidilo]

SkyRealism Cinematic

CoT 2.1 (3.0 is cooking to be the best revision so far, fully compatible with RLO and ELFX)

RLO 4.0

 

Might test ELFX with the above soon.

[rpsgc]

Realistic Lighting Overhaul with RLwC 3.5 weathers and custom SkyRealism config (from TheCompiler's RCRN Plus).

 

But SkyRealism Vanilla is my second choice.

[rootsrat]

I can see a pattern emerging there... Keep'em coming :)

[TechAngel85]

SkyRealism Cinematic

RLO 4.0

RLwC 3.5 weathers (might add in CoT...I'm waiting for RLO weathers before I decide)

[toshaka]

SkyRealism Cinematic

RLO 4.0 + RLwC 3.5 weathers for RLO

[torminater]

Skyrealism Vanilla, COT, RLO.

[TechAngel85]

Skyrealism Vanilla' date=' COT, RLO.[/quote']

The Vanilla preset was provide as mainly a starting point for those who would like to create their own custom preset. With that said, a lot of modders have used it because it sticks to vanilla lighting with the advantages of the other ENB features. If we ever recommend an ENB for STEP, this would probably be it.

[rootsrat]

Skyrealism Vanilla' date=' COT' date=' RLO.[/quote'']

The Vanilla preset was provide as mainly a starting point for those who would like to create their own custom preset. With that said, a lot of modders have used it because it sticks to vanilla lighting with the advantages of the other ENB features. If we ever recommend an ENB for STEP, this would probably be it.

This is very useful tip, as I like to play with ENB settings a lot to create something I would really enjoy. 

 

Decided to go for RLO, Skyrealism Vanilla and CoT weathers.

[Besidilo]

techangel, you should have told them to use the Cinematic preset, which is technically better. :P

[TechAngel85]

Cinematic is better and that's what I use. I was only echoing MT's explanation of why he included a Vanilla preset that doesn't alter the vanilla colors.

[rootsrat]

In terms of "better" or "worse" ENB preset I tink there is no telling, as it's the matter of personal taste and preference I think :)

 

I installed RLO with it's legacy weathers (wasn't sure whether I'm supposed to install CoT Dawnguard patch if I wanted to use weathers only...) and SkyRealism Cinematic, and I didn't like the letterbox, so changed to Vibrtant.

 

I didn't do much testing (it was late and Mrs Rootsrat was calling me to bed ;) ), but from what I could gather, Cinematic has much better saturation and colour profile, true. But I am not a fan of a letterbox at all... Vibrant is not so bad, but a bit dull I think. I couldn't see anything "vibrant" about it to be honest.

 

Will do more testing today and check other presets.

[toshaka]

Just add // infront of #define ENABLE_LETTERBOX_BARS in enbeffect.fx and gone is the letterbox bars for cinematic.

I use it like that, so do many people :)