Snow Settings for Skyrim Special Edition

[DoubleYou]

This is intended to show what the snow settings do.

 

bEnableImprovedSnow=0

bEnableImprovedSnow=1 (Default)

 

bEnableProjecteUVDiffuseNormals=0

bEnableProjecteUVDiffuseNormals=1 (Default)

 

bEnableProjecteUVDiffuseNormalsOnCubemap=0 (Default)

I haven't found out if this setting does anything yet.

 

fProjectedUVDiffuseNormalTilingScale=0.2000

fProjectedUVNormalDetailTilingScale=0.8000

fProjectedUVDiffuseNormalTilingScale=1

fProjectedUVNormalDetailTilingScale=1

 

The following settings all require bEnableImprovedSnow=1

 

Snow Mask

 

bEnableSnowMask=1 (Default)

bEnableSnowMask=0

 

Snow Sparkles

 

bToggleSparkles=0

bToggleSparkles=1 (Default)

 

The following snow sparkle settings require bToggleSparkles=1

 

fSparklesSize=140

fSparklesSize=2

 

fSparklesIntensity=1 (Default)

fSparklesIntensity=0.5 (sorry about the rim lighting)

 

fSparklesDensity=0.85

fSparklesDensity=0.1 (Don't do this lol)

 

fSparklesMaxDistance=1000 (Default)

I haven't found out if this setting does anything yet.

 

fSparklesSpecularPower=2 (Default)

I haven't found out if this setting does anything yet.

 

fSpecularSparklesIntensity=1 (Default)

I haven't found out if this setting does anything yet.

 

iSnowSparklesColor=2 (Default)

fSnowSparklesColorR=1 (Default)

fSnowSparklesColorG=1 (Default)

fSnowSparklesColorB=1 (Default)

Setting iSnowSparklesColor to 0, 1, and 2 are preset colors for sparkles. 2 is the best looking IMHO. A value of 3 can be used in combination with fSnowSparklesColorR, fSnowSparklesColorG, and fSnowSparklesColorB to create a custom color. Please note that this isn't any color, as it is restricted to bright colors, and this is merely imposing the amount of red, green, and blue on top of the snow color. Black is not possible, for instance.

 

Snow Rim Lighting

 

bEnableSnowRimLighting=0

bEnableSnowRimLighting=1 (Default)

 

The following settings all require bEnableSnowRimLighting=1

 

fSnowRimLightIntensity=0.3 (Default)

fSnowRimLightIntensity=0.1

 

fSnowGeometrySpecPower=3 (Default)

fSnowGeometrySpecPower=10

 

fSnowNormalSpecPower=2 (Default)

fSnowNormalSpecPower=10

 

iSnowSSSCurrentColor=2 (Default)

fSnowSSSColorB=0.08 (Default)

fSnowSSSColorG=0 (Default)

fSnowSSSColorR=0 (Default)

Changing iSnowSSSCurrentColor alters the color of something to do with snow rim lighting (I can't find the words). A setting of 3 in combination with fSnowSSSColorR, fSnowSSSColorG, fSnowSSSColorB set a custom color.

 

fSnowSSSDepthDiff

I haven't found out if this setting does anything yet.

 

fSnowSSSStrength

I haven't found out if this setting does anything yet.

 

Disable Ambient Occlusion on Snow

 

By default, ambient occlusion is disabled on snow when the improved snow shader is enabled. This setting only works when using the improved snow shader.

 

bDeactivateAOOnSnow=1 (Default)

bDeactivateAOOnSnow=0

Edited May 17, 2020 by DoubleYou
Updated info

[DoubleYou]

After much testing, I think the game is far better off without the improved snow shader, even with all its features. Maybe if Bethesda had developed it from the ground up instead of trying to slap an effect on an old game and trying to make it look decent, it would be fine, but there are so many bugs, it is terrible. It seems that the snow mask and snow rim lighting were created as a way to attempt to mask the issues. It seems to irrevocably disturb surrounding normals in a way that I can't find a fix for. Setting iLandscapeMultiNormalTilingFactor to 1 helps most of the normals, but not all of them. I think that if we could cure the normal bugs, we could figure out how to make it work decently, but I think it will require some extensive modding unless there is some obscure but simple solution. As of now, all it does is waste performance. I get ~5% more fps by disabling the snow shader (with all features on with default values) versus with it off.

 

bEnableImprovedSnow=0

bEnableImprovedSnow=1

 

bEnableImprovedSnow=0

bEnableImprovedSnow=1

[TechAngel85]

I agree. It looks awful and just seem to apply a dark filter to the snow more than anything.