ACCEPTED Iconic's Remastered Paragon Gems Retexture

[Greg]

Discussion topic:
Iconic's Remastered Paragon Gems Retexture by Iconic
Wiki Link

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Accepted for v2.0.0

[z929669]

This is a no-brainer for me. No bugs, and only replaces textures/meshes, so it looks good to me. Replaces only vanilla assets in current Step SE 1.0.0

I will install.

[Greg]

I couldn't find a good location for comparisons because the lighting is so dark and these things roll around like marbles, so I took these screenshots from my inventory. Also note the paragons are animated so it's difficult to see the colors of the paragons in still images. I think the silver metal most closely matches the color of the vanilla metal, although the metal could be user choice.

Amethyst Paragon: Vanilla > Iconic's Silver > Iconic's Gold > Iconic's Bronze > Iconic's Black Iron

Diamond Paragon: Vanilla > Iconic's Silver > Iconic's Gold > Iconic's Bronze > Iconic's Black Iron

Emerald: Paragon: Vanilla > Iconic's Silver > Iconic's Gold > Iconic's Bronze > Iconic's Black Iron

Ruby Paragon: Vanilla > Iconic's Silver > Iconic's Gold > Iconic's Bronze > Iconic's Black Iron

Sapphire Paragon: Vanilla > Iconic's Silver > Iconic's Gold > Iconic's Bronze > Iconic's Black Iron

 

[z929669]

Thanks for the shots.

I like Iconic's for sure, and either gold or bronze seem to be a nice replacer for vanilla. I prefer the crispness of the bronze but I like them both.

[Greg]

I think either the gold or the bronze are nice choices as well, although I have yet to decide which of the two I prefer.

[z929669]

Gold is probably the most vanilla-friendly improvement.

[TechAngel85]

That metal in vanilla is actually suppose to be bronze and should match the Snow Elf ruins textures, the only other place you'll see that metal. That's the only complaint I have. It no longer matches those textures from vanilla.

[z929669]

3 hours ago, TechAngel85 said:

That metal in vanilla is actually suppose to be bronze and should match the Snow Elf ruins textures, the only other place you'll see that metal. That's the only complaint I have. It no longer matches those textures from vanilla.

We can simply hide the offending texture(s) then. Iconic's gems are definitely an improvement ... the metal, not as much.

[Greg]

On 5/11/2021 at 11:41 PM, z929669 said:

We can simply hide the offending texture(s) then. Iconic's gems are definitely an improvement ... the metal, not as much.

I'm looking at these in nifskope and it doesn't appear to as easy as hiding a texture. You might look at if you are more familiar with meshes than I am, but it looks as if the metal may be coming from a combination of shrine_e.dds and portalgem01_em.dds. If I hide shrine_e.dds, the metal looks like a kaleidoscope in nifskope and just turns all black in game.

[z929669]

I think we should just pick the gold metal or Iconic's. I don't think it matters if this matches the Snow Elf Ruins textures. It's not obvious that they are supposed to match.

[TechAngel85]

23 hours ago, z929669 said:

I don't think it matters if this matches the Snow Elf Ruins textures. It's not obvious that they are supposed to match.

Except that they are from the Snow Elf content, are found in the Forgotten Vale (snow elves), are activated at Portals...which are of Snow Elf textures too, and are required to complete a quest to get some elven books. 

There is also a mod that adds support ENB Lights: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/45761

[z929669]

16 minutes ago, TechAngel85 said:

Except that they are from the Snow Elf content, are found in the Forgotten Vale (snow elves), are activated at Portals...which are of Snow Elf textures too, and are required to complete a quest to get some elven books. 

There is also a mod that adds support ENB Lights: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/45761

Yeah, I get it, but it's just not so obvious to most people. I understand and appreciate attention to detail, but sometimes there is room for a trade-off is all. I don't feel strongly about this mod either way. Just noting the trade-off may (or may not) be worth it to a majority of people.

If we can get the original 'bronze' look in some way, I agree that it makes sense to do so. If not, it depends on the trade-off.

I personally think the improvement to the gems outweighs the sac of the bronze detail, but I am only 1 person and don't have much skin in this one.

[TechAngel85]

Greg is correct, we can't easily provide the vanilla texture because the author is not using vanilla paths on the replaced meshes. If I had to pick, it would be the gold. That is the closest look to vanilla, which is oxidized bronze. The bronze from this mod is too much, imo...so I'm for the gold.

[z929669]

11 minutes ago, TechAngel85 said:

Greg is correct, we can't easily provide the vanilla texture because the author is not using vanilla paths on the replaced meshes. If I had to pick, it would be the gold. That is the closest look to vanilla, which is oxidized bronze. The bronze from this mod is too much, imo...so I'm for the gold.

So you agree that it's a worthy trade-off with respect to the mismatching metal for a better gem? If not, then I am totally prepared to have my vote cancelled Then we can leave it up to the onlookers.

[TechAngel85]

1 hour ago, z929669 said:

So you agree that it's a worthy trade-off with respect to the mismatching metal for a better gem? If not, then I am totally prepared to have my vote cancelled Then we can leave it up to the onlookers.

It's better than vanilla, so yeah. I agree.