ACCEPTED Skyrim Improved Puddles (by PCG4m3r)

[Yggdrasilion]

Discussion thread:

Skyrim Improved Puddles by PCG4m3r

Wiki Link

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*Removes lo-res puddles with hi-res versions.

 

*Makes puddles more consistent, no drips where there's nothing to drip from while adding puddles to actual drip zones.

 

This mod is still in beta, so it's certainly not ready to be added. I would suggest keeping an eye on it, though. I like the idea and feel it works with the project.

 

I do, however, not know if our graphical improvement mods already fix this. If so, feel free to ignore this suggestion .

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What is needed from Mod Testers:

• Comparison shots of before and after
• Reports on any issues or conflicts

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Accepted for STEP v2.2.5

-Needs just a  bit more testing with regard to the various plugins available, but

--Thanks to PCG4m3r for the mod, detail and support

--Thanks to WiliamImm (again) for creating the mod page

[Siwel187]

Looks ok, my only gripe is the images he has on his page, those puddles look like ice sheets? With way too much shine.

[Yggdrasilion]

As I understand it, those are special puddles created for Windhelm only, where the temperatures would cause puddles to freeze over slightly.

[Siwel187]

Ahh ok, that explains it. :)

[PioneerRaptor]

Ahh ok' date=' that explains it. :)[/quote']

 

The puddles are still a work in progress and he has stated that he is working on making the ice less shiny. He has a thread somewhere on these forums.

[PCG4m3r]

@all

 

Thanks for suggesting my mod for S.T.E.P. I just posted version 1.0. Those shiny textures were just the initial improvements over the really ugly vanilla decals, but certainly were not my final version. The version I just uploaded includes my new ice textures for Windhelm and hopefully look much better.

 

The textures still are not perfect, especially the smaller ones, but I'm new at creating textures and I really had a hard time getting the normal maps right. As I gain more experience and have time, I will try to make them even better than they are now. Hopefully you all like the result for now though. :)

 

Also note, Brumbek (SMIM author) figured out how to make the puddles real water instead of ugly, static decals. He shared his plugin and was kind enough to let me incorporate his edits into my mod. I used that as a baseline for version 1.0 of my mod and made some additional tweaks of my own.

 

I will expand on the mod into more areas to try and improve/fix puddles wherever needed.

 

Feedback welcome! :)

 

 

EDIT: Here's the original thread:

https://forum.step-project.com/showthread.php?tid=1741

[z929669]

This has promise in concept, but the tradeoff is better puddle textures with hard, jagged edges in many cases in place of tacky decals with more realistic soft edges.

 

If there is a way to better blend the edges of the puddles, it has promise. Still, I personally think that vanilla is preferable at this stage (just based on the screens I have seen ... I have NOT seen them in game).

[torminater]

This has promise in concept, but the tradeoff is better puddle textures with hard, jagged edges in many cases in place of tacky decals with more realistic soft edges.

 

If there is a way to better blend the edges of the puddles, it has promise. Still, I personally think that vanilla is preferable at this stage (just based on the screens I have seen ... I have NOT seen them in game).

Look at them in-game (especially the broken ones in windehlm market) and report back, what you think about them...

[Farlo]

This has promise in concept, but the tradeoff is better puddle textures with hard, jagged edges in many cases in place of tacky decals with more realistic soft edges.

 

If there is a way to better blend the edges of the puddles, it has promise. Still, I personally think that vanilla is preferable at this stage (just based on the screens I have seen ... I have NOT seen them in game).

Look at them in-game (especially the broken ones in windehlm market) and report back, what you think about them...

I agree, even if it isn't perfect it's a huge improvement over Vanilla.

[PCG4m3r]

This has promise in concept, but the tradeoff is better puddle textures with hard, jagged edges in many cases in place of tacky decals with more realistic soft edges.

 

If there is a way to better blend the edges of the puddles, it has promise. Still, I personally think that vanilla is preferable at this stage (just based on the screens I have seen ... I have NOT seen them in game).

I agree the modified look is more jagged in certain places (outside of Windhelm). Unfortunately I think it's a limitation with the game engine and no way to fix that as far as I know. The changes that were made actually use real water puddle effects instead of the static decal textures, which I think makes the environment feel more alive. The jaggedness is likely due to those water puddle effects "fitting" around the meshes on the ground, which in and of themselves are jagged in shape it seems. If the ground was less sharp/jagged, then it may flow together more smoothly. Unfortunately, I don't know how to improve the meshes at this point, but may try to figure that out at some point.

 

In the meantime, based on your feedback, I've been playing with the original Bethesda decals to see if I can make them at least look better. What I may do is try to "fit" modified versions of those underneath the real water effects that were added or that had replaced the ugly decals, so that it gives the appearance of a smoother transition, but still retains the lively water effects. When I get far enough with the changes, I'll post some samples here for feedback.

[z929669]

That is actually a fantastic idea, and so is the mesh improvement idea. Brumbek may well want to add these locations to his list of TBD mesh improvements.

 

I'll look in game and belay my criticisms in the meantime :P

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Any updates on this one? I still have not looked in-game ... --too busy with other things.

[PCG4m3r]

Any updates on this one? I still have not looked in-game ... --too busy with other things.

Hey z, haven't forgotten about this, but unfortunately my time lately has been consumed with RL issues. It didn't help that Steam updated my Skyrim and the CK to 1.9 even though it was set to not do that (no surprise though! :)). I've been playing catch up getting all my installed mods updated (I'm using Neo's Skyrim Revisited setup).

 

The current version of my SIP mod will still work even with 1.9 installed, but I started working on an update with the new patch and new CK version. I found two instances that do not carry forward some fixes made by the USKP and my next update (1.1) will include those, so that it will not undo what the USKP fixed. One instance was a correction of the music played while inside the Windhelm Barracks and I can't remember what the other was at the moment.

 

I did attempt to make the original Bethesda decals higher res per my previous post and placed them underneath the real (jagged edge) water puddle effects to see if it gave the impression of a smoother transition. Unfortunately, the jagged puddle was still very obvious no matter what I tried, so that idea won't work.

 

In my spare time I've been trying to learn how to use 3ds max (no small task) and NifSkope. I'm hoping to learn enough so that I can try to edit the ground meshes and/or water puddle mesh myself to see if I can make them look smoother. Of course, if Brumbek decides to update those, I will gladly use his meshes! :)  I haven't asked him about those yet, but I will.

 

I know you're a busy guy around here, but if you get an opportunity and want to quickly check SIP out in game, try the following:

 

1. Install the ESP with included \textures folder and activate the plugin

 

NOTE: For a quick test, load order can be at the very bottom to keep it simple, but I have BOSS Userlist Manager setup to put SkyrimImprovedPuddles.esp at the BOTTOM of "Water and Lava" in my setup.

 

2. Go in game and open the console, then type coc WindhelmMarketplaceExterior

3. Take a look at the ice textures on ground around the Windhelm Market area (those textures are only used in Windhelm)

4. Open the console again and type coc IlinaltasDeep01

 

NOTE: You can ignore enemies by also typing tgm in the console, which will help keep you from dying while you look around. 

 

5. Walk through the place and take a look at the real puddle effects on the ground (some are Bethesda placed, some are Brumbek's, and some are mine. I also added some water drips above and water splashes in the puddles where necessary to give it more immersion -- some had drips, but no splash effects or splash effects weren't placed correctly, etc.)

[z929669]

Thanks for the detail PCG4m3r.

 

I am finishing up SGD stuff, then I will move to install all of the proposed updated mods for STEP and have a look.

[TechAngel85]

Updated OP

[torminater]

ESP conflicts:

- Uses values from Skyrim.esm/USKP which conflict with Dawnguard.esm (and the COT-Dungeons plugin)

- does not carry forth a change in the USKP (which music is being played somewhere in windhelm), but Cheskos wearable lanterns doesn't either.

-World Space 0000003C Tamriel Skyrim conflicts with a dozen mods, most of them (as SIP, too) don't carry forth changes since the Dawnguard.esm which adds a MHDT-Unknown value. More village animals changes the name of Skyrim to the German name "Himmelsrand" by the way...

- in 00000D74 Cell XCLR regions, the regions added by Dawnguard and the UDGP aren't anywhere in the other plugins (neither in SIP)

 

ok this gets too much for me to be that detailed.

 

In general it conflicts with Skyrim.esm, Dawnguard.esm, Dragonborn.esm and their respective Unofficial patches. This doesn't make a whole lot of a difference, since all of the other plugins only use the values of Skyrim.esm, too.

Of course it still conflicts where Decals are disabled, etc. with Skyrim.esm.

 

In general I don't think some of those conflicts are intended and necessary for this mod to work. Since the mod author is new in his metier, he'll need to see, whether he cannot incorporate the changes from Dawnguard and Dragonborn (maybe Hearthfire, too) as well.

 

 

Of course this mod doesn't work with Open Cities... Arthmoor or PCGamer would need to get a compatibility patch done, otherwise the puddles in Windhelm still look really bad...

 

Vanilla:

 

 

 

SIP EDIT: Using 1024² textures!!!!:

 

 

 

 

My result is the following:

The mod is a major improvement over vanilla, but it needs some compatibility done, especially with the changes from the official DLCs (if possible also their respective Unofficial Patches)