Getting Washed Out Backdrop - With Several ENBs & Weather Mods

[mooit]

Hi,

Running SSE 1.6.640.0, I've noticed, running a few different ENBs and Weather Mods, at certain times of day and weather conditions, the backdrop of the scenery, mountains, trees, etc., becomes overly saturated and washed out, appearing like a silhouette in the background.

I've seen others having this issue too.

I've also had this issue in the past running 1.6.353.0.

The last time I reported the issue to a mod author of the enb I was using, he made changes to the enb and it was gone. On my end, making adjustments, I've never been able to figure out why I'll see this with many different ENBs and Weather mods.

In this screen shot, it was getting closer to evening hours, that is why it's appearing more grayish looking. Most of the time, when it's overcast and low lighting, the backdrop will look more white and washed out.

This is using Rudy's latest NAT III ENB with NAT III.

This screen shot is with Cathedral and PI-CHO ENB.

This is what I'll see the majority of time, the tops of the mountains appearing more washed out. A lot of times too, the washed out look will extend further towards the ground, covering a bigger area, so pretty much everything in the backdrop is almost all white washed out.

Edited July 9, 2023 by mooit

[Mousetick]

This washed out effect is present in foggy weathers. Only shapes can be distinguished through the haze obstructing the view.

The second (daytime) screenshot doesn't look too bad. At least there is some fog visible in the distance.

There is barely any fog in the first (nighttime) screenshot, so it looks weird. Instead when viewed at 1:1 pixel scale, one can see some kind of filter with a criss-cross pattern, similar to a film grain, which appears to be applied to the entire scene. Zoomed in 200%:

(there are some JPEG compression artifacts, but the pattern should be clearly visible)

A similar pattern seems to be present in the first screenshot, too. Zoomed out 55%:

Is this grainy filter supposed to represent the fog? the fog particles?

I don't use ENB, I have no clue.

[mooit]

I'm using Volumetric Mists, not sure if it's creating the problem.

I'm also using Sombre settings on Cathedral Weathers, so maybe the combination of these two are contributing to it.

I'll disable Volumetric Mists and put Cathedral Weathers on Normal and see if it helps.

THANKS

[Mousetick]

I updated the pictures showing the pattern in my previous post. I messed up the first time and we couldn't see what I wanted to show.

[Mousetick]

14 minutes ago, mooit said:

I'll disable Volumetric Mists and put Cathedral Weathers on Normal and see if it helps.

Pretty sure Volumetric Mists wouldn't cause this. Volumetric Mists manually places mist/fog objects at specific locations in the world. Like clouds in the sky, except they're close to the ground, and they don't move. They're completely impervious to the weather or time of day. They're always there, like trees, streams or mountains.

From Volumetric Mists:

Quote

The primary limitation of this method is it's not controllable by weather or time of day. [...] The effect is hand placed.

So I guess what we may see in your first screenshot is not distant fog but the mists from Volumetric Mists.

In which case there is absolutely no dynamic, engine-controlled fog present in either screenshot, even though the lighting, saturation and other effects look like foggy conditions to me. Perhaps you should find out which weather is active when you get this effect, to confirm whether it's fog-related or not.

[z929669]

It's caused by using an ENB preset with an incompatible weather. ENB presets always have a supported lighting/weather.

For example, if you want to use a non-CW ENB with CW, you must make changes to [ENVIRONMENT] fog settings more/less depending on the weather (and various other settings). Same goes for other weather-ENB combinations.

If you see this without ENB, then the weather mod needs some adjustments. I think vanilla has this issue in certain weathers, IIRC.

Foggy and rainy weathers are typically most prone to this problem.

[mooit]

10 hours ago, z929669 said:

It's caused by using an ENB preset with an incompatible weather. ENB presets always have a supported lighting/weather.

For example, if you want to use a non-CW ENB with CW, you must make changes to [ENVIRONMENT] fog settings more/less depending on the weather (and various other settings). Same goes for other weather-ENB combinations.

If you see this without ENB, then the weather mod needs some adjustments. I think vanilla has this issue in certain weathers, IIRC.

Foggy and rainy weathers are typically most prone to this problem.

I am using compatible ENB designed for the specfic weather mods I'm using.

I'll look at the [ENVIRONMENT] fog settings.

How do you check which weather is active? All I know is the ENB Statistics section...

These are PI-CHO [ENVIRONMENT] fog settings. I'm not sure which ones really affect this... :/

FogColorMultiplierDawn=1.0
FogColorMultiplierSunrise=1.0
FogColorMultiplierDay=1.0
FogColorMultiplierSunset=1.0
FogColorMultiplierDusk=1.0
FogColorMultiplierNight=1.0
FogColorMultiplierInteriorDay=1.0
FogColorMultiplierInteriorNight=1.0
FogColorCurveDawn=1.0
FogColorCurveSunrise=1.0
FogColorCurveDay=1.0
FogColorCurveSunset=1.0
FogColorCurveDusk=1.0
FogColorCurveNight=1.0
FogColorCurveInteriorDay=1.0
FogColorCurveInteriorNight=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierDawn=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierSunrise=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierDay=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierSunset=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierDusk=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierNight=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierInteriorDay=0.2
FogAmountMultiplierInteriorNight=0.2
FogCurveMultiplierDawn=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierSunrise=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierDay=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierSunset=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierDusk=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierNight=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierInteriorDay=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierInteriorNight=1.0
FogColorFilterAmountDawn=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountSunrise=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountDay=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountSunset=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountDusk=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountNight=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountInteriorDay=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountInteriorNight=0.0
FogColorFilterDawn=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterSunrise=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterDay=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterSunset=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterDusk=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterNight=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterInteriorDay=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterInteriorNight=1, 1, 1

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by mooit

[z929669]

19 minutes ago, mooit said:

I am using compatible ENB designed for the specfic weather mods I'm using.

I'll look at the [ENVIRONMENT] fog settings.

How do you check which weather is active? All I know is the ENB Statistics section...

These are PI-CHO [ENVIRONMENT] fog settings. I'm not sure which ones really affect this... :/

FogColorMultiplierDawn=1.0
FogColorMultiplierSunrise=1.0
FogColorMultiplierDay=1.0
FogColorMultiplierSunset=1.0
FogColorMultiplierDusk=1.0
FogColorMultiplierNight=1.0
FogColorMultiplierInteriorDay=1.0
FogColorMultiplierInteriorNight=1.0
FogColorCurveDawn=1.0
FogColorCurveSunrise=1.0
FogColorCurveDay=1.0
FogColorCurveSunset=1.0
FogColorCurveDusk=1.0
FogColorCurveNight=1.0
FogColorCurveInteriorDay=1.0
FogColorCurveInteriorNight=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierDawn=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierSunrise=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierDay=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierSunset=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierDusk=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierNight=1.0
FogAmountMultiplierInteriorDay=0.2
FogAmountMultiplierInteriorNight=0.2
FogCurveMultiplierDawn=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierSunrise=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierDay=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierSunset=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierDusk=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierNight=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierInteriorDay=1.0
FogCurveMultiplierInteriorNight=1.0
FogColorFilterAmountDawn=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountSunrise=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountDay=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountSunset=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountDusk=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountNight=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountInteriorDay=0.0
FogColorFilterAmountInteriorNight=0.0
FogColorFilterDawn=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterSunrise=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterDay=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterSunset=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterDusk=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterNight=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterInteriorDay=1, 1, 1
FogColorFilterInteriorNight=1, 1, 1

 

Use a mod to set particular weather. Note your ToD and adjust FogColorCurve and FogColorCurveMultiplier ... maybe FogAmountMultiplier.

[DoubleYou]

You can also use this mod to alter weather: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/83757

[mooit]

I've played with KreatE before, I'll give it another go for the weather.

THANKS guys!

[mooit]

Using KreatE and adjusting the Curve helps fix this!