ACCEPTED Splashes of Storms (by powerofthree)

[z929669]

Discussion topic:
Splashes of Storms by powerofthree
Wiki Link

---

Testing Conditions

• You must be running Step SSE 2.2.0

Mod Setup

1. Save in an interior location in clear weather
2. Disable Wonders of Weather and WoW Dragon Mounds CTD Fix
3. Disable the Ripples option in RWT MCM
4. Install Splashes of Storms, Rainbows Remade, and Shooting Stars SE

These mods should collectively provide the same enhancements as WoW. WoW's interior weather sounds are already made obsolete by Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion.

ENB compatibility optimizations can be provided by Rudy fix for Splashes of Storms and ENB

[CorneliusC]

15 hours ago, z929669 said:

WoW's interior weather sounds are already made obsolete by Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion.

This was the last piece of information missing for me to do a switch. Fantastic, thank you ...

[TechAngel85]

Added to OP.

[ButchDiavolo]

I haven't used WoW in years, because no matter what I did, it always turned my game into a lag fest, which would return to normal as soon as WoW was removed.

Having said that, I decided to try Splashes of Storms (another SoS mod, yay) and there was no lag whatsoever. So that is good.

I am however not convinced that I will use/ need this mod. Seeing splashes on a short grass field as if it is a water surface looks ridiculous imho. But, as I said, it works and didn't cause lag like WoW did.

[z929669]

1 hour ago, ButchDiavolo said:

I haven't used WoW in years, because no matter what I did, it always turned my game into a lag fest, which would return to normal as soon as WoW was removed.

Having said that, I decided to try Splashes of Storms (another SoS mod, yay) and there was no lag whatsoever. So that is good.

I am however not convinced that I will use/ need this mod. Seeing splashes on a short grass field as if it is a water surface looks ridiculous imho. But, as I said, it works and didn't cause lag like WoW did.

Interesting ... splashes on grass as if it were a hard, flat surface is a bit iffy. I'll need to see for myself I guess.

[ButchDiavolo]

After testing/ using this for a while, the splash effect for me is way too prominent for me personally. The splashes look as if you are caught in a tropical monsoon, no matter what the type of rain. And they look the same on every surface.

So for me personally, it is a resounding "no".

[Mousetick]

The size of the splashes can be tweaked in the configuration. I agree they're way too prominent by default. I reduced the size in the configuration, for example:

(For illustration only, Not all settings shown)

The above suits me but they could be even smaller if desired. Or they can be disabled for certain weathers (e.g. Light Rain).

There is also this mod: Rudy fix for Splashes of Storms and ENB which allows for tweaking the splash effect via ENB settings. I don't use ENB so I can't comment on its usefulness/effectiveness.

[z929669]

6 hours ago, ButchDiavolo said:

After testing/ using this for a while, the splash effect for me is way too prominent for me personally. The splashes look as if you are caught in a tropical monsoon, no matter what the type of rain. And they look the same on every surface.

So for me personally, it is a resounding "no".

I suspect the quality of splash effects can't be (or just isn't) differentiated based on surface for any given mod with this effect (including WoW). Compared to splashes on stone, grass has no splashing, and water is different for example.

5 hours ago, Mousetick said:

The size of the splashes can be tweaked in the configuration. I agree they're way too prominent by default. I reduced the size in the configuration, for example:

(For illustration only, Not all settings shown)

The above suits me but they could be even smaller if desired. Or they can be disabled for certain weathers (e.g. Light Rain).

There is also this mod: Rudy fix for Splashes of Storms and ENB which allows for tweaking the splash effect via ENB settings. I don't use ENB so I can't comment on its usefulness/effectiveness.

Agree that adjusting/eliminating the splash size by weather classification is the best solution if splash quality by surface type isn't an option.

I wouldn't opt to tie this effect to post-processing for the sake of consistency, since post-processing is an optional component of our guides.

[z929669]

On 8/21/2023 at 9:03 AM, z929669 said:

I wouldn't opt to tie this effect to post-processing for the sake of consistency, since post-processing is an optional component of our guides.

Disregard my last. We can use the ENB-compatibility in 21 - Post Processing ModGroup

[z929669]

I think this mod works nicely, and I like the effect. I'm using the following changes in po3_SplashesOfStorms.toml:

[LightRain.splashes]

RaycastIterations = 10 (default 2)

NifScale = 0.4 (default 0.5)

NifScaleActor = 0.3 (default 0.4)

 

[MediumRain.splashes]

RaycastIterations = 15 (default 3)

NifScale = 0.4 (default 0.5)

NifScaleActor = 0.3 (default 0.4)

 

[HeavyRain.splashes]

RaycastIterations = 20 (default 5)

NifScale = 0.45 (default 0.55)

NifScaleActor = 0.35 (default 0.45)

 

All other settings at default.

 

This suits me as a replacement for WoW, so I vote to use this mod.

 

I cannot speak to Rainbows Remade or Shooting Stars mods though, as I'm not sure how to test them in comparison to WoW.

---

UPDATE: I figured out how to invoke the rain/moonbows (set % chance and time of day) and the shooting stars (set time of day and day of year). See those mod topics linked from the OP for details.

[z929669]

DY indirectly agreed to pick this one up so tagging 'accepted' to replace WoW as described in the OP