v2.2.6 Development

[z929669]

Help with this release!

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v2.2.6 ChangeLog

 

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Help with this release!

 

For replacers, the test case should be a high-quality screenshot compare. We don't need a lot, just two or three sets of compares on the thread in Mod Suggestions (MS) marked [ TESTING ].

 

For non-replacers, please head over to MS and read the Announcement. Then go into the testing thread and contribute some test ideas or some of your own test results.

 

The idea is that testing --and logging of that activity on the threads-- will be touch & go for a lot of mods, and it should be pretty clear by anyone stumbling upon any mod thread what the end result is.

 

Let us know if you want to be a Mod Tester!

[z929669]

Several stragglers from last release and a few more on hold.

 

Let the next iteration begin!

[WilliamImm]

Other than the stuff currently marked as testing, there's a few other mods that warrent attention:

 

Wet and Cold - Ashes - Extends Wet and Cold to Dragonborn, and adds immersive effects related to ash. Since Wet and Cold has just been reinstated, this one's pretty much a no-brainer.

 

Jeclredured - Spell Tomes - Nothing else (except for the HRDLC) replaces the spell book textures, and it's a clear improvement (no filtered vanilla textures). Another obvious addition.

 

Ancient Falmer Armor HD Retext & Redone - This is stellar work. Doesn't deviate from the vanilla appearance too much, no conflicts with anything, and all around looks great. Check the comparision images I made. Sure, it's quite bright, but it's made from moonstone (which doesn't rust), after all.

 

Animated Dwemer Lift Doors - Minor change, appears to work great. Never tried it, but it's quite popular.

 

Mystery Modder's various retextures. Man's a machine - wonder which if any warrant inclusion into STEP?

 

Smaller Ice Spikes - torminater recommended this before - but it missed getting tested at all for the 2.2.5 release.

 

High Definition Ivy - since there's a 1k version available, this warrants a look. Neovalen uses it just fine in his guide.

 

The Beauty of Skyrim - Caves and Mines with Hectrol's Caves - again, used in Neovalen's guide quite well. He recommends not installing the imperial dungeon and landscape textures in Beauty of Skyrim - feel like those mods are worth a look.

 

Langleys Wood Metal and Stone Textures Workshop - perhaps it's time? Neovalen in his guide did very detailed recommendations as to what should be installed. Bit of a fuss to set up, but with a BCF and detailed instructions, that shouldn't be much of a matter.

 

Trade & Barter and Weapon and Armor Fixes Remade - two Kryptolyr-made mods - considering his track record, I'd say they are quite good quality. Haven't tested either myself, however.

[TechAngel85]

I'll vouch for Wet & Cold - Ashes and Langley's Wood Metal and Stone Textures.

 

HD Ivy wasn't included before because the coloring of the ivy didn't fit into the rest of the textures around it. Screenshots will be need for all of it.

[Kelmych]

I'll vouch for Wet & Cold - Ashes and Langley's Wood Metal and Stone Textures.

 

HD Ivy wasn't included before because the coloring of the ivy didn't fit into the rest of the textures around it. Screenshots will be need for all of it.

I recently provided a set of screenshots that included 3 HD Ivy variants and vanilla; do you need some additional ones?

[Kelmych]

Other than the stuff currently marked as testing, there's a few other mods that warrent attention:

 

Jeclredured - Spell Tomes - Nothing else (except for the HRDLC) replaces the spell book textures, and it's a clear improvement (no filtered vanilla textures). Another obvious addition.

 

 

I agree that the other recommendations in the list should be looked at and most (if not all) of them included in STEP. I'm not quite as convinced as you are about this mod since HRDLC already includes one version of recoloring. I think it it's a good option for those who feel that book cover colors should be less saturated, but I'm not sure that this is a universal opinion. If everyone else feels it's better, however, we should include it. To me spell tomes are a lot more special than most books and more attention and effort would have been spent on them.

[z929669]

Lots'o good suggestions, guys. Thanks.

 

Hopefully Farlo will step in to help manage this release, as I am swamped with RL and just trying to keep my own game up to date. Aside from that, we will soon be revamping our server, and I also want to add more automation and functionality to the wiki to incorporate mod-testing functionality, parse out STEP by performance category, add Packs, and incorporate Skyrim Revisited in some way to name a few.

 

I will keep schedule, but there may be very few additions this iteration unless we get more helmsmen to help manage the new additions and keep vigilant on the community to provide the necessary mod testing data. Depending on availability, We may even need to relax the current update schedule from biweekly to 3-4 weeks.

 

Touch and go, but keep the suggestions coming anyway ;)

[Eliian]

'Diverse Priests' and 'Skyrim Improved puddles' should be rolled over to here? Since they were already accepted and all =)

[z929669]

'Diverse Priests' and 'Skyrim Improved puddles' should be rolled over to here? Since they were already accepted and all =)

They are already in the current release. This is a new dev thread ;)

[Eliian]

'Diverse Priests' and 'Skyrim Improved puddles' should be rolled over to here? Since they were already accepted and all =)

They are already in the current release. This is a new dev thread ;)

Ok. Cool! For some reason I thought they might not have been. Never mind me!

[eberkain]

'Diverse Priests' and 'Skyrim Improved puddles' should be rolled over to here? Since they were already accepted and all =)

They are already in the current release. This is a new dev thread ;)

Yeah I almost missed them since they were not on the 2.2.4 page and not in the 2.2.5 changenotes... also the arvark mod.

[z929669]

 

'Diverse Priests' and 'Skyrim Improved puddles' should be rolled over to here? Since they were already accepted and all =)

They are already in the current release. This is a new dev thread ;)

Yeah I almost missed them since they were not on the 2.2.4 page and not in the 2.2.5 changenotes... also the arvark mod.

I'll make sure they get into the changelog if not already ...

[WilliamImm]

Some recent suggestions that look good as well:

 

Metal Cage HD - another skunky retexture. 4k, so DDSopt will need to be run to reduce to 2k and 1k sizes. I'll do that sometime soon.

 

ZX Eyes - Recently made the hot files, worth a compare with Natural Eyes?

 

Dual Wield Parrying - No issues, does not require Script Dragon anymore, and it fixes a issue from the vanilla game (that is, you can't block with two weapons)

[Neovalen]

May be worth mentioning that Langley's also has a cage texture.

[Vond]

Dual Wield Parrying seems like a given to me (SKSE version). Have had no issues with it whatsoever.

ZX Eyes looks good, but I don't really see a point in using that high resolution for eyes, and I can't say I find it *better* than Natural Eyes.