Vividian - Weather & Lighting enhancement - CoT - RCRN and Pure Weather

[Whitestar127]

I think the Vividian - Vanilla is equally impressive. Very close color wise to the original vanilla game. Just a little darker in many places. I will soon have a looong post again where I compare Vividian - Vivid, Vividian - Vanilla and the original game. And of course point out a few problem areas. But just a few this time.

Great work Manga.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Whitestar127

[TechAngel85]

Yes, I'm truly impressed with the Vanilla version. I'm combining it with ELE - Interiors and ELFX. Nights are dark and interiors very well done. Caves...bring a torch!!! I've found myself lost in the dark more than once! Haha!

[Mangaclub]

Thanks :)

Credits goes to benhat for the vanilla coloring work :)

Btw. Tech, there is also a brighter interiors version in the installer :D

[TechAngel85]

Thanks :)

Credits goes to benhat for the vanilla coloring work :)

Btw. Tech, there is also a brighter interiors version in the installer :D

yeah, i seen that, but I wouldn't want all interiors brighter....just the caves and mines, but then those are fairly realistic in their lighting. I just need to get used to holding a torch.

[Mangaclub]

yes thats sadly the big flaw in skyrim as caves also count to the same interiors as houses. On that case lighting mods itself have to kick in.

[Aiyen]

Well it is not really a flaw as such.. just a design decision :P 

Game was never meant for dark and spooky caves, but super bright ambient lit caves that would allow people playing on TV´s with horrible gamma settings to also see something. 

 

One could go crazy and make an interior mod ala ELE to assign proper a proper template for only mines and caves, and one for houses. The tools are there.. but they are just really not easy to use hence why it would take forever to get done. There is a reason why ELFX and ELE have been 2 years or more in development. It is tedious and boring and frustrating work since there are so many issues with the tools. 

 

But oh well! I digress! 

[Whitestar127]

Hi Manga. I thought I'd highlight what I find to be the biggest (and arguably only) issue color wise in your Vividian ENB. This is only meant to be helpful, and I only took the time to do it because I really like your ENBs and would like for them to look as good as possible. 

 

These shots were taken with only Vividian - Vanilla and Vividian - Vivid installed. I had no extra lighting mods or options installed. Just the main files.

 

The issue is that in certain clear weather types the sky becomes too orange/brown with your ENB. I tested several of the clear weather types and found one that seems to represent a worst case scenario and one that seems to represent a best case scenario (probably! I haven't tested all clear weather types).

 

The two are 10a23b_SkyrimClearFF (left) and 10e1f0_SkyrimClearSN_A (right). The left one is the best case scenario. The right one the worst case; the sky is too orange/brown IMO. It almost looks as if it's on fire.

 

Here are some other examples. Left is 10a23b_SkyrimClearFF and looks really good, right is 10e1f0_SkyrimClearSN_A and looks too orange/brown.

 

 

 

These images were shot at 6PM and 6:15PM. I took the time to follow the color of the sky closely; At about 5PM the FF sky starts out with a fairly normal color I would say. A bit brighter (and slightly gray) towards the ground than the rest of the blue sky. This color changes nicely into the blue/orange/yellowish color seen in left screenshots above. Then there's the SN_A sky. It starts out a bit purple tinted and around 5:40PM it starts to transform into the not so attractive orange/brownish color seen in the right screenshots above.

 

I did not test all of the different weather types of course. There are way too many. I found them here: https://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Console_Commands_(Skyrim)/Weather

 

I don't know if it's possible for you to do anything about it, Manga, but I just wanted to point it out for you. Maybe you are already aware and working on it, I have no idea. 

Edited August 1, 2014 by Whitestar127

[Aiyen]

Cant speak for the vanilla weathers, since that is their own doing entirely. 

 

But in the CoT version then because of the weather patch you will also find something like this. And it is not an error there but rather something I specifically wanted to have included. Since there you have 500 weathers then I felt that at least some of them should stand out in terms of color. (Why have 500 that all have the same realistic blueish dawn dusk variation.).

 

This was something I had to argue with some folks over since they found it "unrealistic"... where my standpoint is .. it is a fantasy world, perhaps events happen far away that day which cause the sky too look like that! And in most normal games you wont see the same weather again the next day anyways. 

Ofc in vanilla terms I can see the issue since there are a much higher likelihood of getting the same weather again the day after as well. 

Perhaps a bit OT but just something I wanted to put into the debate! 

 

All that said then nice screenshots.. I wish I had that sort of feedback on my own preset! Then it would probably go to the same heights as vividan some day! :) 

[Mangaclub]

Hiya, Thanks for the shots! Awsome work!

Yes i see the Problem: it is like aiyen sayd.

Vanilla skyrim weathers are very different in their color and gradient settings just because to make a difference.

Then those coloring things happen during the transition times between night and sunrise. We define sunrise at 8 when the sun is actually visible and calculate a 2h our time from when its getting brighter till actual sunrise time for the values to do transition. So 6-8 is used for sunrise to kick in and 18-20 for the sunset. During that time i have no direct influence on the settings at all. I could try to minimize that by reducing the transition time but actually i think the same as aiyen.

A little difference in the weathers is always nice and realistic especially on a alien planet with laaarge moons in the orbit that influence the athmosphere badly.

You will also see this difference if you quickly switch trough the skyrim weathers at daytime. Some are green some more vibrant and some almost colorless depending where they should appear.

So maybe one day ill change all the vanilla imagespaces too but till then those color differenies are known but sadly not really changeable.

 

@aiyen

 

Heads up! Using your shader there so its also a feedback to you :D

[Aiyen]

Hehe well sort of I guess! ;) 

But vanilla weather colors (All of them actually) are entirely in the realm of your control. Also it would not be the image space you would have to edit but the actual lower sky color during dawn and dusk... those you do have full control over! So you could make them any color you want.... since you already have an .esp up then it would be easy to just include it in there if you so wished! 

 

Anyways.. time for sleep for me! 

[Whitestar127]

Hmmm, good points from both of you. I guess a little variation is good. It is a fantasy world after all. And Vivid IS very "fantasy" looking to begin with. 

I'll do a screenshot "analysis" of your ENB as well, Aiyen, when I get the time. Always fun to compare ENBs. But at some point I'll actually have to start playing the game again as well, heheh. 

Edited August 2, 2014 by Whitestar127

[Mangaclub]

@aiyen: i know i know , sigh but that would be too muich of hastle to change all of them. It is good as it is i think ;)

 

withestar: i know that, someday i should start playing skyrim too :D

[Whitestar127]

Ok, here goes the screenshot "analysis" of the vanilla game (original) vs Vivdian Vanilla vs Vividan Vivid. I'll refer to the original vanilla game (without any ENB) as "original" below, to avoid confusion with Vividian Vanilla. All image sequences will be from left to right: Original game, Vividian Vanilla, Vividian Vivid.

 

Outside Dawnstar - noon:

Vividian Vanilla VERY close to original (color and lighting wise I mean). Vivid is gorgeous.

  

 

Outside Dawnstar - afternoon:

Vividian Vanilla pretty close to original. Vivid is is really beautiful here too.

  

 

Outside Dawnstar - night:

Both vivids are darker than original, which is nice. Vividian Vivid a bit brighter than Vividian Vanilla, but that could be weather variations, like moon lighting.

  

 

Outside Dawnstar - night - snowstorm:

Snowstorms in both vivids are awesome. It's REALLy dark and you almost can't see s**t in front of you. These images don't do it justice. Has to be played live. Just an amazing feeling to walk out there in the dark with all the snow. You feel so alone and isolated. 

  

 

Outside Falkreath - daytime in woods:

You may want to (if possible) perhaps make the vivids just a little brighter, Manga. Especially Vividian Vanilla, which looks a bit dark and ominous. Or maybe you want it that way? It does give a certain atmosphere. 

 

Markarth city wall - day:

In my book Vividian Vanilla wins this one hands down. Just look how those shaded areas makes everything pop and brings depth to it. Glorious!

 

Morthal - day:

Vividian Vanilla is REALLY close to original game here. I quite like the Vividian Vivid colors here though. Looks really nice.

 

Outside Whiterun - night:

Vividian Vivid wins this one in my eyes. Both vivids are darker than original, which is great. But in Vividian Vivid the plants and rocks are just crisper and sort of more moonlit, everything stands out more clearly. And the sky is beautiful.

 

Outside Riften - day - fog:

I have to say you have done a great job here, Manga. One of the previous versions of Vividian was too dark here. But now Vividian Vanilla looks spot on compared to original. And Vividian Vivid is great too.

 

Continued in next post because of image posting limit >>>

[Whitestar127]

<<<< Continued from last post 

 

Outside Solitude - day:

I think Vividian Vanilla looks great here. Vividian Vivid looks really "fantasy", wow. And notice the spot in the swamps where the sunlight breaks through the clouds. More on that further down.

  

 

Sun coming up outside Whiterun:

I think all three look good here. In Vividian Vivid you can actually see the sun.

  

 

Winterhold - day - snow:

Both Vivids look great here.

  

 

Lastly I want to point out a couple of fantastic features with Vividian. The first being moving cloud cover (which creates sun "spots") and the second being the use of distant fog. I'm sure all of you have in real life experienced days where there are lots of fast moving clouds, and where the sun breaks through you get those sort of moving spotlights i.e. the sun lights up just a limited area of the terrain. This creates a certain kind of lighting, which looks a bit more intense than when there are no clouds. And I think you just nail light completely Manga. The lighting looks intense and moves smoothly across the terrain. It just looks amazing in-game.   Here are a couple of screenshots (Vividian Vivid only) with that particular weather and lighting. But you really have to see this in-game to fully appreciate it.

   

 

The use of the distant fog in Vividian not only brings out the depth and vastness of the landscape, but also helps minimize z-fighting. Original game on the left, Vividian Vivid on the right.

 

 

So that was a brief look at Vividian and its features. Great job MangaClub and Benhat. Of course this was just the exterior. Maybe I'll do some comparisons for interiors also. Maybe.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Whitestar127

[Nearox]

Thanks for all the comparisons!