ACCEPTED White Phial Replacer (by Saerileth)

[phryxolydian]

Discussion thread:
White Phial Replacer by Saerileth
Wiki Link

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Here you go, z. 
 
A worthy candidate for STEP, this is a mesh/texture replacer for the White Phial, no altered rewards or anything. From the mod's page:
 

I've always felt the white phial was a bit... lackluster. You go to a lot of trouble obtaining (and subsequently repairing it), but not only is the reward pretty unimpressive gameplay-wise, it's also really ugly. I mean, that tiled, off-white texture will just not do. And the way Nurelion patches it up should be considered a crime! There are plenty of mods out there that improve the phial's effects, so this mod adresses the visual aspect of Curalmil's creation. It replaces the White Phial with a lore-friendly, highly detailed and ornate mesh that does better justice to an ancient artifact of legend.

 
This replacer features a brand new, unique shape for both the broken and repaired bottles. As I was brainstorming ideas Madcat211 pointed out that Curalmil is an elven name, not nordic, so even though he is entombed in a draugr crypt he may actually be of Snow Elf origin. My take on the White Phial is strongly inspired by the ancient falmer designs and incorporates (heavily modified) elements of Auriel's bow & shield.
 
Legend has it that the White Phial contains the essence of the first snow ever to fall on the Throat of the World. The vanilla object doesn't really give any visual indication of this fact, but I decided to expand on that theme. There is frost creeping up on the handle, ice gathering in the corners and the bottle glitters as if it was made from snow.
 

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Testing:

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  • Comparision shots between Vanilla, STEP (unless same as vanilla), and this mod needed. No ENB should be used.
    

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Accepted for 2.2.9 Core, 50% no handles. Larger (either 80% or full size) with handle is acceptable for Extended.

[EssArrBee]

This does look really good. It will go well with the custom White Phial buffs I make for myself. Now the damn thing will actually be worth retrieving. 

[phazer11]

Oh, custom buffs? Do tell.

Anyways I'm liking the retexture as well. Wish the mod author had done a vanilla compare though.

[EssArrBee]

Oh, custom buffs? Do tell.

Anyways I'm liking the retexture as well. Wish the mod author had done a vanilla compare though.

Pretty much just take the effects and make them twice as strong and last 6 minutes instead of 1. I have a different version with mutliple effects for each type, but I can't find it in my infinite abyss of mods. I just wanted it to be really powerful since it was a one time use item and then had to be refilled.

[phryxolydian]

That sounds reasonable. How do I apply this changes myself?

[IDzeroNo]

 

I've always felt the white phial was a bit... lackluster. You go to a lot of trouble obtaining (and subsequently repairing it), but not only is the reward pretty unimpressive gameplay-wise, it's also really ugly. I mean, that tiled, off-white texture will just not do. And the way Nurelion patches it up should be considered a crime! There are plenty of mods out there that improve the phial's effects, so this mod adresses the visual aspect of Curalmil's creation. It replaces the White Phial with a lore-friendly, highly detailed and ornate mesh that does better justice to an ancient artifact of legend.

This replacer features a brand new, unique shape for both the broken and repaired bottles. As I was brainstorming ideas Madcat211 pointed out that Curalmil is an elven name, not nordic, so even though he is entombed in a draugr crypt he may actually be of Snow Elf origin. My take on the White Phial is strongly inspired by the ancient falmer designs and incorporates (heavily modified) elements of Auriel's bow & shield.

Legend has it that the White Phial contains the essence of the first snow ever to fall on the Throat of the World. The vanilla object doesn't really give any visual indication of this fact, but I decided to expand on that theme. There is frost creeping up on the handle, ice gathering in the corners and the bottle glitters as if it was made from snow.

The new White Phial is very bright, to the point where it almost seems to glow in direct sunlight. That is just how bloom works in Skyrim, there's not much I can change about that without making the bottle look dull and grey in less extreme lighting. I rather like the effect myself, it makes the phial look very pristine and pure.

All my screens are taken with Serenity ENB unless otherwise noted. I can very much recommend it for this replacer in particular, it's bloom and subsurface scattering goes a long way to softening the harsh lighting on the phial and making it look almost translucent.

Many thanks to hodilton for this lovely video:


Installation
Requires Dawnguard DLC or it WILL crash your game! The textures are fully compressed and come in two versions, 1024 and 512. Not all textures are available in full 1k resolution, as some parts of the mesh simply do not warrant that amount of detail (e.g. the inside of the bottle). Choose one of the main files, then install with NMM or extract manually to your Skyrim/Data folder. Make sure you activate WhitePhialReplacer.esp in your load order. There is no danger to your savegames - just plug & play.

Compatibility
This replacer should be compatible with anything else out there, even though there is an .esp-file included. The plugin is actually a dummy file and completely blank, it's only purpose is to make Skyrim recognize the .bsa-archive and crash your game if you try to load it without Dawnguard DLC (legal issues). In particular it's fully compatible with mods that alter the phial's stats.

Future Plans
I'm looking for a way to further improve the bottle's sparkle to make it look more like snow, maybe using subsurface parallax. I'm also trying to figure out how animated effects work in Skyrim, so I can put a swirling effect on the bottle to make it look more magical. I may release an even lower-res 256 texture pack if there is enough interest. Beyond that, I'm always open for suggestions! Drop by the comment section and say hi.

Credits & Thanks
Thanks to:
Gamwich for his help with the textures
Tamira for her help with collision

Texture sources:
Frost texture by Rubyfire14-stock
Various frost stock packs by Natalie Paquette
Frost Texture Brushes by Obsidian Dawn

Tools used:
Gimp 2.8
CrazyBump
NifSkope
Blender

 

 

[Lauren]

There's a thread for this one, it just fell to the second page of posts in this subforum :) https://forum.step-project.com/topic/5040-white-phial-replacer/ 

[WilliamImm]

Locked and marked for deletion. A thread exists for this mod already. Additionally, do not copy the description verbativm from the mod, because it just looks sloppy if you do so.

 

IDZeroNo, you have done this before with several other mods. Make sure you a) search the forums to see if the mod has a thread already and b) if you create a thread for the mod, do not copy the description verbativim from the Nexus or wherever the mod is hosted.

 

And please, make sure that you provide a URL to the mod, as it would save us from having to search it out ourselves.

[Saerileth]

Looks like I'm late to the party! No one told me there was a thread about my White Phial Replacer :D

 

Anyways, here's how it looks in vanilla:

 

Don't think it really needs a compare as such, my phial as a completely different shape and design than the vanilla, it's not just a retexture. It's different, not just trying to be an improvement. So it'd be like comparing apples and oranges... it comes down to personal taste which you prefer.

[Guest]

I don't think this should be included. For me there is no difference on my 5 inch monitor sitting at a 20ft distance. 

 

Joking aside, I have meaning to ask what magic effect you wanted on it? A mist coming out the top like liquid nitrogen would be cool. I will have to take a look when I find the time. Hopefully the crashes will be at a minimum this time whilst testing. 

 

By the way your main mod image on Nexus is the above.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Guest

[WilliamImm]

So, should we plop this into testing? I agree, it looks really nice, and this might be a case of vanilla being so awful, that anything that dramatically replaces it and fits otherwise with the mandate is Core. Only reason why I'm holding back is because the others are trying to thin out the other currently "marked as testing" mods, and I'm a little worried about adding any more mods to that list (even ones that are fairly simple to test).

[TechAngel85]

Add whatever mods you feel are worthy of being tested. Testing is open to add new mods until next Wednesday (we've opened it for a week). So mind the Mandates and add if you feel it should be tested.

[WilliamImm]

Works for me.

 

Marked for Testing.

[EssArrBee]

Here:

 

 

[DoubleYou]

Looks like a candidate for Extended. I'll have to look at it in-game. coc qasmoke