beginner questions about STEP setup

[rothbardian]

First off, thanks so much for creating STEP!  What an amazing resource.

 

I'm about to embark on my first install of Skyrim and STEP, and I have a few questions that cropped up from the setup reading I've done here:

 

1) The Core and Legendary Edition guides seem geared around using BOSS/BUM, but I'm reading elsewhere here that BOSS is outdated and we should be using LOOT.  Is it OK to use LOOT instead?  Any gotchas?

 

2) The guides also say to use DDSopt.  Is using DDSopt a suggestion or a requirement?  For reference my machine has SLI GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5.

 

3) I read in the Core guide that Wrye Bash has been largely superseded by Mod Organizer...  But that Wrye Bash is still used to make "bashed patches".  I tried wading through the Wrye Bash guide, but I still don't have a good understanding of what a bashed patch is and why we need to make them. 

 

4) When I spend the 10-15(?)+ hours to download and install Skyrim and all these STEP mods and the related utilities for managing them, is there a way to back up all this work so that I can transfer the freshly completed STEP install package to a new machine?  I might trade in my laptop for a desktop in a couple months, and the idea of starting all this from scratch is kind of horrific.  I understand the concept of making a backup of the vanilla Skyrim Directory per the Skyrim Installation Guide.  But what about after I install MO, BOSS/BUM (or LOOT?), Wrye Bash, SKSE, TES5Edit, ENB, and a huge pile of mods?  Is there a way to snapshot all this stuff to an external drive so it can be transferred to a new machine easily?  (I have the wonderful program Beyond Compare if that helps.)

 

5) I find the 'cleaning ESMs' sections in the Legendary guide to be fairly confusing.  Is there a way to avoid having to do this by opting out of using certain mods? 

 

6) The Core guide references ENBoost, but I've read that the lastest ENB already has ENBoost incorporated.  Just wanted to make sure that's true, i.e. that I don't need to separately install ENBoost.  Also it's a bit unclear which exact files I should download from enbdev.com.  Do I need this Antifreeze one?  Do I need the generic injector?  Or is this 0.254 file all I need?  If it matters, I plan to use the Vividian ENB recommended in the Legendary guide unless there's an updated recommendation forthcoming.

 

7) Lastly, the Core guide warns against installing the latest Mod Organizer.  Since several new versions of MO have been released since 1.1.2, I just wanted to ask if the STEP update that would allow the latest MO to be used was planned in the near future (and thus worth waiting for), or whether it's a ways off.  If it's a ways off, can I use the latetest MO if I don't use STEP patches or DDSopt?

 

Thanks in advance for any guidance.  It's very much appreciated.

[Nozzer66]

I've used a few of them.. Ghost, Bleak, Unbleak, HRK, RealVision, Vividian, Skylight, Saraan Suum, and to be honest, I've not seen huge performance deltas. 5-7 FPS max, even running all the options. To some extent the questions with ENB are 1) Does it work for you, in terms of the graphical change? and 2) Does it perform well enough for you with the desired options on?

 

Since I'm not a real screen archer, I never run the ENB DOF option, so that always helps my performance.

[rothbardian]

Nozzer, did any of those other ENBs require mod merging, or is Vividian the rare exception?  Are all ENBs easy to uninstall?

 

It seems like depth of field, though it looks really dramatic, might impact gameplay, no?  Would be curious to hear from others here whether DOF impairs gameplay and is best left for screen shots, or if it's just seamless bonus eye candy.

[Nozzer66]

Well when I had Vividian there was no mod merging needed, and none of the others needed any. ENB's are dead easy to install and uninstall. If you want to completely remove one, just keep a copy of the files it adds for handy reference. When you want to change, all you need do is remove them. 

 

TBH I found using that ENB changer java app slower than going in and changing stuff by hand. 

[DoubleYou]

 

 

Regarding portability, since I'm holding off for the 2.2.9 update, what I'm wondering about is all the 'stuff' that goes on around the basic downloading of all the mods.  Can all the utilities (MO, LOOT, Wrye Bash, SKSE, TES5Edit, ENB) be installed in a folder like MO or the base Skyrim folder?  And do their installers spawn other files elsewhere on your machine, along with registry entries, etc.  Or is it all actually portable to a new system just by dragging and dropping?

LOOT uses AppDataLocal I know.

[Aiyen]

It is not like Realvision should be avoided for performance reasons.. With a few adjustments it can perform like most others. It depends on how much effort you want to put into it. But out of the box then other presets will perform better without any noticeable differences in terms of effects... unless you do closeup screenshot compares etc. 

But overall stuff like your grass/shadow settings is going to affect performance much more then the most ENB settings. 

 

DoF is a personal taste... Some of them cost insane amounts of performance but will look really good, and the other way around as well. In general due to the large amount of blurring being done then the cost of DoF is always going to be rather high compared to other effects. There are many different ways of doing DoF.. some just use full screen blur, some use more specialized ways of doing blur... for example causing bright sources to look hexagonal. It is a fun shader to play with.. and it can dramatically alter the playing experience. 

Try out a few different ones.. it is as simple as copy pasting one file and you got a new DoF. 

 

Some ENB´s come with custom weathers and some rely on CoT and the weather patch, and some are again just using the vanilla weathers. If an ENB does come with addition .esp´s then you should at least try them out. They will mean a more tailor made experience where everything will blend in better. 

 

ENB´s more or less always contain the same files with the same names, or have all their extra files in a specific folder so they are very easy to just copy paste replace. The only file you should not change every single time is the enblocal.ini file... once you have a working on of those then just stick with it. The only time where you need to adjust it is if a preset requires an additional .dll file.. then you need to put in the name of the file in the proxy section. 

 

But again overall.. first order of business should be to find the preset where you enjoy the colors etc.. then you can always adjust the performance after. 

[Nearox]

My experience is, that Realvision performance Version B is the most performance-friendly ENB I have ever come across that still looks decent out of the box.

 

More recently I have been using Vividian ENB, which I can strongly recommend to the OP once you got some more knowledge of how to adjust certain ENB settings for performance without loosing most of the intended looks.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Nearox

[thaiusmle]

My experience is, that Realvision performance Version B is the most performance-friendly ENB I have ever come across that still looks decent out of the box.More recently I have been using Vividian ENB, which I can strongly recommend to the OP once you got some more knowledge of how to adjust certain ENB settings for performance without loosing most of the intended looks.

What is your vividian ENB setting? I use the performance version without ambient occlusion.

[rothbardian]

This might already exist someplace, but it would be neat if there was a STEP-crowdsourced list of ENBs that did what the Core mods do, namely, enhance the vanilla experience as opposed to a big deviation in graphical style. 

 

Thanks for the Realvision B tip Nearox.  Is adjusting ENB settings the same process for all ENB packages?  I assume it's editing some sort of config file?

[Aiyen]

Yes altering the core settings of ENB is the same for all.. you can press shift + enter by default (This is another reason to keep your own enblocal.ini file.. since some authors change these keys to something else!) to open the ingame GUI and alter most things on the fly. There are a few differences that involve quality values in the shader files... mainly DoF files. Most mention it and it is as simple as changing a number to another number or comment out a line. 

 

As for the list then that is most likely not going to happen since we all have very different opinions about what "enhancing the vanilla experience" means. You can create an ENB that just adds the ENB effects on top of the vanilla post processing.. but even then there will be certain variations possible. 

[rothbardian]

Got it, thanks Aiyen.  Other than Vividian and Realvision B, if you guys have any other top ENB picks you recommend I'd love to hear them. 

 

Is it possible for an ENB to be buggy in the sense that it might look great in most places but be 'untuned' or just plain messed up in others, like in dungeons for example? 

[Nozzer66]

Yes, but again it's personal choice. Some of them are as dark as the bowels of Hades inside caves etc, and others are a little brighter, for one example. 

 

Personally I like ones that are a touch darker, enough where you need a torch, but not so black all you see is a murkyness till some Falmer comes out of nowhere and stabs you in the ribs.

[Aiyen]

Very much yes. This is also why some make specific weather .esp´s etc for their ENB.. since then they have full control over the visuals. Building on top of the vanilla ones is just a cause for headaches for a number of reasons. This is especially true for interiors, which is why ELE image spaces should always be used. 

 

In general there is only one set of values for ALL interiors in ENB, hence you need to create the foundation and diversity of your interiors from an .esp. 

Also skyrim is a huge game, and most preset creators do not actually spend much time playing the game so they do not go test in every single location of the game. This is another reason ELE is so good.. you do not have too. If you make a few choice locations look good you know ALL will look good. 

For the player this is also a good thing, since this means you can quickly test in a number of locations and see if you like what you see and then know that this is how it will be everywhere.. to varying degrees ofc. 

Another bonus is that it also makes it very easy for you to tweak a preset to your liking if you want it a little bit brighter for example. Since it is just one value you need to change, and in some presets you can do all of this from ingame... so no need to go out and look around in the code etc. 

 

In general I would only recommend ENB presets which have GUI control of their shader files as well.. if they do not it is not as easy to tweak them, and generally mean that they are really really outdated. Ofc. they can still look really good, but it is always nice to have the ability to tweak those few things you might not like. 

 

As for presets to check out.. and which cover a rather wide range of different visuals styles are 

Vividian By Mangaclub and benhat

Serenity By Prod80

Natural lighting and Atmospheric by Confidenceman

Insomnia by Insomnia

Sombre 3 by Maeldun0

Grim and Sombre collection by Wolfgrimdark

Finally you can check out Skylight by me.

If you can find a version of K ENB those are also most definitely worth checking out. Those files are not on the nexus anymore due to various reasons. 

 

Ofc. if you find you do not want the latest effects like cloud shadows etc. etc. then you can never go wrong with project ENB, or seasons of skyrim, and in general all who are made by bronze316. Skyrealism by indegonecko is also worth checking out. 

 

 

 

I could ofc continue to phrase up the entire list of presets.... but those will at least get you started. There are many more very good ones out there as well. 

[Nozzer66]

I can also recommend Bleak and Unbleak as well. It all depends on the atmosphere you want.

[rothbardian]

Aiyen and Nozzer, thank you so much for the recommendations! 

 

I was reading up on ELE here, and am a bit confused.  It seems to conflict with Climate of Tamriel (or at least partially conflict).  If I plan to use CoT, which of these ELE files do I install?

 

Download:

I always clean with TES5EDIT* both automatic and manually going through each edit for any unwanted edits.
* With unofficial releases such as tests there is a possibility that I forgot to do the necessary checking with TES5EDIT, the files not located in this comment but in later ones throughout the thread are unofficial/test releases!

Download Link - Enhanced Lightning for ENB/ELE - ALPHA v0.0.3 NMM Installer, updated 05/25

Download Link - ELE - Interior Lighting v0.0.4 (Former ELE - Imagespace module)
Remove old ELE - Imagespace.esp files!

Download Link - ELE Plugin - RS Light Color v0.0.37

Download Link - New Sky mesh, uploaded 5 June -14

 

p.s. Just noticed 2.2.9 is out.  Woohoo! :)

[Neovalen]

ELE Interior Lighting 0.0.4 only.