SKYRIMLE Realistic Clouds (by Frozunswaidon)

[Nearox]

Released last week. 

 

Realistic Clouds

 

I installed them and am now using them instead of Dramatic Clouds. In my opinion Realistic Clouds is superior with regards to sense of depth and with regards to creating the perception that clouds are high and far above you. They actually make me stare at the sky once in a while. Dramatic Clouds is to close to vanilla.

 

Author's Comparison

 

Edited July 27, 2014 by DoubleYou

[Shadriss]

Saw this myself when it released - hadn't done any in-game comparison, since I was happy with Dramatic... that said, with that comparison shot, I may have to. Would love to see what Vividian would turn those scenes into.

[CovertSlinky]

Wow, those are nice, and I agree that the realistic clouds do offer more depth to them.

[TechAngel85]

[Smile44]

These look great, going to have to try them in game, obviously their photo realism make them stand out against the not so PR rain and landscape. He is working on CoT compatibility but it will be interesting to see which combination of mods works best with these textures, it may be that they will just contrast too much and seem out of place.

 

I really like the storm clouds, really good coloring, lighting would need to complement such clouds and be much darker than in the video.

 

 

[phazer11]

Nearox. *SMH* What are we going to do with you? Edited Topic Title with Author info.

Also, I hope it's CoT compatible; doesn't say it is but since it's just a retexture maybe a good combination of overwrite could be found.

[Shadriss]

I already have put this in, and I use a COT lineup. So far, I haven't seen anything that looks out of place, but I'll need more time to test it. Vividian Vivid ENB has been working well with Dramatic Clouds, and I'm hoping this will work out even better. More news when I have it.

[Nearox]

Nearox. *SMH* What are we going to do with you? Edited Topic Title with Author info.

Also, I hope it's CoT compatible; doesn't say it is but since it's just a retexture maybe a good combination of overwrite could be found.

It only works with vanilla weathers atm as CoT uses its own clouds. Same for Dramatic Clouds, I think, as it has most of the same files as Realistic Clouds. Dramatic Clousd doesn't have a CoT folder structure either. Reason yuo are still seeing them ingame is because vanilla weathers still show even with CoT installed, at least with Vividian ENb they do. I am not very well informed about weather systems in general though. I do think that CoT rain uses CoT clouds and not Dramatic Clouds, but because the stylistic diffierence between the two is not significant, one might not notice. With Realistic Clouds you will notice the transition a lot. That's currently the downside of it, but I am sure the author can fix this by copying over his textures to the relevant CoT weather file names  (there are more CoT weather textures than in vanilla so it would need some figuring out).

Edited July 28, 2014 by Nearox

[redirishlord]

For a good comparison try Serenity ENB with Realistic Clouds vs Serenity with Dramatic, I'm haven't reached a decision yet but I'm leaning Realistic Clouds.

I had a procedure to remove my CoT earlier this year, I'm much happier since as it relieved my chronic compatibility issues.

[Shadriss]

I'm considering doing the same thing, Red, but at this point, what would I really replace it with? I can't imagine any other weather mod doesn't have similar problems with compatibility, and at least COT HAS patches... I've yet to see any for any other weather mod. I guess that COULD mean that they don't need it, but hey...

 

So far, the Clouds have matched my weather patterns, though Nearox could be right in that the style difference is too subtle for me to notice. I can tell you I much prefer the look on the clear days for certain though.

[Aiyen]

CoT has its own clouds for just about everything, there are a few where vanilla are still used and those would be overwritten. But unless you really know which you look for you might not see them. So this is not really a mod for CoT users. 

 

As for the whole CoT vs anything else debate...CoT only have "big" issues with sound mods..and all the major ones have patches. Same with Falskaar. Every other patch you would need is only if you want MORE weathers then the 500+ CoT already offer. In short the more diversity the more .esp slots you need. However it is really simple to use the merge plugin to create just one CoT weather patch to rule them all. So the choice of weather should never come down to .esp issues, but rather if you like the mood, textures etc. 

 

As to the "copy over the textures to CoT"... the main point is that it would be a MASSIVE and very tedious undertaking... we are talking about thousands of edits in tes5edit... that cannot just be scripted since various weathers have different clouds in different locations, and the script would have no way of knowing which.  Another is that... if you do that then there is really not much left of CoT at all. Most use the weather patch which alter most of the colors, and if the clouds are gone as well then you have an effectively new weather mod. 

 

Hope that little rant clarify a few things hehe! :) 

[redirishlord]

Vanilla, replace it with vanilla weather. I use a combination of ELE, EWDS and Relighting Skyrim with some accessories like Realistic Clouds running under a full featured enb (Serenity, but a Vanilla friendly/non-CoT dependant Vividian would be outstanding as well).

[spoiler=ELE EDWS RS Merged]ELE-FX EmittanceELE Dragonborn-WeathersEpisode ParallaxELE-ImagespacesNatural Lighting & AtmosphericsELE-Weathersenhanceddynamicweathersystemrandom ThunderELE-Interior Lighting.espELE-Spell and Torch LightingELE DG-Interior Lighting.espELE DB-Interior Lighting.espELE HF-Interior Lighting.esp

 

 

This avoids compatibility issues from CoT and its image spaces & ELFX. I use the JiT scripted version of Relighting Skyrim (plugins not merged with the above) and Audio Overhaul Skyrim with the STEP Extended patch & SRLE REGS patch.

 

Of course if you already have your CoT patched set up dialed in and you aren't distracted by all the shiny new objects (like I am) you're probably good to go (and SR:LE has the compatibility with its mods done for you).

 

>> ninja'd by Aiyen (who knows a lot more than I do on this subject).

Edited July 29, 2014 by redirishlord

[Glanzer]

I've been using Realistic Clouds for a few days and I think it looks good.  I am using CoT and Project ENB so you really need to see the affect these textures have for your particular setup.  In order to see the textures you MUST force a vanilla weather to make sure you're not looking at CoT clouds (as noted elsewhere in this thread).  The best way to make sure you're looking at the correct textures is to do this:

 

1. Open the Realistic Textures download and make note of the *.dds filenames.

2. Use TES5Edit to look in skyrim.esm at the "Weathers" to find the weather formids that actually use those textures.

3. Enable Realistic Textures in your load order.

4. Start the game and "fw <weatherid>" in the console.

 

btw, if you want to see more vanilla weathers and you use CoT, you could probably change the "chance" values in ClimatesOfTamriel.esm file, but that would take a lot of work I guess.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Glanzer

[Aiyen]

It is easy to look up the weathers on web pages as well but I can just provide the main ones here. 

fw 10a230 Let the last digit go from 0-9 A-F and you will go through most of vanilla variation. Only one not really there is snow. Snow would be 4d7fb as I recall. 

[Nearox]

CoT has its own clouds for just about everything, there are a few where vanilla are still used and those would be overwritten. But unless you really know which you look for you might not see them. So this is not really a mod for CoT users. 

 

As for the whole CoT vs anything else debate...CoT only have "big" issues with sound mods..and all the major ones have patches. Same with Falskaar. Every other patch you would need is only if you want MORE weathers then the 500+ CoT already offer. In short the more diversity the more .esp slots you need. However it is really simple to use the merge plugin to create just one CoT weather patch to rule them all. So the choice of weather should never come down to .esp issues, but rather if you like the mood, textures etc. 

 

As to the "copy over the textures to CoT"... the main point is that it would be a MASSIVE and very tedious undertaking... we are talking about thousands of edits in tes5edit... that cannot just be scripted since various weathers have different clouds in different locations, and the script would have no way of knowing which.  Another is that... if you do that then there is really not much left of CoT at all. Most use the weather patch which alter most of the colors, and if the clouds are gone as well then you have an effectively new weather mod. 

 

Hope that little rant clarify a few things hehe! :) 

I see, thanks for the clarification!  

 

And for destroying the hope that CoT will have these clouds. 

Edited August 1, 2014 by Nearox