DROPPED Skyrim Flora Overhaul (by vurt)

[JudgmentJay]

Discussion thread:

Skyrim Flora Overhaul by vurt

Wiki Link

 

Dropped in v3.0.

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I wasn't sure exactly where to put this, but I have a question/concern about this mod. It's obviously the best vegetation-related mod currently, but I noticed something recently. Is it just me or does the foliage on Vurt's pine trees look really bad compared to vanilla?

 

While the coloring on Vurt's is better, the vanilla pine foliage looks much fuller and cleaner in general. It almost looks like Vurt's trees are a mixture of LOD and fully-rendered or something. I can see large solid-looking chunks in Vurt's. Look at the tops of the trees in particular. I was looking at screenshots on the mod page, and this is visible there as well so I don't think it's a problem on my end...

 

Thoughts?

 

EDIT:

 

I deleted the 3 treepineforest .nif files in Meshes/landscape/trees before installing, and the result was a pretty drastic improvement. Looking around at the trees I saw that the bark on some of the trees changed, but that doesn't matter because that bark is replaced by TreesHD.

[Neovalen]

I haven't really noticed this issue much, but then again I'm using Lush Trees. It makes all the trees more dense.

[gwoody79]

By those shots JudgmentJay vanilla looks better IMO, near and distant. Gonna go compare difference with/without Vurts in-game myself now.

 

@Neo, I use Lush Trees also - good to see Optic has gotten back around to them and planning an update 

[JudgmentJay]

I deleted the 3 treepineforest .nif files in Meshes/landscape/trees before installing, and the result was a pretty drastic improvement. Looking around at the trees I saw that the bark on some of the trees changed, but that doesn't matter because that bark is replaced by TreesHD.

 

Vurt's modified:

[frihyland]

Mods already existing in step are listed in the STEP Anthology, supposedly it includes a thread for every mod ever in any version of STEP (we are a bit behind on getting it fully completed, it will be done shortly after release).

 

STEP uses a combination of several different mods for trees not just vurts, the sparse trees is intentional, we cut lush trees because much of skyrim is supposed to be a frozen wasteland.

[JudgmentJay]

Yeah I don't believe there is a Skyrim Flora Overhaul thread which is why I made this one.

 

I can agree on the logic behind making the trees more sparse, but in my opinion Vurt's just makes it look bad. Look at the trees on the left in the first Vurt's picture in my original post. The foliage looks like flat slabs instead of actual branches/pine needles.

[Cestral]

There are some more pieces to take into consideration as well; For example, look at the bush in the bottom right corner. It looks much better with Vurt's. The sharpness and color tone is much better.

 

Viewing distance also plays a major part. While it might be less of an issue with trees, still, it's always nice when you get close to something and it still looks sharp and nice without becoming a blur. Additionally, look in the far distance, at the trees in the upper left and upper right corners in the hills. They look much better with Vurt's.

 

I'm thinking if this is a mesh issue rather than a texture issue, because the branches look different in the screenshots. I'm gonna have to look into this.

 

EDIT: Oh, maybe I should have read your whole post before commenting. Yes, as I thought, it was indeed a mesh issue.

[frihyland]

I deleted the 3 treepineforest .nif files in Meshes/landscape/trees before installing, and the result was a pretty drastic improvement. Looking around at the trees I saw that the bark on some of the trees changed, but that doesn't matter because that bark is replaced by TreesHD.

 

Vurt's minus Pine meshes:

Something like this procedure was included in a previous STEP, it may have gotten lost along the way somehow.

[TheCompiler]

Yea, in previous STEP i made the same discovery and put the procedure in the guide!

 

I hope Cestral will investigate further and, if needed, include it TPC ;)

[JudgmentJay]

Yea, in previous STEP i made the same discovery and put the procedure in the guide!

 

I hope Cestral will investigate further and, if needed, include it TPC ;)

Nice. I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed a problem! It really looks so much better without those three meshes. Night and day in my opinion.

[Neovalen]

When I configured my latest TPC build I had all the mods that provide those nif files... Vurts, Lush Trees, and TreesHD but I don't see this issue. It might just be an issue with Vurts alone.

 

Was just playing for about 2 hours and actually was amazed at how good the trees looked.

[JudgmentJay]

TreesHD provides the vanilla meshes for pine trees and overwrites the ones in question from Vurt's, so yeah, in your case you wouldn't see the issue.

 

The problem though is that the current STEP guide specifically says to NOT install the TreesHD meshes.

[TheCompiler]

TreesHD provides the vanilla meshes for pine trees and overwrites the ones in question from Vurt's, so yeah, in your case you wouldn't see the issue.

 

The problem though is that the current STEP guide specifically says to NOT install the TreesHD meshes.

The current STEP recommends to don't install tree meshes at all. I've just cmpared treesHD/Vurts meshes vs vanilla, and vanilla is better. It's not an issue with only urts, but for both Vurt and treesHD. If you remove those meshes you'll have more dense and more natural trees, but no variation in bark.

 

I've attached 2 screens, the better one (right) is without any trre mesh, the bad one (left) is with TreesHD meshes over Vurts. Lush Trees, instead, is not an option at all for me!

[JudgmentJay]

I'm curious what people think about the latest version of Flora Overhaul (1.5a). I personally think it's too much... there's just too much going on, especially in the area around Whiterun. I reverted back to 1.4 for now. Hopefully Cestral can get it under control in TPC!

[Neovalen]

Haven't tried as I am waiting for Cestral... hehe.