GUIDE ENB Guide

[Phyzziks]

Just installed STEP yesterday and did now my first testrun. Game looks really amazing now, and also runs very good.

I did choose Project ENB and configured it like in the link "ENB Choices" and also this Guide.

I also installed "Dark Dungeons for ENB", "Remove Ambient Interior Fog" and "Revamped Exterior Fog".

What I didn't like was the fog in the startscene of the game, while riding on the horse cart.

The Fog is extreme dense and very bright white - like from a fogmachine in a disco ;)

Is it somehow possible to reduce the density of this fog to make it look like "wet fogy air"?

 

Also I'm not sure, if I'll like the DoF. It looks pretty amazing in dialogues, but I'll have to test, if I'll still like it while

playing. Usually I prefer to decide myself at which point of the screen I'm focusing my eyes and not by having to

center that point with the crosshair. So if I don't like the DoF - is it possible to turn this effect of, while keeping

the rest of the ENB?

[rpsgc]

If you are using Climates of Tamriel, you should remove 'Revamped Exterior Fog' because it's listed as incompatible.

 

So if I don't like the DoF - is it possible to turn this effect of, while keeping

the rest of the ENB?

 

Yes. Open enbseries.ini and look for 'DepthOfField = true'. Change it to '= false'

[z929669]

I just added a note to the ENB Guide under ATI Users section.

 

Also, I added this back to the main page, so let me know (Fri) if there is some reason why it should not be there.

[TechAngel85]

So I see it's been a while since this section of the forum has seen any action. For those of you that don't know, I've been doing a lot of ENB testing. Particularly, with RLwC or RCRN underneath. From this testing I'm learned a lot and will be putting that knowledge to use in the ENB guide on the wiki.

 

Currently, I've updated the broken link on the SMAA tab and updated the instructions. If anyone knows of a newer version or better download place please update the link and instructions for the download and install.

 

On the Configuration tab, I added a short explanation of bloom and how to disable it. This page could use a ton more information about configuring the INI file and I'll be adding that later if no one beats me to it.

 

Finally, on the Troubleshooting tab I updated the link to Auslogics (great program) to their download page so users would always be getting the most up-to-date version. I deleted the link to Countervibe ENB (sorry if the author sees this) because it was broken and I've never been able to find it on Nexus and reworded that area for GPUs a bit. For the game booster, I added Razer's Game Booster. It's a solid product from a solid gaming company and it's free to boot.

[Nirodha]

Quick question regarding the Final Checklist from the wiki. It mentions setting AA to 0 in the launcher if using SMAA, then recreating the INIs, and then replacing the newly created vanilla INIs with your tweaked backups. Why change AA settings if you're just going to delete them?

[TechAngel85]

I didn't write that and I think it's a little excessive. I didn't to this during my testing of several ENBs and I never had issues with the INIs. I'm going to review that section later as well. SMAA is a type of post-processing AA that is lighter on your system; meaning you'll have better performance using SMAA over AA. However, they can be used together without any issues if you have a good system. Keep in mind for good playability your frame rates should stay around 32 or higher.

 

As long as you got your video card and launcher settings set to where you wanted them before you installed your ENB and still have good performance after ENB installation then there is no need to mess with the INIs or video card or launcher settings after ENB installation. Also, just a quick note, frame rates should be between 40 and 60 (the game caps out at 60) before ENB installation. Depending on your system hardware and what INI settings you're using, an ENB will drop your frame rates anywhere between 10-50%. For instance, I seen on average a 23% frame rate reduction after I install any ENB.

[z929669]

For the record, any final frame rate consistently above 20 FPS (in all situations) is acceptable. Few people using Baseline STEP with any ENB will consistently get over 32 FPS.

 

AA and AF are definitely redundant if using most ENB, and this saves a good amount of FPS. I don't even find that SMAA has a noticeable effect on top of ENB (but it doesn't hurt to use it anyway).

 

I would like to test loswering texture and shadows in Skyrim Options as well to see if any gain can be reclaimed. I suspect that ENB can significantly reduce the need for these performance killers.

[TechAngel85]

For the record, any final frame rate consistently above 20 FPS (in all situations) is acceptable. Few people using Baseline STEP with any ENB will consistently get over 32 FPS.

 

AA and AF are definitely redundant if using most ENB, and this saves a good amount of FPS. I don't even find that SMAA has a noticeable effect on top of ENB (but it doesn't hurt to use it anyway).

 

I would like to test loswering texture and shadows in Skyrim Options as well to see if any gain can be reclaimed. I suspect that ENB can significantly reduce the need for these performance killers.

DOF is a big killer. I found the most performance gain when I disabled Bloom, SOAA and DOF during my testing which resulted in an average frame rate of 37. With those three enabled my average FPS was 28 or lower. I've also lowered (instead of increasing it like STEP encourages) the shadow resolutions in my SkyrimPref.ini file. This provided more of a bump and shadow quality with the ENB isn't bad. I'm not paying that much attention to shadows on the ground when I'm gaming anyway. As for AA, I'm not using it. I've never used SMAA either. I noticed, though, when using RCRN, their included FXAA did a decent job with no performance loss over RLwC. For AF, I'm forcing AF x16 via nVidia Inspector and it provided no performance loss.

 

My INI... you can see what I'v set my MapResolutions to and everything else referring to shadows.

 

 

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=4

iShadowMode=3

bTreesReceiveShadows=1

bDrawLandShadows=1

bShadowsOnGrass=1

bDrawShadows=1

fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000

fShadowDistance=2000.0000

iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=512

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=1024

iShadowMapResolution=512

fShadowBiasScale=0.5000

iShadowMaskQuarter=4

bFloatPointRenderTarget=1

bDeferredShadows=1

 

 

[ivactheseeker]

For the record, any final frame rate consistently above 20 FPS (in all situations) is acceptable. Few people using Baseline STEP with any ENB will consistently get over 32 FPS.

If that's the case, i suggest checking hialgoboost again, it improved a lot with version 2.

[z929669]

For the record, any final frame rate consistently above 20 FPS (in all situations) is acceptable. Few people using Baseline STEP with any ENB will consistently get over 32 FPS.

If that's the case, i suggest checking hialgoboost again, it improved a lot with version 2.

Yep, I was going to mention that. I will be testing, but from what I have seen, that will be a core STEP mod in the next major release if not sooner.

[TechAngel85]

For the record, any final frame rate consistently above 20 FPS (in all situations) is acceptable. Few people using Baseline STEP with any ENB will consistently get over 32 FPS.

If that's the case, i suggest checking hialgoboost again, it improved a lot with version 2.

From what I'm reading on the Nexus forum, it's not compatible with SLi or CrossFireX, there's a stuttering bug with some systems, and there's an annoying watermark that has to be removed. Testing would be a must.

[Farlo]

Just a thought about how you specify FPS boosts/decreases, and you guys may have a better counter-argument. Because everyone's rig is different and will react differently to these settings I think it'd be better to stay away from specific numbers and instead use more vague terms (yes, saying that hurts me very much).

[TechAngel85]

Just a thought about how you specify FPS boosts/decreases' date=' and you guys may have a better counter-argument. Because everyone's rig is different and will react differently to these settings I think it'd be better to stay away from specific numbers and instead use more vague terms (yes, saying that hurts me very much).[/quote']

I've been attempting to do just that by using percentages and will only use percentages in the wiki unless it just slips my mind... There is a base frame rate that should be maintained, though. Below this base, shuttering and noticeable lag will appear. Most of my research, both in gaming and IT, suggests for video gaming that rate is 30 FPS. However, this is subjective to the game you're playing as well. Fast paced first-person shooters require more and around 50-60 is ideal; however, Skyrim isn't a fast paced combat game. As such, maintaining a frame rate of at least 30 should be ideal for Skyrim. Establishing this minimum would only help modders when using ENBs or any mod.

[ivactheseeker]

 

For the record, any final frame rate consistently above 20 FPS (in all situations) is acceptable. Few people using Baseline STEP with any ENB will consistently get over 32 FPS.

If that's the case, i suggest checking hialgoboost again, it improved a lot with version 2.

From what I'm reading on the Nexus forum, it's not compatible with SLi or CrossFireX, there's a stuttering bug with some systems, and there's an annoying watermark that has to be removed. Testing would be a must.

Well, those wth SLi / CrossFireX don't have much of a problem with FPS anyway and they represent a little percentage of STEPers :). Regarding the stutters it depends on the machine, as different machines get different boot. There are some options in the ini that can be changed and a bit of testing needs to be done in each individual computer to achieve the best results. The watermark can be easily toggled off in the .ini too.

 

On a side note a lesser known feature is the caching option that store information in a cache that reduces stutters when you load a new cell. You can easily rest it if you run ingame 6x-8x the normal speed, it makes a difference even with unmodded Skyrim. More info in the Hialgoboost FAQ.

 

EDIT: ops, i didn't want to go off-topic. If you want to, answer in the hialgoboost thread.

[stoppingby4now]

For the record' date=' any final frame rate consistently above 20 FPS (in all situations) is acceptable. Few people using Baseline STEP with any ENB will consistently get over 32 FPS.[/quote']

Have to chime in, because this is purely subjective. I personally can't stand anything close to 20FPS.

AA and AF are definitely redundant if using most ENB, and this saves a good amount of FPS. I don't even find that SMAA has a noticeable effect on top of ENB (but it doesn't hurt to use it anyway).

 

I would like to test loswering texture and shadows in Skyrim Options as well to see if any gain can be reclaimed. I suspect that ENB can significantly reduce the need for these performance killers.

The first sentence above comes across a bit misleading, so just adding this to avoid confusion. If using only ENB, AA and AF are very much beneficial. If using something like SMAA, then AA is not needed. But even if using SMAA, AF should still be beneficial.