SKYRIMLE Skyrim Bigger Trees (by Xweto and Jonigts)

[Besidilo]

Skyrim Bigger Trees

 

If this mod doesn't deserve to be in STEP, I don't know what does.

[carlos3lance]

That looks awesome. Where I'm from, there are these dense forests, some exclusively pine, not too far outside the city. Anyway, I remember looking around and standing in awe at these massive pine trees well over 15 meters tall, and this mod is pure realism. It really gives you that feeling of how small your character really is in these massive Nord forests. Trees stop being just alternative ambiance to clearing, and they really tower along the rivers and roads, as they should.

 

 

This needs to be incorporated in Step somehow.

 

Case in point here: The author really seems to replicate that.

[Korentin]

I like the idea of this but the texture stretching made me uninstall it.

[carlos3lance]

Loaded this up, in general, it looks amazing like you wouldn't believe.

 

However, as the above poster said, there is a very noticeable effect due to texture stretching. As in, closing in and looking at the pine tree leaves, they look slightly blurry or low res. For people that don't go staring at leaves, it might not be a big issue, but it definitely takes the detail out, unless maybe someone uses 4k textures for flora.

 

Overall it's a 50/50 ratio of slight stretching versus immersion factor. As in I'm on the fence with this, but that's personal taste :P It would be good to get some thoughts from more users.

 

 

The positive side is that it doesn't overwrite anything. The esp's and sub-folder in meshes is easy to install/remove on moments notice without residue or issues without starting a new game - should you want to try all 4 of the mods presets before settling for one.

 

!! Be sure, however, to not overwrite your saves/save the game until you are satisfied with a preset of the mod that you wish to keep. When you remove the mod and try to load a save that includes its effects, you get a warning, like with all mods, that some content is no longer included.

 

 

 

 

Edit: A mod that does have its problems if picked apart by careful observation, but a solid idea for skyrim's forests nonetheless - somehow this is an ambitious idea to take the forests to the next level.  

 

It seems, the tree models, both with and without any added texture mods are simply magnified, stretched, in height and width, independent of game world object or vista size synchronization; reason why the mod doesn't overwrite actual textures - maybe a different approach should be explored in the future, as, while from a distance of an estimated 4-6 meters of in game distance, the aspect is striking, there are some functional and aesthetic issues as you close in. 

 

This evidences itself in the new height of beehives, on one side. Some of the bee hives are no longer accessible with the included  big version+bigger riften trees option of the mod. They're simply to high up and will be an issue for alchemists. In terms of width, as you close the distance, you quickly realize that lower branches and the pine needles themselves are about as thick as your characters arm, breaking immersion. The least noticeable and actually beneficial aspect is the tree trunks, which have also been magnified. They don't reduce immersion in any way, as elderly pine trees with wide trunks are a common sight.

 

The first preset that I've tried and written the above review about was the Big version + Riften Bigger trees.

 

There are 4 more options besides this, provided by the modder: Big version (no riften changes), Riften Bigger trees(only riften), Smaller version(smaller magnification with no riften changes), Smaller+Bigger Riften trees(haven't tried this as I haven't gotten around Riften).

 

So far, the smaller version seems the most appropriate(although it's a matter of taste). The arm thick branches and pine needles are reduced to almost the vanilla size(added realism), height is functional and you still get the great views of slightly bigger/wider/taller(although not as fleshy as the Big v.) than vanilla trees, with more intense shade in deep forests, but not to an extent that invites intense scrutiny.

 

I'm no modder by any means so all I can do is observe and rate, in good spirit ;)

[thalastwon]

I definitely noticed the texture stretching with this mod, but holy cow, look across a clearing or head into a forest and it looks like the forests here in Washington. The immersion is amazing!

[Besidilo]

So what you guys are saying, we need new textures for this mod. :p

[carlos3lance]

It's basically an independent stretch of any textures you may or may not apply to your trees. I speculate that you might be able to compensate for this with 4k textures, but it doesn't eliminate the over sized pine needles in the big version. I'm completely modding illiterate, so I'm just explaining my observations as clear as I can :p

[thalastwon]

Besidilo: Yep, basically. Im guessing 4k textures would alleviate this as well. My rig can only handle 1k textures though, so I can't really test that.

[Kelmych]

There have been a number of comments over the past few months concerned about the realism of the Skyrim trees when Lush Trees is used. I have some similar concerns about this mod; to me the trees in the video don't seem consistent with the climate characteristics in most of Skyrim.

[Besidilo]

There have been a number of comments over the past few months concerned about the realism of the Skyrim trees when Lush Trees is used. I have some similar concerns about this mod; to me the trees in the video don't seem consistent with the climate characteristics in most of Skyrim.

I think you'd find that trees in Siberian/Alaska/Norwegian forests are much taller and denser than the ones in Skyrim.

 

I agree that overstretched textures are ugly, though, and full size scaling doesn't work really well.

[wolmarc]

So are Lush Trees and the Bigger Trees mod found to be stable, even though they aren't the best looking? I will use them if STEP approved as far as they don not cause stability issues.

[WilliamImm]

Lush Trees is *not* recommended with the most recent version of Skyrim Flora Overhaul. If you are still using the old 2.2.0a guide, then you can use it, but with the most recent verison of Flora Overhaul - no, just no.

 

No word on Bigger Trees, but I don't think I need to use it.

[wolmarc]

Thank you WilliamImm

[WilliamImm]

Yea. I think Vurt's trees look the best alone right now.

[stoppingby4now]

Yea. I think Vurt's trees look the best alone right now.

Completely agree here. Adding lush trees introduced some weird behavior, and the latest version of SFO is just awesome.