DROPPED Lepidoptera Of Skyrim (by Impulseman45)

[TirigonX]

Ah ok, I'm not using 101bugs' esp file though. I use it as a mere texture replacer. I think that 101 bugs is still the best mod for dragonflies, bees, fireflies and ants. The textures from the above mentioned alternatives have lower resolutions.

Edited September 11, 2015 by TirigonX

[kryptopyr]

I think the author was saying that you can't use his textures with the 101Bugs meshes. I would personally rather have proper meshes than a few extended bugs in the game. The ants are never noticed. The others I'm hoping that Kryptopyr covers in her mod and if not, there are some alternatives. After looking deeper into 101Bugs, I'm not liking how that author did a few things.

I think it's the other way around.  I don't think 101Bugs includes meshes for the butterflies, but it's textures are incompatible with Imp45's new meshes.  I might end up doing something with the torchbugs and ants (there's also been some talk of a few new types of insects, but we'll see), but I haven't done anything with them yet, and they won't be included in the initial release.

 

@Kryptopyr

Can you confirm or not if these meshes have shadow casting turned off or on?

No, I can't confirm it.  I just went back and looked at some of my screenshots from testing, and I don't really see any shadows, but that could just be the shots.  I'll suggest that tweak to Impulseman (with everything else we've been working on, I don't think I've mentioned it yet), but just how much difference will this change realistically make to performance?

 

 

@TirigonX

I downloaded the bee mod I mentioned to take a look at it, and the texture is the same size as the 101Bugs HD version.  Even so, higher resolution files don't necessarily correspond to better textures or in game appearance.  The dragonflies in High-Res Dartwings are half the size of 101Bugs, but I think they actually look better in-game.  In my opinion, the way he has arranged the contrasting dark/light areas help to disguise some of the sharp edges on the mesh.  Personally, I consider the fact that the textures are smaller to be a positive mark in favor of High-Res Dartwings.

[TechAngel85]

 

No, I can't confirm it.  I just went back and looked at some of my screenshots from testing, and I don't really see any shadows, but that could just be the shots.  I'll suggest that tweak to Impulseman (with everything else we've been working on, I don't think I've mentioned it yet), but just how much difference will this change realistically make to performance?

Performance? Not much at all on modern machines. The idea is that these bugs are so small that having them cast shadows is a lil over the top. They're small enough that you're never going to notice the shadows unless you're a screen archer so why have the users hardware calculate shadows for something that is never going to be noticed? If shadow casting in on and you didn't see shadows in your testing shots, then that just goes to prove my point about never noticing them. It might help lighten the shadow calculations for lower-end systems, though.

[oqhansoloqo]

While I tend to agree for the most part about the shadows (mainly that it's probably not worth the performance hit for what you get visually), there have been times where I knew a dartwing or other insect was flying near me by noticing the shadow of it move past me on the ground.  Also, when insects are in groups their shadows are more interesting to look at.

[TechAngel85]

Weird... I'm never noticed any bug shadows, but then again I don't really stand around and do any "bug watching". haha!

[Shadriss]

Weird... I'm never noticed any bug shadows, but then again I don't really stand around and do any "bug watching". haha!

Bug HUNTING and Bug SQUASHING though.... those you do, and do well...

[TechAngel85]

Bug HUNTING and Bug SQUASHING though.... those you do, and do well...

Touche!

[Kelmych]

I think it's the other way around.  I don't think 101Bugs includes meshes for the butterflies, but it's textures are incompatible with Imp45's new meshes.  I might end up doing something with the torchbugs and ants (there's also been some talk of a few new types of insects, but we'll see), but I haven't done anything with them yet, and they won't be included in the initial release.

 

 

101Bugs includes meshes and textures for the new bugs, and the associated ingredients, it adds. I don't see anywhere in the 101Bugs plugin where it uses vanilla meshes as models. The 101Bugs meshes are likely based on the vanilla bug meshes (looking at a few of them quickly in Nifskope they seemed to be very similar). I don't see any vanilla meshes or textures that are overwritten by the 101Bugs mod. Of course, they are going to look much less realistic than the bugs in the Lepidoptera Of Skyrim mod and the other mods that you mentioned.

[kryptopyr]

No, there aren't any butterfly meshes in the download, just dragonflies and fireflies.  101Bugs doesn't overwrite the vanilla meshes, but it does apply new textures to them using texture sets.  If it actually did contain new meshes (even just copies of the vanilla mesh linked to the new textures), then it would work fine alongside Lepidoptera Of Skyrim.  The reason it won't work with LOS is because it's directly retexturing the vanilla meshes, and that doesn't work with LOS's altered meshes.

[Nebulous112]

101Bugs will have to be dropped from STEP if CACO is accepted. If that happens, there would then be no conflict with this mod. Kryptopyr also recommends this to be used alongside CACO on the CACO description page.

I'm not testing out CACO, as I don't want to deviate too much from STEP baseline... I've already installed most of the mods currently in testing. However, I am going to drop 101Bugs and add this one to the mix. It looks like some pretty good work.

FYI, I'm pretty sure this is all that is needed for compatibility:

• To use with STEP 2.2.9.2, remove 101Bugs and let this mod (Lepidoptera) overwrite Wiseman303's Critter Fixes.
• If you are also going to use CACO, move the Lepidoptera plugin to Optional, as the CACO plugin handles it. Just the files are needed.
• If you are also going to use CACO, download the CACO version of the mod. This version has no plugin as it is handled by CACO.

Edit: Updated information

[Nebulous112]

If 101Bugs is dropped for CACO, we need something in its place. This is recommended by Krypropyr for use alongside CACO.

 

I have been using it, and the new butterflies and moths look fantastic IMO.

 

Marked for testing.

[TechAngel85]

My only concern with these are that they're a bit brightly colored in-game, but I'm not sure that is a good enough reason to keep this mod from being accepted.

[Kelmych]

I think it should be included in STEP, especially since CACO makes use of it.

[TechAngel85]

Accepted into STEP as of datetime of this post.

[Tat45]

Note for the admins: This mod has been removed from Nexus by the author.