The OFFICIAL Anandtech Forums TeS V: Skyrim Thread

[Atomic Playboy]

I got my game set for always sunny. It's gray & raining outside enough this fall.

How did you do that? Console command?

 

[dennilfloss]

Do you only use the Workshop for your mods or do you use Skyrim Nexus as well? I know there are a number of mods on Nexus that make dragons harder, increase random encounters, change animal's territorial behavior, all sorts of things like that. They're probably on the Workshop as well; I haven't worked with the Workshop so I don't know what all is in there.

I don't have many mods installed but I use both resources.

 

[Face2Face]

Yeah, you need to get them manually. Not sure if the compressed files will show up somewhere in the NMM directory; might be worth looking there first.

Looks like they did. Thank God, that took forever.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Looks like they did. Thank God, that took forever.

Now the real fun begins of organizing each of them in their own individual folders, letting the batch file pull everything together, zipping that folder up and loading it in to NMM... Took my rig a long time, and it's no slouch. But fortunately it's one of those things you only need to update every few months, if that.

 

[Rhezuss]

Ok, I just found that most of my textures poping, disappearing/reappearing was caused by having AA mode to Adaptative AA in my CCC control panel.

I just "downgraded" to Multi-sample AA and no more texture glitches.

It's looking a bit crappier but that's something I can live with.

 

[dennilfloss]

This tree texture mod looks worth trying. Not sure if it would be a downgrade from Skyrim HD though.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3812/?tab=3&navtag=/ajax/modimages/?user=0&id=3812

 

[Bulldog13]

Which version of Serious HD Retexture Skyrim do I want for my videocard ? This is my videocard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130610 (560 ti 1GB) My other PC specs are Sandy Bridge i5-2500 and 10GB RAM.

Do I want high rez or low rez ? http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2146#content

Same question for this mod ?

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5400#content

Jesus, is there a torrent for this whole mess or what ?

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Which version of Serious HD Retexture Skyrim do I want for my videocard ? This is my videocard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130610 (560 ti 1GB) My other PC specs are Sandy Bridge i5-2500 and 10GB RAM.

Do I want high rez or low rez ? http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2146#content

Same question for this mod ?

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5400#content

Jesus, is there a torrent for this whole mess or what ?

For 1 GB of VRAM, you're OK getting the high-res version of Skyrim Realistic Overhaul; I had it on my HD5870 and it looked great. But if you start getting too many more texture mods, you'll get some VRAM lag and choppiness. I like SRO a lot better than Serious HD Retexture or Skyrim HD2K if you only use one of the three, but if you use the Texture Pack Combiner, you can get the best textures from all three packs and it really looks better than any one on their own, so that would be my recommendation.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

This tree texture mod looks worth trying. Not sure if it would be a downgrade from Skyrim HD though.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3812/?tab=3&navtag=/ajax/modimages/?user=0&id=3812

Get it Dennil, it's much better than Skyrim HD. Get Vurt's Floral Overhaul if you don't have that one as well; it works with Skyrim HD and Trees HD, and the combination of Vurt's and Trees HD makes for some really jaw-dropping environments.

 

[Face2Face]

It's installed. I was able to keep my steam mods as well. Not the texture mods. Here are some screen shots. I have seen 2300MB of ram usage at some areas. Overall this has been a great upgrade. I highly recommend anyone doing it. I run this game at 1080 8XAA 16XAF Ultra

 

[Rhezuss]

LOL at your naked toon! Screenshots look great!

I added FXAA Post Processing Injector 2.1 with the Preset 4. Game is a bit more sharp and stunning!

I also added True Realistic Lighting, Enhanced Blood Textures and Cloaks of Skyrim.

Great addition to the mix!

 

[Face2Face]

LOL at your naked toon! Screenshots look great!

I added FXAA Post Processing Injector 2.1 with the Preset 4. Game is a bit more sharp and stunning!

I also added True Realistic Lighting, Enhanced Blood Textures and Cloaks of Skyrim.

Great addition to the mix!

Yeah, he is showing off his 6 pack. Looks a lot like mine.... :\

The FXAA injector- which one are you using? I downloaded one not long ago and it would never let me start the game. Always had an error...

 

[dennilfloss]

Get it Dennil, it's much better than Skyrim HD. Get Vurt's Floral Overhaul if you don't have that one as well; it works with Skyrim HD and Trees HD, and the combination of Vurt's and Trees HD makes for some really jaw-dropping environments.

OK. Overwrote both over the Skyrim HD but I hate how flat the fir branches look now. They even start to look two-dimensional at a short distance. Can I just recopy Skyrim HD over my data folder, then copy only the tree trunk files to fix this and make it with new trunk textures but old branches?

See how gross (flat) the branches look now?

Tried to recopy Lush Trees over it. Didn't work. Branches are still flat. I'm fucked.

See how the tree branches now lose all detail at a short distance and then look like it's 1998?

Wondering how I can undo the damage. Might even have to go as far as to reinstall the game as this kills my immersion. Don't even feel like playing with that look.

Maybe the lod for trees got changed...

This is what the trees looked like before. You can still see details at a decent distance before it gets 'flat'.

 

[coldmeat]

Anybody have any before/after shots? Can you turn the mods on/off? Some of those screenshots look really good.

 

[Face2Face]

Anybody have any before/after shots? Can you turn the mods on/off? Some of those screenshots look really good.

If you follow the TPC guide, and use the NMM you can turn them off very easily. Not sure if you would want to unless if slows down your PC. I noticed in some areas I drop down to 45FPS. Most of the time im at 60FPS. Before the mod I was always at 60FPS. The TPC is very vram heavy. You can exceed 2GB if you have a high level AA enabled.

 

[Face2Face]

dennilfloss

Do you have Lush trees installed?

 

[dennilfloss]

Yes. Had it before the last two mods. You think one of those does not agree with Lush Trees and that causes the flat branches?

 

[Face2Face]

Did you install HD trees? And Vurts Flora?

Th HD trees should not have caused the tree branches to look different. I suspect that Vurts flora is what made the branches look that way.

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm gonna derail the subject a bit and ask you guys if it's worth going Mace+Shield? The Armor penetration from the Mace skill might come in handy agaisnt heavy armored enemies...Might as well get Axes too for light armored mobs...

Love how the shield is handled and bashing with it is pure fun. Love the magic resistance skill in the Block tree too, damn that's handy!

I also am a Mace lover lol...any RPGs that feature Hammers and maces i'm all in.

I'm going Heavy Armor, 1H+Shield melee warrior with this toon. Loving it so far. Put most of my points in Stamina for now since my armor absorbs lots of damage (yeah only level 7 for now so that's gonna change). So Stamina for blocking and bashing is pretty useful.

Loving this game, especially with all those amazing mods!

 

[dennilfloss]

Did you install HD trees? And Vurts Flora?

Th HD trees should not have caused the tree branches to look different. I suspect that Vurts flora is what made the branches look that way.

If you read a few posts above you'll notice I installed both and that's when the problem happened but the branches stay flat even with the Skyrin Flora Overhaul disabled in the Steam mod list.

I installed Skyrim Flora Overhaul Summer Edition 1dot5c Hi-Res from this page http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/141 . Maybe I need the Skyrim Flora Overhaul v15a Hi-Res version just below it instead (or with it)? I did not know as there is no description.

 

[Face2Face]

Dennilfloss

Make sure to download v1.3 of Lush Trees because the newer version has no support for tree variations!

I found this - Not sure if it will help?

 

[Face2Face]

I'm gonna derail the subject a bit and ask you guys if it's worth going Mace+Shield? The Armor penetration from the Mace skill might come in handy agaisnt heavy armored enemies...Might as well get Axes too for light armored mobs...

Love how the shield is handled and bashing with it is pure fun. Love the magic resistance skill in the Block tree too, damn that's handy!

I also am a Mace lover lol...any RPGs that feature Hammers and maces i'm all in.

I'm going Heavy Armor, 1H+Shield melee warrior with this toon. Loving it so far. Put most of my points in Stamina for now since my armor absorbs lots of damage (yeah only level 7 for now so that's gonna change). So Stamina for blocking and bashing is pretty useful.

Loving this game, especially with all those amazing mods!

I have always been a one handed sword guy with shield. Auriels shield is awesome for blocking and power bashing (Dawnguard Quest) Try out the mace, if it starts to suck then change things up. In the beginning of the game I use what ever loot I find is the best. I should start another character as well. Playing the game at low levels is really challenging and fun. Plus you may be able to use the loot you find in a chest. Next time I won't max out my blacksmithing. Makes all loot you find feel stale. Everything sucks when you can craft Dragonbone or Daedric armor.

 

[Face2Face]

If you read a few posts above you'll notice I installed both and that's when the problem happened but the branches stay flat even with the Skyrin Flora Overhaul disabled in the Steam mod list.

I installed Skyrim Flora Overhaul Summer Edition 1dot5c Hi-Res from this page http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/141 . Maybe I need the Skyrim Flora Overhaul v15a Hi-Res version just below it instead (or with it)? I did not know as there is no description.

I installed the summer edition as well. look at my pictures above - Do my trees look the same?

EDIT: Actually, they do look the same. Maybe it is the summer edition? I also installed Lush tress V 1.4 instead of 1.3. I am going to have to change this in my TPC zip file. That may fix it?

 

[Rhezuss]

I have always been a one handed sword guy with shield. Auriels shield is awesome for blocking and power bashing (Dawnguard Quest) Try out the mace, if it starts to suck then change things up. In the beginning of the game I use what ever loot I find is the best. I should start another character as well. Playing the game at low levels is really challenging and fun. Plus you may be able to use the loot you find in a chest. Next time I won't max out my blacksmithing. Makes all loot you find feel stale. Everything sucks when you can craft Dragonbone or Daedric armor.

Bolded is sad but true...that's why I think with this toon i'll skip Smithing but instead get enchanting. That way i'll be able to use the loot I find and enjoy it instead of vendoring it because it can't beat my crafted items. But, Smithing could be useful in upgrading the loot you find, so not a complete lost if you put some points in it.

Part of exploring the world is to stumble upon cool loot and actually using it.

 

[Face2Face]

Bolded is sad but true...that's why I think with this toon i'll skip Smithing but instead get enchanting. That way i'll be able to use the loot I find and enjoy it instead of vendoring it because it can't beat my crafted items. But, Smithing could be useful in upgrading the loot you find, so not a complete lost if you put some points in it.

Part of exploring the world is to stumble upon cool loot and actually using it.

You make some good points. I have a level 58 now - I beat all of the guild factions quest-lines except for the Theives guild, which I am working on now. Once that is done I am finally going to beat the main story - then start another character. I started out as a fighter then went to being a mage and now a archer. I am playing Expert Difficulty now. I changed it from adept at about level 35 or so. It was getting too easy.