[Megathread] Skyrim Discussion

[Flaks]

It should make it look miles better than the vanilla game. So much so that I'm running my game on medium without anti-aliasing, fxaa/post-processing and the enb still helps it look better than full ultra settings.

[Fhi]

It should make it look miles better than the vanilla game. So much so that I'm running my game on medium without anti-aliasing, fxaa/post-processing and the enb still helps it look better than full ultra settings.

I think it's really a personal preference thing. I tried out sharpshooter at first, and then a couple of other ENBs. My issue is that the colors are too saturated. I think Liz puts it succinctly - they look like the really old FPSers (think Serious Sam the first game). Some parts in the wilderness look gorgeous, but I enter a town and the paved roads are blindingly bright. Not to mention the bloom and the extensive use of blur. Never liked them, though I can see how some love them.

I like the old washed-out vanilla skyrim. I think it is the very character of skyrim. It's a reason why I don't use any body and face enhancement mods. Many of the body/face mods are gorgeous - but I think the original, grey-ish skin NPCs with squinty eyes and spastic expressions are what Skyrim is. For me, adding all these extra mods and I don't feel like I'm playing Skyrim anymore.

For me (emphasis on personal preference), ENBs and all make awesome, drooling screenshots, but actually playing them, not so much.

[Lizbeth]

It should make it look miles better than the vanilla game. So much so that I'm running my game on medium without anti-aliasing, fxaa/post-processing and the enb still helps it look better than full ultra settings.

I think it's some focus effect. It looks.. decent when you look at the distance but I hate it that when you go near a post or a NPC it blurs out the distance. I'll try playing with it a few hours today, it may grow on me, I admit, some areas do look gorgeous with it enabled.

There probably is some way to turn off the blur by changing some settings but I don't want to risk changing the skyrim settings file, if I ruin something it would take forever to install the game and all the mods again..

I agree with Fhi SOOOO much about not wanting to change how the characters look in Skyrim. I do use higher texture mods (keeps the look, just no more blocky noses) but making them look modern or worse, asian would completely ruin the atmosphere of the game. It's kind of like a version of the Hobbit where the dorfs wear jeans and Gandalfs makes yo mama jokes and starts rapping about owning the necromancer. It just wouldnt fit.

[Fhi]

@Liz, try this.

Open the enbseries.ini file in your Skyrim directory. Under [Effects], set EnableDepthOfField to false.

I would use the ENB if only the colors are a little vibrant, but not too much. Vanilla colors are too washed out, but the ENBs I've tried so far are too saturated. Some places looks amazing, others, not so. Don't feel like spending another 20 hours tweaking though. :P

[Flaks]

Yea the depth of field thing can get annoying which is why I don't have it on. It's some photo realism bs that people like using in screenshots.

[Lizbeth]

Actually, I have to admit I like it with depth of field off. Sharpshooters ENB doesn't really make anything as bright as I feared but if definitely makes nights and dungeons darker if there are no lights present. Not too dark though. Im also using some tree and grass mods so what I really love about it is that it actually makes forests look like forests (a lot thicker and shadier) not just a few trees and some turfs of grass.

[Blimey]

Hey guys. I just got Skyrim on the pc and am overwhelmed with the amount of mods their is. I played through the game first time when it was released on PS3. But never again after that. I was wondering if you could suggest some mods to improve/enhance gameplay. Thanks !

Here's some mods that I consider pretty essential for a good (and lore friendly) Skyrim playthrough:

SkyUI - A must have for anyone, just makes the user interface considerably more user friendly/convenient.
A Quality World Map - Makes the world map alot clearer, shows roads etc.
Ultimate Follower Overhaul (UFO) - Alot more interaction & customization options for your followers.
Categorized favourites menu - Overhaul of the favourites menu, considerably better than the default.
Glowing Ore Veins - Makes veins glow, alot easier to spot them when out adventuring, a simple but useful mod.
Bandolier-Bags and Pouches - Adds craftable and equippable bags, pouches, bandoliers, satchels which all increase your carryweight in a believable lore friendly way.

Well i'd say those are pretty essential (for me atleast). I have like 100+ mods installed, lots and lots are purely cosmetic though.

[Yakobro]

Best mod.
Really.
Makes it SO much easier when crafting things and stuff.

[Fhi]

Actually, I have to admit I like it with depth of field off. Sharpshooters ENB doesn't really make anything as bright as I feared but if definitely makes nights and dungeons darker if there are no lights present. Not too dark though. Im also using some tree and grass mods so what I really love about it is that it actually makes forests look like forests (a lot thicker and shadier) not just a few trees and some turfs of grass.

Can I see a screenshot? In Whiterun during a sunny day and out in the forest please?

[Lizbeth]

Can I see a screenshot? In Whiterun during a sunny day and out in the forest please?

Sure, here are a few

http://i.imgur.com/CjvyQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fROSY.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0eqxD.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gauox.jpg

[Fhi]

Like mine was when I installed it. See, the wilderness ones (bottom two) are gorgeous, but the whiterun ones are too glare-ish.

EDIT: Ooh, this is a perfect example.
http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.ph...st__p__5138530

The top one is what you have now. The middle one I'd like to try out. The bottom one is what I have currently and am fine with.

[Lizbeth]

Like mine was when I installed it. See, the wilderness ones (bottom two) are gorgeous, but the whiterun ones are too glare-ish.

EDIT: Ooh, this is a perfect example.
http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.ph...st__p__5138530

The top one is what you have now. The middle one I'd like to try out. The bottom one is what I have currently and am fine with.

Yea, I know.. Whiterun is actually the only place like that. It's mostly a lot darker than Vanilla Skyrim.

It is annoying though, I wish I could tune the brightness down a bit but especially the really bright, all the sky going white at noon effect. Unfortunately turning off the RL.esp also disables the darker nights and darker rainy weather.

[Flaks]

Can I see a screenshot? In Whiterun during a sunny day and out in the forest please?

Without cities enhanced, I really don't like Whiterun all that much. Don't think my computer can handle that mod either. If you want gorgeous screenshots especially with enb's, try anywhere in the Rift though preferably outside castle Dawnguard.

[Fhi]

Without cities enhanced, I really don't like Whiterun all that much. Don't think my computer can handle that mod either. If you want gorgeous screenshots especially with enb's, try anywhere in the Rift though preferably outside castle Dawnguard.

Yeah I'm biased towards Whiterun - it's my favorite city. I should get out more. :P

Anyway I piddled with sharpshooter again, and I think I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. This is before:
http://i.imgur.com/IvJp2.jpg

And these are the after ones:
http://i.imgur.com/TUPi8.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Xs6TZ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uLzbl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/OmCAa.jpg

One for the interior:
http://i.imgur.com/4IkcT.jpg

Amazing looks. The interior is also good lighting. Dark enough that you need a torch to pick up things from the ground, but bright enough that you can see where you're going. I always measure interior lighting in taverns - if I need a torch to maneuver in a tavern, then it's too dark. Turned off bloom, blur, SSAO (oh framerates how I missed thee).

Going to try a couple of hours in this settings in different weathers etc. Hopefully they'll be perfect and I can go back to playing instead of tweaking graphics and fixing broken quests and NPCs caused by stubborn mods who embed themselves so deeply in my savegames (I'm looking at you Open Cities).

[Dezerte]

I think I prefer using SweetFX rather than ENB.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/23364
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=368880
http://sweetfx.thelazy.net/ - A easy-to-use config tool for SweetFX

[Naidia]

Sharpshooters used to be one of my favorites, but now I'm just stuck using The Wilds ENB with Climates of Tamriel. It just has everything for me, very nice weather changes, near perfect lightning and bloom, dark dungeons. I'll post some screenshots tomorrow but, http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/21123, there's tons on the mod's page. Sharpshooters was just too bright for me. As for DoF, it's great for taking screenshots if you know what you're doing, it's really not meant for actually playing the game with it on.

[Lizbeth]

Sharpshooters used to be one of my favorites, but now I'm just stuck using The Wilds ENB with Climates of Tamriel. It just has everything for me, very nice weather changes, near perfect lightning and bloom, dark dungeons. I'll post some screenshots tomorrow but, http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/21123, there's tons on the mod's page. Sharpshooters was just too bright for me. As for DoF, it's great for taking screenshots if you know what you're doing, it's really not meant for actually playing the game with it on.

Thanks for the link. Well, the Climates one anyway But is the sun supposed to be red on noon or it's just some rare weather or caused by ENB? I couldn't wait for long, just tried it in morthal and whiterun over 2 days and it was red in all cases, like during dawn or dusk.

PS. Sharpshooters does seem to need too much effort to get everything look right, especially if you have no idea what these values actually do.

Does anyone know a good ENB that doesn't make the colors too vibrant, I'm just looking for one that gives trees and objects (especially plants) in distance a fuller, maybe a bit fuzzier look. Makes nights a bit darker with fires standing out more and dungeons a bit darker too. Im not looking for something that makes them pitch black.

Alternatively, which setting controls the brightness of day and how vibrant the colors are. Too much color just looks fake and plastic.

EDIT: Actually nevermind, I think I'll stick with wilds ENB with climates. It looks amazing. The nights are a bit too dark (as in I cant see anything unless it's a snowy area) but I'm going to pick vampires anyway so I'll just try to find a mod that makes night vision permanent or toggle on/off.

[Fhi]

PS. Sharpshooters does seem to need too much effort to get everything look right, especially if you have no idea what these values actually do.

I think the description by The Wilds author says it best:

I believe that tastes are personal and that something that really pleases me may not please somebody else - I've put a lot of effort into creating something that *I* like and would adore to play with.

And ultimately, the perfect ENB would be the one custom tweaked by you. I ended up staying up late last night just to keep tweaking my settings just to get it right. It's now what I consider near-perfect (only gripe is nighttime fires in cities are still too yellow).

[Leonard McCoy]

The night is a bit to dark in wilds ENB. Other than that it's REALLY good. To bad he stopped working on it.

[unholytestament]

I like dark nights. I HATE torches that only seem to illuminate two feet in front of my character. All torch mods I've seen reduce range but increase saturation because... Buh?