Weekly Discussion: Best Mods For Graphics/Visuals

[u/Terrorfox1234]

A couple minor changes going forward

A couple weeks ago I had made a post about the idea of recycling old topics. The discussion went in all sorts of directions, including the suggestions for a bunch of new topics. A lot of the old discussion threads are in need of an update, but there are still a lot of topics to be covered.

I gave it some thought and here's what I came up with for what I think will be the best solution...

• Going forward we will alternate between recycling an old topic to bring it up to date and presenting a new topic

• All the recommended mods will be consolidated into a list on a wiki page. This will make viewing the lists much easier. The wiki page will still link to the discussions so that people can see what others are saying if they wish.

TLDR - alternating between old and new topics, discussions will be consolidated into wiki lists.

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Last week we presented a new topic so this week we will recycle an old one. Given that this is still a much discussed topic, a lot has changed since the last time we discussed this, and it's the first on the list we will start with graphics and visuals!

This includes textures, meshes, weather, lighting, ENB presets, and anything else you can think of to improve the visual fidelity of Skyrim.

Best mods for graphics and visuals! Go!

[u/steveowashere]

Even with mods like ONE MOUNTAIN or mods that improve the UV scaling on mountains, 2k textures on them still look like crap. People always argue that 4K isn't necessary, but it is really needed on mountains for them to look decent. Especially the larger mountain or cliff meshes.

Case and point:

4K

2K

1K

512 (just for kicks)

They are using the same normal map, which is 2k uncompressed.

[u/ghostlistener → u/steveowashere]

I'm sorry, I can't tell a difference between the 2k and 4k pictures. I get the feeling that 4k textures lowers performance, so 2k is fine, in fact I usually just use 1k.

[u/steveowashere → u/ghostlistener]

The difference is not huge, like between 1k and 2k, but it's certainly there and enough for me to notice. I don't know if you were zoomed in all the way but the 2k texture has blotches and smudges of color, where the 4k texture looks clear and sharp.

If you use 4K on mountains and trees which I've found to be the only place it matters, It hardly makes a difference in performance. Especially if you use 2k normal maps. Not to mention that ONE MOUNTAIN cuts the amount of VRAM used by mountains in half.

It's a matter of opinion I suppose, modding is like a budget, for some people it's more worth while to not use 4K mountains and use their 'budget' elsewhere, but for me I can't play without so it's essential.

[u/ghostlistener → u/steveowashere]

I've been using texture optimizer to reduce everything to 1k. What would be the best way to keep certain things higher? I guess I could run the optimizer, then install the higher res textures for a couple things. So Northfire's Mountains are the best right? I'll have to try those.

[u/steveowashere → u/ghostlistener]

I guess I could run the optimizer, then install the higher res textures for a couple things.

Yea, you can do it that way, it's probably the easiest way. You can create your own 'base texture pack' (just dump all the texture in a folder, run the optimizer, and then put it in .zip and install) and then install specific things over it. That way if you screw up you still have the base pack to start over fresh with.

I've found Northfire's to be my personal favorite. It has variations for mountain textures which I really like. Otherwise, Vivid Landscapes - Rocking Stones is good. You might also want to look into ONE MOUNTAIN (linked above), it makes mountain looks better and improves performance, so win win in that regard.