Thanks for the guide! Stable and perfect for a first playthrough. :)
If anyone find the ENB preset too washed out/bleak, try MJRudy ENB which is much closer to the original colour palette of the game and more performance friendly.
Some stuff I thought as I went through the list: - The knapsacks aren't covered (I downloaded JS Knapsack SE without the esp) - Equipping Overhaul.esp is not compatible with Enderal apparently, so if it works for you, let us know how - Some instructions are needed for the XP32 fomod (I tried to select what made sense, but not sure I did it right) - Some more instruction for FNIS as well, using the broken arm patch for example. - I don't understand why some of the esp should be disabled at the end (RASS and Watercolor)
Some mods to consider: - Quicklight SE and corresponding ENB light patch - Quick Loot RE - True HUD with MCM Helper, Enderal patch and True HUD-Immersive HUD patch - Better Jumping SE
You mention allot of aspects I had also noticed I missed or had done incorrectly. I have been working on a much more complete and detailed guide for the perfect graphics overhaul.
It will include allot of Skyrim textures I missed, a working Dynlod with high quality LODs from multiple mods included, Some fantastic enderal specific retextures I missed and a much more complete physics list with compatible visible equipment, potions and hairs! Also been testing an optional combat overhaul with a variety of the more popular mods.
Sadly its slow progress due to working full time and awaiting a surgery. As soon as its out ill update this post and hopefully tackles the advice from all the great comments! Walk Blessed
Great list--- awesome job. I did have a couple of issues that I've sorted out. I think that listing the load order would be helpful. My assumption was the way you listed it on the page was the load order you use, so I went with it. I did have a couple of problems though:
1. Campfires - I had all sorts of issues between Embers XD, High Poly Campfires, and ENB Light. No matter what order I ran them in, the flames looked weird, or the logs or coals would end up purple. Ultimately, I downloaded Embers HD (not XD) and did a full install, then reinstalled ENB Light (Version 0.95) with the Embers HD compatibility options enabled, and it looks great, so the load order is now ENB Light->Embers HD->High Poly Campfires->Burnt Wood 2. Burnt Wood - I ended up with purple wood planks when running it with Embers XD, so I disabled it. Now that I've installed Embers HD, I may try it again. 3. Black Face bugs - I was having intermittent issues with this. What I found (so far) was as conflict between KS Hairdo's and Vanilla Hair replacer. The load order had VHR followed by KS Hairdos, but LOOT wasn't smart enough to load the VHR plugin before the KS Hairdo's plugin. Once I fixed that, that black face bug went away. I have Enderal NPC Overhaul loaded after both of them, per this listed load order. Interestingly, when I disabled VHR as part of my testing I noticed that the look of a few of the characters changed quite a bit, for the better. I'm assuming that most likely when I disabled it, it allowed Enderal NPC Overhaul to fully update the look of the characters (even though it's later in the load order.) For example, brown hair versus blond hair, different colored eyes, etc. Kind of shocking the way it changed things by disabling VHR. Anyway, I like the look of the characters better with VHR disabled, so I got rid of it all together. I also moved High Poly Vanilla Hair right before KS Hairdo's in the load order, just be safe, and everything seems to work so far. So in my opinion, I don't think VHR is worth the headache of black face bugs, and worse looking characters.
Anyway, really nice job on this. I favored the 2k textures wherever possible, and I'm pretty stunned how well it runs. Oh, I also skipped Pfusher's Skryim as the base and went with Skyland AIO as the base. I found in Skyrim that it looks just as good (IMHO) and has better performance.
You mention allot of aspects I had also noticed I missed or had done incorrectly. I have been working on a much more complete and detailed guide for the perfect graphics overhaul.
It will include allot of Skyrim textures I missed, a working Dynlod with high quality LODs from multiple mods included, Some fantastic enderal specific retextures I missed and a much more complete physics list with compatible visible equipment, potions and hairs! Also been testing an optional combat overhaul with a variety of the more popular mods.
Sadly its slow progress due to working full time and awaiting a surgery. As soon as its out ill update this post and hopefully tackles the advice from all the great comments! Walk Blessed
Ngl this guide seems good but it is awful and extremely FPS tanking for no reason. For example this "Dwemer Pipework Reworked" is a FPS killer mod. I was getting 30 FPS in Agnod with 4070TI Super GPU. I disabled this ridiculous mod and my FPS jumped to 90. I'm not kidding. Try and see for yourself. Grass mods are also unnecessary, SRP Enderal Textures are FPS tanking and bad quality anyway with 0 parallax effects. Here are my advices for basics
Water for ENB for grass settings just make iMinGrassSize=20, default enderal grass preset is diverse enough Enderal - This And That Upscaled High Poly project etc. and some other effects. That's all you need for graphics. You don't need anything more.
I found few things, that makes Enderal landscape even nicer looking (just my personal opinion, of course). I overwrite the Skyrim 2020 (202X) with "Septentrional", that mod blends very well with the ground texture from the grass mods and is one of my most beloved texture mods for Skyrim.
Nordic Stonewalls together with High Quality Ivy. Don't forget the nordic stonewall ivy patches from the installer, without them stonewalls with ivy are normal looking. Ivy and the walls are used very often in Enderal. Now they are looking fabulous. Not sure about the season support, probably possible with an Enderal patch? Seasons in my game haven't changed yet.
Enderal Arboreal Revived - Ultra Tree LOD makes the distant trees so much better. Fabled Forest (I used vanilla proportion in the installer) with the Enderal patch makes pine trees very pretty. FF also comes with the gorgeous looking, performance friendly "Happy Little Trees" hybrid ultra tree LODs for the pines.
And of course creating your own LOD with xLOD/TexGen/DynDOLOD. Dyn and Tex are needed for the tree LODs but in general the distance looks much better when you generate your own LOD. I also generate grass LOD with the mod "no grass in objects", grass cache and Tex/Dyn.
Thank you for that list, that is a very good starting point and makes the game much more up-to-date looking. Now the game looks breathtaking. I love it so much.
Last thing I want to mention, I mostly use 2K textures for everything. In some cases, I reduced the resolution with Cathedral Asset Optimizer (1K for the grass mods as an example). I play in 1080p/60FPS/medium. In some areas it drops into the 40s, but mostly it's stable 60FPS, even with the ultra tree LODs. My PC is mediocre at best, but not that old (Ryzen 5 5500/RTX 4060). When you want to play in a higher resolution, with higher settings, I think you need more VRAM. That mod list together with the ENB is performance heavy. Maybe you can get better performance when you reduce everything to 1K with CAO.
Thanks for the list, really help me to see what mods can be used. Though I noticed that some mods you listed seems already been included in Enderal itself according to the credit file?
Not sure what could be causing either of these issues but, being pretty familiar with the opening of the game, I've noticed that the creepy sad music that plays in the dream isn't playing anymore, and the time of day it takes place in is different as well, looks more midday than dusk, with no god rays shining through the tree. :(
Absolute respect to you... a flawless guide which saves a lot of guess/leg work for newbie and seasoned modders alike
Should be endorsed a hell of a lot more - 5 Stars
EDIT: Does anybody know how to get racemenu working - tried the version(and a few other versions) suggested in the guide with the latest GOG version of Enderal but every time i load into game, racemenu says the version of skse required does not match the version installed(skse version installed came straight from the GOG install), IE:- RaceMenu Error(s): SKSE script version mismatch detected (65) expected (69). Please reinstall your SKSE scripts to match your version. Error Codes:(1)
Racemenu itself seems to work via showracemenu in console without crashing the game, is the mismatch warning expected and just a matter of disabling the warning via ini or is there another step i'm missing with either skse or racemenu?
EDIT 2:- Managed to fix it by going to https://skse.silverlock.org/ and downloading Current GOG Anniversary Edition build 2.2.3 (game version 1.6.659) and reinstalling skse according to intstructions included the readme file(install the exe & dll files to main enderal game folder and the pex files in the data folder included with skse into the enderal data folder), presto no mismatch warning.
Not sure where the initial hiccup came from(probably user error on my part) but to anyone with the same issue, that was the fix.
44 comments
If anyone find the ENB preset too washed out/bleak, try MJRudy ENB which is much closer to the original colour palette of the game and more performance friendly.
Some stuff I thought as I went through the list:
- The knapsacks aren't covered (I downloaded JS Knapsack SE without the esp)
- Equipping Overhaul.esp is not compatible with Enderal apparently, so if it works for you, let us know how
- Some instructions are needed for the XP32 fomod (I tried to select what made sense, but not sure I did it right)
- Some more instruction for FNIS as well, using the broken arm patch for example.
- I don't understand why some of the esp should be disabled at the end (RASS and Watercolor)
Some mods to consider:
- Quicklight SE and corresponding ENB light patch
- Quick Loot RE
- True HUD with MCM Helper, Enderal patch and True HUD-Immersive HUD patch
- Better Jumping SE
You mention allot of aspects I had also noticed I missed or had done incorrectly.
I have been working on a much more complete and detailed guide for the perfect graphics overhaul.
It will include allot of Skyrim textures I missed, a working Dynlod with high quality LODs from multiple mods included, Some fantastic enderal specific retextures I missed and a much more complete physics list with compatible visible equipment, potions and hairs! Also been testing an optional combat overhaul with a variety of the more popular mods.
Sadly its slow progress due to working full time and awaiting a surgery. As soon as its out ill update this post and hopefully tackles the advice from all the great comments!
Walk Blessed
1. Campfires - I had all sorts of issues between Embers XD, High Poly Campfires, and ENB Light. No matter what order I ran them in, the flames looked weird, or the logs or coals would end up purple. Ultimately, I downloaded Embers HD (not XD) and did a full install, then reinstalled ENB Light (Version 0.95) with the Embers HD compatibility options enabled, and it looks great, so the load order is now ENB Light->Embers HD->High Poly Campfires->Burnt Wood
2. Burnt Wood - I ended up with purple wood planks when running it with Embers XD, so I disabled it. Now that I've installed Embers HD, I may try it again.
3. Black Face bugs - I was having intermittent issues with this. What I found (so far) was as conflict between KS Hairdo's and Vanilla Hair replacer. The load order had VHR followed by KS Hairdos, but LOOT wasn't smart enough to load the VHR plugin before the KS Hairdo's plugin. Once I fixed that, that black face bug went away. I have Enderal NPC Overhaul loaded after both of them, per this listed load order. Interestingly, when I disabled VHR as part of my testing I noticed that the look of a few of the characters changed quite a bit, for the better. I'm assuming that most likely when I disabled it, it allowed Enderal NPC Overhaul to fully update the look of the characters (even though it's later in the load order.) For example, brown hair versus blond hair, different colored eyes, etc. Kind of shocking the way it changed things by disabling VHR. Anyway, I like the look of the characters better with VHR disabled, so I got rid of it all together. I also moved High Poly Vanilla Hair right before KS Hairdo's in the load order, just be safe, and everything seems to work so far. So in my opinion, I don't think VHR is worth the headache of black face bugs, and worse looking characters.
Anyway, really nice job on this. I favored the 2k textures wherever possible, and I'm pretty stunned how well it runs. Oh, I also skipped Pfusher's Skryim as the base and went with Skyland AIO as the base. I found in Skyrim that it looks just as good (IMHO) and has better performance.
You mention allot of aspects I had also noticed I missed or had done incorrectly.
I have been working on a much more complete and detailed guide for the perfect graphics overhaul.
It will include allot of Skyrim textures I missed, a working Dynlod with high quality LODs from multiple mods included, Some fantastic enderal specific retextures I missed and a much more complete physics list with compatible visible equipment, potions and hairs! Also been testing an optional combat overhaul with a variety of the more popular mods.
Sadly its slow progress due to working full time and awaiting a surgery. As soon as its out ill update this post and hopefully tackles the advice from all the great comments!
Walk Blessed
Is this ini line correct? What is "event stripped"?
Water for ENB
for grass settings just make iMinGrassSize=20, default enderal grass preset is diverse enough
Enderal - This And That Upscaled
High Poly project etc. and some other effects. That's all you need for graphics. You don't need anything more.
I found few things, that makes Enderal landscape even nicer looking (just my personal opinion, of course). I overwrite the Skyrim 2020 (202X) with "Septentrional", that mod blends very well with the ground texture from the grass mods and is one of my most beloved texture mods for Skyrim.
Also, "Medieval mountains", very nice looking mountain texture.
Nordic Stonewalls together with High Quality Ivy. Don't forget the nordic stonewall ivy patches from the installer, without them stonewalls with ivy are normal looking. Ivy and the walls are used very often in Enderal. Now they are looking fabulous. Not sure about the season support, probably possible with an Enderal patch? Seasons in my game haven't changed yet.
Enderal Arboreal Revived - Ultra Tree LOD makes the distant trees so much better. Fabled Forest (I used vanilla proportion in the installer) with the Enderal patch makes pine trees very pretty. FF also comes with the gorgeous looking, performance friendly "Happy Little Trees" hybrid ultra tree LODs for the pines.
And of course creating your own LOD with xLOD/TexGen/DynDOLOD. Dyn and Tex are needed for the tree LODs but in general the distance looks much better when you generate your own LOD. I also generate grass LOD with the mod "no grass in objects", grass cache and Tex/Dyn.
Thank you for that list, that is a very good starting point and makes the game much more up-to-date looking. Now the game looks breathtaking. I love it so much.
Last thing I want to mention, I mostly use 2K textures for everything. In some cases, I reduced the resolution with Cathedral Asset Optimizer (1K for the grass mods as an example). I play in 1080p/60FPS/medium. In some areas it drops into the 40s, but mostly it's stable 60FPS, even with the ultra tree LODs. My PC is mediocre at best, but not that old (Ryzen 5 5500/RTX 4060). When you want to play in a higher resolution, with higher settings, I think you need more VRAM. That mod list together with the ENB is performance heavy. Maybe you can get better performance when you reduce everything to 1K with CAO.
I only skipped that awfully looking npc overhaul that makes npc look like from sims 2 game with bad hair lol
For me it was the Embers XD that cause the issue
Should be endorsed a hell of a lot more - 5 Stars
EDIT: Does anybody know how to get racemenu working - tried the version(and a few other versions) suggested in the guide with the latest GOG version of Enderal but every time i load into game, racemenu says the version of skse required does not match the version installed(skse version installed came straight from the GOG install),
IE:- RaceMenu Error(s): SKSE script version mismatch detected (65) expected (69). Please reinstall your SKSE scripts to match your version. Error Codes:(1)
Racemenu itself seems to work via showracemenu in console without crashing the game, is the mismatch warning expected and just a matter of disabling the warning via ini or is there another step i'm missing with either skse or racemenu?
EDIT 2:- Managed to fix it by going to https://skse.silverlock.org/ and downloading Current GOG Anniversary Edition build 2.2.3 (game version 1.6.659) and reinstalling skse according to intstructions included the readme file(install the exe & dll files to main enderal game folder and the pex files in the data folder included with skse into the enderal data folder), presto no mismatch warning.
Not sure where the initial hiccup came from(probably user error on my part) but to anyone with the same issue, that was the fix.
I can recommend this mod for testing:
And here you can find the Enderal Plugin Replacers (e.g. ENB, SMIM)