I've tailored this preset to my own tastes, in an attempt to create what I believe to be a more "realistic" or "natural" look for Skyrim while staying within the ENB framework. I haven't edited the original shaders at all -- this preset simply tweaks some settings that are already included in ENB for Skyrim. All of the credit should go to Boris Vorontsov for his hard work in making these kinds of changes possible. My preset will not please all, I'm sure. I'm constantly making little changes here and there as I play, which I will try to incorporate into any future updates.
Some aspects I've focused on with this preset:
- Deferring most of the lighting in the game to direct (sun, moon, stars, windows) and point (torches, fire, candles, etc.) sources instead of ambient, or diffuse, lighting. This means brighter days and darker nights. Storms make it harder to see, while clear days and nights are good for exploring the environment. Interiors rely more on light sources, so some (especially those without windows) may be quite dark. Torches and light spells are now more useful and sometimes necessary.
- Making character and NPC hair darker and closer to vanilla Skyrim.
- Solving the issues of overly blue skies and water, without making water completely transparent in the process.
- Avoiding over-saturation in areas that are meant to look bleak and dreary while allowing more vivid areas to retain their colors
If the following images appear to bright or too dark, it is most likely the difference between my monitor's gamma settings and yours. This is unavoidable. Please adjust your in-game brightness settings to your liking before posting about problems brightness. Keep in mind that each area in the game has its' own lighting and color, put in place by Bethesda. For instance, Whiterun is more yellow, while Solitude is more blue, etc. Also, I have disabled SSAO/SSIL and anistropic filtering in ENB. Instead, I've forced them through my nVidia drivers using
nVidia Inspector. I know Boris cautions against this, but it seems to work with my system and increases performance. As such, I've included different presets that you can experiment with to find the best blend of performance and quality. This preset works with both ENB v0.102 and v0.103 (injector version). Instructions on implementing FXAA while using ENB are spelled out in the readme.
Mods used:
- Realistic Water Textures by isoku
- Kerplunk - Watery Rocks by OpticShooter
- FXAA Injector by Some Dude (included in download)
All mods are property of their respective authors. I claim no credit for the creation or implementation of these mods. If you like them, please support those who made them.
This preset is a work in progress. If you dislike something about it, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
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*29/1/2012*
Added two new screens. Realized I didn't have enough daylight shots
