ENBSeries

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:

1. 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.
2. Making character and NPC hair darker and closer to vanilla Skyrim.
3. Solving the issues of overly blue skies and water, without making water completely transparent in the process.
4. 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:

1. Realistic Water Textures by isoku
2. Kerplunk - Watery Rocks by OpticShooter
3. 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

Looks good mate! At least, You don't have that ugly hazzy look or horrible blue/green tint that is so popular among ENB users. Good job

Thanks very much! I know it's not one of those "WOW" presets, but I think it looks pretty natural for those who'd like a toned-down version of ENB.

And yes, the haze and the blue/green were the first to go, lol.

New version in the works. I'd been playing through an HDTV instead of a monitor and there are just too many differences between the two.

I've already got a list of things I'm working on, but please, any suggestions are welcome.

*EDIT*
Here are a couple samples of what I've been working on. Obviously, a things still need to be tweaked and balanced a bit.




Thoughts? Anyone? I mean, someone has to have something to say about children on fire...

BeggarsExile wrote:Thoughts? Anyone? I mean, someone has to have something to say about children on fire...

I don't mind children on fire, just keep doing this config, it looks really good. My only suggestion is to lower the curve or intensity of mountain fog, it looks to bright.

It looks really good! I like the colours and the night screenshot looks amazing!

Thanks a bunch, guys! It's encouraging to hear constructive criticism - keeps me wanting to improve this config.

I think I've solved the volumetric fog issue. I've actually decreased the values for both the intensity and the curve. This keeps it white-looking while making it less apparent and more transparent.

Looks really good, especially during night time! I guess lowering the fog values will also make the mountain slightly more natural looking.

Hi BeggarsExile

I just want to say a big thank you for these presets they are awesome and make the game more realistic than other presets I have tried. I use ENB 0_102\NO_SSAO\ without any problems and the game is so real.

Thanks again!

solidchrome

Thanks to Boris of course also

Thanks so much. I really do appreciate your support.

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but I seem to get better performance with ENB since the "official" patch. Now, there's really not a big difference in performance between ENB and vanilla on my system, which is great.

I'm getting closer to releasing v1.01a -- this will be an alpha, so I'll still be making modifications and I can incorporate any suggestions people might have. I've been messing around with my monitor's gamma settings and they really do make a difference in how this preset looks, especially at night. I'll be sure to stress the importance of setting the in-game brightness to what one considers to be a "comfortable" level.

I'll be uploading a video later on today showing the various weather/time cycles with the new preset.