OK, so after extensive testing:
Test of darker areas with v0.243 rev 4 Jan 2014
(I tested parameters even when they appeared totally unrelated or nonsensical re problem solving to me.
Since I don't know how things work in detail and how parameters are connected with each other in the program code, I did it that way.)
- SweetFX deleted --> no change
- Changes made in
enblocal.ini, one at a time:
OcclusionCulling=true set to OcclusionCulling=false --> no change
EnableCompression=true set to EnableCompression=false --> no change
ForceAnisotropicFiltering=true set to ForceAnisotropicFiltering=false --> no change
EnableEdgeAA=true set to EnableEdgeAA=false --> no change
EnableSubPixelAA=true set to EnableSubPixelAA=false --> no change
FixGameBugs=true set to FixGameBugs=false --> no change
FixParallaxBugs=true set to FixParallaxBugs=false --> no change
FixAliasedTextures=true set to FixAliasedTextures=false --> no change
FixSsaoHairTransparency=true set to FixSsaoHairTransparency=false --> no change
FixTintGamma=true set to FixTintGamma=false --> no change
RemoveBlur=true set to RemoveBlur=false --> no change
FixSubSurfaceScattering=true set to FixSubSurfaceScattering=false --> no change
FixSkyReflection=true set to FixSkyReflection=false --> no change
- Changes made in
enbseries.ini, one at a time:
[ADAPTATION]
ForceMinMaxValues=false set to ForceMinMaxValues=true --> no change
[SKY]
Enable=true set to Enable=false --> no change
[VOLUMETRICFOG]
EnableShadows=true set to EnableShadows=false --> no change
[COLORCORRECTION]
UsePaletteTexture=true set to UsePaletteTexture=false --> no change
UseProceduralCorrection=false set to UseProceduralCorrection=true --> no change
[SHADOW]
ShadowObjectsFix=true set to ShadowObjectsFix=false --> no change
ShadowCastersFix=false set to ShadowCastersFix=true --> no change
UseBilateralShadowFilter=true set to UseBilateralShadowFilter=false --> no change
ShadowQualityFix=true set to ShadowQualityFix=false --> no change
[REFLECTION]
DenoiserType=4 set to DenoiserType=2 --> no change
DenoiserType=2 set to DenoiserType=1 --> no change
[WATER]
EnablePreCache=true set to EnablePreCache=false --> no change
EnableDispersion=true set to EnableDispersion=false --> no change
EnableCaustics=true set to EnableCaustics=false --> no change
EnableParallax=true set to EnableParallax=false --> no change
EnableShadow=true set to EnableShadow=false --> no change
EnableVolumetricShadow=true set to EnableVolumetricShadow=false --> no change
EnableLighting=true set to EnableLighting=false --> no change
EnableSelfReflection=true set to EnableSelfReflection=false --> no change
EnableDisplacement=true set to EnableDisplacement=false --> no change
EnableShadowNoise=true set to EnableShadowNoise=false --> no change
ReflectionAmount=1.0 set to ReflectionAmount=0.3 --> no change
WetMultiplier=1.0 set to WetMultiplier=false --> no change
--> Was totally unnecessary to test specific paramaters in categories first, could've just turned on/off as follows to begin with. Duh. Well, I am very tired.
EnableBloom=true set to EnableBloom=truefalse --> overall image much darker (naturally)
EnableAdaptation=true set to EnableAdaptation=false --> slight overall image brightness change (naturally), but no particular brightening of darkened areas compared to the state it was before in v0.240 & below
EnableDepthOfField=true set to EnableDepthOfField=false --> no change
EnableAmbientOcclusion=true set to EnableAmbientOcclusion=false --> no change
EnableDetailedShadow=true set to EnableDetailedShadow=false --> no change
EnableSunRays=true set to EnableSunRays=false --> no change
EnableSkyLighting=true set to EnableSkyLighting=false --> no change
EnableImageBasedLighting=true set to EnableImageBasedLighting=false --> overall image a little darker (naturally)
EnableReflection=true set to EnableReflection=false --> no change
EnableSoftParticles=true set to EnableSoftParticles=false --> no change
EnableParticleLights=true set to EnableParticleLights=false --> no change
EnableLens=true set to EnableLens=false --> no change
EnableSunGlare=true set to EnableSunGlare=false --> no change
EnableSubSurfaceScattering=true set to EnableSubSurfaceScattering=false --> no change
EnableWater=true set to EnableWater=false --> no change
EnableUnderwater=true set to EnableUnderwater=false --> no change
EnableVolumetricRays=true set to EnableVolumetricRays=false --> no change
New issues:
And I'm sorry to tell but I encountered some more problem areas
Have a look at that, in Riverwood next to the sawmill... (see link to album below)
Rocks/gravel in Riverwood also flattened with v0.243 rev 2 Jan 2014 as well as v0.243 rev 4 Jan 2014 binaries, worse shadowing.
On top of that, I noticed a sharp border of dark and bright textures in Riverwood with v0.243 rev 4 Jan 2014, but NOT with v0.243 rev 2 Jan 2014 (as with darker gravel/rocks in Dawnstar only in v0.243 rev 4 Jan 2014, but not in v0.243 rev 2 Jan 2014).
Again occurs with both ENB enabled as well as disabled (via Shift+F12)!
Rollback to v0.240 means everything is fine again, both with ENB activated and deactivated (via Shift+F12).
I'll try to search for more areas with problems tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
I also tried to test the problem areas with ENB completely deleted from my Skyrim folder, but alas I get CTDs immediately after loading a save.
So I tried it with only ENBoost. v0.243 rev 4 Jan 2014 still complete in my Skyrim folder.
UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=true
Tadah, problem areas gone, everything back to normal. No dark areas, no flat and not correctly shadowed gravel/rocks anymore.
Now how about that? So it must be the activated ENB, even when deactivated (that sounds weird!).
Speaking in absolute layman's terms, it seems to me something is altered in Skyrim's native shaders by the new binaries (v0.241 & up: flat looking gravel/rocks without shadowing, wrong shadows; v0.243 rev 4 Jan 2014 additionally: areas became darker) that is independent from whether ENB UseEffect=true or =false, but dependent from whether or not ENB is present and UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=false, since it also occurs in Vanilla after turning ENB off.
The binary is always loaded when it's present in Skyrim game folder, as I understand.
Don't know if I already mentioned it, but I didn't change anything in my mod list when doing all the comparison screenshots, as well as everything else was the same, EXCEPT the ENB binary d3d9.dll, which was the only variable when testing.
Here is the album with the pictures, each pic has descriptions which ENB binary and where the shot was taken.
http://imgur.com/a/G2pzs
Oh, and forgot to mention, no snow change between 0.240 and 0.243, seems everything is fine.
I should have known. I thought it might be an AMD problem as well. Bloody layman here, sorry 
