Skyrim

About this mod

For those who don't need ENB, RCRN etc. and still think original Skyrim artistic choices are very good.
It's just a fine-tuning of the game prefs, no hacks, to gain the best vanilla graphics settings and RGBs.
This is for purists of the original game.

Permissions and credits
Donations
...by request of some friends....

N.B. This is not a gfx mod using dll, new shaders, 3rd party injection tools etc.

I've always thought ENB and RCRN are very good (and may decrease your FPS -1 to -10)... but what about vanilla graphics? Do you really think talented professional artists in Bethesda would have done a dull and washed out graphics on purpose with so bad imagespace? Or it's just a matter of tuning the standard settings?




I don't think they were inexpert... so here are my settings where I slightly changed just RGB and Gamma for a much better graphics final rendering, quite different from standard settings... at least that's what people say when they see my screenshots and I have to prove them I'm not using gfx mods! ;) Vanilla game, no extra mods, no FPS hits.

This is not strictly speaking a graphic mod, just some INI configurations that will make the vanilla game better without FPS loss and respecting original graphic artists excellent work. Consider it just a fine-tuning with surprising effects... for purists of the original game who like details lost with 3rd party video filters.
Take a look at the Images section, now!


This is to contradict those saying the typical things about Skyrim non-heavily-modded* graphics:
- washed out and destaturated colors
- bad lights
- too clear nights
...
consider also that the original game weather conditions/hour may alter a lot the lights, color shift (e.g. blue and gray tones to represent cold fresh mornings) and saturation... and the same location may vary a lot in different day conditions.
Remember also to FORCE video driver settings with Anisotropic Filter x8+ which gives much more detailed textures than software settings from within the game!

*
no ENB, RCRN, Climates of Tamriel, injected filters, super-hi-res texture HD packs, no body/skin/grass/rocks/clutters texture overhauls etc.

Manual installation:
Just edit my Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini in your Documents/My Games/Skyrim directory to readapt them to your graphics card (SkyrimPrefs.ini, [GENERAL], sD3DDevice="<your gfx card here>") and your own language (Skyrim.ini, [GENERAL], sLanguage=<your language>).
And remember to force from your gfx card driver panel AFx8+ (Anisotropic filtering). This is very important for improved definition with sloped textures on small/long distance. AF game settings are not enough for best quality. You have to force anisotropic filtering from your nVidia/AMD control panel.

PLEASE, remember to backup your current INIs before trying these ones!

Compatible with any mod of any kind.

Some additional recommended (not required for the purpose of this mod) small gfx mods:
Improved torches
Skyrim Distant Detail
Alternate HQ Water Texture Mod
Some textures from WATER - Water And Terrain Enhancement Redux
Younger Females - Realistic young female faces
AOF Believable Hair -Female and Male-
Better distant LOD waterfalls
Rainbows
Alternate HQ Water Texture Mod
Bethesda's original HD Texture Packs (free DLC) + Unofficial High Resolution Patch

You can find (much) more of my pics at http://snipurl.com/hexscreens
ALL sshots are taken without HD texture packs, grass/sky/rocks/clutters etc. overhauls. Just std textures. Nothing more than original game graphics with the official HD Texture Packs, and my special INI settings of course...



Do you still need to transform original graphics into FinalFantasy Crysis California Skyrim? ;)