+++ please refer to my user profile about me page and follow my recommendations how to use my mods as an addition to nexusmods terms +++


this mods solves the problem with low res vanilla clouds without changing their overall appearance.
i applied a manual quality upscaling method including three step filtering/optimizing with special filters to reduce the artifacts and banding. this includes upscaling (in some cases necessary to lift quality) and debanding while upgrading cloud texture quality and removing visible artifacts. it is the part you can not solve with rendering because it is already part of the texure. you will not see much difference if you play at lower resolution. playing 2k or 4k resolution this mod will definitely make a difference, depending on your settings (saturation, brightness, contrast) and the weather.
the most important measure was to use the new bc7 texture compression instead of the saving in old artifact producing bc3 dxt5  format.


before you post read this
if you discover unwanted banding effects check first your enb and reshade settings introducing such effects due to sharpening, lighting, etc.
even in my mod images the downgrade from png to jpg image format introduced some slight visible banding.
the additional banding introduced by the cloud textures itself and all cloud based artifacts are fully eliminated!
i double checked this with an oled monitor.
i recommend the reshade debanding option if you discover or use banding producing effects.

i added a comparison as the first mod image. if you own a capable montior and good eyes you will easily see a big difference between the vanilla and and my upgraded texture. because these low and compression related artifacts bugged me and it downgrades the natural cloud appearance of the sky i did this mod for all vanilla cloud textures to look natural and free of artifical artifacts or banding.

this mod works mostly subtle but you see a difference compared to vanilla clouds because you will not find any artifacts and texture based banding.
it doubles the vanilla cloud texture size for most textures below 2k or used as an atlas and it uses best texture compression method BC7 for DX11 almost free of compression related artifacts.

this mod works only if using vanilla weather  or with weather mods using vanilla clouds!
it must be the last weather texture mod in your load order.

to optimize appearance of the surface clouds you can try my surface cloud changer addon.
load it after this mod to be able to overwrite the surface cloud texture.


enjoy!