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About this mod
This is a fork of the original shadeMe plugin which features improved shadow queueing, fixes the problem of disappearing shadows when turning, and adds some additional options and optimizations. You can now get nice dynamic shadows on architecture and landscape with a low shadow count and minimal performance drop.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
Note: This mod has been made obsolete by the new shadow rendering available in Oblivion Reloaded 7.0.0. Please prefer using that mod instead of this one.
This is a fork of the original shadeMe plugin which features improved shadow queueing, fixes the problem of disappearing shadows when turning, and adds some additional options and optimizations. You can now get nice dynamic shadows on architecture and landscape with a low shadow count and minimal performance drop.
New in 1.0beta2
This mostly features some queuing tweaks and an option to control the number of actor shadows to prioritize (PrioritizeActorShadows). The default config has been optimized and tweaks made to shadow exclusions and backface rendering to improve the visuals in architecture heavy environments such as towns and the Imperial City. The default shadow count is reduced from 10 to 5 due to fewer useless shadows being queued and wasted. I find this still provides great ambiance while having no noticeable impact on FPS. Having fewer large object shadows also reduces shadow overlap.
As getting the most out of this plugin is all about making tweaks to the config, I've altered EnableDetailedDebugSelection to dump shadow caster details to shadeMe.log. This (along with EnableDebugShader) makes it easier to see which paths need to be excluded or have backface rendering enabled for those who want to experiment.
Installation
This mod requires OBSE, as it is an OBSE plugin. Copy the contents of the archive to your Data/OBSE/Plugins folder, overwriting any existing shadeMe.dll and shadeMe.ini files if they are there.
While not strictly required, use of Oblivion Reloaded with EnableShadows=1 is highly recommended to get the best shadow quality and to avoid issues with actor self-shadows.
General configuration
The included shadeMe.ini has good performance-friendly defaults, and you should not need to tweak it much except for the shadow counts. You must still ensure the correct settings are present in Oblivion.ini however.
Additional INI options
[Shadows::General] PrioritizeActorShadows=1
Number of actor shadows to prioritize. The default setting of 1 is to always keep the player shadow visible. You can increase this if you always want to see more actor shadows before other small objects. (int value)
[Shadows::General] BoundRadiusWeight=5.0:
Apply weight to object bound radius when queuing normal objects, so that larger objects can have higher priority (float multiplier)
[Shadows::General] ReduceGrids=1:
Reduce the object search to the 3x3 grid when queueing exterior shadows, can increase performance while limiting distance. (0 or 1)
[Shadows::General] ExteriorDistanceCheck=0:
Optionally disable distance check for exterior shadows and just queue everything up to the near grid, useful with ReduceGrids=1. (0 or 1)
[Shadows::LargeObjects] DistanceWeight=5.0
Apply weight to object distance when queueing large objects, so that nearer large objects can have priority over those that are further away. (float multiplier)
[Shadows::PlayerLOSCheck] ExcludeLightLOSPaths=1
Exclude the same paths for player LOS check as [Shadows::LightLOSCheck] ExcludePaths, useful for larger interior objects that have disappearing shadows when facing away.
[Shadows::General] EnableDetailedDebugSelection=0:
This option now dumps shadow caster details to shadeMe.log when enabled, useful for determining which objects are casting invalid shadows (along with EnableDebugShader=1)
Technical info
The disappearing shadows when turning bug seemed to be caused by the Oblivion engine trying to optimize the scene when the shadow count approached the maximum. Giving the engine enough headroom between the maximum shadow count and the actual number of shadows in the scene seems to be what prevents this condition from occurring.
Remaining issues
Misc
Credits
shadeMe - For creating this awesome plugin.
Visual mods used
Below is a list of all the mods I use which contribute to the look of the screenshots, in the order in which they are loaded. Not all textures from all mods are used and some have been modified, and not all are available on the Nexus.
This is a fork of the original shadeMe plugin which features improved shadow queueing, fixes the problem of disappearing shadows when turning, and adds some additional options and optimizations. You can now get nice dynamic shadows on architecture and landscape with a low shadow count and minimal performance drop.
New in 1.0beta2
This mostly features some queuing tweaks and an option to control the number of actor shadows to prioritize (PrioritizeActorShadows). The default config has been optimized and tweaks made to shadow exclusions and backface rendering to improve the visuals in architecture heavy environments such as towns and the Imperial City. The default shadow count is reduced from 10 to 5 due to fewer useless shadows being queued and wasted. I find this still provides great ambiance while having no noticeable impact on FPS. Having fewer large object shadows also reduces shadow overlap.
As getting the most out of this plugin is all about making tweaks to the config, I've altered EnableDetailedDebugSelection to dump shadow caster details to shadeMe.log. This (along with EnableDebugShader) makes it easier to see which paths need to be excluded or have backface rendering enabled for those who want to experiment.
Installation
This mod requires OBSE, as it is an OBSE plugin. Copy the contents of the archive to your Data/OBSE/Plugins folder, overwriting any existing shadeMe.dll and shadeMe.ini files if they are there.
While not strictly required, use of Oblivion Reloaded with EnableShadows=1 is highly recommended to get the best shadow quality and to avoid issues with actor self-shadows.
General configuration
The included shadeMe.ini has good performance-friendly defaults, and you should not need to tweak it much except for the shadow counts. You must still ensure the correct settings are present in Oblivion.ini however.
- In Oblivion.ini, the following option must be set for the plugin to work correctly. Shadows on grass is a trade-off between weirdly bright grass in dark spots sometimes, or shadows randomly popping on grass. I personally keep it disabled:
bShadowsOnGrass=0
bActorSelfShadowing=1 - The plugin itself now limits the total shadow count, and to fix the disappearing shadows issue the shadow count in Oblivion.ini must be set to a high enough value above the actual shadow count. Eg.:
iActorShadowCountInt=100
iActorShadowCountExt=100 - The actual max shadow count is set in shadeMe.ini. The count for LargeObject should be somewhat below TotalObject if you still want to see your own shadow and some other shadows when near many large objects. Eg.;
[Shadows::MaxCount]
LargeObject=7
TotalObject=10 - Player LOS checks need to be disabled for large objects. It's also a good idea to disable player LOS checks in exteriors for performance reasons, but you can still have them enabled as long as [Shadows::LightLOSCheck] SkipLargeObjects=1 and [Shadows::PlayerLOSCheck] ExcludeLightLOSPaths=1 are set. Eg.:
[Shadows::LightLOSCheck]
SkipLargeObjects=1
[Shadows::LargeObjects]
HigherPriority=1
[Shadows::PlayerLOSCheck]
Exterior=0
ExcludeLightLOSPaths=1
- If you don't use Oblivion Reloaded and see weird self shadows on actors and creatures, you can disable them in shadeMe.ini by adding "35,36,37" to the list of excluded types. Eg.:
[SelfShadows::ExcludedTypes]
Interior=32,35,36,37
Exterior=32,35,36,37 - ENB users or users having issue with VWD objects should set ForceSM3RenderPath=0 in the INI.
Additional INI options
[Shadows::General] PrioritizeActorShadows=1
Number of actor shadows to prioritize. The default setting of 1 is to always keep the player shadow visible. You can increase this if you always want to see more actor shadows before other small objects. (int value)
[Shadows::General] BoundRadiusWeight=5.0:
Apply weight to object bound radius when queuing normal objects, so that larger objects can have higher priority (float multiplier)
[Shadows::General] ReduceGrids=1:
Reduce the object search to the 3x3 grid when queueing exterior shadows, can increase performance while limiting distance. (0 or 1)
[Shadows::General] ExteriorDistanceCheck=0:
Optionally disable distance check for exterior shadows and just queue everything up to the near grid, useful with ReduceGrids=1. (0 or 1)
[Shadows::LargeObjects] DistanceWeight=5.0
Apply weight to object distance when queueing large objects, so that nearer large objects can have priority over those that are further away. (float multiplier)
[Shadows::PlayerLOSCheck] ExcludeLightLOSPaths=1
Exclude the same paths for player LOS check as [Shadows::LightLOSCheck] ExcludePaths, useful for larger interior objects that have disappearing shadows when facing away.
[Shadows::General] EnableDetailedDebugSelection=0:
This option now dumps shadow caster details to shadeMe.log when enabled, useful for determining which objects are casting invalid shadows (along with EnableDebugShader=1)
Technical info
The disappearing shadows when turning bug seemed to be caused by the Oblivion engine trying to optimize the scene when the shadow count approached the maximum. Giving the engine enough headroom between the maximum shadow count and the actual number of shadows in the scene seems to be what prevents this condition from occurring.
Remaining issues
- Shadows add up when they overlap. This can lead to some unrealistically dark spots. This is mostly apparent when using a high value for LargeObjects. If using Oblivion Reloaded (recommended) you can reduce the shadow intensity somewhat which helps (I currently use a value of 1.5).
- Shadows on grass do not work properly. As with the above, lowering the shadow intensity can help if you choose to keep it turned off. Using a darker grass texture can also make it less noticeable, such as Betty's Far Cry Inspired Grass (darker replacer version). Disabling grass is another drastic way to deal with this (and give a boost to FPS at the same time).
- Light sources such as torches won't properly lighten areas darkened by shadows. This seems to be caused by the engine rendering shadows over the top of lights.
- Enabling backface rendering for very large objects, such as the Imperial City walls, will result in those shadows popping in and out randomly. Another apparent engine limitation. The default config has them excluded, but if you don't care, you can remove icwall,icouterwall,icpalacewall from [Shadows:ExcludedPaths] and add them to [Shadows::BackfaceRendering].
Misc
- All screenshots are using default INI settings, and feature locales from the HESU Mod Collection.
- The source code for this fork is available on GitHub.
Credits
shadeMe - For creating this awesome plugin.
Visual mods used
Below is a list of all the mods I use which contribute to the look of the screenshots, in the order in which they are loaded. Not all textures from all mods are used and some have been modified, and not all are available on the Nexus.
Spoiler:
Oblivion Reloaded v5.0 (HDR + Bloom + Shadows has most visual impact)
Enhanced Camera 1.4b
Cobl Cosmetics Res 01
Cobl
Saddlebags MultiSneak v1
FCOM Slof's Horses v1.1
Better Rainbows
Atmospheres v3
Atmospheres v3.1 Update
Atmospheres v3.1 Cloudy3
Atmospheres v3.2 Update
Atmospheres 4 Hell v1.0
All Natural v1.36
Natural Environments
Tamriel Heightmap
Roberts Male Body Replacer V52
HGEC Body v1.21
Oblivion Character Overhaul
Oblivion Character Overhaul v2 Balanced
Roberts Male Body replacer texture compatibility addon
HGEC texture compatibility addon
EVE HGEC BodyStock and Clothing Wrye Bash BAIN
EVEUpperShirt04CcupFix
Seamless Equipment - Robert Male v5.2 CORE for OCO v1.1
Seamless Equipment - Robert Male v5.2 Addons v1.1
Seamless Equipment - HGEC CORE
Seamless Equipment - HGEC ARMA
Seamless Equipment - HGEC Artifacts
Seamless Equipment - HGEC FRANS
Seamless Equipment - HGEC MMM
Seamless Equipment - HGEC OOO v1.1
Seamless Races - OCOv2 BAIN v1.4
New Eyes for OCO v1.2
Realistic Mouth OCOv2 v1.2
Alternate Ghost Effect v1.1
Lights of Oblivion v1.3 Bravil Mesh
Animated Window Lighting System v5.5.4
Immersive Interiors v0.81
Immersive Interiors Landscape AddOn
Immersive Interiors Bravil Leyawiin New Sheoth v3.0
Immersive Interiors Imperial City v1.5
Immersive Interiors Bruma Guild Reconstructed v1.0
Mesh Improvement Project v1.4a
MissingMeshHider
Really Textured Normal Maps Part 1
Really Textured Normal Maps Part 2
Really Textured Normal Maps SI
Qarls Texture Pack III for NMM v1.3
QTP3 UOP3350 Compatibility Patch
Bomret's SI Texture Pack 1.0
Immersive HD Loading Screens v1.0
Detailed Terrain beta2
Landscape Retexture 2k v2.0 custom
Landscape Retexture Shivering Isles v1.0
Imperial Roads v1.0
Improved Doors and Flora
Improved Doors and Flora Update
Improved Trees and Flora 1
Improved Trees and Flora 1 Bark
Improved Trees and Flora 2
Improved Trees and Flora 2 Update
Enhanced Vegetation - Plugins v1dot1
Enhanced Vegetation - High Res Textures v1dot1
Enhanced Vegetation Darker Trunks High Res
The Imperial Ecology Vanilla v2.0
Ecology for a Mad God Desaturated
Grass Overhaul v5.3
More Groundcover
Far Cry Grass Update2 + Patch
Oblivion Tree Overhaul v0.9
Tree Bark HD Reduced v1.0
HighResTreeCanopyShadow v1.0
Nirnroot Retexture v1.0
Aurora in Motion Update1
Campfires v1
Bravil Update v1.0
Chorrol Update v1.0
Anvil Retextured v1.0
Improved Bravil v1.0
Improved Chorrol v1.0
Improved Skingrad v1.0
Anvil Street Lamp v1.0
Leyawiin Woodland 2k v1.0
Bruma Retexture v1.1
Cheydinhal Retexture 1.0
Cloud Ruler Temple Reborn v1.0
Kvatch HD v1.0
Kvatch HD v1.1 Update
Arena Redone HD v1.2
Real Wood Road Signs Full
Unique Signs
Geckos Ayleid Ruins Textures V2 Parallax
Blackwood Jungle v2.0
Geckos Imperial Dungeon Textures 2K Parallax v1.0
Fort Ruins Exterior Retexture 2k v2.0
Gecko's Fort Interior Textures 2k v1.0
Caves Retexture 2k v1.0
Improved Light Beam v1.0
Double Sided Cobwebs v1.0
Rocks Retexture 2k v1.1.0
Statues HD v2.0
Oblivion Realm HD v1.0
Oblivion Landscape v1.0
Oblivion Trees v1.0
HiRez God Statues v1.1
HiRez Daedric Shrines
Evandars Snow Texture Replacer
Imperial City Retextured v1.2
Cathedral HD v1.0
Better Chapel Altars v1.0
Better Chapel Altars Normal Map v1.0
Ships Retexture v1.0
Better Ropes v1.1
Tombstones v1.0
Basements v1.0
Wayshrine v1.0
Mythic Animals High Res
Wolf v1.0
Mountain Lion v1.0
Sheep v1.0
Boar v1.0
Slof's Horses
ESP-less Slofs Horse Replacer v1.0
Mythic-Creatures
Mythic Ghosts and Goblins
Mythic Madness
Improved Storm Atronachs
Improved Flame Atronachs v1.1
Spider Daedra v1.2
Spriggan v1.1
Visually Improved Staffs for OOO
Visually Improved Staffs
Book Jackets Oblivion High Res
Upperclass Clutter v1.0
High Quality Rugs v1.0
Shivering Isles Rug Alpha Fix v1.0
Hi-Res Soul Gems v1.0
Alluring Potion Bottles v3
Alluring Wine Bottles with Real Glass v1.0
Grimbots Spell Tomes v1.0
Shivering Book Jackets v1.0
Upper Class Clutter Retexture v1.0
Middle Class Clutter Retexture v1.0
Lowerclass Clutter Retexture v1.0
Hi Res Gold Clutter v1.0
Hi Res Silver Clutter v1.0
Skeleton Key Retexture v1.1
Kaizits Animated Daedric Ingredients v1.0
Kaizits Animated Daedric Ingredients v1.0 fix
High-Res Varla and Welkynd Texture Replacer v2.0
Mikes Clothes Replacer v11
Improved Amulets and Rings
Weapons Of Morrowind v1.0
Weapons Of Morrowind - Daedric Crescent
Immersive Weapons
Weapon Improvement Project v1.9
Archmage Robe Remodel v1.0
Hi Res Iron Armor v1.0
Madness Armor Replacer v1.0
Downpour
High Quality Snowflakes v1.0
Foaming Falls v1.0
Improved Moons v1.0
Improved Skulls and Bones and Ironwork v1.1
Improved Fires and Flames v1.1.0
Fire Retexture 2k v1.1
Havok Tapestries v1.0
Improved Fruits Vegetables and Meats
Tamriel Heightmap DynamicMap Retex
Koldorns LOD Noise Replacer
Universal Skeleton NIF v181
Show
Oblivion Reloaded v5.0 (HDR + Bloom + Shadows has most visual impact)
Enhanced Camera 1.4b
Cobl Cosmetics Res 01
Cobl
Saddlebags MultiSneak v1
FCOM Slof's Horses v1.1
Better Rainbows
Atmospheres v3
Atmospheres v3.1 Update
Atmospheres v3.1 Cloudy3
Atmospheres v3.2 Update
Atmospheres 4 Hell v1.0
All Natural v1.36
Natural Environments
Tamriel Heightmap
Roberts Male Body Replacer V52
HGEC Body v1.21
Oblivion Character Overhaul
Oblivion Character Overhaul v2 Balanced
Roberts Male Body replacer texture compatibility addon
HGEC texture compatibility addon
EVE HGEC BodyStock and Clothing Wrye Bash BAIN
EVEUpperShirt04CcupFix
Seamless Equipment - Robert Male v5.2 CORE for OCO v1.1
Seamless Equipment - Robert Male v5.2 Addons v1.1
Seamless Equipment - HGEC CORE
Seamless Equipment - HGEC ARMA
Seamless Equipment - HGEC Artifacts
Seamless Equipment - HGEC FRANS
Seamless Equipment - HGEC MMM
Seamless Equipment - HGEC OOO v1.1
Seamless Races - OCOv2 BAIN v1.4
New Eyes for OCO v1.2
Realistic Mouth OCOv2 v1.2
Alternate Ghost Effect v1.1
Lights of Oblivion v1.3 Bravil Mesh
Animated Window Lighting System v5.5.4
Immersive Interiors v0.81
Immersive Interiors Landscape AddOn
Immersive Interiors Bravil Leyawiin New Sheoth v3.0
Immersive Interiors Imperial City v1.5
Immersive Interiors Bruma Guild Reconstructed v1.0
Mesh Improvement Project v1.4a
MissingMeshHider
Really Textured Normal Maps Part 1
Really Textured Normal Maps Part 2
Really Textured Normal Maps SI
Qarls Texture Pack III for NMM v1.3
QTP3 UOP3350 Compatibility Patch
Bomret's SI Texture Pack 1.0
Immersive HD Loading Screens v1.0
Detailed Terrain beta2
Landscape Retexture 2k v2.0 custom
Landscape Retexture Shivering Isles v1.0
Imperial Roads v1.0
Improved Doors and Flora
Improved Doors and Flora Update
Improved Trees and Flora 1
Improved Trees and Flora 1 Bark
Improved Trees and Flora 2
Improved Trees and Flora 2 Update
Enhanced Vegetation - Plugins v1dot1
Enhanced Vegetation - High Res Textures v1dot1
Enhanced Vegetation Darker Trunks High Res
The Imperial Ecology Vanilla v2.0
Ecology for a Mad God Desaturated
Grass Overhaul v5.3
More Groundcover
Far Cry Grass Update2 + Patch
Oblivion Tree Overhaul v0.9
Tree Bark HD Reduced v1.0
HighResTreeCanopyShadow v1.0
Nirnroot Retexture v1.0
Aurora in Motion Update1
Campfires v1
Bravil Update v1.0
Chorrol Update v1.0
Anvil Retextured v1.0
Improved Bravil v1.0
Improved Chorrol v1.0
Improved Skingrad v1.0
Anvil Street Lamp v1.0
Leyawiin Woodland 2k v1.0
Bruma Retexture v1.1
Cheydinhal Retexture 1.0
Cloud Ruler Temple Reborn v1.0
Kvatch HD v1.0
Kvatch HD v1.1 Update
Arena Redone HD v1.2
Real Wood Road Signs Full
Unique Signs
Geckos Ayleid Ruins Textures V2 Parallax
Blackwood Jungle v2.0
Geckos Imperial Dungeon Textures 2K Parallax v1.0
Fort Ruins Exterior Retexture 2k v2.0
Gecko's Fort Interior Textures 2k v1.0
Caves Retexture 2k v1.0
Improved Light Beam v1.0
Double Sided Cobwebs v1.0
Rocks Retexture 2k v1.1.0
Statues HD v2.0
Oblivion Realm HD v1.0
Oblivion Landscape v1.0
Oblivion Trees v1.0
HiRez God Statues v1.1
HiRez Daedric Shrines
Evandars Snow Texture Replacer
Imperial City Retextured v1.2
Cathedral HD v1.0
Better Chapel Altars v1.0
Better Chapel Altars Normal Map v1.0
Ships Retexture v1.0
Better Ropes v1.1
Tombstones v1.0
Basements v1.0
Wayshrine v1.0
Mythic Animals High Res
Wolf v1.0
Mountain Lion v1.0
Sheep v1.0
Boar v1.0
Slof's Horses
ESP-less Slofs Horse Replacer v1.0
Mythic-Creatures
Mythic Ghosts and Goblins
Mythic Madness
Improved Storm Atronachs
Improved Flame Atronachs v1.1
Spider Daedra v1.2
Spriggan v1.1
Visually Improved Staffs for OOO
Visually Improved Staffs
Book Jackets Oblivion High Res
Upperclass Clutter v1.0
High Quality Rugs v1.0
Shivering Isles Rug Alpha Fix v1.0
Hi-Res Soul Gems v1.0
Alluring Potion Bottles v3
Alluring Wine Bottles with Real Glass v1.0
Grimbots Spell Tomes v1.0
Shivering Book Jackets v1.0
Upper Class Clutter Retexture v1.0
Middle Class Clutter Retexture v1.0
Lowerclass Clutter Retexture v1.0
Hi Res Gold Clutter v1.0
Hi Res Silver Clutter v1.0
Skeleton Key Retexture v1.1
Kaizits Animated Daedric Ingredients v1.0
Kaizits Animated Daedric Ingredients v1.0 fix
High-Res Varla and Welkynd Texture Replacer v2.0
Mikes Clothes Replacer v11
Improved Amulets and Rings
Weapons Of Morrowind v1.0
Weapons Of Morrowind - Daedric Crescent
Immersive Weapons
Weapon Improvement Project v1.9
Archmage Robe Remodel v1.0
Hi Res Iron Armor v1.0
Madness Armor Replacer v1.0
Downpour
High Quality Snowflakes v1.0
Foaming Falls v1.0
Improved Moons v1.0
Improved Skulls and Bones and Ironwork v1.1
Improved Fires and Flames v1.1.0
Fire Retexture 2k v1.1
Havok Tapestries v1.0
Improved Fruits Vegetables and Meats
Tamriel Heightmap DynamicMap Retex
Koldorns LOD Noise Replacer
Universal Skeleton NIF v181