Skyrim

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Saerileth

Uploaded by

Saerileth

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About this mod

Ever feel like the White Phial was a bit lackluster? Then this mod is for you! It replaces the White Phial with a lore-friendly, highly detailed and ornate mesh that does better justice to an ancient artifact of legend.

Requirements
Permissions and credits
Changelogs
I have retired from modding Skyrim. I hereby give blanket permission for anyone to use, modify, rehost or port any of my content to Special Edition, provided proper credit is given.

It has been a blast being a part of this community and it makes me very happy that my work is still appreciated by so many. Have fun creating!

Love,
Saeri


Update 25 June 2014 #2:

I've found a way to make the Dawnguard version require the DLC without adding a blank, useless .esp to clutter up your load order. The requirement is now in the meshes themselves, they will not work without Dawnguard installed! See the sticky post for more detailed information.

The new DG version is included in the new fomod-installer, it contains all the other optionals and the non-DG version as well so you only need to download that file.

Update 25 June 2014:
Published a new non-DLC version of the phial that does not include metal handle (thus, no Dawnguard assets). Available in both 1024 and 512 resolutions. Contains loose files, so no archive and pointless .esp to clutter up your load order. I do maintain that the Dawnguard version is prettier though, but people kept requesting this option so here it is.

I also added an optional file with scaled down versions of the bottle, as my original version is kinda large (though not so very large compared to vanilla potion bottles, see comparison screen). The available sizes are 80% and 50%, and come as both DLC and non-DLC versions. Meshes only, you will need one of the main files as well! Install manually by extracting the contents of the subfolder you want to your Skyrim data folder.



I've always felt the white phial was a bit... lackluster. You go to a lot of trouble obtaining (and subsequently repairing it), but not only is the reward pretty unimpressive gameplay-wise, it's also really ugly. I mean, that tiled, off-white texture will just not do. And the way Nurelion patches it up should be considered a crime! There are plenty of mods out there that improve the phial's effects, so this mod adresses the visual aspect of Curalmil's creation. It replaces the White Phial with a lore-friendly, highly detailed and ornate mesh that does better justice to an ancient artifact of legend.

This replacer features a brand new, unique shape for both the broken and repaired bottles. As I was brainstorming ideas Madcat211 pointed out that Curalmil is an elven name, not nordic, so even though he is entombed in a draugr crypt he may actually be of Snow Elf origin. My take on the White Phial is strongly inspired by the ancient falmer designs and incorporates (heavily modified) elements of Auriel's bow & shield.

Legend has it that the White Phial contains the essence of the first snow ever to fall on the Throat of the World. The vanilla object doesn't really give any visual indication of this fact, but I decided to expand on that theme. There is frost creeping up on the handle, ice gathering in the corners and the bottle glitters as if it was made from snow.

The new White Phial is very bright, to the point where it almost seems to glow in direct sunlight. That is just how bloom works in Skyrim, there's not much I can change about that without making the bottle look dull and grey in less extreme lighting. I rather like the effect myself, it makes the phial look very pristine and pure.

All my screens are taken with Serenity ENB unless otherwise noted. I can very much recommend it for this replacer in particular, it's bloom and subsurface scattering goes a long way to softening the harsh lighting on the phial and making it look almost translucent.

Many thanks to hodilton for this lovely video:


Showcase of the White Phial by RichardPellets from GamerPoets:


Installation
The DG version requires Dawnguard DLC and it WILL NOT work without it! You will get an ugly purple box across the phial mesh if you try to use it without DG. This is intentional.
The textures are fully compressed and come in two versions, 1024 and 512. Not all textures are available in full 1k resolution, as some parts of the mesh simply do not warrant that amount of detail (e.g. the inside of the bottle). Install with NMM and select options when prompted, or extract the files you want manually to your Skyrim/Data folder.

Compatibility
This replacer should be compatible with anything else out there, with the exception of mods that replace the same meshes. In particular it's fully compatible with mods that alter the phial's stats. This is a mesh / texture replacer only (no .esp anymore), so the simple rule is this: try to install it, and if it doesn't ask to overwrite any files from another mod, there is no conflict.

Future Plans
I'm looking for a way to further improve the bottle's sparkle to make it look more like snow, maybe using subsurface parallax. I'm also trying to figure out how animated effects work in Skyrim, so I can put a swirling effect on the bottle to make it look more magical. I may release an even lower-res 256 texture pack if there is enough interest. Beyond that, I'm always open for suggestions! Drop by the comment section and say hi.

Credits & Thanks
Thanks to:
Gamwich for his help with the textures
Tamira for her help with collision

Texture sources:
Frost texture by Rubyfire14-stock
Various frost stock packs by Natalie Paquette
Frost Texture Brushes by Obsidian Dawn

Tools used:
Gimp 2.8
CrazyBump
NifSkope
Blender

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