Dylan's mod fakes subsurface scattering, so it's configured to compliment actors' skin colors (and I believe it's also configured to only apply to skin, and not clothing). My mod fakes rim lighting, so it uses a neutral-colored edge effect, and it applies to the actor's full body including clothing.
So basically, if both were compatible, it would be fine to use them both at the same time? Also, regarding compatibility, is there a way to make an EffectShader that uses both effects? Like, both Rim Lighting and Subsurface Scattering (the latter only for skin).
They're not compatible. The game only allows a character to have one EffectShader at a time, so the two mods would end up "fighting" each other every so often as you play.
As for combining both into a single set of EffectShaders, that depends. You can mix an edge effect and a fill effect, but you can't have multiple of either in a single shader. If Dylan used an edge effect at all, then it's a no-go, I'm afraid.
I'm not sure, but I thought this might be relevant for some future modder looking at this conversation: Glow Be Gone SSE "Dynamically removes annoying edge glow from shader effects via an SKSE plugin" https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/21703 with source code here: https://github.com/Ryan-rsm-McKenzie/GlowBeGoneSSE
This is a tough choice. I like the Subsurface Scattering Shader a lot. Under certain conditions, it can make your character look great even without ENB... under certain conditions. 75% of the time, you would still get that horrible, garish character model lighting that makes you want to give up trying to play without an ENB. Now there's a fix for that here. You definitely have an endorsement and I want to extend a thanks for this mod, I can't help but think it's a shame this has to exist. I took a swing at character lighting with my Vanilla Gradients Waifu'd mod (which helped, but fell a little short of the mark). A fix for an ugly problem that one could hope wouldn't be a problem. Thanks for the effort.
*EDIT* Came back to leave the endorsement (timer) and also to say, the more I play with this, and the more lighting conditions I encounter, the more I like what this mod does. It's nice to see my character properly illuminated in low light torch conditions doing a killmove on draugr and the like. The slight illumination gives the game kind of an Oblivionesque feel in my opinion, which is also a plus. Thanks again for the (unfortunately) big gain in vanilla visuals.
This is very cool and offers even the layman SSEDIT tinkerer like me a lot of space to play with it for various purposes. Thank you sir.
The mod works perfectly. No complaints and no recommendations for changes.
On that note, Aside from the other applications I wanted it for and the obvious ones like lighting NPC's I want lit arbitrarily, I had something specific in mind when I found the mod and I hoped you might be able to help. No obligations here, I totally understand but I'm going to throw out a rope and hopefully you aren't too busy when you read this!
I have been messing with the transformation on a mod called Aasimar Race trying to make the heroes light up like a christmas tree when they are in angel form both to provide free light and detriment their stealth capability. I pumped this mod up to 0.96 0.96 high, 0.96 0.64 half, 0.64 0.64 transition. It appears to have had the promised effect in that it increased outline and the small degree of ambiance surrounding that to nearly max best as I can figure.
Tying the spell to the transformations global and adjusting the darkness/light threshold conditions is easy enough with the great system you got here. Which if anyone is reading this checking the mod out. Yes it is very clean, very easy to manipulate.
So between this and the light enchant I am using, which is an area light, dynamic by default, nothing else checked, the usual values for falloff etc, the hero provides the light to the area and is certainly hard to miss; However, for some reason, nothing I do to the values in either the shaders from this mod or the light enchantment will light up the hero's back. It's as if the hero's back has a shadow source shining down on it. It occasionally lights up when forward left/right walking but otherwise dark as night. Even the wings behind the hero are not lit well at all. Front, top, sides are lit up full blast. Weird to be emanating so much light from the hero but none ON the hero except in front, despite light being directly behind hero on ground like daylight!
Any thoughts or ideas on which direction I might head to pursue this?
No idea. I know that Skyrim Special has some severe lighting bugs on character models, but I don't know if this is one of them. (One of the bugs I remember hearing about months ago was that specular highlighting on characters would only work when characters were facing specific directions.)
I also know that Skyrim Classic won't apply EffectShaders to any mesh that uses alpha blending ("alpha testing," or one-bit alpha, is fine), but I don't know if Skyrim Special shares that limitation.
This mod should be compatible with ENB's subsurface scattering -- or at least, the mod isn't doing anything that should conflict. The mod is built on the exact same engine feature that makes characters glow when they cast certain spells; it's a spell with a faint glow effect and no gameplay effect.
I can't attest to aesthetics. I don't actually play Skyrim Special regularly, so I haven't installed ENB. When I released the mod for Skyrim Classic, some ENB users did notice that the mod was too dark or too bright with their settings, which is why I included the "customization" section in the description.
Hello?
I wasn't ignoring you; comments just aren't a real-time medium, and I don't treat them like one. I generally check them every day or every other day, depending on how busy I am offline.
@Zanderat Maybe you are new to the modding community, but I think it is rude to sound impatient, considering it was only a few hours between your comments. Heck, I don't even get this fast email reply from a big company. My rule is to wait 24 hours (unless we both know it is really urgent).
@DavidJCobb Unless your computer is so weak, you should really consider ENB. Skyrim SE feels like a very outdated game in term of graphics. For making this mod, you obviously care about the visual. And considering a lot of users here know how to use ENB, it would help you to understand how this mod will fit into the scheme of things. It's not always about super vibrant and saturated looks, it's just the ability to adjust things to look right.
Thanks for the recommendation, tomomi. I already use ENB for Classic. I plan on moving into more Skyrim Special projects, and may look into getting an ENB for that game when I do.
It would probably help to expand on the compatibility with ENB, SSS or otherwise. The lack of a requirement can be interpreted as this being an alternative to ENB.
Skyrim Special has a character light similar to Fallout 4, but Bethesda toned it down so much that it's very nearly invisible in most cases. It's hard to say whether they even did that on purpose, given the remaster's other character lighting bugs (e.g. specular just breaking at certain angles).
I am quite familiar with Character Light (CL) within Fallout 4 and Skyrim. A lot of people (especially ENB users) seek to completely disable it. There is a check box for it in ENB menu. For me, I understand its intention, like this mod. However, at certain lighting condition, it stands out horribly, making it so unatural like a person floating in space.
However, the reason I brought this up is that most people do not know we can simply adjust these values via CL command in console. In FO4 I am able to adjust to my liking (since FO4 is horrible with the shadow side of the characters). Is this mod similar to the CL command in console? Or this is something completely new like Facelight mod?
This mod uses a completely different system. You know how casting certain spells puts a glow effect on your character? This mod literally just does that, but with a fainter glow.
Thank you for the clarification. I am going to try this mod when I play next.
Two suggestions:
- Do your best to clarify/distance this mod from Character Light. Most people see CL and run. I know "Rim Light" is a photography term, but also an option in CL, I usually type CL RIM [value].
- If possible, give us .ini file or console command to adjust the power. We are not being picky about your mod, but we deal with several ENB out there and each of them light things VERY DIFFERENTLY. I was in love in PRT, but had the hardest time with SSAO and SSS to give a pleasant face shadow. Then I tried another ENB, suddenly it solves most of my SSS problems (and give me new problems). What may be too bright with 1 ENB may be too dim with another.
The first paragraph of the description has been amended to clarify the difference.
The goal with this mod was to make something minimal and completely script-free, so in-game configuration isn't possible. (Besides, there are no script functions -- in the vanilla executable or in SKSE -- to modify EffectShaders at run-time. INI files aren't a usable option either.) The description includes instructions on how to manually modify the shader's brightness; see the "Customization in TES5Edit" section, though the same edits could also be made in the Creation Kit.
Thanks for the fast reply. I think I can totally live with the TES5Edit instruction. The edit is not real time, but it's better than nothing. I always edit things like "Longer Mage Light" mods to adjust the duration, brightness, mana cost, etc... but a lot of times I just blindly guess the values (some values are really NOT that obvious). TES5Edit is good, lightweight, simple, fast loading. CK is ... a pain if you have to load it 3-4 times per hour.
I am waiting to endorse btw. I don't want to be the 4th person :)
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As for combining both into a single set of EffectShaders, that depends. You can mix an edge effect and a fill effect, but you can't have multiple of either in a single shader. If Dylan used an edge effect at all, then it's a no-go, I'm afraid.
*EDIT* Came back to leave the endorsement (timer) and also to say, the more I play with this, and the more lighting conditions I encounter, the more I like what this mod does. It's nice to see my character properly illuminated in low light torch conditions doing a killmove on draugr and the like. The slight illumination gives the game kind of an Oblivionesque feel in my opinion, which is also a plus. Thanks again for the (unfortunately) big gain in vanilla visuals.
The mod works perfectly. No complaints and no recommendations for changes.
On that note, Aside from the other applications I wanted it for and the obvious ones like lighting NPC's I want lit arbitrarily, I had something specific in mind when I found the mod and I hoped you might be able to help. No obligations here, I totally understand but I'm going to throw out a rope and hopefully you aren't too busy when you read this!
I have been messing with the transformation on a mod called Aasimar Race trying to make the heroes light up like a christmas tree when they are in angel form both to provide free light and detriment their stealth capability. I pumped this mod up to 0.96 0.96 high, 0.96 0.64 half, 0.64 0.64 transition. It appears to have had the promised effect in that it increased outline and the small degree of ambiance surrounding that to nearly max best as I can figure.
Tying the spell to the transformations global and adjusting the darkness/light threshold conditions is easy enough with the great system you got here. Which if anyone is reading this checking the mod out. Yes it is very clean, very easy to manipulate.
So between this and the light enchant I am using, which is an area light, dynamic by default, nothing else checked, the usual values for falloff etc, the hero provides the light to the area and is certainly hard to miss; However, for some reason, nothing I do to the values in either the shaders from this mod or the light enchantment will light up the hero's back. It's as if the hero's back has a shadow source shining down on it. It occasionally lights up when forward left/right walking but otherwise dark as night. Even the wings behind the hero are not lit well at all. Front, top, sides are lit up full blast. Weird to be emanating so much light from the hero but none ON the hero except in front, despite light being directly behind hero on ground like daylight!
Any thoughts or ideas on which direction I might head to pursue this?
Thank you for the mod.
I also know that Skyrim Classic won't apply EffectShaders to any mesh that uses alpha blending ("alpha testing," or one-bit alpha, is fine), but I don't know if Skyrim Special shares that limitation.
This mod should be compatible with ENB's subsurface scattering -- or at least, the mod isn't doing anything that should conflict. The mod is built on the exact same engine feature that makes characters glow when they cast certain spells; it's a spell with a faint glow effect and no gameplay effect.
I can't attest to aesthetics. I don't actually play Skyrim Special regularly, so I haven't installed ENB. When I released the mod for Skyrim Classic, some ENB users did notice that the mod was too dark or too bright with their settings, which is why I included the "customization" section in the description.
I wasn't ignoring you; comments just aren't a real-time medium, and I don't treat them like one. I generally check them every day or every other day, depending on how busy I am offline.
Maybe you are new to the modding community, but I think it is rude to sound impatient, considering it was only a few hours between your comments. Heck, I don't even get this fast email reply from a big company. My rule is to wait 24 hours (unless we both know it is really urgent).
@DavidJCobb
Unless your computer is so weak, you should really consider ENB. Skyrim SE feels like a very outdated game in term of graphics. For making this mod, you obviously care about the visual. And considering a lot of users here know how to use ENB, it would help you to understand how this mod will fit into the scheme of things. It's not always about super vibrant and saturated looks, it's just the ability to adjust things to look right.
However, the reason I brought this up is that most people do not know we can simply adjust these values via CL command in console. In FO4 I am able to adjust to my liking (since FO4 is horrible with the shadow side of the characters). Is this mod similar to the CL command in console? Or this is something completely new like Facelight mod?
Two suggestions:
- Do your best to clarify/distance this mod from Character Light. Most people see CL and run. I know "Rim Light" is a photography term, but also an option in CL, I usually type CL RIM [value].
- If possible, give us .ini file or console command to adjust the power. We are not being picky about your mod, but we deal with several ENB out there and each of them light things VERY DIFFERENTLY. I was in love in PRT, but had the hardest time with SSAO and SSS to give a pleasant face shadow. Then I tried another ENB, suddenly it solves most of my SSS problems (and give me new problems). What may be too bright with 1 ENB may be too dim with another.
The goal with this mod was to make something minimal and completely script-free, so in-game configuration isn't possible. (Besides, there are no script functions -- in the vanilla executable or in SKSE -- to modify EffectShaders at run-time. INI files aren't a usable option either.) The description includes instructions on how to manually modify the shader's brightness; see the "Customization in TES5Edit" section, though the same edits could also be made in the Creation Kit.
I am waiting to endorse btw. I don't want to be the 4th person :)