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Miles B Huff

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Emer78

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About this mod

I spent countless hours researching the best .ini settings so you don't have to!
This is an optimized SkyrimCustom.ini created from scratch and based on research from many sources.

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Changelogs
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This is an optimized Skyrim.ini file written from scratch. It is the result of many days spent reading through various guides for Skyrim's configuration .ini's, many days spent writing and rewriting documentation, several weeks of refinement, and an ongoing period of peer-review here on the Nexus. The guides I used are themselves the result of weeks of research. I will link to these guides at the bottom of this text. Most of the guides were written specifically for Oldrim; I have individually weighted each of their recommendations and considerations, and modified them where necessary to work with SkyrimSE; however, I have strived to maintain compatibility with Oldrim, as well as all other current versions of Skyrim, including SkyrimVR. In total, I looked at over 1500 different variables. I will update this file here on the Nexus whenever I make any more changes to it.

Features
  • All performance settings enabled -- most people report stabler FPS! (Sources #1, 2, & 3)
  • All known broken settings fixed -- the Unofficial Patch doesn't fix these! (Sources #1, 2, & 3)
  • No more blocky shadows! (Source #5) (Requires manual tweaks. Oldrim only.)
  • The sun moves smoothly and continuously -- you'll never notice the sun move again! (Homegrown) (No, this doesn't harm performance.)
  • Larger, easier-to-read books and notes (Source #8)
  • Better arrow/bolt arching (Sources #1 & 9)
  • Havok'd combat (Source #13) (Disabled by default)
  • Less AI cheating (Homegrown)
  • Less distracting killcams (Source #1)
  • Centered camera location on both horseback and foot (Source #1) (Optional)
  • Improved world map (Source #1)
  • Improved HUD position (Source #1)
  • Comments describing blocks of settings, most of which is ReStructuredText (Homegrown)
  • Alphabetized with semantic exceptions (Homegrown)
  • Compatibility with in-game settings
  • Compatibility with ENBs (Source #1)
  • Countless graphical enhancements
  • Countless other things

What's Included
  • The Masterfile contains a SkyrimOptimized.ini (equivalent to Skyrim.ini) and an empty, light SkyrimOptimized.esp, both of which it places in your Data folder. This .ini file is meant to provide generic, sane defaults.
  • The Userfile contains a SkyrimCustom.ini file with lots of documentation. You will need to read through this documentation, and tweak this file to match your setup. Some of the settings in this file need to be copied into SkyrimPrefs.ini; these settings have been marked as such.
  • This readme.

Conflicts
  • The Masterfile: Almost any mods that contain .ini files will conflict with this mod. Usually, such conflicts are harmless; but sometimes, one of your mods might contain an incomplete concoction of settings, and this can cause some aspect of the game to look a bit glitchy. Such instances are bugs in those mods -- they should not leave out any .ini settings that they need in order to work, even if they're normally the default.
  • The Userfile: Anything that changes SkyrimCustom.ini (This file does not exist by default.). This is basically nothing; but all the same, you might want to skip this part if you're using something like BethINI, or if you've already got heavily customized .ini files.

Frequently-Asked Questions
  • Q: Does this work in Oldrim? A: Yes, but there are a couple more steps. Oldrim doesn't support SkyrimCustom.ini, so any non-SkyrimPrefs.ini settings in the SkyrimCustom.ini file you got from the Userfile download will need to be copied into Skyrim.ini.
  • Q: Is SkyrimVR Oldrim, or Special Edition? A: Special Edition.
  • Q: Do you play Fallout? Can you make an .ini mod for Fallout? A: 1: No. 2: No.
  • Q: This is a terrible idea, because .ini files need to be tweaked per your personal configuration, and no-one reads readmes. A: No, it's not a terrible idea. The whole point of this mod is to provide you with a base to build your own .ini settings off of. The settings that should work for everyone have been separated from the settings that users need to tweak for themselves, and lots of documentation has been included. And smart users *do* read readmes.
  • Q: BethINI is the best, all other .ini mods suck. A: There's a place for both graphical .ini mods (like BethINI) and old-fashioned, editor based ones (like this one). While old-fashioned .ini mods may give you more rope to hang yourself with, they also give you more power. If you want to write your own .ini file but want a solid base to start with, this mod has you covered.

Release Info
  • The versioning scheme for this mod is a variation on SemVer. Version strings look like "X.Y.Z", where 'X' is a major release (where the overall paradigm of the project has changed), 'Y' is a minor release (where the mod got some substantial new feature or lots of things changed), and 'Z' is a patch release (where very little of the mod changed -- usually, these are bugfixes.).
  • I try to release major and minor releases on weekends, so that there is ample time to catch and fix any new bugs. Patch releases come out as soon as they're ready.
  • You can read the changelog by clicking on the version number to the right of each download. I write a list of changes for each version. Updating the Userfile can be a little bit time-consuming, so if a recent update didn't change a lot, you may want to just stay on your current version until there's a bigger update.

Installation
  • Install the Masterfile with your favorite mod manager. (If you prefer manual downloads, extract the .ini and .esp file to your Skyrim\Data folder.)
  • Enable SkyrimOptimized.esp. (If you hate .esp files, read the Advanced Installation Options below.)
  • Put SkyrimOptimized.esp at the very top of your load-order if you want other mods to override it; put it at the very bottom of your load-order if you want it to override other mods.
  • Download the Userfile.
  • If you have an existing SkyrimCustom.ini file at Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\, make sure to back it up.
  • Copy SkyrimCustom.ini to Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\.
  • Back up SkyrimPrefs.ini.
  • Back up SkyrimVR.ini, if you have one.
  • If you're installing for Oldrim, also back up Skyrim.ini.
  • Open SkyrimCustom.ini with your favorite text editor.
  • Follow the instructions.
  • Enjoy your own custom, optimized .ini settings, and a much better Skyrim experience.

Advanced Installation Options
  • If you'd like to not have yet another .esp taking up space in your mod load order, you can delete SkyrimOptimized.esp, and rename SkyrimOptimized.ini to match literally any other .esp file (example: "Bashed Patch, 0.ini"). .esm files won't work for this unless you're using Oldrim, in which case they *might* work for this. Note that this step is technically unnecessary in SkyrimSE, since this mod's .esp file has been flagged as an ESL.
  • If you want access to more settings than are in SkyrimCustom.ini, you can edit Data\SkyrimOptimized.ini directly. There are several 'NOTE' comments in this file that will help you find useful settings to edit. You can find these NOTE comments by pressing Ctrl+F and typing 'NOTE'.
  • If you want all your settings in one file, you can manually download only the Masterfile, rename SkyrimOptimized.ini to SkyrimCustom.ini, and use it directly -- but you will still need to manually adjust the file for your own system, and your other mods' .ini settings will invariably get overridden. If you want full control over your .ini file with everything that implies, then this is the option for you.

Uninstallation
Masterfile
  • Remove the mod via your mod manager.
  • If you did the manual download, go to Skyrim\Data and delete the following files: SkyrimOptimized.ini, SkyrimOptimized.esp, Docs/Optimized SkyrimCustom.ini.bbcode.

Userfile
  • Go to Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\.
  • Remove SkyrimCustom.ini.
  • Restore the backups you made during installation.

Caveats
  • .ini editing is not for the faint-of-heart! If you want an easy, prepackaged solution, use BethINI. This mod is just a starting point for you to create your own SkyrimCustom.ini by hand!
  • The game adds your .ini settings to your savefiles. Because of this, whenever you change a setting, you'll need to "refresh" what that setting affects. So, if you change ie fBookDistance in the .ini while you're reading a book, you'll need to run 'refini' in the console and close/reopen that book in order to see a change.
  • Any variable defined in SkyrimCustom.ini (Userfile) or SkyrimOptimized.ini (Masterfile) overrides any identical variable in Skyrim.ini. This means that many .ini changes you make with, eg, Mod Organizer 2 or Wrye Bash are likely to be ignored by the game while this file is installed.
  • There is no such thing as a SkyrimPrefsCustom.ini or SkyrimVRCustom.ini, so you will have to edit SkyrimPrefs.ini and SkyrimVR.ini directly.

Additional Notes
  • Skyrim's .ini files contain hundreds of unused settings. Many of these settings, like bMouseAcceleration, are frequently toted as useful tweaks, when in reality, they do absolutely nothing! If I did not include these unused settings, people would ask for them; so I included them, but made sure to place them under "Unused" subheaders. I defined any unused setting that seemed like it would have been a useful tweak if it were functional. I also included some popular non-existent settings, like f3PBoltTiltUpAngle.
  • Most of Skyrim's broken/dangerous settings are already correct in the basegame. I have, regardless, defined them with their safe values in this .ini. If any of your mods enable one of these known broken settings, file a bug report with that mod right away. You can always override a mod's settings by placing a matching setting into SkyrimCustom.ini or SkyrimPrefs.ini.

Issues
  • If you find any problems in this mod, please let me know, and I'll work to get it fixed. If it's a problem for you, then it's a problem for all of us.
  • The current stable version of Mod Organizer 2 does not recognize SkyrimCustom.ini. This is a problem with Mod Organizer 2, not with this mod. A development version of Mod Organizer 2 with support for SkyrimCustom.ini can be found at the following URL: https://github.com/Modorganizer2/modorganizer/releases.
  • There are still a number of SkyrimPrefs.ini settings in SkyrimOptimized.ini that haven't yet been identified as SkyrimPrefs.ini settings.
  • There are still some missing SkyrimSE settings.

Donations
  • This mod is and will always be Free (as in "Freedom").
  • I have spent countless hours working on this mod, and have worked on it as much as my real job at several points in its existence -- all without pay or other compensation. Modding is a labour of love, and can be rewarding in its own right; but all the same, if this mod helped you in any way, I would greatly appreciate tips. PayPal

References
Thank you to everyone who took a leap of faith on this mod in its early days, and helped to get it to slot #2 on the homepage; and a huge thank you to all the commenters who have helped provide suggestions and report bugs. You're all amazing! I've given kudos to all useful commenters, but I'd like to give a shout-out to a few people in particular -- people who have provided outstanding feedback on several occasions: grvulture.
And, of course, a massive "thank you" to the sources and guides that made all of this possible in the first place, STEP chiefest amongst them:

Legal Notice
  • Everything in this mod is Copyright © from 2018-2019 by Miles B Huff per CC BY-SA 4 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v4.0 International). The full text of this license may be found here.
  • The following DOES NOT constitute a derivative work or utilization of copyrighted material: (1) Reusing a few settings from this mod. However, I would still very much appreciate it if you cite me, as well as any relevant sources that I've cited.
  • The following DOES constitute a derivative work and a utilization of copyrighted material: (1) Reusing any of the code-comments from this mod, and (2) reusing any substantial chunk of text from this mod. If you have created a derivative work, YOU ARE LEGALLY REQUIRED TO LICENSE UNDER A COMPATIBLE LICENSE THE ENTIRE WORK INTO WHICH THIS MOD WAS INCORPORATED, as stipulated by the CC BY-SA 4.0 International license. This generally means that your work must also be CC BY-SA.
  • The following constitutes plagiarism: (1) Re-uploading these files and claiming to have authored anything you did not author. Additionally, if this mod is uploaded elsewhere without substantial changes, I should be given full control over the mod there.