A while ago someone mentioned that they prefer Embers HD, and while the exact reasons are unbeknownst to me that got me thinking: why not do something cool and bring back some of the Embers HD vibes for Embers XD, especially seeing that we have almost reached a major milestone release? So that's what I did, and release 3.0.0 features a new Embers HD flame style for anyone still liking that. It comes with its own torch flame style as well (when using Torches Add-On), and as a nice bonus this flame style is also be less performance hungry.
Just so that you know, it was a pretty complex thing to add at this point and I'm sorry but there could be some lingering issues. I will of course look into any issues once I become aware of them, but if you're a perfectionist please skip the new flame style for now (especially so if you're rude, too).
posting just to mark importance of calibrating values in ENB as suggested in Frequently Asked Questions in the end of this page description. I was thinking to remove embers because of some issues... turn out I solved all changing the intensity of varios enb values! Now in this image you cant see much of what was the problem, it was more noticable when moving camera so it was not easy to screenshot it https://ibb.co/jvhqckn lowering windowlight intensity solved and embers is back in my load order (for fire there are some good alternative but damn, embers really terrible without it!)
Thanks for the feedback, you're definitely not wrong.
As a quick recap, here are the various settings categories of ENBSeries which affect Embers XD:
[FIRE] Intensity and color of the flames themselves.
[LIGHTSPRITE] Intensity and color of the fake fire glow (the yellowish one).
[WINDOWLIGHT] Intensity and color of the embers and logs.
COMPLEXPARTICLELIGHTS] Intensity and color of the particle light cast by fire.
[BLOOM] Intensity and color of (often reddish) glow from fire. All the of the above settings will affect the intensity of bloom so for example too high fire intensity coupled with high amount of bloom (or low threshold) may result in an overly bright bloom depending on your ENB preset.
Also worth noting is that if you have adaptation enabled (like you most often will have) the brighter the pixels on the screen are the more possible it is that adaptation will kick in, making the image appear darker. Therefore, it's important to set the intensity of the aforementioned parameters in tandem with adaptation settings.
I would point out that this problem has been totally (for me at least) solved with the new options in the FOMOD where now you can disable and lower the glows
I tried the new version, and fires are extremely loud for me, to the point where it's hard to hear other things while there is a fire around anywhere. Is anyone else experiencing this?
Hey mindflux so with the optimised setting enabled now, I see quick a few inconsistencies in general lighting. Like unless you move really close to a brazier the particle light effect doesn't kick in. This wasn't the case before. However I do see in the most recent changelog that you optimised it even further. So I'm guessing that's an intended side effect? But would be really cool if there's a way around this inconsistency. As always thanks for all the work you do to polish it for the better.
Yes, it's an unfortunate side effect from aggressive culling of the particles.
But you're right, I wasn't happy with how things were either and figured I can't leave it like that so in the version the worst case braziers that appear in large numbers will have a static "particle" light with the optimized option. They will still have a small fluctuating light animation too so all in all it seems like a much better approach and not a significant trade-off for better performance.
Thanks to you for feedback and of course for using my mod, happy to hear you appreciate my efforts.
Hey mindflux. Bumping this again. Is it possible to somewhat tweak the optimized option so that the culling of the particles isn't so aggressive? Like I don't know if it's something wrong with my setup but the pop-in/out of the braziers is really jarring. The issue goes away with the High Quality option but then playing with fire spells for me becomes unplayable as it dips down to 30 fps. I really don't wanna switch to Inferno/Embers combination as I feel like the entire Embers package coupled with Lux gives the most consistent visuals. Apologies if its too bothersome though.
Inside Whiterun Hall of the dead and Dragonsreach. Haven't extensively tested other places. Yes I believe I am using the latest updated version without the update file.
Yeah the noticeable one is in Dragonsreach kitchen. Much better than the last version though. Hall of dead is pretty much perfect. Overall the particle lights are a bit tame compared to earlier versions but that's to be expected given how you've gone about further optimising it which leads me to my last point. The jorrvaskr firepit now doesn't give any fps drops. So that's a first for me ever since I switched from HD to XD, which has been a long time now. Kudos to you. Sorry for rambling on. Just my two cents.
I don't know if this helps, but the two small fires just inside the Whiterun gate, down close to the ground, and just to the left when you step outside Warmaiden's. It sounds like a small waterfall or a stream of running water from these two fires, I actually thought it was the running water, but it's the fires.
I installed 2.9.8 and then I used the Embers XD - Quieter Braziers update, and just overwrote Embers XD - Quieter Braziers.esp.
I loaded a previous game save that loads inside Warmaiden's before this update. I noticed when I run inside buildings and come back outside the fire sounds change in the interiors and outside, sometimes they become quiter and sometimes louder, and they keep changing when I go inside and out.
After running around in Whiterun, running inside several buildings and back out, I created a new game save back inside Warmaiden's and I still experienced the same issue going inside and outside with the fire sounds changing.
The fires inside are often louder because the fires are larger with burning logs whereas the braziers outside are smaller and thus emit weaker sound. There’s also slight amount of fluctuation in the volume of each effect sound to imitate how the fire can burn weaker or stronger.
Sorry I didn't clarify further what I was experiencing to help you better.
Sometimes the small fire inside by the entrance of Warmaiden's was louder than the pit fires in The Drunken Huntsman, and The Bannered Mare. Also the small fires outside around Whiterun would also sound louder too at times, then than the pit fires in The Drunken Huntsman, and The Bannered Mare.
But every time I would go inside and then back out of Warmaiden's, The Drunken Huntsman, and The Bannered Mare, the fires inside and outside would change in volume, sometimes getting quieter, and sometimes louder, all of them, the small fires and large ones.
To summarize;
The sound volume on all the fires would keep changing, when I would go in and out of buildings, they weren't consistent, and small fires that should be quieter than a larger fire would sometimes be louder.
I can only estimate for you in a guess of percentages.
My best guess is the fluctuations I hear with all the fires inside and outside, changes anywhere from 25% - 50% increase/decrease in sound.
A lot of them are still quite loud actually. But when they sound loud, then they'll change 25% - 50% quieter, or when they are quiet, sometimes will change 25% - 50% louder.
I have quite a lot of mods installed and several related to audio/sound, which I wonder if they could cause any issues.
Did you try with the latest version of the patch? From my side the audio level variance is disabled for braziers (please keep in mind, only for those) so if it's still going on I believe it must be something else causing it or the game is buggy. I'm sadly not familiar with audio mods so can't really help with those but of course first make sure that the Embers XD patch is loaded after them (so it has priority).
It's getting better, not sure if this will help. Sometimes the smaller fires will still sound loud. Like the ones inside Warmaiden's at the fireplace next to the counter, and outside the door, and the fires outside The Drunken Huntsman were all louder than the bigger pit fire inside The Drunken Huntsman.
Sometimes they still change in volume when I go inside a building and come out, but it's not constantly. Sometimes I have noticed they stop going up and down, but then other times they start going up and down again.
For some reason, with this latest update, I cannot select the Smoking Torches and Candles Patch, no matter what options I choose, even if I choose no other options, the patch is grayed out. It says it cannot be used in combination with other installed plugins. Any advice?
Also to add: Whether or not STaC is installed and the plugin is active has no bearing on this
I've ported lux 2.7.3 quite some time ago, before Bethesda introduced new porting rules and would like to port the newest 3.0 version on Xbox, at least the lux orbis plugin. Would you agree with that? If so, could you please add my name in the permission section?
Give Feedback
6415 comments
My eternal gratitude to those who have taken the time to help with the compatibility patches:
agentw
amastermiind
Czasior
enthe
Iqbalev
Janquel
LORDSAVEX
Masterofchim
NeduZ
ReTr0TeK
SMB92
Wolfpack49
Special thanks to robertkorkor and Skyrimer3232 for help with testing.
A while ago someone mentioned that they prefer Embers HD, and while the exact reasons are unbeknownst to me that got me thinking: why not do something cool and bring back some of the Embers HD vibes for Embers XD, especially seeing that we have almost reached a major milestone release? So that's what I did, and release 3.0.0 features a new Embers HD flame style for anyone still liking that. It comes with its own torch flame style as well (when using Torches Add-On), and as a nice bonus this flame style is also be less performance hungry.
Just so that you know, it was a pretty complex thing to add at this point and I'm sorry but there could be some lingering issues. I will of course look into any issues once I become aware of them, but if you're a perfectionist please skip the new flame style for now (especially so if you're rude, too).
I was thinking to remove embers because of some issues... turn out I solved all changing the intensity of varios enb values!
Now in this image you cant see much of what was the problem, it was more noticable when moving camera so it was not easy to screenshot it
https://ibb.co/jvhqckn
lowering windowlight intensity solved and embers is back in my load order (for fire there are some good alternative but damn, embers really terrible without it!)
As a quick recap, here are the various settings categories of ENBSeries which affect Embers XD:
[FIRE]
Intensity and color of the flames themselves.
[LIGHTSPRITE]
Intensity and color of the fake fire glow (the yellowish one).
[WINDOWLIGHT]
Intensity and color of the embers and logs.
COMPLEXPARTICLELIGHTS]
Intensity and color of the particle light cast by fire.
[BLOOM]
Intensity and color of (often reddish) glow from fire. All the of the above settings will affect the intensity of bloom so for example too high fire intensity coupled with high amount of bloom (or low threshold) may result in an overly bright bloom depending on your ENB preset.
Also worth noting is that if you have adaptation enabled (like you most often will have) the brighter the pixels on the screen are the more possible it is that adaptation will kick in, making the image appear darker. Therefore, it's important to set the intensity of the aforementioned parameters in tandem with adaptation settings.
But you're right, I wasn't happy with how things were either and figured I can't leave it like that so in the version the worst case braziers that appear in large numbers will have a static "particle" light with the optimized option. They will still have a small fluctuating light animation too so all in all it seems like a much better approach and not a significant trade-off for better performance.
Thanks to you for feedback and of course for using my mod, happy to hear you appreciate my efforts.
Are you still seeing some popping in like Dragonsreach, though? With the optimized option?
I will check around Dragonsreach again. Great to hear there's a marked improvement especially in regards to performance.
By tame, do you mean that they are dimmer or smaller? Or just that they are less impressive otherwise?
Thanks for the latest update working on the sounds. Unfortunately the fires still sound the same, and still quite loud, in the interiors and outside.
The 50% does nothing, if it is a reduction, I don't notice it. Maybe too you can please make 75%.
THANKS
Keep up the great work, it's truly appreciated!
Are you using the Lux Orbis option?
Yes I use Lux Orbis...
I don't know if this helps, but the two small fires just inside the Whiterun gate, down close to the ground, and just to the left when you step outside Warmaiden's. It sounds like a small waterfall or a stream of running water from these two fires, I actually thought it was the running water, but it's the fires.
THANKS
At least at my end I can only really hear the stream now outside Warmaiden's.
I installed 2.9.8 and then I used the Embers XD - Quieter Braziers update, and just overwrote Embers XD - Quieter Braziers.esp.
I loaded a previous game save that loads inside Warmaiden's before this update. I noticed when I run inside buildings and come back outside the fire sounds change in the interiors and outside, sometimes they become quiter and sometimes louder, and they keep changing when I go inside and out.
After running around in Whiterun, running inside several buildings and back out, I created a new game save back inside Warmaiden's and I still experienced the same issue going inside and outside with the fire sounds changing.
Hmm
THANKS
Sorry I didn't clarify further what I was experiencing to help you better.
Sometimes the small fire inside by the entrance of Warmaiden's was louder than the pit fires in The Drunken Huntsman, and The Bannered Mare. Also the small fires outside around Whiterun would also sound louder too at times, then than the pit fires in The Drunken Huntsman, and The Bannered Mare.
But every time I would go inside and then back out of Warmaiden's, The Drunken Huntsman, and The Bannered Mare, the fires inside and outside would change in volume, sometimes getting quieter, and sometimes louder, all of them, the small fires and large ones.
To summarize;
The sound volume on all the fires would keep changing, when I would go in and out of buildings, they weren't consistent, and small fires that should be quieter than a larger fire would sometimes be louder.
Hope this helps better...
THANKS
But it's possible that it doesn't work as claimed. Should be easy to test if I zero out the dB varience for all related effects.
I can only estimate for you in a guess of percentages.
My best guess is the fluctuations I hear with all the fires inside and outside, changes anywhere from 25% - 50% increase/decrease in sound.
A lot of them are still quite loud actually. But when they sound loud, then they'll change 25% - 50% quieter, or when they are quiet, sometimes will change 25% - 50% louder.
I have quite a lot of mods installed and several related to audio/sound, which I wonder if they could cause any issues.
Here's My Mod List on Dpaste
These are my audio/sound mods;
Audio Overhaul for Skyrim (4.1.2)
Audio Overhaul Skyrim - Immersive Sounds Compendium Integration (1.1.0)
Immersive Sounds - Compendium
NAT - Audio Overhaul for Skyrim Patch
Regional Sounds Expansion (2.0.0)
Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion
Sound Record Distributor
THANKS
I just installed 3.0.0
It's getting better, not sure if this will help. Sometimes the smaller fires will still sound loud. Like the ones inside Warmaiden's at the fireplace next to the counter, and outside the door, and the fires outside The Drunken Huntsman were all louder than the bigger pit fire inside The Drunken Huntsman.
Sometimes they still change in volume when I go inside a building and come out, but it's not constantly. Sometimes I have noticed they stop going up and down, but then other times they start going up and down again.
THANKS
So not sure I can do anything more.
Can you integrate this patch? or is there a better alternative or suggestion?
Embers and Fire Combo Patch (EmbersXD - KD's Fireplace - Inferno - ENB Light) at Skyrim Special Edition Nexus - Mods and Community (nexusmods.com)
Thanks.
Also to add: Whether or not STaC is installed and the plugin is active has no bearing on this
Apart from that the option requires either Smoking Torches And Candles.esp or Smoking Torches.esp to be active in your load order.
Congrats on this huge milestone!
I've ported lux 2.7.3 quite some time ago, before Bethesda introduced new porting rules and would like to port the newest 3.0 version on Xbox, at least the lux orbis plugin. Would you agree with that? If so, could you please add my name in the permission section?
Thanks again,
Fatal
So what's new in v3.0.0 ???