UPDATE: Version 2.0 merges the ETHEREAL AURORAS mod with ETHEREAL COSMOS to simplify things for users. All your nighttime beautification in one easy to download package.
UPDATE - Added stars replacer texture for Climates of Tamriel users in the optional downloads. This will change the CoT starfield to match the appearance of the Ethereal Cosmos stars, and also eliminate the dark spots that were sometimes visible during aurora events, or on bright galaxy replacers, like my nebula belt. *ONLY DOWNLOAD this file is you are using Climates of Tamriel. It won't be visible otherwise. Two versions available.
Ethereal Cosmos is my attempt to bring more beauty and grandeur to the Skyrim night sky without breaking the lore-friendly feeling. Of course, we're talking about a world with two moons, as well as talking cat and lizard people. What is considered "realistic" is a matter of interpretation. I wanted to bring some of the flavor of my original The Cosmos mod, but make the effect more subtle, so it would appeal to more people. Skyrim is a fantasy world, but it is rooted in a certain earthy realism. I hope my night sky overhaul achieves that balance.
You get new textures for the Skyrim galaxy, stars, and constellations that were designed to blend well together. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, in other words. If there is interest, I may offer the files individually for those people who love their current galaxy, stars, or constellation textures.
Anyway, I hope people enjoy these new textures..... I hope it gives some added beauty to their gameplay.
Honestly I like everything about this mod except the night sky. Just doesnt fit into my game with every other texture being 4k, the 1k sky texture looks brutally low res. Now if there was atleast a 2k or even better a 4k Sky that would be awesome!
This is my all time favorite night sky. It perfectly captures the magical beauty of Skyrim, and no matter how many other ones I try I always come back to this instantly. Absolutely gorgeous. I love the colors and the start twinkles, it's just breathtaking.
So, you realize that those 4-point star rays are a lens flare effect on high power telescopes? Which is why they are all oriented perfectly parallel to each other, uniform in the direction of the rays? Like not only does it not make sense to see that, which is fine, it looks cool, but it makes even less sense for each star to be rotated differently.
Looks nice tho, good work. Sorry, had to be that guy. No really, I'm sorry, idk what I was on.
That was a disingenuous comment. If you were really sorry to "be that guy", then you never would've bothered to post. Do you really think I've never seen a night sky, and don't know what stars actually look like? Obviously, the ray effect was chosen for it's esthetic appearance, not for realism. Skyrim is, after all, a fantasy game. I didn't think slavish adherence to realism was ever anything to be concerned with.
Do you post on all the lens flare mods telling the authors that their effect is only a camera aberration, and not visible by the human eye, and therefore their mod is irrelevant and unnecessary?
There are plenty of star mods to choose from. If mine isn't to your liking, then you have options.
Hey Bill Nye, there's dragons in this game. And magic. And countless other things that are not of this world. Stop being yourself - your scrutiny is unintelligible and outright ridiculous.
Actually... it's a diffraction effect. The "cross" is the effect of diffraction limited perfromance of well performing optical systems. "Lens flare" is a combination of multiple types of abberations and also diffraction effects. "Twinkling" is caused by changes in the atmosphere; basically changes in the index of refraction and changes in the absorption of different wavelengths. You're welcome!
Also: Part of what makes good fantasy is, the fact that most things in a good fantasy environment are "real". Even the fantasy elements actually need to be somewhat believable in context. More realism is better, otherwise you just have a cartoon. You need to make the right side of the brain comfortable so the left side can get lost in the fantasy (i.e., Immersion). This is what separates great fantasy from not so good fantasy.
I can't endorse this enough. "Sense of depth and grandeur" is such an understatement! I literally spend about 20 minutes just looking up at the night sky in front of Whiterun. There are a lot of good night skies on here but this is by far the top of the heap.
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UPDATE - Added stars replacer texture for Climates of Tamriel users in the optional downloads. This will change the CoT starfield to match the appearance of the Ethereal Cosmos stars, and also eliminate the dark spots that were sometimes visible during aurora events, or on bright galaxy replacers, like my nebula belt. *ONLY DOWNLOAD this file is you are using Climates of Tamriel. It won't be visible otherwise. Two versions available.
Ethereal Cosmos is my attempt to bring more beauty and grandeur to the Skyrim night sky without breaking the lore-friendly feeling. Of course, we're talking about a world with two moons, as well as talking cat and lizard people. What is considered "realistic" is a matter of interpretation. I wanted to bring some of the flavor of my original The Cosmos mod, but make the effect more subtle, so it would appeal to more people. Skyrim is a fantasy world, but it is rooted in a certain earthy realism. I hope my night sky overhaul achieves that balance.
You get new textures for the Skyrim galaxy, stars, and constellations that were designed to blend well together. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, in other words. If there is interest, I may offer the files individually for those people who love their current galaxy, stars, or constellation textures.
Anyway, I hope people enjoy these new textures..... I hope it gives some added beauty to their gameplay.
Enjoy,
Gamwich
8K Night Skies - Stars and Galaxies - Cathedral Concept
I would kill for a 4k version ;w;
Looks nice tho, good work. Sorry, had to be that guy. No really, I'm sorry, idk what I was on.
Do you post on all the lens flare mods telling the authors that their effect is only a camera aberration, and not visible by the human eye, and therefore their mod is irrelevant and unnecessary?
There are plenty of star mods to choose from. If mine isn't to your liking, then you have options.
Also: Part of what makes good fantasy is, the fact that most things in a good fantasy environment are "real". Even the fantasy elements actually need to be somewhat believable in context. More realism is better, otherwise you just have a cartoon. You need to make the right side of the brain comfortable so the left side can get lost in the fantasy (i.e., Immersion). This is what separates great fantasy from not so good fantasy.
PS: Bill Nye is a poser and an idiot.