Lexy's: Legacy of The Dragonborn Special Edition

[Shadriss]

Don't worry you haven't started any war and yes even my Wife has said certain areas are a bit too dark she mention that if she was to rip out ELFX what would she replace it with and she is unsure. She also moans about Immersive Citizen Compatibility and has said she was done with it but she ripped that out yet either. Lighting and ENB have always been very difficult cos they're so subjective and depends on individual play styles. I do agree over playability and realism.

 

My question would be if ELFX was to go what would replace it? cos there really are only 3 choices ELFX or RLO or Relighting Skyrim.

First - your wife? Am I off in assuming you mean Lexy? Forgive me here - just uncertain if that's the implication here or not, the comments sound right for it, but don't wanna make an assumption.

 

Second - fair questions. As you said, it's all a matter of taste, and asking one person to maintain three versions (or even two, honestly) of a patch to account for taste is... well, it's just a non-starter. I don't think I've used RLO (in LE... this is my first SE build, so that applies for anything I'm saying) but Relighting seemed to me a good balance of the two, though of course some will complain about it too, I'm sure. Honestly, it's a no win for this one no matter what happens. 

 

Regardless, I've made the adjustments I need to make it playable (though just barely in some areas). I do fear for when I hit the likes of Blackreach or Volikhar Castle, since I haven't seen them in ELFX yet, let alone some of the dwemer ruins, but I'll cross that when I get there. Assuming I do... with this much to do, it's a miracle the DovahKat (Khajit) gets anything done at all. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Shadriss

[Darth_mathias]

First - your wife? Am I off in assuming you mean Lexy? Forgive me here - just uncertain if that's the implication here or not, the comments sound right for it, but don't wanna make an assumption.

Yes Lexy is my wife.

[Diana_TES_GotH]

 

Like many others, I like the idea behind ELFX - it does make the lighting more realistic. That said, there is another thing to keep in mind where reality vs. gameplay is concerned - reality for the sake of reality doesn't add to gameplay. When reality impinges on the game to the extent where it becomes overly difficult to play (I can't defend myself against what I can't see, but lighting myself up means I can't stealth either, as an example), you should be willing to give up reality a little to maintain the fun of gameplay...

I completely agree with you. My husband is finally starting to relax in the evenings and play his Skyrim SE on the Xbox One. He wanted me to put him in a few mods. There are a few mods he's testing, but he doesn't like most of the Survival mods, anything that makes the nights or dungeons impossible to see without a light source, or mods that just make the game too difficult to enjoy. He said he works his butt off, sometimes 80 hrs a week, so when he finally tries to chill out to play a game he doesn't need to be constantly aggrivated with it. Some people may love to have their game completely realistically immersive, but some people really just want to enjoy playing.

[redirishlord]

...My question would be if ELFX was to go what would replace it? cos there really are only 3 choices ELFX or RLO or Relighting Skyrim...

I'm enjoying Relighting Skyrim with ELE and using the ENB (Skyrim Re-Engaged for Obsidian currently) to enhance lighting further (the ENB menu option to adjust interior & exterior brightness is very nice). I just saw/added Dynamic Immersive Seriously Dark Dungeons from your Trello board suggestions & am excited to see how that changes the dungeons' lighting.

 

My eyes are usually tired by the time I get a chance to play, so the extra dark environments aren't usually to my liking, although the sound great in theory. I like the idea of hardcore realism more than the reality of it, I need to find a good balance of realism & entertainment. Your (meaning everyone) mileage Will vary.

 

Best wishes to you & the whole family, thanks for finding time to spend with us

[DarkladyLexy]

gameplay vs Realism is always a tough needle to thread.

 

I might for myself try Relighting Skyrim and ELE I have been thinking about that for some time just need the motivation to do it and see how it looks. It be better in the long run. I have never tried Dynamic Immersive Seriously Dark Dungeons so have no idea what it is like And yes Darth is my Husband.

[RedRex46]

Best way I've found to deal with it is by opening the ENB settings (SHIFT-ENTER for that, though I would also bring up the console to keep things from happening in the background while you do this). On the right side panel, there is a entry for ENBSettings (I think... it's the one second from the bottom). Inside that is a line that reads something to the effect of Brightness - Interior, set at a value of around .85 I think. It maxes at 2.0, and I set mine to 1.7. It's still dark(ish), torches/Quick Light still have use, but it's not the pitch black that occurs at the default values. Your setting may well be different than mine, though, so some experimentation will be needed.

 

Also note that this assumes the recommended Phoenix ENB... the setting name may be different according to installed ENB.

 

Keep in mind that interior worldspaces are all treated identically - inns and crypts are the same as far as the game is concerned. Changing the lighting in a crypt or cave will have equal effect on inns, so I'd recommend changing the lighting while in a populated interior space to your liking, and then hoping that the caves and such aren't too bright for your taste - as I said, experimentation is pretty key to this setting.

 

Not ELE - the additional darkness is intentional and caused by ELFX - Enhancer. It's the same thing I was talking about a few pages back, and sounds like the same situation.

Thanks, tweaking the ENB did a good job in finding a middle ground. It's unfortunate that Skyrim doesn't have different "settings" for dungeons and inhabitated interiors, all I can hope is that TESVI brings a difference between dungeons and inhabitated interiors in terms of lighting, since the atmosphere is a huge factor while playing Skyrim - at least for me - but it would be even better if atmosphere is balanced with gameplay.

Edited July 13, 2018 by RedRex46

[Shadriss]

Thanks, tweaking the ENB did a good job in finding a middle ground. It's unfortunate that Skyrim doesn't have different "settings" for dungeons and inhabitated interiors, all I can hope is that TESVI brings a difference between dungeons and inhabitated interiors in terms of lighting, since the atmosphere is a huge factor while playing Skyrim - at least for me - but it would be even better if atmosphere is balanced with gameplay.

Glad to hear that worked out for you - those settings are kind of mystical until you really start playing with them, but when you do, it can get you some nice results.

 

gameplay vs Realism is always a tough needle to thread.

 

I might for myself try Relighting Skyrim and ELE I have been thinking about that for some time just need the motivation to do it and see how it looks. It be better in the long run. I have never tried Dynamic Immersive Seriously Dark Dungeons so have no idea what it is like And yes Darth is my Husband.

Understand completely... and though it was unintentional, if I provided you the excuse to do it anyway, I guess I can live with that. :)

[baronaatista]

... I really don’t understand this conversation, honestly.

In my experience ELFX (without the enhancer) does not significantly impact the level of darkness in the game. That is ELE.

I find the STEP combo of RS + ELE to be a much simpler solution for CR to lighting, and RS seems to have fewer issues than ELE regarding flickering, but I highly doubt you will find the game any ‘brighter’ with this setup.

I also wouldn’t use a brightness toggle in ENB to adjust this, as brightness will affect the entire balance of the image. Instead, I’d toggle ‘ambient lighting interior’ (or whatever it’s called, traveling right now can’t check) I believe under ‘environment’.

[Shadriss]

I also wouldn’t use a brightness toggle in ENB to adjust this, as brightness will affect the entire balance of the image. Instead, I’d toggle ‘ambient lighting interior’ (or whatever it’s called, traveling right now can’t check) I believe under ‘environment’.

In the more detailed explanation I gave on the last page, that's what I recommended. We've just been shorthanding it in the last few replies.

 

As to the rest, all I can do is repeat what I've already said, Baron - we get different apparent results. I've used the RS/ELE combo from Step in LE as well, and it was significantly brighter than the ELFX version of the same setup. All I can do is say what I see... or, in this case, don't see. If ELE were the darkening culprit, would I not have near equal darkness regardless of the lighting it's based on?

 

Keep in mind also that, even without the Enhancer (which I have verified I don't have installed, BTW), the mod removes lights that had no source. There are a great many dungeons and crypts (the areas most complained about since we aren't worried about being attacked by anything in a tavern...) which have few, if any, in game light sources, which has the net effect of making them far far darker... which is the core of the problem. In a dungeon, I have to be able to see... and because there is now little if any ambient light in those locations, I can't without giving up part of the gameplay style I use - stealth. If I have to use a torch to be able to see, then that gameplay element is removed, and I'm forced by this to play a straight up sword and board warrior or a mage... roles that don't fit a stealth approach as well. This, to me, is simply aggrivating and one of those gameplay vs. reality things I spoke to earlier.

 

Again, this is not to bash on anyone's favorite mods, guides, or what not - it's simply a statement of my experience with this mod as it applies to the original question asked. Since that has been answered (and generated a lot of discussion as well), I think that after this I'll just keep a lid on my opinion - it may not be a holy war, but there are a lot of strong opinions on the subject, it seems. :)

Edited July 13, 2018 by Shadriss

[Baubledorst]

Just as a side lark to inquire--the historically wonkiest place I've encountered head-scratching when trying to sort out xEdit records for smoothing out compatibility pretty much always comes down to Unique Uniques, Improved Open-faced Helmets, etc.--the dragon priest masks & unique weapons always feel like a weird musical chairs game trying to figure out which model to give precedence and which stat modifications to put in, etc.  Everything else is usually fairly straightforward to fall into place with adjustment patches, it just feels like that's always the quagmire for me.

Edited July 13, 2018 by Baubledorst

[AthlonAI]

Hi ! I have the exact same load order and mods as shown in the main guide MODWATCH and I m having missing terrain all around whiterun, riverwood and falksreach... Are you sure the load order shown is the good one ? Thank you so much!

[DarkladyLexy]

Hi ! I have the exact same load order and mods as shown in the main guide MODWATCH and I m having missing terrain all around whiterun, riverwood and falksreach... Are you sure the load order shown is the good one ? Thank you so much!

no, I realized I uploaded the wrong one need to get that sorted

[baronaatista]

@Shadriss - were you using an ENB with the STEP setup? If so, which ENB?

 

I mean factually what the ELE mod is doing is altering lighting templates, whereas RS + ELFX both alter light sources and remove/move lights not attached to sources. ELFX just adds some nice effects to light sources as well, and actually - as far as I’m aware, adds more light sources than RS does, hence the flickering issues.

You can watch a recent video where Gopher altered ELE specifically in order to make his dungeons less dark for his let’s plays. Doesn’t show how he did it, but does show the results.

I’ve used RS + ELE, ELFX + ELE, and the SRLE RS + ELFX + ELE in the past at various times and honestly haven’t noticed a major difference overall for darkness levels. Certain interiors may be darker in one mod and less in another, but I don’t think much difference overall.

For controlling darkness levels, ENB + monitor settings are likely your best bet.

You can even test on a basic setup - use ELE with RS and your current ENB, visit a bunch of different interiors and see if you notice it being overall brighter.

[berndaroy]

For what it might be worth this is how i see it...Lexy's guide and that of Darth's, brings about a balance between realistic and game play styles. It try's to address the needs of people, with different play styles i.e those that love "realism" there are survival mods, combat mods etc. Those that just wish to experience and enjoy the game, there are enough quest, graphic mods etc to satisfy there needs. Its down to the individual to adapt the guide to their personal needs/requirements. I, for example, love to explore the world and so for me survival, combat, a realistic experience, are irrelevant in comparison to ambient/graphic mods, landscape, sounds and eye candy, and so i remove and adapt my game accordingly. If i find caves too dark, i use a ring or amulet of light ( preferred weapon a bow, so this frees the hands) to lighten the cave just enough to see clearly without losing the atmosphere etc. It would be impossible for Lexy to create a guide that's going to meet EVERY BODIES requirements, so this guide like Darth's is wonderfully put together to give a fair all round experience for all to enjoy......with their own tailoring added

[Shadriss]

So moving on from lighting...

 

I'm noticing an odd problem when approaching Whiterun. I've repeatedly been getting CTD on the road in front of the city, just past the meadery and heading towards the gate area. I approached it from a new angle this time, and noticed that the giant (the one that Aela and the companions are supposed to demolish) didn't spawn, though the rest of the group did. I actually saw them spawning in, but the giant didn't... and then CTD, prob because the script couldn't run without the giant. I can't think of anything in this lineup that would prevent this, but it's been consistent since I rebuilt off of the JUL07 edits to the guide. Any thoughts on this one?