DROPPED Soul Gems Differ - Full and Empty (by Utopolyst)

[Neovalen]

Something confuses me about your compare screenshots. I took your new "vanilla like sgd" and compared to the image you supplied for mine and the bottom two levels(petty/lesser) are supposedly identical (based upon instructions on wiki) but show different in screens?

[Kelmych]

The Soul Gem mods always annoy me' date=' there are so many choices' date=' I always end up just installing what everyone else seems to be using or ignoring the mod altogether.[/quote'']

Me too, and that is why I went through hours of determining the best options, creating a new black souls texture and configuring the auto wizard to install the best combo ... no hassle.

I really like your new black souls texture; IMO it's the best match between what a soul looks like and it's "role". I still like a more variation among the souls than you use in your BAIN default for the rest of the souls (the lesser and grand are more similar than I prefer). For example, I like to use some of the different variations you didn't use, particularly at least one metal and one transparent, as possible. I am a little confused since the images for the Bain Default and what you showed as your choice in the comparison image with Neo's choices are different. I prefer what you had in that image (SGD-z.jpg) vs. the new BAIN default (SGD.jpg).

[z929669]

Something confuses me about your compare screenshots. I took your new "vanilla like sgd" and compared to the image you supplied for mine and the bottom two levels(petty/lesser) are supposedly identical (based upon instructions on wiki) but show different in screens?

Good point. I'll need to recheck that config' date=' as I may have used the blue glows on the empty versions of lesser & petty. Probably human error on my part. I'll check and get back.[hr']

The Soul Gem mods always annoy me' date=' there are so many choices' date=' I always end up just installing what everyone else seems to be using or ignoring the mod altogether.[/quote'']

Me too, and that is why I went through hours of determining the best options, creating a new black souls texture and configuring the auto wizard to install the best combo ... no hassle.

I really like your new black souls texture; IMO it's the best match between what a soul looks like and it's "role". I still like a more variation among the souls than you use in your BAIN default for the rest of the souls (the lesser and grand are more similar than I prefer). For example, I like to use some of the different variations you didn't use, particularly at least one metal and one transparent, as possible. I am a little confused since the images for the Bain Default and what you showed as your choice in the comparison image with Neo's choices are different. I prefer what you had in that image (SGD-z.jpg) vs. the new BAIN default (SGD.jpg).

Yes, I toiled for too long and came up with an alternative. The first version did not use any metallic or transparent either, but I do like that version as well. Perhaps I'll change it and post some alternatives for a vote. I find that most of the combos are "overexposed", and all detail of the gems gets washed out with most of the glow maps other than Normal.

 

I went into the CK to see what worked best, and found a lot of weirdness with the glow meshes and the textures. For example, previewing the black gems looks as expected, but the empty petty gem does not appear to associate with the texture in the CK (the full petty mesh does though) ... same goes for looking at these in Nifopt (some of the "Empty" gems don't associate ... full never do, because they are plugin reliant).

 

I encourage you and Neo to examine the previews in the CK using the * - E plugin version. Lots of inexplicable inconsistencies that are beyond me ... the CK drives me nuts

[Kelmych]

After working on various combinations for two hours, I finally came up with a winning multi-color combo.

 

 

 

 

What are the choices you used for this set; they aren't in the post?

[z929669]

Did you see my previous post regarding the CK inconsistencies?

 

RE the assortment you prefer above, I have created an even better combo based on that look that I will post this evening. I'd prefer previewing these in the CK though as opposed to loading up the game each time I make a change. As I said though, the CK is a real PITA, given the inconsistencies with the preview with this plugin.

[Kelmych]

I did see the previous post on difficulties working with the CK. I still haven't loaded Skyrim 1.9; I use Fuz Ro Doh in a couple of mods and I've been hoping I won't need to replace these with versions that add all the unspoken voice files (although I'm not going to wait too much longer). I wanted to wait until I move to Skyrim 1.9 to use the new CK. I was going to look at them in the game for now since I don't want to use the CK for right now.

[z929669]

OK. Here are some of the best options IMO. Let the vote begin.

[z929669]

OK, I discovered that the lighting in Review Studio is problematic and waaaaay too bright, overexposing anything examined therein. Therefore, I have created another screenshot compare that I will simply post here:

 

The first 6 examples are custom, multi-color options. The final 3 are a more differentiated proxy to the vanilla color scheme. I will repackage the mod with these optional presets:

 

[Kelmych]

Which option do you prefer?

[z929669]

Which option do you prefer?

I like Opt 6 I suppose, but any would work for me ... tough to choose. For STEP, I recommend Vanilla Proxy 1.

[Neovalen]

Which option do you prefer?

I like Opt 6 I suppose, but any would work for me ... tough to choose. For STEP, I recommend Vanilla Proxy 1.

Agree for STEP Proxy 1 looks best. Waiting for the NMM Installer before updating. The built in BAIN installer for Mod Organizer doesn't use Wizards so I have no clue what the settings are. lol

[z929669]

 

Which option do you prefer?

I like Opt 6 I suppose, but any would work for me ... tough to choose. For STEP, I recommend Vanilla Proxy 1.

Agree for STEP Proxy 1 looks best. Waiting for the NMM Installer before updating. The built in BAIN installer for Mod Organizer doesn't use Wizards so I have no clue what the settings are. lol

Just open up wizard.txt and look. The recipe is right up top ;)

 

I'll add in the new textures for the NMM installer, but will need someone to test, as I don't use it (and there is no way to include a preset with that installer, as it is written in C# I think, and I am only able to add the options, but not any more advanced logic).

[dstansberry]

I'm afraid I've gotten a little lost between the postings here, and here, and here.

 

What I'd like is to configure the soul gems to look like what the wiki describes as "Color Option 5" which doesn't seem to match any of the color options in the Best SGD Options thread (unless it would be #6 - the variation in lighting makes it hard to tell). The wiki describes a variety of color "options", but doesn't seem to supply the formulas to actually attain the options described (other than the STEP default).

 

Admittedly, I don't use BAIN, so I apologize if I'm making this harder than it has to be - but are the installation formulas for the color options available somewhere? And should they be linked to the actual color options depicted within the wiki?

[z929669]

I'm afraid I've gotten a little lost between the postings here' date=' and here, and here.

 

What I'd like is to configure the soul gems to look like what the wiki describes as "Color Option 5" which doesn't seem to match any of the color options in the Best SGD Options thread (unless it would be #6 - the variation in lighting makes it hard to tell). The wiki describes a variety of color "options", but doesn't seem to supply the formulas to actually attain the options described (other than the STEP default).

 

Admittedly, I don't use BAIN, so I apologize if I'm making this harder than it has to be - but are the installation formulas for the color options available somewhere? And should they be linked to the actual color options depicted within the wiki?

The poll was a wash due to the bad lighting. then when I went in with the proper lighting, I made some changes :P

 

If you go to the description on the Nexus site, it states this 'hint', but the wizard.txt file includes all recipes at the top of the file. The BAIN installer is really the only good option right now, and given the recipes, it should be pretty simple to install using MO.

[WilliamImm]

I guess I should stop procrastinating and actually rework M3rvin's Fomod installer to use the new directory names. Simplest solution seems to be to add a combobox that allows you to select a recommended preset, then when you select it, it automatically changes the soul gem settings to the ones specified in the preset. Will also change the directory paths to use the new BAIN-compatible ones.