RLO vs. ELFX vs. Vanilla

[TechAngel85]

You shouldn't have any performance loss with RLO v4. It only makes edits to the game engine; thus, the edits are purely from the CK and should have no performance impact. I'm really looking forward to the completion of RLO; however, I fear that it's quite a ways off if current develop on it remains the same.

[Deathwing514]

Good morning, Good afternoon, Good Evening, to all the step members & guest alike.

 

I have updated the front page with new screenshots, including ELFX Enchancer.

 

Let me know your thoughts on these new screenshots, and thanks for everyone that has contributed in this discussion.

 

 

         

[Smile44]

RLO looks better IMO, but it's not perfect as at times there appears to be sunlight coming from more than one direction in the temple shots, but Joravaskr and Bleakfalls Barrow look great. Again until RLO is finished it will not be consistent in quality. ELFX looks good but the light is often far too bright but does look quite good with Unreal ENB.

 

:)

[gamingsrc]

From my experience, neither RLO nor EFLX make dungeons or night dark, and I did a lot of tests. And it's confirmed from the preceding screenshots. In my opinion RLO need a lot of finalization work on dungeon interiors and night drakness with respect the weather conditions.

[TechAngel85]

The only work RLO has on dungeons is a very quick edit that was tossed together. It was no special customization whatsoever for dungeons at the moment. It's no where near complete and it's stated so on the Nexus page.

[Aiyen]

As it has been nicely summed up so far.

ELFX = More cinematic approach

RLO = More realistic approach

Vanilla = Ambient lighting all the way!

 

Main issues with ELFX... some light sources are just too strong relative to what else is in the same building (I am looking at you dragonsreach!)

However the dungeons are mostly superb, and the overall lighting is just better for the game imo.

 

Main issues with RLO... Lacks dungeons, and most places outside of major cities... Even the places that it touches are a tad too realistic, it makes no sense why people would not put more candles up etc. if it was so dark.

 

Main issues with Vanilla.... Where to start! Its mainly just ambient lighting, in most places then point lighting is hardly noticeable. The only benefit from it is that its image spaces make sure that every dungeons etc. blend nicely with an overall theme.

 

Personally I would use Relighting skyrim anyday over vanilla. Its more or less the same, but with alot more emphasis on point lighting rather then ambient, hence trying to be a blend of cinematic and realistic. The good thing is that it touches just about everywhere in the game.

 

As for the colors etc. If you do not like the colors, eg. you think they are too orange, then its fairly simple to alter those in tes5edit. Hence I never bother to being skeptical about that. We all have different tastes in terms of what color should be used.

[TechAngel85]

As it has been nicely summed up so far.

ELFX = More cinematic approach

RLO = More realistic approach

Vanilla = Ambient lighting all the way!

 

Main issues with ELFX... some light sources are just too strong relative to what else is in the same building (I am looking at you dragonsreach!)

However the dungeons are mostly superb, and the overall lighting is just better for the game imo.

 

Main issues with RLO... Lacks dungeons, and most places outside of major cities... Even the places that it touches are a tad too realistic, it makes no sense why people would not put more candles up etc. if it was so dark.

 

Main issues with Vanilla.... Where to start! Its mainly just ambient lighting, in most places then point lighting is hardly noticeable. The only benefit from it is that its image spaces make sure that every dungeons etc. blend nicely with an overall theme.

 

Personally I would use Relighting skyrim anyday over vanilla. Its more or less the same, but with alot more emphasis on point lighting rather then ambient, hence trying to be a blend of cinematic and realistic. The good thing is that it touches just about everywhere in the game.

 

As for the colors etc. If you do not like the colors, eg. you think they are too orange, then its fairly simple to alter those in tes5edit. Hence I never bother to being skeptical about that. We all have different tastes in terms of what color should be used.

 

And this is why STEP was seriously looking at Relighting Skyrim for a while as it's official solution. However, it was ultimately determined that no lighting mod was finished enough to be a part of official STEP.

[z929669]

I'd like to look again at Relighting Skyrim for Extended though. Has it come far since or not?

[Aiyen]

I use a manual edited version of it so that it affects every location that ELFX does not. Also copied in ELFX color values etc, for uniformity.

As far as I tell from looking in tes5edit then it covers just about all interiors. Would be a nice enough candidate for Extended without a doubt.

It is not as detailed on a per cell basis as the others, but then again it does not need to be, since it just builds on what is already made.

[Deathwing514]

It seems you guys are a big fans of relighting skyrim.

 

If you would like, i can take some screenshots for that mod and add them to this topic.

 

Let me know in the comments below.

[Aiyen]

Well regardless then all lighting overhauls would never make it into core. And Extended could have any of them without too much fuss.

As long as there is a good selection of screens to compare them, so people can make up their own mind. I would always think that the best approach.

[Freyrgjurd]

RLO seems the most realistic. No blinding bright lights everywhere and more shadows. A fire in the middle of a room doesn't light everything like a spot light.

 

Still, I don't seem to find my self using it, since it's a little complicated to set up and match with other mods.

 

Note: Sorry I'm away. Health problems. :/

[EssArrBee]

I don't really think that any recommendation should be made for STEP. Core or Extended. Just leave that for the Packs and people can make lighting packs that fit together and take away some of the compatibility problems.

[eecer]

I pick RLO over ELFX due to compatibility issues. RLO works easily with CoT and Severe Storms, ELFX wont work (easily) with CoT.

 

When it comes to the actual looks. I have a love hate for each. I think the screenshots on here are a perfect way to compare them.

 

Although ELFX has the lights brighter, their flame color is much more neutral and windows/cracks can be much more involved in the scene. I personally have a pet peeve for RLO's flames, although their lighting distance and brightness (when looking at the flame itself) is more realistic then ELFX, RLO uses way too much orange which makes the flame lighting damper the coloring of objects close by. RLO daytime also bothers me that the Flames show through on walls during the day. A great example of how RLO flames really bug me is the opening video, when you are watching the decapitation, the flames orange during the day time goes all the way from the tower to the block and adds a grapefruit orange to the ground. Would provide screenshot but don't have one on hand.

 

So my conclusion is:

RLO has great lighting distance for Flames but horrible window lighting.

ELFX has too colorful of window lighting, but great color for flame lighting.

 

I would probably use ELFX if it worked easily with CoT. This is just a pet peeve of my own, but RLO really drives me nuts with the overly heavy orange, especially during the day. During the day, unless it is cloudy, I should not be able to see any lighting from the flame or it should be a very dull light.

[DoubleYou]

Both lighting overhauls have their merits. ELFX is more complete currently, however, but there is some good movement coming out of RLO development, and I'm keeping my eyes on that project. I didn't realize ELFX didn't work nicely with COT? Smile44 has them in a Pack together: https://wiki.step-project.com/Pack:Weather_and_Lighting