DROPPED aMidianBorn Farmhouse (by CaBaL)

[EssArrBee]

I really liked in the Stone Wall pictures that the AMB wall wasn't overly shiny like HRDLC and Core. The walls shouldn't reflect light like that since they are probably stones that get washed with rain water quite often. The Wood Wall set I though the same thing, that they looked like wood panels that get exposure to rainy climate, while the others had a dried out look.

 

The rope and wood column I actually thought were good, maybe that doesn't come through in screenshots, but in game they actually had life, where the others were kinda boring.

 

Indoor I like the thatch roof, really all the thatch looked much better in game, and I looked at both colors and normals before taking the shots and could see why I liked the thatch more from AMB. There was proper noise in those normals and when running up to the buildings, especially in Falkreath, it looked good. The indoor stones seemed like they weren't quite flat enough for something indoors, but the pelts do look right. They don't have that bought from a leather store flatness that Core had, like people actually walk on them and fur gets looser and ruffed up a bit.

 

The fence did not shimmer quite as much for me as the other one did. Not sure what you did differently to the textures, but the HRDLC textures has really bad shimmer unless transparencyAA or MSAA is cranked way up.

 

Did like Visible Windows a bit more too, that mod just seemed to get all the windows right.

[CaBaL]

about wood fence: there's a minor problem in nif files...color is actually baked in nif shadersettings it makes pretty hard to create any diversification....you can just overlay some "noise" to make fences look more "textured" but without replacing nifs too there's not much to do.

for the problem said before about re-use of minor part of models in other context the stone wall cannot be reworked much... must reflect 100% of vanilla uvmapping... the risk is to have nicer walls but crappy road walls otherwise.

oh... and stone pavement in interiors, i do not like it much anymore, think that another texture can be provided in reasonable time

[EssArrBee]

about wood fence: there's a minor problem in nif files...color is actually baked in nif shadersettings it makes pretty hard to create any diversification....you can just overlay some "noise" to make fences look more "textured" but without replacing nifs too there's not much to do

 

Sounds like something Brumbek should take a look at, wonder why he hasn't already.

[z929669]

I more or less prefer aMB in all cases but three:

1) I prefer the STEP brown fut pelt (looks like deer, so if it is supposed to be deer, I like vanilla style best)

2) I prefer the STEP outdoor thatch roof (SRO I think) ... aMB looks like the straw ends are inconsistent with the middles (if that makes sense) ... like the ends were brushed or blurred a bit to make them whispier.

3) STEP Core rope wins for me

 

My first time seeing aMB farmhouses stuff ... Nice work CaBaL ;)

 

EDIT: just seeing DoubleYou's stone floor comment ... yes, I like SRO, but I think that aMB shows good wear with an originally more course stone. SRO looks like poured concrete that is old and cracked (not the parallel grain as made by a brush)

EDIT2: Doors are better in SRO, but I was focusing on the lumber surrounding ... aMB is better there.

EDIT3: Windows. aMB needs work on the glass; however, I can at least tell that these are window panes! What the hell is that stuff in the first two?? Vanilla windows styule looks great in the distance, but is just bad up close.

[CaBaL]

about wood fence: there's a minor problem in nif files...color is actually baked in nif shadersettings it makes pretty hard to create any diversification....you can just overlay some "noise" to make fences look more "textured" but without replacing nifs too there's not much to do

Sounds like something Brumbek should take a look at, wonder why he hasn't already.

indeed is something that could be done,is a 2 click thing in nifskope afterall... but could lead to incompatibilities... is much better if smim reworks the thing imo.

not less important in an eventual mesh rework those fences can be embossed... as they are currently are imo really flat and too omogeneous in terms of wood parts size...you notice when you have several nifs repeated ingame

[DoubleYou]

I thought SMIM already altered those fences?

[CaBaL]

I more or less prefer aMB in all cases but two:

1) I prefer the STEP brown fut pelt (looks like deer, so if it is supposed to be deer, I like vanilla style best)

2) I prefer the STEP outdoor thatch roof (SRO I think)

 

My first time seeing aMB farmhouses stuff ... Nice work CaBaL ;)

 

EDIT: just seeing DoubleYou's stone floor comment ... yes, I like SRO, but I think that aMB shows good wear with an originally more course stone. SRO looks like poured concrete that is old and cracked (not the parallel grain as made by a brush)

:) hi Z , thanks a lot .

about thatch ...strictly on a tecnical side (thatch 02.dds ...i got the textures in front of me in photoshop ) there's no difference between hddlc and sro,diffuse  and spec,sro got different normal map... not sure if it's better.

i do not know what is used in screenshots honestly...if hddlc or sro.

anyway both packages forgot to make the alpha channel match the actual texture... so in both sro and hddlc you find some weird black spots in the internal part of the roof (can be seen above tavern doors area mostly ...problem is not great... still there)... more definition than my stuff anyway.

 

thatchinterior 01 .dds : hddlc/ sro got again identical textures ...and got the same problem imo ...light seems to come from above, like an object in exterior,  they again seems to have more definition than my stuff and bigger elements... maybe too big.

anyway... if we consider that there's smoke in interiors,much definition is not an ideal choice.... de gustibus ... clear.

[torminater]

I like the fur, the stone wall shot outside and the roof shots best from amb, all the others are more stylistic changes to me, not necessarily making a improvement for me. I'll say that I haven't done some testing of this mod myself, so I cannot say how the textures fit together in an overall experience.

[Nearox]

I personally do prefer AMB FH over SRO, HRDLC or AOF. There's just so much more detail in AMB, especially when using its 1k textures vs other packs' 1k textures.

[CJ2311]

Don't know if you're looking for the opinion of non step members in testing topics, but I thought I'd post my impressions, if only for Cabal.

 

Pelts :

The pelts from amb definitely look better than detailed rugs (current STEP), much more close to RL pelts with the added details, I was already considering to swap detailed rugs for pelts of skyrim, but now I'm definitely going to use Cabal's textures.

 

Stone Floor :

SRO wins here, amb is way too rough and the color is a bit too brownish for my taste. And even though some of the tiles in SRO might be oversized, it still reminds me of actual stone floors in old houses in Normandy.

 

Wood Door :

Amb doors look too clean for a village like that, and the texture looks kinda blurry (although I suspect that might be because of the screenshot)

 

Stone Wall :

Definitely amb. The colors look more natural, especially in "however you call that area between two rocks in English"

 

Wood Wall :

The beams from amb look great, but the wall itself is a bit too dark and doesn't match the beams.

 

Rope & wood post (also wood floor) :

The rope in amb looks weird... The floating rope is fine, but the one on the post feels flat and plastic-y tbh. The amb beams once again look great. As for the floor, well it is way too clean for riverwood, could use some additional impurities and spacing between the planks imo.

 

Woven Fence :

Amb's looks better, it's a no brainer here.

 

 

N.B. : I'd like to point out that I'm in no way an expert, these are just my personal opinions and I don't mean to minimize the effort that either texture artist poured into making them.

Also, thanks to EssArrBee for taking the time to make all the comparison shots :D

[DoubleYou]

@CJ2311

You see that little word beneath your name above? It says "member."

[CJ2311]

Hehe, well, I obviously meant STEP member as in member of the team behind the guide :P

[torminater]

Any opinion is welcome on our testing boards, that's what they're there for.

[EssArrBee]

Hehe, well, I obviously meant STEP member as in member of the team behind the guide :P

 

When I go into combination mode and start mixing mods together, I do so based on feedback, so everyones .02 are welcome.

 

 

I'll add the AOF Farmhouses is anyone is interested, but I haven't checked that mod out in a while so I need to see what exactly is in there. If there are any other mods that cover this stuff mention them. I like putting stuff next to each other because you get a good view of artist interpretation and skill level.

 

Also, I encourage you to check out Riverwood and Falkreath with AMB installed, then go back to STEP or HRDLC. There is a nice contrast and it gives a better understanding of the screens.

[DoYouEvenModBro]

I think AOF was booted from S.T.E.P. in the first place in favor of SRO. I never got to see a compare so that would be cool to look again. 

 

I also use Better Town Textures - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/46121/?

 

&

 

ImpeREAL Empire - Unique Cities - Falkreath - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31450/?

 

 

So I'm not sure how well these would be for testing for me personally :-P.