ACCEPTED Gemling Queen Dragon Claws (by Saerileth)

[Saerileth]

Thanks! If by knowing the subject you mean gemstones, well I make jewelry as a hobby so I've seen a few (though no diamonds, those are above my payroll). I love pretty gems, they're a passion of mine. :)

Edited March 9, 2014 by Saerileth

[rootsrat]

@rootsrat: Actually I've been reading along for quite a while. Thanks everyone for the kind words, I really appreciate the feedback. :)

Hello and welcome to the forums, good to have another mod author on board! 

If you send a message to z929669 on Nexus to confirm your identity (sorry, it's a standard procedure), you'll get a nice Mod Author's badge here on STEP.

Make yourself at home 

[Saerileth]

Shiny, I got a badge. :) Thanks!

 

Edit: v3.0 just went live, it includes new and improved transparency and *drumroll* refractions!

Edited March 11, 2014 by Saerileth

[Noobsayer]

New transparent refracting ones are GORGEOUS in v 3.0. I had preferred solid before but these really need to be experienced in-game to get the full awesomeness. Still, here's a couple of screenies w/ a darker (therefore not even ideal for viewing) ENB.

 

 

 

There are diamond in extreme closeup and glass (which is teal rather than the original amber, but more like glass armor)

 

Edited March 11, 2014 by Noobsayer

[Saerileth]

Nice screens, Noobsayer! I rather like what the ENB does with the scene, which one is it? And thank you for the feedback. :)

[Noobsayer]

It's Winterheart II. For my personal use I plop in the DoF effect from Seasons of Skyrim because I like the strong DoF from there, lol.

[Noobsayer]

... Can I vote we move this to testing?

 

They blow vanilla out of the water and while Improved Gemstone Claws were an improvement over vanilla too, they don't come close to touching the quality here. Vanilla dragon claws are kinda fugly to be such an important item plotwise.

 

Compares

Vanilla > Improved Gemstone Claws > Gemling Queen

 

Edited March 12, 2014 by Noobsayer

[statmonster]

The backgrounds, lighting etc. are so different in the 3rd image that I can't really compare it to the other two.

[Noobsayer]

They're just screengrabs from the original mods' page. The difference in quality doesn't change in the lighting -- it seems really obvious to me which one is superior. I can do other screenshots, I just didn't really see the point.

[Noobsayer]

OK, all compares done inside the inn at Windhelm, ENB toggled off. Arrangement differs slightly simply because they fell off the table between reloads. Worth noting the beige glass in vanilla/Improved is teal in Gemling, to match glass armor.

 

VANILLA

 

 

IMPROVED GEMSTONE CLAWS

 

 

GEMLING QUEEN TRANSPARENT

(note, solid and transparent look very similar; the transparency is subtle so to see the difference you really need to shift them around in-game)

Edited March 12, 2014 by Noobsayer

[Saerileth]

To prevent items from havoking between loads, I set up my testing arrangements in the CK and tag them as "don't havok settle". Then I only need to make sure not to touch anything ingame and I get nice, identical shots. I'll do a before/after comparison for the latest version, had some for the initial release but was too lazy to keep them up to date.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Saerileth

[Noobsayer]

TES5Edit I can manage, the CK is an arcane and terrifying beast. :B

 

... In retrospect I suppose I could have used a house display function for them. I still think the difference is pretty darn clear though.

[rootsrat]

Or you can just use inventory model :)

[Noobsayer]

Or you can just use inventory model :)

 

Nah, they originally looked much better in inventory than they did in interior lighting. That's been fixed now, but it was there at first.

[Saerileth]

Inventory will not show the refraction effect. Just the way the engine works, nothing I can do about that... I don't particularly mind though, it showcases my textures for a change. Their detail gets lost a bit with transparency and refraction.