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Book Covers Skyrim (by DanielCoffey and doccdr)


dstansberry

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Honestly, I don't pay much attention the the books in the game so whether this gets added or not, it's not going to affect me personally. However, the real question here is: are the new textures right for core STEP? (personal preferences aside)

 

Kelmych has a good point that most covers are different; however, when you look at old books in RL that would be from a "Skyrim-like" time period, you'll notice that those old books are quite similar because of cost, materials available, skill, etc of the period.

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(...)however, when you look at old books in RL that would be from a "Skyrim-like" time period, you'll notice that those old books are quite similar because of cost, materials available, skill, etc of the period.

I agree with that. I have a bookshelf right in front of me filled with old books and new.

 

The difference is noticeable, even the plain-paper is different. More rusty and yellow (aged, maybe).

Covers were solid and filled with "florals" to add something to them.

 

I think my problem with BCS textures are the "overextending" details that don't quite fit the environment. I don't know if that makes sense.

The fonts look good, but the scale isn't right. Hard to say.

 

I can fetch some photos from my old books for comparison, your call.

 

Vanilla seems better to me.

 

EDIT: Plus, old books weren't produced in industrial scale, thus the more "unique" looks.

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Has anyone tried the combined .esp yet?

 

Books in Skyrim are yet another thing that bugs me about the lore. Ok so apocalyptic events and racial extinction (or whatever the hell the did) in the case of the Dwemer there seems to have been no technological advances through the events of the games. At least from the bits I can remember. I only got into the series when Morrowind came out (I was about 10 and Hijacked my dad's copy while he wasn't looking). I never did get a copy of Oblivion (Building stuff all summer long and High School right after).

 

Since nothing I have found in the lore explains it I am reduced to simply consoling myself that the book makers in Skyrim had access to Dwemer production technology: since that is the only likely explanation I can come up with for there being 500 (exaggerated) copies of the same book in game.

 

Also you should state how "old" you mean. IIRC the Chinese were mass producing books in the 800's (~800 years before Gutenberg's printing presses and his mass produced Bible)

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(...)however, when you look at old books in RL that would be from a "Skyrim-like" time period, you'll notice that those old books are quite similar because of cost, materials available, skill, etc of the period.

I agree with that. I have a bookshelf right in front of me filled with old books and new.

 

The difference is noticeable, even the plain-paper is different. More rusty and yellow (aged, maybe).

Covers were solid and filled with "florals" to add something to them.

 

I think my problem with BCS textures are the "overextending" details that don't quite fit the environment. I don't know if that makes sense.

The fonts look good, but the scale isn't right. Hard to say.

 

I can fetch some photos from my old books for comparison, your call.

 

Vanilla seems better to me.

 

EDIT: Plus, old books weren't produced in industrial scale, thus the more "unique" looks.

I think we have a false impression of what old books looked like.  What we see now are old books which have had centuries to age and dry out and have the color bleached out of them.  When they were new they were vibrantly colored.  Given their price they were probably also well cared for.  They would be brightly colored with freshly drawn calligraphy.  So I think books in homes, shops and libraries should be pretty gregarious.  Ones lost and moldering in an ancient dungeon, crypt or cave should look a little worse for the wear - at least until someone acquired it and put a new binding on it.

 

I think these are fine.

 

I'm not thrilled that you can't tell what skill you will level by picking one up - plus it's generally harder to identify skill and quest books - though this is probably more "immersive" if annoying.

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(...)however, when you look at old books in RL that would be from a "Skyrim-like" time period, you'll notice that those old books are quite similar because of cost, materials available, skill, etc of the period.

....

 

Vanilla seems better to me.

 

EDIT: Plus, old books weren't produced in industrial scale, thus the more "unique" looks.

....

I think these are fine.

 

I'm not thrilled that you can't tell what skill you will level by picking one up - plus it's generally harder to identify skill and quest books - though this is probably more "immersive" if annoying.

On my last playthrough of SR (only one actually) I didn't install Book Covers because it was such a big file and had a lot of cleaning that needed to be done (and I didn't clean anything-intentionally-just to see if I could get a quick game going, which I did very successfully).

 

So I don't know if it was because I didn't clean or didn't add another mod, but I didn't see any indication of what skill would be leveled before I picked the book up. Some you could tell by names what it might be, but since it was my first ever playthrough I couldn't tell what 95% would level up what skill. It wasn't ideal for "min/maxing" but it was quite an immersive experience.

 

I can say without a doubt that these new textures are a great improvement over the vanilla textures. The only reason I didn't add them is because of the size of the mod. It's larger than all my Skyrim 2K Lite mods together? How does this affect performance would be my only question. Because that is the only reason I would see to pass on this mod is if the performance hit on the RAM limit is too much.

 

Just to add in-case no one knows, but the Author is combining his texture mod with the new book meshes mod that will make each book approximately 15% more effective resource-wise I believe, while restoring book mesh structure to pre-Skyrim default of wrap around covers rather than front/back/side/etc. I believe this will only improve the mod in every aspect.

 

I would also point out that the whole "old books wouldn't look so good" argument is really tired at this point. Books aren't the only items that look brand-new. Tons of clutter including almost everything in dwemer ruins, pottery, draugr tombs vases.. also clothing, hair, skin are all "new and/or clean" looking, not what you might expect from people living in such a time. Let's face it, magic and heroic skill (including heroic crafting skill) are abound in The Elder Scrolls Universe and you just have to deal with it. For every 1 thing that should look dirty in some peoples opinions (even if it looks less good) there are 5 things that are clean, because they look better aesthetically.

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Old books were leather bound (the nice ones anyway), and they were all some shade of brown. Almost never colorful.

 

Is it a fact that this mod adds variety or does it simply change the look of the same limited sets of textures (aside from book title)?

 

After examining the mod more closely and looking at the binder labels on the shelf and seeing where this mod is going, I am liking it more ... and yes, the variation is increased.

 

I would argue that the textures are double the resolution that they should be. QUESTION: are there a lot of books in the world space (aka, Skyrim space) or are they all indoors?

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