I'm not using Dark UI but I like this mod. Works good except the loading text is a little hard to read on native screens but they don't appear often enough to really care to much anyways. In future versions it would be nice if you added a text color selector in the OMOD though if that's possible.

"Native" screens? I'm not entirely sure what you mean. There shouldn't be any vanilla screens appearing. If you have loading screens in the vanilla style getting added by another mod, you could try hunting down a DarkUI loading screen replacer pack for that mod (these exist for a few mods), or requesting they get made.

Vac

(Responding to your post in the Scenic Screenshot thread)

Just want to note first that 1700 screenshots is insane! I never realized, ha. Insanely impressive, though.

Since I'm constantly taking screenshots I'd be glad to submit as many as I can. Unfortunately I don't think I have many in my archive that would be appropriate, for a couple of reasons. First, for some reason I've taken to including my character in just about every screenshot I take. So if it's a really scenic shot of a landscape I'll still have my character hiding somewhere in it, sometimes so far away he's hard to find, but still there. Second, I always resize my screenshots from 1680x1050 to 1024x640 before I upload them, and I don't save the original files. So even my previous screenshots that don't include my character probably wouldn't be helpful, unless 1024x640 is big enough.

That being said I'd be glad to change my habit of including my character in every shot, or at least scenic ones for which I'll keep this in mind. Let me know what resolution you prefer and I'll set aside some to be included every time I sort my latest bunch and resize them appropriately. Also, if you require them to be 16:9, unfortunately I'm just a 16:10 kind of guy, so I'd have to crop out the top and bottom of each image in that case. And if 1680x1050 isn't big enough, well, you can always buy me a bigger monitor, haha. It'd have to have an e-IPS panel though, I don't think I can go back to a regular old TN panel after being spoiled by this 22" Dell monitor I was able to get cheaply. Just kidding. But I do love this fancy LCD panel! Too much.

If there are any other specifications you prefer for the screenshots just let me know and I'll do my best to accommodate. I'm really glad to help, considering how strangely obsessed I am with getting perfect shots. I've gone so far as to make the space bar my screenshot key, and every time I want to capture a particular scene I end up spamming the space bar while changing the angle ever so slightly, so when I go through them later I can pick out the perfect angle out of a dozen minor variations. I should be a photographer or something, ha.

I'll take what I am offered and do what I can with them (and remind myself to be grateful). The larger the screens, the better, as screens are often "re-focused", which may mean chunks of the original screens disappear off the top, bottom or sides of the loading screen window. Ideally, I'd also prefer non-compressed copies (such as the original bmps). It's bandwidth-heavy, but means I can get the best results possible for the finished screens.

There's nothing to say that screens *can't* have characters in them, per se, but definitely not character-focused. A few NPCs going about their regular business is probably fine. Some character in improbably shiny armour somersaulting across the centre of the screen? Probably not what I'm looking for. That's a soft line, not a hard line though. It really depends on how "intrusive" (or central, depending how you view these things) your character is on the overall scene.

If you could package your screens in an archive and upload it to somewhere like 4shared, I'd be most appreciative. I don't mind multiple variants of a single screen, though probably only one from each will be used.

Thanks in advance,

Vac

Okay. I mostly get what you mean about character focus, but just to be sure, something like https://picasaweb.google.com/palidorian/Oblivion15ExtendedStay#slideshow/5571289440046144402 is too intrusive, right? I think I've got a bunch like that that are otherwise scenic (not that looking out a window like that is something you'd necessarily want, I realize, I chose that example quickly and thought you might like it ) but that have my character off to the side. So he's not the focus, but he's still prominent enough that it's probably not appropriate. On the other hand, I imagine something like http://i56.tinypic.com/2iuyh3a.jpg, with the character being somewhat incidental to the scene, might be okay? Just trying to get a general idea of the line, heh.

So long as 1024x640 is fine with you, I can go back through my http://www.flickr.com/photos/52136134@N03/sets/ and choose what I think are the best. I stopped posting to Flickr after they wanted me to pay to have more than 200 images, and switched over to https://picasaweb.google.com/palidorian, and I'll go through those as well. The only issue is that they're jpegs, however I save them at like 90-95% and I think I've maintained pretty good quality without the filesizes being too large. Just to make sure, if you could check a few of them out real quick and confirm that the quality's high enough, I'll start going through them to select the best ones. Plus I guess it'll give you an idea of some of the shots I tend to take. Keep in mind the first few sets on Flickr are lower quality, so sample the more recent ones.

For everything else, from this point on I'll make sure to save the bmps of appropriate screenshots, and once I've sorted through a decent amount I'll upload an archive somewhere and send you the link in a message, if that's okay.

I've taken a quick look at some of the shots on your Picasa albums. I see what you mean about your character typically being in the shot, and yes, in many of those the character is rather too central for my tastes. For shots with people in them, something like http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Oblivion%20screenshots/Vacuity_DarkUI_Bruma_Castle_Barrack.jpg is much more usable for me. yes, there are people, but they're very much a part of the scene: guards relaxing in the castle barracks. A slightly different example (and an SI spoiler, so click at your peril) is http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Oblivion%20screenshots/Vacuity_DarkUI_Gatekeeper.jpg. In the latter one the characters are quite central, but as the story in that shot involved is something you're watching, rather than something you're doing, it's basically acceptable. As I said: these are soft lines, not hard lines. Having the blades at Cloud Ruler Temple sparring (ooh, action!) off to the side of a shot is probably fine. Having Martin standing watching them would probably be ok too (in fact, it may even be better). Having the player standing watching them sparring is probably not so good.

If you take a quick look at my own http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Oblivion%20screenshots/?start=all, you'll see... something around zero shots of my character.

As a side note, Picasa wouldn't let me look at your screens at full-res for some reason, so I couldn't check for loss of quality in the jpegs. <_< I'm sure they'll be usable: a large number of the ALS screens are derived from jpegs as that's what trollf provided, though I'd much prefer to be working with non-compressed files (or rather files in a non-lossy format) as much as possible. I have both bandwidth and disc space to spare.

Vac

Yeah I'm pretty obsessed with image quality so I made sure the jpeg compression didn't leave any noticeable artifacts. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_77B7B8HgEWM/TTKjyYJmwgI/AAAAAAAAAJU/eodd6D0kn0s/%231208%23%20Welcome%20to%20Cheydinhal.jpg, does that link work? I'm sorry I keep asking, but is a shot like that okay? My character's in it, but he might as well be an NPC since he's off to the side and the focus is elsewhere. I'm not going to keep running images by you, I just want to make sure I don't send you a bunch of screenshots you can't use. I think that's a good example of one I would think is [barely?] acceptable, but I just want to be super duper extra sure, heh. And if that one's unacceptable I'll know which ones to avoid.

EDIT: And just to be thorough: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_77B7B8HgEWM/TSPpTQO9iPI/AAAAAAAAAEk/QvY835HoexQ/%231010%23%20Crossing%20a%20Footbridge%20in%20the%20Highlands.jpg and https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_77B7B8HgEWM/TT1Mki_C4_I/AAAAAAAAARA/aJFMzYf8w4E/%231309%23%20Colors%20in%20the%20Morning.jpg. Acceptable or no? I know the latter's croppable, but still I want to be 10000000000000% sure. I probably disqualified the former with my [actually kind of pointless] character focus, heh.

Oh wow I'm going to be browsing through your screenshots all day, haha. And I've already spoiled myself way too much browsing the wiki, heh, I couldn't resist. I haven't even gone to SI and defeated it yet and I already know there's a quest to rebuild the Gatekeeper loooool

The link's good, the shot's reasonably nice, though I'd prefer it if the player wasn't standing off to the side like that. In this case, I might see how the shot looked as just roofs, mountain and sky, and if that didn't work out, I might see about cutting the shot off missing the leftmost quarter. I probably wouldn't include the player character in the screen, and if I couldn't find a way to chop that out and still have a good shot, the shot likely wouldn't get used.

Oh, racking my memory, I think that screen of the barracks I linked to above was one of the ones Galahaut *didn't* use because the NPCs were too central, if I remember rightly, he used http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Oblivion%20screenshots/Vacuity_DarkUI_Bruma_Castle_Barr-2.jpg instead.

Vac

Okay, I've got it then, you probably don't even need to check the shots I added in the edit. Knowing you're willing to crop, I'll include shots like the second one I linked in the edit (character off to the side) that I think look really nice otherwise, but not the first one with my character right in the middle even if he's pretty small. Maybe I can whip out the clone tool and cheat, haha (not really going to try that). Anyway thanks for clarifying, it's totally my pleasure to share screenshots, I have so many and they should be put to some good use. Though now I feel stupid for including my character in so many shots since there was really no point except to represent some kind of vague narrative. I do tend to choose armor/clothing for aesthetic reasons, though, until I head off to a dungeon. Gotta stay classy.

Oh, advance warning: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_77B7B8HgEWM/TVExTdWjuTI/AAAAAAAAAdk/ZyQYuWfc_3k/%231510%23%20Swampier%20Swamps%20Survey%20IV.jpg might show up, because I love them dearly.

EDIT: Haha I ruined http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4906648403_227bf8c792_b.jpg in a particularly unique way.

Seriously, http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4907240636_b177375738_b.jpg (head poking out of water).

I'd share some of the few hundred scenic shots I've taken over the years, but since they were all taken in first person as I was playing the game and noticing nice views, they pretty much all have the HUD and crosshair visable.

palidoo, I've got the files, thanks.

The HUD on the outside edge of the screen can be cropped out easily enough, but sadly I lack the image editing skills to make a serious stab at removing the crosshair. If you have any scenic shots without the crosshair, I'd be very happy to try and use them though.

Vac

Do you want screenshots? I have a couple, but have deleted most of mine However if you want screenies, I'll keep you in mind.

Yes, I do! :goodjob: Very much so, though essentially re-making ALS in its entirety (except the plugins, all I have to do with them is redirect a few hundred entries to new screens) does mean that anything submitted will take a while before it gets released as loading screens.

Vac

Alright, well when I see something neat, I'll grab a screenie. Mine will all be in first person and I hide the menus before shooting. As I said, I've only kept a couple and they are reduced jpg's, but http://s855.photobucket.com/albums/ab118/AndalayBay/Oblivion%20Screenshots/. I'll leave the rest as bmp's and won't reduce their size, so they'll be 1920x1200.

Your link is trying to get me to log in as *you*...

Vac

Ha! Sorry about that. Should be fixed now...

Oh, man. I was so focused on deciding if the outside edges (HUD/minimap) could be edited out while still maintaining a decent picture I totally blanked out on the crosshairs (in those screenshots where I didn't go into screenshot mode, heh). Yeah unless there's one you really like and the crosshair is on like a solid color of something easily clone-able you're probably just going to have to trash those. Honestly there were less useable shots in my archives than I thought there'd be; I really did put my character in like every shot, haha. But once I've accumulated a new set of shots I'll upload another rar and send you the link, unless you meet your quota before that happens. It'll probably be a couple days or so. I have some now that will be good (for example http://i55.tinypic.com/mab9qr.jpg) but I'll wait until I have a larger amount. This is going to be a fun little mission, though.

Damn I should really get into photography!

Yeah, so do I. Well, I'll just start taking new ones as I play and remember to turn off the HUD when taking shots.

I look forward to the future (HUD-free) shots.

Vac

A couple things...

First, I saw in the OP that Benirus Manor basemant screenshots are in demand, which makes me feel bad I took https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_77B7B8HgEWM/TTKi157ocDI/AAAAAAAAAHo/w2dsuFdwJro/%231107%23%20It%20Turns%20Out%20This%20House%20Came%20with%20a%20Free%20Necromancer%20Den.jpg but once again, ruined by my character, heh.

Also, I've been under the impressions the screenshots desire are of "scenic" locations, like wilderness landscape shots, architecture, etc. But is a shot like http://i53.tinypic.com/oti44p.jpg desirable? Pretend my character isn't there. It's not scenic, but it shows off another aspect of the game that is definitely part of its atmosphere, so I'm curious. That and I just love the care and attention to detail that went into the book cover retextures, heh. I named that image 'Reading Rainbow,' haha. So yeah I'd just like to know if "atmospheric" represents a more broad definition or if I should stick to the obvious kind of stuff.

EDIT (see post below this one by andalaybay): I've wondered the same thing, except in my case it's the ImpeREAL Unique Forts mod. It adds a few non-ruined, staffed Imperial forts spread out on the map (because why would the Imperial province be filled with only ruined forts?) and they may pop up in some of my landscape-y shots from time to time perhaps. Just curious if there's some kind of line when it comes to showing mod content.
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I just added another one to http://s855.photobucket.com/albums/ab118/AndalayBay/Oblivion%20Screenshots/ and that raises a question: do you want shots that clearly show a particular mod? In that latest pic, you'll notice a flag on one of the towers. That's because I'm running Open Cities Reborn. So do you want screenshots of the cities with this mod loaded? I'm also running All Natural with the Real Lights option, so the lighting in my screen shots will be a little different.

Perhaps you should both consider installing the current (admitedly non-widescreen format) edition of ALS to get a better feel for the kind of screenshots that are desireable in a much shorter time that I can describe it to you. :tongue: Granted that with 1700 loading screens, you won't see everything that quickly, but you should see a good selection within a short enough time to see that mod-added content isn't a problem (I'm pretty sure that the list of desired shots lists several mods), and that there's no requirement for the shot to be scenic, it's simply that the regular screenshot thread is 99.5% portraits, so the scenic screenshot thread's a better recruiting ground for me to ask for help from. The title is "Atmospheric" Loading Screens after all.

Vac

Edit: I finished re-making most all of trollf's shots (550 so far, just the SI shots not done as I haven't finished the theme templates yet) and am going to start on the screens derived from other contributors. For that purpose, I've just downloaded over 2,500 screens, which decompressed to 1.35 GB, from Galahaut. Looking through a handful of these screens and suddenly I feel tired... I wonder why? :wacko:

Taking a short break from loading screen creation to deal with remaking the old SI themes (and a couple of new ones to boot).

Mania http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Working/test3-2.png and http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Working/test1-3.png.
Dementia http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Working/Test3-1.png and http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Working/Test1-2.png.
The SI Ruins http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Working/test1-4.png.
And New Sheoth http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Working/Test1-5.png.

As always, you're welcome to post feedback, as long as you don't have high expectations of your feedback being implemented. :angel:

Vac

I am a fan of all of them except for Mania #2. Looks like... paper fire? And I don't like the way it blends with the darker stone texture. Don't listen to me though, I'm really picky about aesthetics and could probably tear apart all of those if I looked at them long enough. Bonus: In Dementia 2 I don't like how the frame meant to go around the screenshot blends in with the rest of the texturing so that it's barely noticeable as a frame, while in all the other image the frames are distinct from the texturing around them. Okay, sorry. For real just ignore me!

I like 'em! I agree that Mania #2 seems a bit odd and I don't like it quite as much as the rest, but it is still a good idea; maybe it just needs tweaking a little. :shrug: