Hmm, I'm surprised that people don't seem to recognise the mushroom flesh and bark for the Mania theme...? Don't people pay attention to their environment?

Vac

I haven't gone to SI yet, haha. Can you guess my ratio of time spent playing the game vs. time spent tending to mod fever? Actually I'm very deliberately pacing my playthrough and don't want to head there until I've ~experienced~ enough of the original game. So much stuff to do! This is why I can't try any overhauls or mods that add more "content" to the game or I'll just be overwhelmed by the options and melt. You know, with my screenshots you've been given the gift of being able to live vicariously through me and experience Oblivion for the first time again! Feel the wonder!

EDIT: Vacuity check your messages, I asked yet another question about the screenshots in an edit to a reply to my original message (convenient feature).

:lol: It's been a couple of years since I had been in SI until yesterday and saw what you mean. Its quite fitting now that I recall what Mania looks like. ^_^

Oh, I snapped off a few HUD-less screenshots a couple of days ago while tweaking OBSE shader settings and had a few I thought looked pretty nice (I'm adding them into my wallpaper rotation, which is what I mainly use my game screenshots for anyways). Anyways, I uploaded about 11 or so into a 7-zip file to my 4Shared account so you can look at them and use them if you wish. Of course, anyone else can feel free to check them out as well.

http://www.4shared.com/file/aAjjRfyt/OblivionSamplePics.html

They're all pure scenic shots (except for a couple of stray NPCs in a couple of them). Each one is 1680x1050 resolution in bitmap format, with the archive being about 33MBs compressed and IIRC 55MBs or so uncompressed.

Notable mods being used in the shots (for those who are wondering):
Corepc's Vibrant Textures, QTP3 Redimized, Better Doors & Flora, Better Trees & Flora 1 and 2, All Natural, Enhanced Vegetation, Enhanced Water HD, Better Cities, AWLS, Improved Signs, and Verona House: Bloodlines (you can see it's city in one shot). Also being used is several OBGE shaders (for increased saturation & contrast, godrays, and bleach bypass).

Regrettably, I had AA off and had forgotten that my water reflections look like crap rightn ow for some reason, but neither is terribly noticable IMO when the images are scaled down in size, and these were originally just going be to just used for wallpapers and shader setting comparisons, but I liked them and figured I'd share. Anyways, if you like them, Vac, I'm always taking new shots if you ever want more down the road.

I've downloaded them and taken a quick look. The style is nice, and I'm sure I can make use of shots like these when I get to making "new" loading screens, rather than re-making old loading screens. Thanks!

Vac

No problem and thank you. I'll try to remember to upload more periodically if you want 'em. I usually take a lot more wilderness shots, but that day I was mostly in Chorrol testing shader settings and stuff, and just happened to have some good looking picture opportunities come up.

Anything that follows the general guidelines is worth a look.

Anyway, talking of looking, I've finished re-making the loading screens for the Lost Spires theme pack, the Oblivion Realm theme pack and the Ayleid theme pack. I am working through the Shivering Isles theme pack at present.

Wait, I mentioned looking didn't I? http://www.myalbum.tw/Album=4A6RARHT. These are final and ready to be released. But they won't be released until I finish making everything else... :ermm: Still... lots of screens to re-make. I don't really want to count them.

I'll probably get the Oblivion Realm and Ayleid theme galleries up before release if people are interested in seeing them.

Vac

The Lost Spires theme pack looks wicked.

Just so you know Vacuity, in case you weren't aware, you have to have an account on that site to be able to view full size screenshots.

Ahh, nuts. That wasn't the case when I set up the new gallery there last May. I guess I'll have to try and find a suitable hosting site again. :facepalm:

Vac

Done.

Here's the new theme packs:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103621017103405621303/NewThemePack1LS?feat=directlink.
https://picasaweb.google.com/103621017103405621303/NewThemePack2OblivionRealms?feat=directlink.
https://picasaweb.google.com/103621017103405621303/NewThemePack3Ayleid?feat=directlink.
https://picasaweb.google.com/103621017103405621303/NewThemePack4SI?feat=directlink. (beware, theoretically contains spoilers, but you're not really going to know they're spoilers until after you do the questlines and go "oh, so *that's* where the shot comes from!")
https://picasaweb.google.com/103621017103405621303/NewThemePack5Caves?feat=directlink.

People who are familiar with the original theme packs will notice that some screens are "missing". This is because Floydian has withdrawn permission for re-use of his shots (not a good way to make friends) and Galahaut has lost the original screenshots for some other screens. There's still a good selection and I shouldn't have a major problem making new screens to replace the "missing" ones.

Vac

Picasa is pretty good overall, especially compared to something like Flickr that wants you to pay to upload more than 200 images. But the Picasa program makes me wish it was possible to punch software in the face.

Anyway those are all really nice, very well-framed, etc. But now I'm worried my screenshots are too colorful to be included, ha. I suppose if you wanted you could adjust the saturation if they stand out with the others. I've thought of setting OBGE to get the stylized desaturated look but I haven't found anything I really like, so I go in the opposite direction and try to bring the color out as much as I can. I hope they end up useful, I'll be uploading another bunch soon probably.

I don't know if you're planning to expand the number of theme packs, but I can think of a bunch more that would be good, and if it 's possible I'd almost like to volunteer to actually help you compile them if you're overwhelmed by the number of screenshots to sort through, frame, etc. I'm not sure what exactly the guidelines are to make sure everything is appropriately "atmospheric," though. Anyway, just a thought.

Have you done as I suggested and installed ALS to get a feel for the style(s)? Things like the cave shots are typically low on saturation (the same will be true of the snow theme pack when I wrap that up), but there's no lack of highly saturated shots in ALS overall.

Vac

I'm installing ALS tonight, finally some time to actually play Oblivion instead of doing everything else related to the game except actually playing it!

I think you are familiar with this condition? heh

Do you have any plans to redo the main loading screen that displays when you first load the game itself? I think it could definitely use some work. If you weren't working on it I'd be glad to give it a shot, because, um, I really don't like it, haha.

Not really, that's what Galahaut made and it was originally his mod and his decision to do it that way. I'm not really interested in changing it. If you don't like it, the original is backed up for you; read the readme and you'll see what can be done about it.

Vac

Ah, I see. Yeah I'm just not a fan of the style of the text on it, but I can be really picky about those things, it's not a big deal. I'll just make one for myself, maybe with the exact same text but in a different style, on top of the original blank one.

Well, I'm certainly up to remaking it. :ninja:

I messed around with it for a minute and right now I have http://i53.tinypic.com/wk4755.jpg as the loading screen when I start the game, if you can picture it with the big rune-y logo thing in the center and the image stretched horizontally so the text isn't so thin. I was going to add "The Elder Scrolls IV" as well as, in smaller text off to the sides, "Atmospheric Loading Screens" and "by Galahut [and whoever]." Then GIMP crashed, and I hadn't saved, so I have to start again some day in the future. Anyway I'm just using that for my game, I'll probably share the finished version but I don't expect it to be used anywhere else, I'll probably end up not completely happy with what I make anyway, haha.

Sounds good.

I'll continue plugging my way through the hundreds of loading screens to remake.

Vac

Vac, were you able to salvage anything from Natural Selection ?

Would you believe I was just (read: finally) taking a look at that earlier today? I've been a little busy between RL and re-making the old screens.

Sadly, no, I don't think I can really use anything from that as the new ALS format is "wider-screen" than the format you're using, which would mean I'd have to scale pictures up, which is not really desirable.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway, and if you do ever get back to taking screenshots, you know I'd like them.

Vac

Ah, shame. I wonder if Seagate can be sued on those grounds...

Hmm, I'm a little confused. It seems like you submitted (at least a large proportion of) those screens to Galahaut for possible inclusion in ALS previously, right? Because at least some of the original screenshots are in the huge archives Galahaut sent me for screen remaking. I'm in contact with Galahaut about these screens anyway, so it's possible some will be used. I don't see any problem with giving you what I have of yours back if you want it?

In other news, I have finished remaking the old screens. Yes, finished. Gods, I thought it would take forever. (Of course there might be a few bits and pieces to tweak with them, so this is "finished" like all mods are, you know :thumbsup: ) I now have to make a little under 500 new screens to make up for all the ones that got dropped for one reason or another. Currently my folder of unused screens has stuff from 10 people (including some from Galahaut and lots from myself), but I know there are way more people out there taking awesome scenic and atmospheric shots.

Anyway, once Galahaut's given the rest of the screens a thumbs up, they'll go onto the gallery. I'm already working on brand new screens again (which is kind of nice).

Vac