Hello @ll,

lately there have been a lot of texture replacers around, and I am getting somehow confused about
which mod still seems essential.

the mods are:


Bomret Texture Pack for Shivering Isles http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=28378
Bomrets Detailed Normal Maps for Vanilla http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10419
Bomrets Detailed Normal Maps for Vanilla Higher Res Landscap http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18429

Qarl's Texture Pack 3 - Redimized http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?id=3813&view=OblivionMods.Detail

Landscape LOD Texture Replacement http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2182
Landscape LOD Texture Replacement Border regions http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2210
Landscape LOD NormalMap Fix http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2446

and

all Vibrant DistantLOD and Vibrant Texture Enhancements Replacer http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=982463

even Unique Landscapes Compilation brings their own LOD files with them, shouldnt they be the best to use anyway?

I guess some of them are redundant by now, but cant really tell which. Does someone know? :grad:

Ok, I found out a little bit myself.


Bomret Texture Pack for Shivering Isles here
Qarl's Texture Pack 3 - Redimized here

these two seem just to be essential for best quality! (and they make vibrant textures somehow obsolete... :blink: )

But Vibrant DistantLOD and Vibrant Distant Normal Maps are the best choice for better LOD! :tops:


Does anyone know where the purple glowing on some creatures comes from (just after you hit them)? I did experience this with the lesser durzog.
Is it a texture related bug? (..bad normal maps? )

I'd suggest taking a look at http://www.tesnexus.com/modules/members/index.php?id=1394013, high quality and less of a fps hit than QTP3. (I just install Ampol's over QTP 3.1 Redimized). I'd also suggest taking a look at http://devnull.sweetdanger.net/obliviontextureoverhaul.html.

As for the purple glowing texture after hitting something, I'd have to guess you're missing an effect shader or a blood texture. Is it just Durzog's or anything you hit?

Install the UL LODs after the generic ones and if there's conflict, let UL overwrite.

You may also want to check out http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1079172
For LODs there's also http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17300 and http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1037287&hl=

Also, check out http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1079481&st=0

It was just the durzog as I thought, because just before playing I have pyffied my OOO meshes, and I knew the durzog could be only a temporal reference with damaged attributes (not in-game but technically... ).
after playing a while, the new durzogs didnt have this purple glow anymore...and I hope they are begone!

Well no. While those two are the most comprehensive texture replacers, there's alot of smaller projects that are just as good quality as those. For instance, check out some of Mikal's retextures. While he doesn't deal with as much as QTP3 his work is just as good, if not better for some things. Koldorn has also done some good work and some people prefer it over QTP3. And Vibrant Textures is not at all obsolete. Not everyone has the hardware in order to run the high res texures that QTP3 uses. For those people, Vibrant Textures is a good alternative.

Qarl's is nice in that it upgrades the resolution of the graphics while maintaining a very Oblivion feel.

AmpolX's item textures (books, woodgrains, clutter, etc.) are wonderfully detailed and beautiful. The ATP landscape texes are wonderful, too, but darker and more realistic (less cartoony) than either vanilla or Qarl's. They don't work well alongside Qarl's IMO. I suggest not mixing and matching.

Mikaal's various texes are nice, too. The doors and vegetation I think are a good addition to Qarl's.

Mythofstrider's creature and animal retexes are just to die for! AmpolX did a few also, which I can also recommend. Again, both of these are very different from the vanilla feel, but it does seem to me that animals and creatures can have a different look than the landscape and it still works all right.

I just finished installing Bomret's normal maps and Corepc's vibrant texture packs (all of them). And then I let mtg's new landscape and vegetation texes overwrite those. So far, this is my favorite setup. Not realistic, but then as I've said before I'm not a realism junkie. The colors pop, especially the purples and greens when outside. And I enjoy the look of the wood furniture and surfaces very much. It turns out I just like a lot of color!

I'll probably put AmpolX's book jackets in, though. I'm not sure it will "fit," but I so so like them.

gothemasticator

Having tried out every texture pack I know I've come to the following conclusions, based on my taste and my computer's video settings (all things maxed, no Bloom, HDR or AA, 22" monitor and 1680X1050 resolution):

LODs: http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1037287&hl=, then http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17300 and http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26625 for the Bruma/Jerall Mountains.

Landscape: http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1079172 I think the landscape looks better than Qarl's, and it also uses far less VRAM. Includes Trees and is thus a less resource hungry alternative than Enhanced Vegetation. I'm also using Dalls Bruma for better Bruma landscape.
For Aylied Ruins and Fort Ruins - both interior and exterior - Qarl still rules supreme.
For city exteriors Mtgr is a good alternative to Qarl. In my tests Mtgr used aout 225 VRAM and Qarl 450, so there is a huge difference in performance. Mtgr is a bit dark though, and Qarl's strength was Architecture, while Mtgr's is Landscape.
For City interiors Qarl is the winner again and in such small cells VRAM is usually not a problem.
For Caves and Sewers Koldorn is still the master, I think. Especially the wet looking sewers are in a class of their own.
Then top it all with Mikal's Improved Doors, Flora etc.

This is the combo that gives the most eye candy for the VRAM on my system, before installing anything but the UOP.

perhaps the best affordable solution today... ^_^


didnt try much here, just stick with the compressed and reduced Quarl 2048 normals and BT's 1024 LOD, and Koldorns medium noise.
Im still impressed, though i dont know how much it hits my system resources...


I do agree, Quarl does have loads of those "magic" textures, like they make me wanna like lick my screen allover.
as I know how hard they are to create, im really overwhelmed.

The advise for AmpolX'S textures was really great, this guy did an amazing job, and his textures even outperform some of quarls in quality.they are the best i have ever seen.
(are this students doing some diploma prework probably...? I cant imagine yet, how to create textures in this quality, with normals, parallax, etc)

Mtgrs textures, imho, are to suit one another perfectly. they will have best results, if using them alltogether.
but i just picked some of them yet, westweald rocks and wall textures, still i am selecting and replacing some of quarls.

thx for all the help, this really is amazing :celebration: :twirl:

btw ... the purple glow on the lower, greenish durzogs is still there, but i will open another thread on this topic if i fail at solving this glitch.