» Sun May 27, 2012 3:34 pm Vanilla Reduced Textures
Download at ..
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=14504
http://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/files/file/1228-vanilla-reduced-textures/
V5
[IMG]http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/images/14504-1-1335001485.png[/IMG]
If your graphics card is struggling with the amount of VRAM your game is using, or you just want to make room to enable you to use 'some' Higher Res' textures from mods without overloading your VRAM - Then you are in the right place
I make no claim that these are good textures, although I think they are good (Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder)
Have a look at the images and see what you think, they have come along quite nicely since version 1.
I just wanted to stop my old laptop from melting. This mod is all about reducing the amount of VRAM the game uses for machines that need it.
Though this mod does slightly increase the fps of your game (because you are running a lot of textures half their original size at the same game detail setting) .. fps improvement is not the objective of this mod.
For other mod authors: If you have textures in your mod, have a read of http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1330609-if-youve-released-a-texture-mod-or-plan-to-please-read/page__fromsearch__1
READ ME
What does it do ?
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Most of the Skyrim original textures ( vanilla textures in the Skyrim - Textures.bsa ), higher than 512x512, downscaled to 512x512 ...
Not every one of them though, more on this further down the description in the Notes. I have not included any texture which is already 512x512, or less, in the games original textures .. Your game will use the originals for those textures.
Additionally the 256 options of both BSA and Loose file options, includes all the reductions down to 512, and has included a lot of vanilla 512x512 files reduced to 256x256 for further VRAM savings. Anything already 256 or less in the games original textures .. Your game will still use those original textures. See "Notes :" below.
Do I need it ?
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If you have a machine which is under the games recommended minimum specification, or border line in your graphics cards capabilities - It may just help.
I made this because I have an old laptop which has an NVidia graphics card with only 256mb VRAM, which can not be upgraded. Other than that it has a fast core 2 duo CPU, fast hard drive and plenty of RAM, which runs Skyrim smoother than I could ever get Oblivion to perform.
It just got a bit warm trying to run with vanilla texture sizes hogging my graphics card - Now it doesn't
It may also help anyone with minimum spec of 512mb VRAM, who also want to mod their game with other texture replacers, for instance if you want to add slightly higher res body mod textures to the game, but are limited by everything else the game is pumping through the graphics card - Cutting down on the vanilla textures may just give you the room to manoeuvre you need.
They all add up.
First: Have a look at the screenshots - These are all taken with only vanilla textures, being replaced by the textures in this mod ( no other mods in use ) - I have tried to show a good sample of how it looks in game, all screens were taken at 800x600, with game settings Texture Detail = Medium (Unless noted on the screen - I did a few at High aswell) ..
Warts and all.
How do I use it ?
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First: Load Order is important. See the following topics if you have not seen them before ...
http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1354395-update-bsas-and-you
and the linked topic
http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1356991-important-load-order-and-you-2
I have provided both a BSA option, and Loose file option, for both 512 and 256.
You only need to choose one of the four files to download.
a ) The BSA option - Has an ESP, which is needed to get the game to load the BSA. The ESP (elder scrolls plugin), needs to load very EARLY in your load list, and .. be ticked in the Skyrim Launchers Data Files ...
Recommend: Game files first ( Skyrim.esm and Update.esm )
followed immediately by VanillaReducedTextures.esp
followed by - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=19
followed by any other mods you use.
( I include USKP here because I can imagine along the way of its development some vanilla textures will be fixed and included in the USKP, which will need to overwrite / load after my mod for them to be in game )
b ) Loose Files option - Does not need an esp, and all the files are exactly the same as you would have if you chose the bsa option above instead. If any other mod you install uses loose files which also replace the same files in game as this mod does, then you need to overwrite my mods files so that the additional mods texture files end up in the game instead.
Dis-advantages of using the BSA option -
1. You need to ensure your load order is correct for the ESP ( see above )
2. The ESP takes up one of the possible 253 maximum mod slots which can be used by the game.
Dis-advantages of using the loose files -
1. The game loads them quicker from a BSA
2. Loose files override files inside BSAs - as noted in the linked topics above ( so in the case of USKP if all its fixed files are in a BSA, then using the loose files will override them, which would be un-desired ).
3. Harder to un-install all the loose files, especially when you have other mods using the same files and you get in a mess of which mods files did I install last and which should be left alone and not deleted - Easily solved and managed with Wrye Bash of course which is my preferred Mod Manager, and the Loose files option is BAIN ready for Wrye Bash use.
Note: Having them loaded from a very compressed BSA as opposed to loose files will also help your machines performance.
Scroll down to Ethatrons notes on compressed versus un-compressed in the section titled ..
A little calculation - here http://obge.paradice-insight.us/wiki/NIFopt
I used Ethatrons BSAOpt to create the BSA on maximum compression (BSAOpt / DDSOpt and NIFOpt all share the same compression technology)
Using the BSA and having it early in your load order will also ensure anything else you install (loose texture replacers from other mods) will override these textures - As noted in the BSAs and you / Load Order and You topics linked above.
Installation:
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You only need ONE of the four options (BSA 256, BSA 512, Loose 256, Loose 512)
If you are updating from an older version, un-install the old before installing the new - Especially important if using the loose files.
Manual Installation
BSA Options - Unpack the 7zip with your preferred archive utility.
Place the esp and bsa in your game Installation Data folder ...
( ~path to steam \ steamapps \ common \ skyrim \ Data \ <-- In here )
Tick it in the Skyrim Launchers Data Files
Use the up and down arrows to adjust the Load Order.
Loose files Options - Unpack the 7zip with your preferred archive utility.
Copy the Textures folder, into your data \ folder as above.
Manual Un-Installation
BSA Options - Delete the esp and bsa you previously installed
Loose files Options - IF you have nothing else installed which has placed other loose files in the Data \ Textures \ folder, then just delete the Textures folder.
If you have other mods textures in there, then probably the easiest way would be to delete the textures folder, then re-install your other mods which now have some missing files.
Its your installation, so you should know what you have or have not installed in the game besides this mod = Not my problem.
Nexus Mod Manager or Wrye Smash ( or anything else out there now or in the future ) - See the relevant documentation / help files / read me's for your mod manager of choice on how to install / un-install mods.
All options are Wrye Smash ready (zipped as simple BAIN's), and I think it should be okay installing with NMM.
I think that covers it.
Notes: V1
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There are many files the game will still use from the Skyrim - Textures.bsa, some of which are still larger than 512x512, because I chose not to replace them ...
Reasons:
Distant object graphics, there are a few of these textures compiled onto one texture - Imagine a Chess board viewed from above and on each square there is an individual picture, even though the whole picture is 2048x2048, the individual squares are small .. reducing those would also look crap.
Some plants files, same problem as above, they are larger than 512x512 but are compillations of smaller textures.
Anything vanilla which is already 512x512, or below, not included in this mod. The game originals will be used.
Statues; I nearly did these, but again they are many part compositions like plants and distant objects, and occur so infrequently in the game I dont think they are worth reducing. If there were many statues in one area .. maybe worth doing.
I have looked at "every" texture in the game, and decided on a case by case basis. Disclaimer = IMHO
Notes : V2
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V1 - V2 : Besides the ones struck through above from previous V1 notes, there have been quite a lot of re-done textures .. Dragons for example are a little bit better visually, but they are a little bit bigger than the previous version of those textures, half size of the vanilla but a bit bigger than v1. I believe just like the statues that because dragons appear not so frequently, at this size they do not add much to the texture load.
I started with the idea of also reducing any vanilla 512 textures down to 256 so that there would have been another option for those who may have wanted an even more severe option - After a lot of travelling around in game, I found the result of those reduced textures was really crap. And knowing people would be trying them with less graphic detail than my medium Texture Detail setting .. they would have been a bit of a shock to the eyeballs.
Anyone using these textures at High Texture Detail setting, will have better looking textures than the ones I show in my images - I used Medium ...
For anyone who has not messed around with textures, a texture has lots of layers called mip-maps, each mip-map reduces the scale of the main texture by half. So the game engine has a reduced version of that texture the further it is away from the player .. On High Texture Detail setting, at close range you see the main largest texture ( for these textures they will be no bigger than 512x512 ).
Because I have my graphics set at Medium when I took the screenshots, you are seeing 256x256 textures in my images. So they will look better at High if your machine can handle upping the detail.
Imagine now all the 512 textures reduced to 256 as the main texture .. Further reduced by your detail setting to 128 if using Medium Detail - They were quite bad, which is why I scrapped taking them that far. Apologies if anyone was expecting a major overhaul for v2, but there were quite a lot of re-do's from v1, so it was not wasted effort.
Notes : V3
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V2 - V3 : Effects have now had a bit of attention, not all of them, just the ones I felt comfortable having a go at without breaking anything
.And there are quite a few new / re-done textures - Nothing additional which would improve performance to any great degree, but its progressed a little.
Notes : V3 256 versus 512
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New to V3 is an added option labelled with 256 (BSA or Loose)
In this version, you get the same as V3 512 (Anything vanilla above 512x512 reduced to 512x512), and additionally a lot of vanilla files which were originally 512x512 reduced to 256x256.
This includes heads, hair and hands, weapons, and a few of the clutter category files like books ... And I cant remember what else
I think there is probably quite a bit more I could include reduced to 256 .. but have not got enough time right now, maybe later.
This option was done for a request, personally I think this is a little too much reduction, but its another choice for those that need it.
No performance screens for this update, not enough time.
Notes : V4
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512 options - These have had just two files added, lnki gave me permission to include two fixed textures for Manhole covers in Solitude, and the dirt edging you see on bridges. Both of these textures had a problematic black edge, which became more noticeable the further away you were from them (mip-maps exagerrated the black edge).
See http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1366865-wiprelz-unofficial-skyrim-patch-thread-6/page__view__findpost__p__20674066 for details and screenshots.
256 options - Includes the same two fixed textures by lnki noted above, plus ...
A lot more 512x512 files reduced to 256x256. The majority of these are in the armour and clothing categories.
Previously I had abandoned reducing these - This time around, I skipped trying to reduce any armour and clothing which covers the torso (capes, cuirass, armour etc, these remain at 512), and also left shields at 512, but made a lot of VRAM savings by reducing to 256 the following ..
Shoes, Boots, Gloves, Gauntlets, Bracers, ArmWraps, Helmets, Masks, Hoods, Hats, Caps, HeadWraps - For both male and female (some are shared by both sixes, most have specific gender versions, and there are special variations)
May not sound like much, but collectively for all the different races, guards and types (beggar, barkeep, children etc etc) thats quite a lot of additionally reduced 256x256 res' files compared to V3.
The 256 options will reduce VRAM useage quite a bit more than the 512 option. And will probably look okay on High texture setting. If you have your game on Medium texture detail setting then as mentioned previously the game scales all your textures down to the next mip-map - For example the head normal maps which are now 256x256, on medium will be 128x128, on low will be 64x64 - So quite a lot of texture quality detail loss in those setting cases.
Notes : V5
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Managed to squeeze a bit more out of this, it may not seem like much but I believe where there are concentrations of the files I have done, the following changes will help save a bit more VRAM in those areas ...
512 Options - A few vanilla plant files normal maps included in this one. Also rockset_n.dds, mountainslab01_n.dds, mountainslab02_n.dds (I did not touch the colour map textures for mountain slabs) ... reduced from 1024 down to 512
256 Options - All files above for the 512 options plus - reachtreebranch01_n.dds, icefloes_n.dds, and grass/plants normal maps ... reduced from 512 down to 256.
Grass/Plants; I was sure I could do something with plants but mostly in the previous attempts could not get satisfactory results - The problem is a lot of them are too thin and twiggy in the detail, not very good quality to start with, and the reduction of colour maps made a very pixellated mess.
So the biggest reductions with v5 were achieved with reducing just the normal map for the same plant. This way we still keep the colour map texture detail of the vanilla textures, and reduce VRAM use by down-scaling the normal maps which still give the plants affected bumpiness. Its a bit of a compromise but does achieve more savings on the VRAM use.
For all options (512 and 256), there were quite a few Architecture, Dungeon and Caves files (Colour maps and Normal maps) done, and in a some cases re-done from earlier versions. I did not keep track of what has been updated among these, forgot to take notes, but suffice to say they add a bit more VRAM saving.
I honestly dont think there is much more can be done with this mod.
Q & A
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Q. Will this be compatible with future game patches ..
A. Textures will not need re-doing so its a none issue, as for the BSA and ESP options - The esp is just an empty (dummy) esp which does not change any game records, its only purpose is to get the game to realise there is a BSA with the same name and the textures from that should be loaded = Thats a none issue too.
In short - Yes it will be fine
Q. This is a bit too much reduction for me - Will there be a less severe version instead -
A. Its already been done .. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=47
Q. I reckon I can do this better than you; Uhm, how do I do it ?
A. Go read some good stuff on the subject such as http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1330609-if-youve-released-a-texture-mod-or-plan-to-please-read/page__fromsearch__1, and all the links in there.
Post me a link once your done making a better job, 'cause I will want to use it
Q. Why not just replace the Skyrim - Textures.bsa with one made by you -
A. In a word .. Steam .. Verifying your cache etc, it will want to replace my replacement every time - So I needed a custom bsa which would contain textures to replace the originals bsa textures, without steam trashing them and forcing the user to re-install my mod again afterwards. And you still need textures in the original game bsa which I have not replaced.
Q. Will it work with DLC Hi-Res texture packs -
A. Seriously ? - Why are you even using this mod if your machine can handle the Hi-Res DLC ?.
( a good one is here http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=9080 ) ..
and given that even optimized versions are higher than vanilla textures you may want to cut down on some vanilla and add some DLC into the mix .. Yes it will, so long as these Vanilla Reduced Textures load BEFORE the DLC textures ( or modifications of those ), or are overwritten by the DLC textures as loose files ( hence why I made the option of bsa or loose files in the downloads for user choice in this regard - But refer to "Dis-advantages of using Loose files" above ).
Q. Can I install this with
A. You tell me. I probably dont use it, so you would be the expert having read its documentation ( you did right ? )
Q. Will any of the textures you did not touch, in the notes above, be done in future for more optimization -
A. Probably not; This is good enough for me, see the performance screenshot. I dont need to use it on any of my other machines, and I think the spec of my old laptop these days is probably a good worse case scenario for Skyrim. Although I have seen someone using a machine with a Pentium 4 mentioned somewhere O_o. Pushing the game to the limits of "just runs" there I think, bravo to that person for giving it a go.
Q. Will it work with Nexus Mod Manager -
A. I think so; I dont use it. I have zipped these up so that they are easy to install manually, or with Wrye Smash (all options are simple BAINs) - I am pretty sure NMM will install and un-install the BSA option no problem, but I have my doubts about NMM being able to succesfully install AND un-install the loose files option, without messing up other mods files. If NMM is anything like OBMM used to be, and you use the loose files option, then its probably a simple case of un-install my mod, then re-install any of your mods which use/install the same textures.
Q. Will I be answering all your questions in the comments
A. The above read me hopefully covers any I should be concerned with .. So probably not, haven't got time to be monitoring it. Help yourselves to help yourselves
Q. Will it work on my machine with xxx hardware
A. My brain does not contain an up to date catalogue of all the different bits of hardware out there .. So you will need to figure it out.
Q. Will you be uploading this on steam workshop, or any other sites besides Skyrim Nexus or TES Alliance -
A. No. If you find it anywhere else, it has been stolen without consent from me.
Q. About Permissions - May I do
A. The reason I put a restriction on this is purely because I feel re-using these files for further editing would degrade them worse than if you were to grab the same files from Skyrim - Textures.bsa and re-work your own magic upon them instead. DDS is lossy, so with each edit and save you lose more detail. Doing everything you want to from the source files with one process to the final result reduces the amount of loss.
If you feel you could do it better for the same objective - Hell I would use your mod instead of this
Additionally: I do not want other sites parasitically profiting from my work which I have not given consent to them using. I would otherwise have just offered them up as a resource ..
Unfortunately recent events in our community have changed that.
You may also be interested in the following:
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http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=4834 - Bit of an explanation for this one; If you use the Med Res meshes (which are optimized for rendering better than vanilla game meshes), Low Normals (from the Normals Original file) and Low Textures (from the Textures Original file) = Even more VRAM saving, and consequently system performance. These files go very well with my mod and I highly recommend them.
Ethatron does wonderful things.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=6387
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=736
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=9571
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10789
Tools used to make this:
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http://www.creationkit.com/Main_Page (well, just for the dummy esp required to get the game to load the bsa version without resorting to telling users to edit ini's)
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=5755 and http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=247 by Ethatron -
http://www.gimp.org
http://www.getpaint.net/index.html
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=6491
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5077-nvidia-inspector.html
Special Thanks/Credits:
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GStaff = BGS Forums
DarkOne = TESNexus
DarkRider = TESAlliance
Andalaybay = Dark Creations
Moderators - Tirelessly supporting the community sites we love, fending off inappropriate behaviour and attacks against the community - Thank you in your support for the forum.
gamesas - Wonderful alternate reality you create, and support for fans.
lnki - For http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1366865-wiprelz-unofficial-skyrim-patch-thread-6/page__view__findpost__p__20676774 to use two fixed vanilla files which were driving me nuts for a while trying to figure out what the problem with them was.
Mod Creators - Even the modest tiny insignificant ones
Thank you all for applying personal time out of your lives and intellectual property for free enriching this community and extending enjoyment/longevity of the experience. Bravo.Permissions Note:
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Redistribution of the files, images or descriptive content is strictly forbidden without prior consent. This means do not upload it anywhere unless you have obtained permission from me.
See also Permissions for these files.
olympusgames or GMOD sites do not have permission, to upload or redistribute any of my files, images or descriptive content, past, present or future.
