Skyrim Configurator

[UgTheViking]

Hey there-

Is the Skyrim Configurator mod tool still good to use even though it has not been updated in 2 years?

And if so , is that the tool I need to tweak ini. files for long distance viewing? I mean I have a decent system, an FPS rate of around 50-60 , graphics on High, running 90 mods stable, yet I cannot see towns, bridges, rocks, etc. until I am almost right on top of them. (Have maxed the faders in game settings)

I have read a few conflicting articles on this , some say tweak ini. Some say set cells. Etc. And so, I am at a loss.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and play on.

[Boombro]

Hey there-

Is the Skyrim Configurator mod tool still good to use even though it has not been updated in 2 years?

And if so , is that the tool I need to tweak ini. files for long distance viewing? I mean I have a decent system, an FPS rate of around 50-60 , graphics on High, running 90 mods stable, yet I cannot see towns, bridges, rocks, etc. until I am almost right on top of them. (Have maxed the faders in game settings)

I have read a few conflicting articles on this , some say tweak ini. Some say set cells. Etc. And so, I am at a loss.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and play on.

For that issue, have you tried downloading an already tweaked ini file?

[UgTheViking]

No. I have not tried that. Do you have any suggestions or preferred ones?

And thank you for the reply.

[Boombro]

I tried to look for it, but my network is really bad bad today. I'm using one from ewis, the guy that have been retexuting everything lately: markets, stalls, ore, ingots and herbs etc

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

 

I have read a few conflicting articles on this , some say tweak ini. Some say set cells. Etc. And so, I am at a loss.

 

 

By cells they mean increasing ugrid count. It's area that is actively managed by game -> All objects are fully loaded, npc's spawned and quests triggering. Increasing this value above original value of 5, may result in problems with quests, spawns and some mods. It will take toll on your performance. Everything beyond 5 grids becomes LOD, low poly distant land, just a background.

 

 

I mean I have a decent system, an FPS rate of around 50-60 , graphics on High, running 90 mods stable, yet I cannot see towns, bridges, rocks, etc. until I am almost right on top of them. (Have maxed the faders in game settings)

 

That leads me to conclusion there is something wrong with your set up. Even if the building is beyond ugrid5 you still should be able to see its lod and you can't really call ugrid5 being on top (I think it's about 100 meters).

 

Remove your .ini files in documets and in ModOrganizer folder if you use it. Run skyrim steam launcher to generate new .ini. Check how it looks ingame.

 

In case that didn't help, it means there is problem with your lod files. Some mods add objects like houses, trees, etc, but don't provide lods for them. Unfortunately you can't do anything unless mod author or you yourself decide to make it. The other reason might be 2 mods overriding lod files for same object or place. Check mod page for troubleshooting.

 

If it's just trees, rocks, fences, water, cliffs that are poping up, that's normal. Vanilla game misses few lod objects and there are mods adding those.

 

The Skyrim Distance Overhaul LOD Improvement by Grieche

High Quality LODs by Ethatron

 

http://static-4.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/19446-1-1389970209.gif

 

Notice that in this case active ugrid ends where you can see grass line (maxed out grass range). If you're experiencing problems within this area, it's your object fade distance parameter. Make sure all your .ini files are set to max. You need to actually open the text file and scroll down.

[UgTheViking]

Ok, thank you very much for the reply. And I understood....er....parts of it. Heh.

Like in the image below, I can see the windmill (From the Skymills mod) but not the farm, until I get closer. (about to the light reflection on the left)

Also large chunks of rocks and the bridges don't 'pop' into view until fairly close. Also, from a Riverwood Tower (Mod installed) I can see the mills just fine but not Whiterun itself.

Should I just try the SDO mod and go from there? I only installed Skyrim Legendary about a week or so ago and have just been setting things up before starting a playthrough.

Ok, tired and rambling now, anyway, thank you very much for replying and explaining. 'Tis greatly appreciated.

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

From what I see the trees behind the mill are all lods. SDO should solve your issues with small rocks and bridges. Riverwood is quite far from Whiterun and that's why you can't see it. Here are some numbers from Ewi's Ultra .ini's that should help with tweaking your skyrim in the future:

 

SkyrimPrefs.ini

 

[General]
fBrightLightColorB=1.0000
fBrightLightColorG=1.0000
fBrightLightColorR=1.0000
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0
fDefaultFOV=75 ; <--- 75 (Standard) and for 16:10, 81 and higher for 16:9 monitors. higher FOV - performance impact.
------
[imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1
iRadialBlurLevel=2
------
[Display]
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3
fInteriorShadowDistance=3500.0000
fShadowDistance=4500
iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=2048
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048
iShadowSplitCount=2
iMaxAnisotropy=1 ; <--- Set to 16 if you don't use ENB.
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=1e+007
iTexMipMapMinimum=4
iTexMipMapSkip=0
fGamma=1.0000 ; <--- Change if your ENB preset wants a different value (RealVision ENB).
iShadowFilter=4
fDecalLOD2=1500.0000
fDecalLOD1=1000.0000
iActorShadowCountInt=6
iActorShadowCountExt=4
fSpecularLODStartFade=2000
fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
fLightLODStartFade=3500
bTransparencyMultisampling=0 ; <--- Set to 1 if you don't use ENB or EnableTransparencyAA in enblocal.
iWaterMultiSamples=0
iMultiSample=0
iShadowMode=4
bTreesReceiveShadows=1 :<--- enables shadow rendering on trees (minimal performance impact).
bDrawLandShadows=1 ;<--- enables shadow rendering on land (minimal performance impact).
bDrawShadows=1 ;<--- enables shadow rendering (minimal performance impact).
bDeferredShadows=1
bFull Screen=1
iSize H=1080
iSize W=1920
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=1e+007
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=1e+007
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=100
sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780" ;<-- change to your card.
bFXAAEnabled=0
iShadowMapResolution=4096
fShadowBiasScale=0.45
iShadowMaskQuarter=4
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1 ; <--- Set to 0 if you don't use ENB.
iScreenShotIndex=0
iAdapter=0
iPresentInterval=1 ; <--- must be set to 1 or enb's vsync will not work. for ENB Users.
bShadowsOnGrass=1
------
[Grass]
b30GrassVS=0
fGrassStartFadeDistance=11000
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=11000.0000 ; <--- Can be set up to 20000 but probably not worth it.
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=400.0000
------
[MAIN]
bGamepadEnable=1
bCrosshairEnabled=1
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
bSaveOnRest=1
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000
------
[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=3 ; <--- Change to your preferred game difficulty. 0 (Novice), 1 (Apprentice), 2 (Adept), 3 (Expert), 4 (Master), 5 (Legendary)
[interface]
bDialogueSubtitles=0
bGeneralSubtitles=0
fMouseCursorSpeed=1.0000
bShowCompass=1
------
[Controls]
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0180
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bInvertYValues=0
bGamePadRumble=1
bMouseAcceleration=0 ; <--- disable mouse acceleration.
bUseKinect=0
------
[Particles]
iMaxDesired=750 ; <--- if you use the CoT Weather patch increase [Particles] to iMaxDesired=1750 for fog effects.
------
[saveGame]
fAutosaveEveryXMins=10.0000
------
[AudioMenu]
fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000
fVal7=1.0000
uID7=0
fVal6=1.0000
uID6=0
fVal5=1.0000
uID5=0
fVal4=1.0000
uID4=0
fVal3=1.0000
uID3=94881
fVal2=0.4000
uID2=466532
fVal1=1.0000
uID1=554685
fVal0=0.8000
uID0=1007612
------
[Clouds]
fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000
fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000
fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000
------
[TerrainManager]
fTreeLoadDistance=75000
fBlockMaximumDistance=250000
fBlockLevel1Distance=70000
fBlockLevel0Distance=35000
fSplitDistanceMult=1.5
bShowLODInEditor=0
------
[NavMesh]
fObstacleAlpha=0.5000
fCoverSideHighAlpha=0.8000
fCoverSideLowAlpha=0.6500
fEdgeFullAlpha=1.0000
fEdgeHighAlpha=0.7500
fEdgeLowAlpha=0.5000
fTriangleFullAlpha=0.7000
fTriangleHighAlpha=0.3500
fTriangleLowAlpha=0.2000
fLedgeBoxHalfHeight=25.0000
fEdgeDistFromVert=10.0000
fEdgeThickness=10.0000
fPointSize=2.5000
------
[Trees]
bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1
bRenderSkinnedTrees=1
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20
------
[Decals]
uMaxDecals=1000
bDecals=1
bSkinnedDecals=1
uMaxSkinDecals=100
uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=60
bDecalsOnSkinnedGeometry=1
------
[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15
fLODFadeOutMultItems=15
fLODFadeOutMultActors=15
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000
------
[Launcher]
bEnableFileSelection=1
bShowAllResolutions=1
uLastAspectRatio=3
------
[blurShader]
bUseBlurShader=0
------
[blurShaderHDR]
bDoHighDynamicRange=1
------
[Water]
iWaterReflectHeight=512 ; <--- change Height and Width to 1024 for higher Water Reflection Resolution. (performance impact).
iWaterReflectWidth=512
bUseWaterDisplacements=1
bUseWaterRefractions=1
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterDepth=1

 

 

Skyrim.ini

 

[General]
sLanguage=ENGLISH
uGridsToLoad=5 ; <--- change to what you desire. use only odd numbers. highly recommended: Stable uGridsToLoad Mod (SKSE Plugin).
uExterior Cell Buffer=36 ; <--- this variable doesn't need changing.
sIntroSequence=DISABLED.BIK ; <--- disables the intro sequence for a faster startup.
bRunHighLevelProcess=1
bMultiThreadMovement=1
bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1
bUseThreadedBlood=1
bUseThreadedMorpher=1
bUseThreadedTempEffects=1
bUseThreadedTextures=1
bUseThreadedMeshes=1
bUseThreadedLOD=1
bUseThreadedAI=1
bUseHardDriveCache=0
fFlickeringLightDistance=8192 ; <--- helps prevent lighting pop-in.
------
[backgroundLoad]
bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1
bBackgroundCellLoads=1
bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1
bUseBackgroundFileLoader=1
------
[Display]
fDefaultWorldFOV=75 ; <--- 75 (Standard) and for 16:10, 81 and higher for 16:9 monitors. higher FOV - performance impact.
fDefault1stPersonFOV=75
fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.25 ; <--- Transition time of sun-shadow movement
fSunUpdateThreshold=1.5 ; <--- Time between sun-shadow movement
fShadowLODMaxStartFade=500.0
fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000.0
fLightLODMaxStartFade=3000.0
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048
bAllowScreenshot=0 ; <--- Set to 1 if you don't use ENB.
fDecalLifetime=256.5000
iAdapter=0 ; <--- for smoothed camera movement, 0 fixes some mouse lags.
iPresentInterval=1 ; <--- must be set to 1 or enb's vsync will not work. for ENB Users.
------
[Audio]
fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0
fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0
fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0
fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0
------
[Grass]
iGrassCellRadius=2
bAllowCreateGrass=1
bAllowLoadGrass=0
bGrassPointLighting=1
b30GrassVS=0
iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=7 ; <--- set it to 3 if you're not using SFO or other textures. unique grasses users set it to 8.
iMinGrassSize=40 ; <--- lower values - denser Grass but greater impact on performance, Grass on Steroids user set it to 75 for best look, 120 for best performance.
------
[GeneralWarnings]
SGeneralMasterMismatchWarning=One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for more information.

[Archive]
sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa
sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices.bsa, Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa
------
[Combat]
fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0
fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0
f1PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7
f3PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7
f1PBoltTiltUpAngle=0.7
f3PBoltTiltUpAngle=0.7
------
[Actor]
fVisibleNavmeshMoveDist=12288.0000 ; <--- allows arrow to hit objects as far as the appear to fly.
------
[Papyrus]
fUpdateBudgetMS=1.2 ; <--- script-heavy setup and your scripts start to perform badly? increase to 1.6 (then 2.0 at max).
fExtraTaskletBudgetMS=1.2
fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500.0
iMinMemoryPageSize=128
iMaxMemoryPageSize=512
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=76800
bEnableLogging=0
bEnableTrace=0
bLoadDebugInformation=0
bEnableProfiling=0
------
[Water]
bReflectLODObjects=1
bReflectLODLand=1
bReflectSky=1
bReflectLODTrees=1
------
[Trees]
bForceFullDetail=1
------
[TerrainManager]
bKeepLowDetailTerrain=0
------
[Controls]
bMouseAcceleration=0
------
[saveGame]
bAllowProfileTransfer=1
bUseSaveGameHistory=1
------
[Decals]
bDecalMultithreaded=1
bForceAllDecals=1
------
[interface]
bShowTutorials=0
fBookOpenTime=700.0000
------
[MapMenu]
sMapCloudNIF=0
bWorldMapNoSkyDepthBlur=1
fWorldMapNearDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapMaximumDepthBlur=0
fMapWorldYawRange=3600.0000
fMapWorldMaxHeight=130000.0000
fMapWorldMinHeight=5000.0000

[UgTheViking]

Ok, awesome. Thank you very much. You have given me a lot to work with here. Appreciated.

One more quick question though, just curious, why from the tower in Riverwood I can see the mills but not the farms or Whiterun? Does it just have something to do with the settings used in the Skymills mod? I would like to have that type of distance view for the whole game. The sudden 'pop ups' are just annoying. But if that's all I've got to complain about ,guess my life is going ok. Heh.

Anyway, thank you again.

[bben46]

I do not recommend using someone else's already tweaked ini file as a part of the ini is based on YOUR unique hardware. And if their hardware is far enough diferent from yours it may fail - and will probably not give the same performance as they get.

 

LOOK at the custom ini to get ideas on what to tweak, But dont just blindly copy it and expect better performance.

 

Worst case - using a Nvidia card with an ini made for an AMD card, This could possibly cause damage to the card. ( but most likely just not work at all)

 

If you don't understand the settings - go to http://www.tweakguides.com/ and learn what they are and how and why to set certain things.

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

I do not recommend using someone else's already tweaked ini file as a part of the ini is based on YOUR unique hardware. And if their hardware is far enough diferent from yours it may fail - and will probably not give the same performance as they get.

 

LOOK at the custom ini to get ideas on what to tweak, But dont just blindly copy it and expect better performance.

 

Worst case - using a Nvidia card with an ini made for an AMD card, This could possibly cause damage to the card. ( but most likely just not work at all)

 

If you don't understand the settings - go to http://www.tweakguides.com/ and learn what they are and how and why to set certain things.

 

It was ment only as a guide for distance settings, tree shadows, etc and it does actually say:

 

"sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780" ;<-- change to your card."

 

There's only this, cpu thread task allocation and screen resolution that shouldn't be copied. Everything else is good to go. How your machine can handle it is other story.

 

Never heard about anyone damaging their hardware by incorrect gpu in ini settings. There would be a lot of ppl suing bethesda since in past there were cases when launcher set wrong video card (not intel hd).

 

 

Maybe I should have been a bit more descriptive, since new users tend to go ahead with mods and inis without reading notes on proper configuration.

Edited October 25, 2014 by BlackRoseOfThorns