Thanks, led me to what I needed. The line was fShadowDistance which was not even in my pref file. I knew it had to be something I was missing because a fresh instal unodded skyrim didn't even fix it. I really don't understand how it was missing yet I played skyrim for years without and until I tried out a lighting mod and didnt like it and uninstallled it. I had not even toughed my pref for months. Silly skyrim :laugh: