need help finding a good lighting mod + a possible noobish question

[ulvemann43]

Hi. this is, if my memory serves me right, my first post here on the forums.

After a few months i wanted to reinstall skyrim and start anew with new mods etc, however, its one thing i never was happy about, and that is when it comes to various visual mods, like ENB and the various lighting mods around.

 

What i'm looking for, is something that makes the game very vibrant and colorful in the daytime, like most ENB series do, however, i'm also looking for something that makes the nights truly dark, something i've yet to see many visual mods do. So what i want to ask first is if there are any mods that would suit what i'm looking for.

 

The second thing i wonder about is more related to compability between mods. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/27043/?

is something i have tried before on my first attempt at installing lighting mods after the reinstall (i did a lot of noob misstakes so i needed to reinstall the whole game again since i took no backups), but i never went around with it for long since it doesent change the lighting outside much. But i see that it suggests things like RCRN (which i can never get to work properly (i think)) which made me curious to which lighting based mods that are compatible with eachother.

 

I'm a complete brainless noob at the subject, and the answer is probably very easy to find, but i wished to ask it openly here, since i also wondered about the first question.

Edited November 15, 2013 by ulvemann43

[ArtMurder]

SweetFX can be an awesome method of lighting, much like ENB but without the glitchiness or being a resource hog. I personally have a SweetFX mod designed to overhaul the outdoor lighting, as well as the night sky you might want to check out! if you don't like the night sky part, I have detialed instructions in the read me how to only install the SweetFX part of the mod! Since my mod focuses on the night sky, it makes nights very dark, something I personally like that most other mods do not seem to have an option for.

 

I also HIGHLY suggest using the mod you linked to (enhanced lights and FX) along with Climates of Tamriel! I personally dont suggest using RCRN, it's very glitchy and finicky, and in my opinion is rendered basically obsolete by CoT aesthetic wise anyways! CoT even has multiple levels of darkness for the nights, if you select the darkest and use them with a sweetFX or ENB mod that makes the world dark, you can get some insanely dark nights. ^_^

 

I use those three mods together for lighting in my game, and it's quite gorgeous, and quite dark during the night time as well! ^_^

Edited November 15, 2013 by ArtMurder

[ulvemann43]

i think some of my mods don't work with CoT, but enhanced lights and FX should work with most lighting mods? i'l give sweet FX a look in a second.

 

edit: i suppose its best to show what mods i have, il write them up here in a sec, just putting this here so youl know im writing them up.

the unoffical patches

supreme storms

randomthunder

roosteratdawn

mintylightning

improved skill and quest books

mark books as read

skyUI

immersive armors

immersive weapons

the paarthurnax dilemma

rich merchants

skyfalls

sounds of skyrim - the wilds and dungeons

WATER

dragonfire

dragoncombatoverhaul

no spinning death anim

height adjusted races and true giants

realistic ragdolls and force

crimson tide

TTYM

blacksmith forge water fix

skyrim flora overhaul

static mesh improvement

race menu

 

i also got the files for real clouds but it conflicts with the flora overhaul. but out of these, i don't know if any of them conflict with CoT. most of these i got from skyrim GEMS

 

edit 2: ive tried around with the game and i cant get lighting mods to work, will make athread about it in the troubleshooting

Edited November 16, 2013 by ulvemann43

[ArtMurder]

All the mods should be compatible, with patches. I don't know what 'random thunder' is, but I suggest uninstalling if it just adds lighting or thunder sounds, it as it's likely whats making your lighting mod not work right, and between it, supreme storms, and COT, you will have plenty of lighting and thunder without it! CoT needs a patch for both supreme storms and mintyslighting, as well as sounds of skyrim, all of these patches can be found on the page of their respective mod (all the other mods have CoT patches, I don't believe any patches are placed on CoT's page itself) I also use skyrim flora overhaul, it requires no patch for any of these weather mods! ^_^

 

Also, real clouds is another mod I suggest avoiding, just because it's not quite 'perfected' yet(like RCRN), and skyrims weath system is very finicky(just like it's lighting system), so it's best to stick to the 'mastered' mods. I personally use Enhanced lighting, CoT, supreme storms, and mintyslighting for my weather/lighting set up (plus the sweetfx from my own mod) and it looks pretty amazing, and I experience no bugs!

 

here's a screenshot.

 

http://i41.tinypic.com/1555ruu.jpg

 

 

Since i have a lot of mods you do, here is my load order if you want to see how to order the weather mods!

 

 

Dawnguard.esm

HearthFires.esm

Dragonborn.esm

ClimatesOfTamriel.esm

ETaC - RESOURCES.esm

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Main.esm

SPIKE.esm

Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp

Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp

Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp

Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp

Isharas_HearthfireLogUpdatePatch.esp

Chesko_Frostfall.esp

Better Dynamic Snow.esp

AOS.esp

Thundering Shouts.esp

mintylightningmod.esp

MintyLightningMod_COT_Patch.esp

FantasySoundtrackProject.esp

StaticMeshImprovementMod.esp

fine goods from morrowind.esp

Economics of Skyrim.esp

AMatterOfTime.esp

Dead Body Collision.esp

Dragonborn HD Ultra.esp

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Climates of Tamriel - lvl-2.esp

Radiant and Unique Potions and Poisons v2.0 non glow.esp

ShootingStars.esp

Skyrim Immersive Creatures.esp

Skyrim Immersive Creatures - DLC2.esp

Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp

WetandCold.esp

WetandCold - Ashes.esp

Dragon Soul Relinquishment.esp

More Alien Skyrim.esp

Footprints.esp

RaceMenu.esp

RaceMenuPlugin.esp

SkyUI.esp

iHUD.esp

Cloaks.esp

Cloaks - Dawnguard.esp

1nivWICCloaks.esp

1nivWICSkyCloaksPatch.esp

Daedric Dawnbreaker.esp

DragonbornArmorFix.esp

hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

Immersive Weapons.esp

ImmersiveArmorsNPCs.esp

konahrik_accoutrements.esp

konahrik_accoutrements_db.esp

konahrik_accoutrements_dpe.esp

SkyRe_Main.esp

SkyRe_Main_Fix.esp

SkyRe_Combat.esp

SkyRe_CraftingFix.esp

SkyRe_EncounterZones.esp

SkyRe_EnemyAI.esp

SkyRe_EnemyScaling.esp

SkyRe_EnemyScaling_Fix.esp

SkyRe_StandingStones.esp

SkyRe_StandingStones_Fix.esp

SkyRe_Survivalism.esp

SkyRe_SIC Crossbowfix.esp

MzarkWonders.esp

BetterRiften.esp

Run For Your Lives.esp

Default Teammate Weapon Draw Distance.esp

FireAndIceOverhaul.esp

dD-No Twitching Dragon Death Animation.esp

SFO - Expanded Diversity.esp

Convenient Horses.esp

dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp

dD-Dragonborn-Dawnguard-EBT Patch.esp

EBT- Dg - Db - SIC.esp

aMidianborn_Skyforge_Weapons.esp

ETaC - Villages Complete.esp

ExpandedWinterholdRuinsExterior.esp

Better Windhelm.esp

SoS - The Dungeons.esp

SoS - The Wilds.esp

SoS - Civilization.esp

EnhancedLightsandFX.esp

ELFX - Exteriors.esp

ClimatesOfTamriel-Dawnguard-Patch.esp

ClimatesOfTamriel-Dragonborn-Patch.esp

AOS_CoT 3.1 compatibility patch.esp

ClimatesOfTamriel-Dungeons-Hardcore.esp

ClimatesOfTamriel-Interiors-Warm.esp

ClimatesOfTamriel-VanillaNights-Lvl-2.esp

Supreme Storms - Cot Version.esp

ELFXEnhancer.esp

NoEyeAdaptation - Climates of Tamriel.esp

SoS - The Dungeons-PatchCoTHardcore.esp

SoS - The Wilds-PatchCoT.esp

SoS - Civilization-PatchCoT.esp

DenserGrass.esp

SkyFalls - Distant Waterfall Overhaul.esp

DVA - Dynamic Vampire Appearance.esp

Better Vampires.esp

Brevi_MoonlightTales.esp

MidasSkyrim.esp

BFSEffects.esp

Enchanting Freedom.esp

The Dance of Death - Dawnguard Edition.esp

Improved Dragon Shouts.esp

Improved Dragon Shouts - Dawnguard.esp

Improved Dragon Shouts - Dragonborn.esp

dD-No Spinning Death Animation.esp

Beards.esp

Brows.esp

3DNPC.esp

RealisticNeedsandDiseases.esp

RND_Dawnguard-Patch.esp

RND_HearthFires-Patch.esp

RND_Dragonborn-Patch.esp

RND_ETaC-Patch.esp

RND_USKP-Patch.esp

AmazingFollowerTweaks.esp

Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp

Gri_BeastFeet.esp

SkyRe_Races.esp

SkyRe_Races_Fix.esp

Spells Cast Light.esp

RealisticWaterTwo.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Waves.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Dawnguard.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Waves - Dawnguard.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Dragonborn.esp

ReProccer.esp

ReProccerNONPLAYERfix.esp

ReProccerDragonborn.esp

Warburg's 3D Paper World Map - Texture 2.esp

warburg's 3d paper world map - dawnguard.esp

Warburg's 3D Paper World Map - Dragonborn.esp

 

 

 

By the way, in the future, for posting big long lists like your load order, use spoiler tags! ^_^ Like this;

 

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[ulvemann43]

sure, i'l give it a shot. randomthunder just adds random thunder sounds in the background when its a rainstorm. it works well overall. i'l try tinkering around a bit and trying lighting mods if i can get them to work.

 

edit: out of curiosity, how excactly can i know which mods work together? of course two ENB mods won't work alongside eachother, not that i can get any to work lately anyways, but from my experience, CoT doesent make the colors at daytime very vibrant (i think i used it once, back on my laptop).

 

edit: managed to install it all now. used ENBcustomizer to get an ENB preset to nearly pitch black nights. it feels just like a walk through a night time forest in norway now, great

Edited November 16, 2013 by ulvemann43

[aLaaa]

 

I also HIGHLY suggest using the mod you linked to (enhanced lights and FX) along with Climates of Tamriel! I personally dont suggest using RCRN, it's very glitchy and finicky, and in my opinion is rendered basically obsolete by CoT aesthetic wise anyways! CoT even has multiple levels of darkness for the nights, if you select the darkest and use them with a sweetFX or ENB mod that makes the world dark, you can get some insanely dark nights. ^_^

 

RCRN first release was 2 years ago, and latest is dated just a couple of weeks ago (exposed here), and the mod is rock solid since about an year. I don't know which version did you try out, but the informations you posted are quite inaccurate. Also because it's RCRN which introduced for first the multiple darkness levels for nights & dungeons, and this happened way before CoT first release. I don't even know how can you call it "Obsolete" since it uses the latest postprocessing technologies available and a fresh flat UI.

 

Not liking a mod is fine, but spreading around wrong stuff is not fine.

Cheers.

[chanchan05]

You can check out this video: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/news/12149//?

 

Compares the two most popular lighting mods Realistic Lighting Overhaul and Enhanced Lights.

 

Basically though, RLO is brighter (nights outside are still much darker than vanilla) than ELFX. Deciding between them just depends on how much you want to carry a torch around.