Qarl's Texture Pack 3 Redimized wtih OBMM

[ladlon]

Ah! There we go.... I knew I would manage to screw something simple up!

 

Ya, I'm editing the default one. Mystery solved!

 

Okay, I'll check out the other one then... Thanks!

 

 

BTW: The yogurt is great, but the experimental meds they randomly put in really give it a metalic/sulfur flavour that is really not to everyone's tastes... and the resulting random halucinations, skin melting, and 'fluid excretions' really kind of take the initial charm out of the whole package.

[Striker879]

Your keepers must have a mean streak ... or was that "Stupid hobbitsez!". Hard to tell if I'm in the movie or the movie is just playing and I'm watching (is there a difference??).

 

Not sure how you'd go about restoring you oblivion_default.ini back to default values (you didn't save a backup of the unaltered original by any chance). A fresh re-install would probably do it, but I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to go there. The oblivion_default.ini isn't used at all unless something happens to your oblivion.ini. If you haven't edited your oblivion.ini yet make a backup and store it in a different folder. It will be the values from the oblivion_default.ini plus the changes that setup made when detecting your hardware. It's always good to have a way to roll things back (well besides the red shoes and "There's no place like home" naturally).

[ladlon]

You underestimate me, my friend! Yep, I made a backup of both the default and the proper init. (Extra yogurt for me tonight!)

 

I've restored the default init back to its former glory, and edited the proper init file this time.

 

Not sure if any of the tweeks did anything. I'm getting over 60fps in general as it is (which is nothing to complain about), and I kept my eye on the 'exteriors to load' (or whatever the wording is), and found that it really wasn't what was causing the stutter. So, I'm inclined to think it is that horse animation thing you talked about (and perhaps some other things). It's fairly rythmic, which makes me lean towards the horse anim.

 

Odd thing is, I went to this town, and got off my horse (which normally puts me in 'smooth fps mode'), and oddly enough it was horribly stuttery for a bit. There were a few sheep around, so maybe the CPU was taking a hit from them. After I wandered away from them, it seemed to clear up a bit. I've only seen that sort of thing when using Martin's Monster Mod, and a spider releases it's little spiderling things (...I wish you could turn that off, as it's a slide show inducer).

 

This is where I get a bit stumped, as I'm not knowledgeable enough to really determine/estimate what factors are truly likely of slowing my machine down (be it stuttering, or just holding the fps back). Right now, I have pretty modest settings (medium textures, relatively low resolution, no self-shading, HDR off, etc). Really hard to say where to begin, as there are so many combinations of settings (and each individual one potentially resulting in other settings having different effects on frame rate). I need an IT guy/oblivion expert who is in agonizing need of setting up a config file to my needs! hehehe (I'm not going to hold my breath on that one....)

 

The frame rate is fine (minus the stutter thing when on a horse, and if there are too many creatures), so the only reason I'd want to improve them is to be able to crank some other things up a bit (as well as to have the always-welcome fps headroom anyway).

 

Would Oblivion use more than 2 gigs of RAM on an XP system? I didn't think ANYTHING would use more than 2, unless it's a 64 bit system.

[Striker879]

I love it when someone earns those special perks (betcha' ya even get a couple of blueberries in yer yogurt). You probably were even able to find some of those 'missing' variables. As far as I know you won't be able to completely eliminate all stuttering in Oblivion. It's an old game, that pushed the envelope back in the day, but it just can't take advantage of today's modern hardware.

 

You should run the game at your screens native resolution unless you're using a CRT monitor. The re-scaling that must be done in the background when you run an LCD at non-native resolution is just chewing up CPU cycles. Your hardware can handle it.

 

Any 32 bit Windows version will be able to utilize just shy of 4 Gb of memory. I believe you'll need 3gb enabler to take advantage of more than 2 Gb in the game (although a quad core should be able to use any memory above 2 Gb for background tasks while the game is running, mind you with a small impact on the game for multitasking overhead).

 

It's good to run into another XP dinosaur. How much longer before we fall victim to the end-of-life no more security updates 'asteroid strike'.

[ladlon]

Yep, all the missing attributes were in the proper init.

 

Interesting point about the monitor's native resolution. I'll have to look into that. Not sure what the native res of my monitor is. I think it's 1920x1080.

 

I just set Oblivion to that (it was at about 1300 previously). Well, it certainly LOOKS nicer!

 

Frame rate is still around 60 (going up to over 200 on interiors). I wonder if I should put vertical sync on. Seems to be some tearing sometimes. Not sure how you turn that on, now that I'm not launching Oblivion the regular way (due to the extended script thing).

 

Meh, my textures still look kinda lame... I still am not sure if the Qual textures are even there. Not seeing any real depth, and it still looks kind of blurry... even on the Large texture setting.

 

I'm tempted to download the regular Qual (as opposed to the redimized one I have currently). I'm assuming it'll be my video card that takes the strain, and it should be fine with it, since it's 1 gig of GPU RAM, and it's a half-decent card.

 

I wanted to do the depth-of-field mod, but OBMM claims it conflicts with something.

 

Ya, I'm running 2 XP machines here (a 2.8ghz, my internet machine.... and a dual core, my gaming rig), plus a new i7 system (12 gigs of RAM, baby!) as my new work machine for my 3D/graphics work. I've been VERY tempted to load a game on it to see how the i7 runs it, but I'm keeping the system clean.

 

I hate win7 (and totally skipped Vista). I'm sure win7 is 'powerful and capable', but I hate the interface, and what it THINKS I want (and what it THINKS is convenient). It thinks wrong...

[Striker879]

I'm with you on Vista and Win 7. The laptop I'm currently using came with Vista, and I've set up a number of netbooks and laptops for the grandkids with various Win 7 flavours. Give me XP any day. I actually have three uninstalled OEM copies of XP Pro waiting for machines. I swear if this Vista laptop ever so much as has a hiccup and I'll turn it into an XP machine (with the subsequent increase in performance ... unbelievable how long the HD trashes after bootup with Vista, and I use a 4Gb SD card as ready boost).

 

To access the original Oblivion launcher I use the Oblivion shortcut on the start menu (I have edited my desktop shortcut to start via obse_launcher.exe). Considering I'm primarily a manual mod installer I use that as opposed to having two desktop shortcuts, one for OblivionLauncher.exe and one for obse_launcher.exe (less chance of starting the game to play using the wrong shortcut). On the original Oblivion launcher you'll have an Options and then you can set vsync to enabled. You could force it in your NVIDIA control panel for Oblivion, but it's probably best to use the game for it. As a side note, if you ever want to use HDR lighting and antialiasing at the same time you'll need to force AA in the NVIDIA control panel (it's not available as an option in the game graphics settings with HDR selected).

 

If you're only dropping below 60 fps occasionally you may want to give the full meal deal version of Quarls a try. Something you could do while just experimenting is use bben46's Revert to Vanilla guide to create a 'sacrificial lamb' copy of your Data folder. I'd create a vanilla one first, like his guide outlines and test Quarls full meal version on that initially (with any required tools such as OBSE installed but no other mods). If it runs good then add your mods etc. to the trial installation until you're satisfied it's a workable deal. You then have the choice of using the test version of your Data folder as your new working version or uninstalling Quarls Redim on your original Data folder version and install Quarls full meal (not the way I'd go however ... the trial Data version started out clean, is modded to your perfection and works, what could be better than that??).

Edited July 1, 2011 by Striker879

[ladlon]

Yep, for fun, I went into the NVidia control panel, and forced VSync as well as Triple Buffering (which I know know what it is specifically, thanks to that great guide you pointed out... I was reading up on a number of things there. Really great reference!).

 

Now, it may be the yogurt meds speaking, but the game suddenly looks really good. Textures seem sharper and more detailed. Frame rate is smooth (despite the supposed 50% reduction) and holding at 60fps.

 

Not sure if this is just a coincidence (as I can't imagine that VSync and Triple Buffering would do thta), but I can't deny liking what I am seeing.

 

I may try and find that horse anim replacement you were talking about, as the horse walk cycle still staggers.

 

 

As far as other mods (I'm still running about 3-4), I'd be interested in:

 

-Depth of field

-Something that improves the faces (...mostly just the texture, as some of them look like they have a skin disease... I think that's supposed to be 'wrinkles', but it's so blotchy, it looks pretty bad and low-res. The other graphics (water, sky, trees) all look excellent now...)

-More creature types (although not more of them appearing at once!)

-Additional locations/buildings... always welcome, as long as they are done well

-Anything to make things look more real or pleasing (...I recently discovered a mod called LitWithin, or something to that affect, which gives the effect that there is light inside each building, coming out of the windows, which I thought was really great)

 

What I'm not interested in:

-Any anime inspired, oversized armour/weapons

-Any gawdy coloured armour/weapons/characters (...I was pleased to see SI introduce lightweight armour made with amber, but I hate the look of it (you end up looking like Bumblebee from Transformers!, and I much preferred the traditional look of my old brown leather light armour... so I'm bearing the extra weight, just because of that...)

-Silly 'out of place' additions (like Iron Man)... (Hey, I am silly, and goof off in Oblivion too, but I'm just not interested in modding like that)

-Over-the-top, frame rate crippling effects/spells

-Anything that makes Oblivion a slide show mindless button mash festival

 

I'm an old-school, traditional type when it comes to the aesthetics and monster types... I really love the art direction in Oblivion overall (dungeons, towns)... exactly as I like it. I like spiders, rats and goblins... and not 'special' creatures (all colourful, and having weird powers and attacks). I like stealth, and controlled, stratigic fighting (where you are trying to read what the enemy will do, blocking, attacking when open, etc). I like dirt and stone locations, and not 'glowy, multi-dementional, teleporter-filled' type of environments.

[Striker879]

I didn't notice the horse animation stutter until AFTER I install fore's NoMaaM, so don't expect it to help around that. Your best bet to help with the blotchy faces is one of the high definition texture replacers like Ozmo's High Rez Skin Textures for HGEC. To use that one you'll want to convert to the HGEC body (along side the Roberts body probably the most popular ... thus lots of armor etc. for it). I use and recommend Rivelle's HGEC Body with BBB v1dot12. It comes as an OMOD with an installation script so you can choose the body style you want, pick from nude or with undies (same as vanilla) and is recently updated to play nice with fore's NoMaaM Animation Replacer (pick the 'no animation' option in Rivelle's HGEC body if you plan on using NoMaaM and then you won't have the 'animation overwritten' issue). Once you have the HGEC body installed and working install Ozmo's textures. There are two options, 2048 x 2048 resolution or 4096 x 4096. I use the 2048 x 2048 myself because even when my SLI was working I only had 1.2 Gb video memeory to work with plus the lower resolution textures are a simple download (one file) and I used the installer to install. If you decide to go with the 4096 x 4096 textures then I recommend following Talonvore's Ozmo's Hi Rez Skin Textures: A step by step guide!.

 

That should keep you up to your ears in mischief until the next round of meds is delivered ... can't be leaving you time to actually play the game!!

[ladlon]

Hrmmmm....

 

I downloaded the uncompressed (regular) versino of Qarl's Texture Pack 3.

 

Before installing it, I removed the Redimized version, and ran Oblivion, just to see the difference between the Qarl version and vanilla (as I didn't notice much of a change going to Qarl).... and to my surprise, it looks the same! So, either Qarl didn't install, or it didn't uninstall now that I removed it. I suspect it didn't install, as it's technically 'deleted' now, yet still seems to have the same results as when I (supposedly) had Qarl installed.

 

Any theories on why it may not have intalled (even though OBMM said everything was fine)?

 

I'm going to try the regular Qarl next, and see if that changes things.

 

 

UPDATE: The regular Qarl mod seems to have worked... Again, hard to tell without a side by side comparision.... but things like natural rocks seem more detailed. What's does the parallaxing feature do exactly? Simulate multiple layers (depth) in a 2D texture?

 

UPDATE UPDATE: You know what.... I don't think either of them are working. I'm suspecting that what I'm seeing is still the vanilla textures. Any suggestions as to what I can try? I'm thinking maybe the load order? Looks like it's the last in the 3-4 mods I have in OBMM... if I'm understanding it correctly.

 

UPDATE UPDATE UPDA... well, you get the idea: Okay, it seems confirmed. I ran BOSS, and it recognizes 8 mods, and found 0 unrecognized mods. However, the list of mods it recognizes is just the Natural Environments (which shows as several separate mods), the Darnified UI, Shivering Isles and Knights.... and no Qarl! I seem to remember it doing that with the optimized version as well (although it didn't click to me like it did now). So, what now? OBMM shows Qarl as installed and activated, yet the BOSS report doesn't show it as existing at all. Lots of clues... but no theories in my head so far.

 

A WEE BIT LATER: I have a theory (...and it is mine..... (sorry, an obscure Monty Python reference)...). After looking at the contents of the Oblivion directory, I think I know what went wrong. I applied the mod via the Add Archive features... and the archive itself contains an omod file... so, it installed an omod into the root of Oblivion, rather than running the omod. So, I'm installing it over again, the right way this time, to see if that was the case. Hulk is learning...

Edited July 3, 2011 by ladlon

[ladlon]

Okay, for those of you following along, here's the status...

 

Good news: It's finally working. The mod has definitely installed now (my theory was right). I can definitely see the difference.

 

Bad news: This has introduced some pretty bad stuttering. Before I would only really get stuttering when galloping on a horse. Now, I'm getting it sometimes even when walking around. Keep in mind this is the un-redimized version, and I have vsync activated. The debug text is showing 60fps (dipping sometimes briefly to 50fps), but the stuttering is pretty pronounced. Definitely tripping over something...

 

Bonus bad news: I'm getting an odd effect...I believe it's the parallax thing that's causing it. For one thing, there are grey 'shadowlike' patterns on things like stone walls (Fort Caractacus, for example). Even worse, on things like the little half-walls along the side of the external stairways, the textures 'flow' (...an effect I have seen on the sandbag objects in some Battlefield 2 maps).

 

Let's throw in one more bad thing: There's a HECK of a lot of tiling happening in things like grass and cliff textures. I'm kind of not surprised, with all the clear detail. I've found (as in Minecraft), sometimes it's NOT better to have sharp detail!

 

I may try the redimized version again (and see if I made the same mistake with that one, and if the performance is better).

 

 

Anyone have any comments or suggestions?