Graphics Tweaks

[Blocky]

I set the game to Ultra graphics setting with max sliders, but I opened up SkyrimPrefs.ini in C:\Users\Username\Documents\My Games\Skyrim and saw these parameters:

 

iWaterMultiSamples=0 (effects multisample textures for water)

 

bTreesReceiveShadows=0 (effects whether trees are covered in shadows from other trees, buildings, rocks, mountains, etc)

bDrawLandShadows=0 (effects whether terrain gets shadows from itself i guess)

 

After changing them to 1 I noticed a big improvement. Water looks much better, the trees and leaves actually have shadows on them now. Frames per second didn't dip much. Do other people who set the graphics to Ultra still have these parameters set to 0 in their SkyrimPrefs.ini too?

 

 

 

If you have tweaks please post them below!! :biggrin:

 

 

 

Edit: I'll update this list as tweaks are added.

Console Tweaks Hit ~ for the console.

 

FOV change - Type FOV and type in preferred number. Hit enter.

 

SkyrimPrefs.ini Tweaks

 

 

[Display]iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=1024 (resolution or blockiness of shadows, increase by increments of 1024, 2048, 4056 for smoother shadows)iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048 (same)

 

iWaterMultiSamples=0 (effects multisample textures for water)

 

bTreesReceiveShadows=0 (effects whether trees are covered in shadows from other trees, buildings, rocks, mountains, etc, changed to 1)

bDrawLandShadows=0 (effects whether terrain gets shadows from itself i guess, changed to 1)

iShadowFilter=3 (!!! correction: effects smoothness of shadows, any setting higher than 4 leads to glitched shadows)

 

[LOD]

fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15.0000 (distance objects get "blurry" in order to save fps, changed to 20.0000)

fLODFadeOutMultItems=15.0000 (changed to 20.0000)

fLODFadeOutMultActors=15.0000 (changed to 20.0000)

 

[Particles]

iMaxDesired=750 (maximum particles rendered onscreen, changed to 1000)

 

[Trees]

bRenderSkinnedTrees=1

uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20 (maximum trees rendered onscreen??, changed to 30)

 

[Grass]

b30GrassVS=1

fGrassStartFadeDistance=7000.0000 (distance that grass can start to fade out, changed to 8000.0000)

fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000 (maximum distance before grass starts to fade, changed to 8000.0000)

 

Programs

 

If you have an Nvidia graphics card you can download Nvidia Inspector (ver 1.9.5.5). It will let you force enable ambient occlusion in Skyrim. There is around 10 fps hit for enabling ambient occlusion but it does look very good. There are quick tutorials on setting this up in google search.

 

Edited November 12, 2011 by Blocky

[cjs300]

I didnt bother looking at my .ini so busy exploring :rolleyes: , thanks for the advice :thumbsup:

[anandus]

I don't have tweaks (apart from the ones you mentioned), but I did see the contents of the ini-file (got it from another forum).

Maybe interesting for a topic like this (and especially for people that can't unlock the game yet :) )

(sorry for the long post!)

[General]

fBrightLightColorB=1.0000

fBrightLightColorG=1.0000

fBrightLightColorR=1.0000

iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1

bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0

[imagespace]

bDoDepthOfField=1

iRadialBlurLevel=2

[Display]

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3

fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000

fShadowDistance=8000.0000

iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=1024

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048

iShadowSplitCount=2

iMaxAnisotropy=16

fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000

fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000

fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=10000000.0000

fGamma=1.0000

fDecalLOD2=1500.0000

fDecalLOD1=1000.0000

fSpecularLODStartFade=2000.0000

fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000

fLightLODStartFade=3500.0000

iTexMipMapMinimum=0

iTexMipMapSkip=0

iWaterMultiSamples=0

iMultiSample=8

iShadowMode=3

bTreesReceiveShadows=0

bDrawLandShadows=0

bFull Screen=1

iSize H=1200

iSize W=1920

fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000

fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000

fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000

fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000

fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=10000000.0000

fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=10000000.0000

iScreenShotIndex=2

bShadowMaskZPrepass=0

bMainZPrepass=0

iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25

iMaxDecalsPerFrame=100

bFloatPointRenderTarget=0

sD3DDevice="AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series"

bFXAAEnabled=1

iShadowMapResolution=4096

fShadowBiasScale=0.1500

iShadowMaskQuarter=4

iAdapter=0

iPresentInterval=1

iShadowFilter=3

bTransparencyMultisampling=0

bDrawShadows=1

[Grass]

b30GrassVS=1

fGrassStartFadeDistance=7000.0000

fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000

fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000

[MAIN]

bGamepadEnable=0

bCrosshairEnabled=1

fHUDOpacity=1.0000

bSaveOnPause=1

bSaveOnTravel=1

bSaveOnWait=1

bSaveOnRest=1

fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000

[GamePlay]

bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1

bShowQuestMarkers=1

iDifficulty=1

[interface]

bDialogueSubtitles=1

bGeneralSubtitles=1

bShowCompass=1

[Controls]

fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000

fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0360

bAlwaysRunByDefault=1

bInvertYValues=0

bGamePadRumble=0

bMouseAcceleration=1

[Particles]

iMaxDesired=750

[saveGame]

fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000

[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=0.6000

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=75000.0000

fBlockMaximumDistance=250000.0000

fBlockLevel1Distance=70000.0000

fBlockLevel0Distance=35000.0000

fSplitDistanceMult=1.5000

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]

bRenderSkinnedTrees=1

uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20

[Decals]

uMaxDecals=1000

bDecals=1

bSkinnedDecals=1

uMaxSkinDecals=100

uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=60

[LOD]

fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15.0000

fLODFadeOutMultItems=15.0000

fLODFadeOutMultActors=15.0000

fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000

[Launcher]

bEnableFileSelection=1

bShowAllResolutions=1

uLastAspectRatio=4

[blurShaderHDR]

bDoHighDynamicRange=1

[blurShader]

bUseBlurShader=0

[Water]

iWaterReflectHeight=512

iWaterReflectWidth=512

bUseWaterDisplacements=1

bUseWaterRefractions=1

bUseWaterReflections=1

bUseWaterDepth=1

-----------------------------------------------------

Do other people who set the graphics to Ultra still have these parameters set to 0 in their SkyrimPrefs.ini too?

Good question!

[daventry]

Awsome, im gonna do this tomorrow when i get Skyrim, thanks :D

[JimboUK]

According to Tweakguides the Vsync is causing mouse lag, to disable it you need to...

 

add iPresentInterval=0 to the bottom of the [Display] section of the Skyrim.ini file in the \Users\[username]\My Documents\My Games\Skyrim directory.

[Gishank]

I find it rather perculiar that they didn't include those graphics settings in the Ultra setup, given how different they apparently make it look.

[anandus]

Oh, and some comparison shots.

I took this from this topic.

All credit goes to Desi who made these shots!

• bTreesReceiveShadows=0
  
• bTreesReceiveShadows=1
  

 

• bDrawLandShadows=0
  
• bDrawLandShadows=1
  

[JimboUK]

Oh, and some comparison shots.

I took this from this topic.

All credit goes to Desi who made these shots!

• bTreesReceiveShadows=0
  
• bTreesReceiveShadows=1
  

 

• bDrawLandShadows=0
  
• bDrawLandShadows=1
  

 

That does look better.

[anandus]

I'd love to see comparison shots over iWaterMultiSamples, by the way.

Anyone up for it? :)

[Evilllamas]

Looking forward to fiddling with these tomorrow, won't get to play till after school:(