My Game Has Neither Mist Nor Smoke Effects.

[Emc209i]

Hi,

 

First I want to thank whoever's reading this for taking the time, not having these two features is really beginning to annoy me.

 

I realized a long time ago that my copy of the game doesn't have little clouds of mist floating around on mountaintops, or fog over the water in marshes. I originally chalked it up to being an unchecked option in the launcher options, but later realized there was no such option. Then I realized smoke was also absent from inside my game - burning pyres have nothing above them. Tonight I unlocked the ugrid value and have been going over the .ini files looking for a null value that could be causing this. I thought I'd finally lucked out, with at least the mist, when I found fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell, but it's set to one.... grrrrr....

 

Is anyone familiar with this problem, or have any suggestions? I've searched quite a bit already, online and locally. I'm using an antique pair of GTX-275's to power Skyrim, with the old stable 197.45 legacy drivers. As such, I don't have DX11 support, could this be why?

 

I would be happy to post .ini's and anything else needed to diagnose this. Smoke's not that big of a deal, but not having the mist/fog makes me feel as if I'm missing out on a large atmospheric segment of the game.

[maboru]

DX11 support isn't a problem because the game is DX9 (too many customers still running XP which doesn't support DX11.) Although many of the tweak mods add DX9 dlls and that does seem to help many people. If you're not experiencing any mod conflicts and haven't done any drastic changes to your inis you could try logging into your Steam account and verifying your catch. If that doesn't do anything then go ahead and post your inis and we'll take a look at them.

[Emc209i]

Neg on the verification. :(

 

 

Skyrim.ini

[General]
sLanguage=ENGLISH
uGridsToLoad=7
uInterior Cell Buffer=35
uExterior Cell Buffer=70

[Display]
fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000.0
fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000.0
fLightLODMaxStartFade=3500.0
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048
bAllowScreenshot=1

[Audio]
fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0
fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0
fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0
fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0

[Grass]
bAllowCreateGrass=1
bAllowLoadGrass=0

[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

[Papyrus]
fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500.0
bEnableLogging=0
bEnableTrace=0
bLoadDebugInformation=0
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=3006477108

[Water]
bReflectLODObjects=1
bReflectLODLand=1
bReflectSky=1
bReflectLODTrees=1

[MapMenu]
uLockedObjectMapLOD=1
uLockedTerrainLOD=1
bWorldMapNoSkyDepthBlur=1
fWorldMapNearDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapMaximumDepthBlur=0
fMapWorldMaxPitch=360.0000
fMapWorldMinPitch=0.0000
fMapWorldYawRange=3600.0000
fMapWorldTransitionHeight=130000.0000
fMapWorldMaxHeight=130000.0000
fMapWorldMinHeight=130.0000
fMapWorldCursorMoveArea=0.9000
fMapWorldHeightAdjustmentForce=100.0000
fMapWorldZoomSpeed=0.0500
fMapLookMouseSpeed=3.0000
fMapMoveKeyboardSpeed=0.0005
fMapZoomMouseSpeed=5.0000
sMapCloudNIF=0

 

SkyrimPrefs.ini

[Display]
fShadowBiasScale=0.5000
fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000
fShadowDistance=4000.0000
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1
iShadowMaskQuarter=3
iShadowMapResolution=512
bFXAAEnabled=1
iMaxAnisotropy=4
fGamma=0.9200
iShadowFilter=3
fDecalLOD2=1500.0000
fDecalLOD1=1000.0000
fSpecularLODStartFade=2000.0000
fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
fLightLODStartFade=3500.0000
iTexMipMapMinimum=0
iTexMipMapSkip=0
bTransparencyMultisampling=0
iWaterMultiSamples=0
iMultiSample=4
iShadowMode=3
bTreesReceiveShadows=0
bDrawLandShadows=0
bDrawShadows=1
bFull Screen=0
iSize H=1050
iSize W=1680
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=32000.0000
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=24000.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=28000.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=16000.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=24000.0000
iScreenShotIndex=8
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=100
sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275"
iAdapter=0
iPresentInterval=0

[imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1
iRadialBlurLevel=2

[Grass]
b30GrassVS=1
fGrassStartFadeDistance=28000.0000
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=56000.0000
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000
bDrawShaderGrass=1

[Water]
iWaterReflectHeight=1024
iWaterReflectWidth=1024
bUseWaterDisplacements=1
bUseWaterRefractions=1
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterDepth=1

[MAIN]
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000
bGamepadEnable=1
bCrosshairEnabled=1
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
bSaveOnRest=1

[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=4

[interface]
bDialogueSubtitles=0
bGeneralSubtitles=0
bShowCompass=1

[Controls]
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0400
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.9000
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bInvertYValues=0
bGamePadRumble=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=0.7000
uID3=466532
fVal2=1.0000
uID2=554685
fVal1=1.0000
uID1=1007612
fVal0=0.7000
uID0=94881

[Clouds]
fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000
fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000
fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000

[General]
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0

[TerrainManager]
fTreeLoadDistance=75000.0000
fBlockMaximumDistance=250000.0000
fBlockLevel1Distance=140000.0000
fBlockLevel0Distance=70000.0000
fSplitDistanceMult=1.5000
bShowLODInEditor=0

[Trees]
bRenderSkinnedTrees=1
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=40

[Decals]
uMaxDecals=1000
bDecals=1
bSkinnedDecals=1
uMaxSkinDecals=100
uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=60

[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=16.0000
fLODFadeOutMultItems=12.0000
fLODFadeOutMultActors=8.0000

[blurShaderHDR]
bDoHighDynamicRange=1

[blurShader]
bUseBlurShader=0

[Launcher]
bShowAllResolutions=0
uLastAspectRatio=4

 

See anything?

[Sanyix]

I have same issues her with an Ati radeon hd3850. The water is too transparent (btw the "correct" isn't looking good though that waaay too opaque), no dust, no fog, no smoke, but except these everything is okay. I've updated video drivers, and the game itself, nothing changed.

 

There are those d3d9.dll "fps improver fixes" that were used for fallout3 and nv, and really improved the frame rate without loss of quality, and fakes the gpu recognition to a geforce 8800 GS. Now these are working with skyrim, but they aren't improve the fps, but form me this brought back the opaque water, and the smoke/dust etc effect.

 

But still i want to know why i need to use these hacks to get all effects...

 

Here is the dll extract it to your skyrim installation's root. Then the launcher should say that it set the graphics quality to something, then set the graphics as you wish, and play the game.

Edited December 16, 2011 by Sanyix

[maboru]

[Particles]

iMaxDesired=750

 

This is the variable that controls fog, smoke and fire rendering but it's already set to 750 which should show the effects. You can try setting it all the way up to 950 but will probably take a rather large performance hit. It would help to know your system specs but which video driver set are you using?

 

Here's the latest one from Oct. - http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-285.62-whql-driver.html - it's the 64 bit one though so if you use 32 bit download that one instead and make sure you do a clean sweep of the old driver and NEVER use nVidia "express install"!

[Sanyix]

If there are no any particles, the iMaxDesired value won't make them appear. Actually with that you can't even disable it. It seems it controls ONLY the spell particle effects (fireball, frost things), but not the environmental particle effects (cavern fog, high mountain clouds, etc)

[maboru]

I've found this guide to be very valuable - http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide -

 

From which is this, the closest thing I've found yet, but it does seem to alter spell effects more -

 

"iMaxDesired=750 - This variable in SkyrimPrefs.ini controls the maximum particle count for particle effects like smog, fog and especially fire and spells. Experimentation revealed only minor changes in most smoke and fog effects, but a very noticeable change in fire (e.g. from torches) and spell effect density. For example, as this variable is raised, the Flames spell shoots increasingly larger amounts of flame from your hand; while at a value of 0, all flame from the spell is removed from view. The screenshot comparison below shows the difference between a value of 0 and a value of 950 for this variable, and the fire on the torch as well as the output of the Flame spell are both clearly affected. Changing this setting may have a notable performance impact around such effects, depending on your system."

 

I haven't heard about this problem before so I'm still checking. For now the driver re-installation seems to be a good first step though.

[Emc209i]

 

There are those d3d9.dll "fps improver fixes" that were used for fallout3 and nv, and really improved the frame rate without loss of quality, and fakes the gpu recognition to a geforce 8800 GS. Now these are working with skyrim, but they aren't improve the fps, but form me this brought back the opaque water, and the smoke/dust etc effect.

 

But still i want to know why i need to use these hacks to get all effects...

 

Here is the dll extract it to your skyrim installation's root. Then the launcher should say that it set the graphics quality to something, then set the graphics as you wish, and play the game.

 

I really really really appreciate this post. Information like this invaluable in diagnostics and understanding, and I'm very thankful you shared it. Unfortunately, adding the dll prevented the game from successfully loading, the load screen continuously looped as the 3D object floated back and forth. I've just now reverted back to the original copies of the ini files and I'm going to give it another go. Thought I'd check back here first for tips... I'll report back in just a moment, hopefully I can get in.

 

It would help to know your system specs but which video driver set are you using?

Here's the latest one from Oct. - http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-285.62-whql-driver.html - it's the 64 bit one though so if you use 32 bit download that one instead and make sure you do a clean sweep of the old driver and NEVER use nVidia "express install"!

 

I was sure to post that information in the very first post. Like I said, I'm using the 197 legacy driver because it is the last to offer support for the 200 series GTX cards, and is a lean copy of the 2xx set of drivers which simply include support for the next generation of card. Newer drivers have repeatedly proven their instability in the past, but I suppose I'll have to do what I have to do, I can always revert. I am using a 64 bit operating system. I'll use that guide after I try this ini again. I believe the GPU is the only relevant information, but I can share more details at your discretion.

 

Thank you both.

[Emc209i]

Ok, reporting back. I was able to get in this time with the d3d9.dll profile, but still no particles. I've deleted the dll, and now I'll try updating to the latest set of drivers. I'll check again after I restart, and then go through Nvidia's tutorial if particles still aren't on with a fast load.

 

By Azura, I'm going to get this s*** working tonight!

Edited December 17, 2011 by Emc209i

[maboru]

[Edit - Don't forget to completely clean out all vestiges of the old driver first!]

 

Despite Beth's outdated engine one of the major reasons for Beth game glitches and inaccuracies is outdated drivers. Your legacy driver may be the problem and this one is certified, not beta (however there is no stated Skyrim Sli support yet that I'm waiting for before I install my 560ti 2 card.)-

 

"This is the first WHQL-certified release from the Release 285 family of drivers. You can read more about this family of drivers on GeForce.com.

 

This driver package supports GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500-series desktop GPUs as well as ION desktop GPUs."

 

You're right, you can always roll back if it doesn't work. However, as I'm sure you've noticed in many other help forum threads is that the first advice most experienced helpers offer is to update all of your drivers. There is, after all, a reason for that!

 

Another option is the ENB series of mods on the download pages.