SO many replacement texture mods!

[Carranthia]

Wow...

 

I'm currently "trying" to mod Skyrim SE using the Nordic guide (and may throw in a few suggestions by DarkLadyLexy). Most of the mods I've added are texture-based and I love the way the world looks so far. However, the left panel of MO2 is lousy with lightning bolt icons about overwritten files, and that's all from mods in the Nordic list. IIRC, the mods with the minus sign (-) next to them are being overwritten by files later in the load order. That's fine, but I'm curious as to how some of you folks decide what files you want to keep and which you don't mind being overwritten? I know how you can preview files in MO2, and decide which you want to keep on an individual basis, but how do you decide when the previews can be hard to "decipher"? Do / can you just "hide" files in MO2 so that you choose which items you want to keep. Can individual files be deleted?

 

Also, I can never seem to find a straight answer on this topic concerning Oldrim files. I know how to run meshes through Nif Optimizer, but if an Oldrim mod file contains nothing but texture files (no bsas, esps, etc), can they just be installed "as is," or do they need to be run through the Creation Kit?

 

Sorry for all the questions. I'd appreciate a little advice and would just like to know how some of you folks go about achieving these goals.

 

Thanks!

[Algabar]

First of all, I'm using Vortex. So I'm not an expert on MO 2. Having conflicting files (or even lots of conflicting files) when installing several texture replacers is normal. What I do: I decide which ones are my "favourites" and which ones are "additional mods" (as in "IMHo not perfect, but still better than vanilla textures"). Then I give priority to my favourites.

 

Another thing to consider: Texture replacers are created to work as a package. If possible, I try to have one replacer as "main replacer" for certain aspects of the game, e.g. landscapes, dungeons, caves, forts and so on. This replacer is the one that gets priority over other files. I try to keep texture sets, that were designed to be used together, intact. Otherwise you'll risk having single textures somewhere, that don't fit their environment.

 

In the end, IMHO you'll have to test a lot and look at the result ingame. Textures are always a question of personal taste. Find out, what YOU like best.

 

Regarding "Oldrim" textures: Most of them can be used in SE without any issues (in fact that's what I'm doing with lots of texture mods, that were never uploaded on the SE Nexus). Problematic are only landscape textures. They can't be used "out of the box", since SE uses a different file format. Landscape textures in SE have so-called specular maps (basically they define, how "shiny" an object is). "Oldrim" textures don't have specular maps, which will be interpreted as "white specular map" by the SE engine. The result are extremely shiny landscape textures... There is a workaround, but it would require you to manually edit the textures in a program like GIMP or Photoshop.

 

TLDR: Basically all "Oldrim" textures can be used in SE - except for landscape textures.

 

EDIT: If I may give a little recommendation: luxor8071 does really outstanding texture work. You can see the impressive list of his works here:

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/users/50525966

 

If in doubt, simply use luxor's textures. You can't do anything wrong... ^^