• Skyrim water mods. Water - visual enhancement

    Ask why this mod, starting from version 5.0, comes separately, and not as an update, the answer is simple, the author has radically changed everything, removed all the optional modules that were in the old version of the mod 2.1 and in general so that there is no confusion, since in the old version 2.1 and in new version 5.0 Redux description and functionality are completely different.

    From the author:
    W.A.T.E.R has been updated and modernized, taking advantage of the latest hardware. I know players were happy with the old version of the mod, but I didn't have the time to really bring the mod up to a high standard. The mod in its new form took months to develop and is now the most complete water mod in terms of content. W.A.T.E.R improves the effects and makes Skyrim's waters look amazing.

    Description:
    This mod improves the water of Skyrim with new textures, water models, game fixes, and cosmetic fixes. By installing this mod, you will be surprised how beautiful the water of Skyrim will become!

    Update:5.02
    - Changed the water in the "Ragged Flagon", "Ragged Flask - Cistern" and "Thieves Guild" locations to be calmer and more suitable.
    - Manually placed animated waves, they now look much better and have been refined with 3D and 2D edits.
    - Added a new texture for animated waves, this improved the “softness”.
    - Made minor water adjustments.

    Update:5.01
    - There is no point in making a list of everything that has been changed in the new version 5.0 and higher, since everything that has been changed is described below in the full description of the characteristics of the mod, read the entire description below, the mod has been completely, radically changed!
    - When moving from the old version of the mod to the new 5.0 and higher, you will have to completely delete all the files of the old version of the mod, that is, all .esp files of the mod itself, as well as optional .esp for DLC and so on, delete all meshes and textures files that were in the old version, if you don’t know what to delete, then download version 2.1, look at the files in the archive and look for exactly the same ones in the game and delete them.

    Main characteristics of the reissue:
    - Completely redesigned surface water flow, with new water textures of higher quality.
    - Corrections have been made for water in the game world, such as ponds, to become more realistic.
    - Added animated waves from the Dragonborn DLC.
    - Remastered effects and textures using 3D particle simulations.
    - The newest 3D effects models, bug fixes. Everything just looks so much better now.
    - Made performance tweaks and display effects.
    - Sir Krabolot has been removed, still under development.

    Full list of re-release changes:
    * The plugin for the main game and all DLCs has been reworked, that is, now there is only ONE common file, all DLCs are required.
    * New author's edits to water in the game world in places such as Riften, Clear Pines Pond and Eye of Mara Pond.
    * Additional plugin for plants, adding reeds, water lilies, frog ingredients and sound effects.
    * New, higher quality without compressing the water surface texture.
    * New, higher quality foam texture.
    * New, higher quality splash textures.
    * New, higher quality ripple textures.
    * Drops and drip textures have been completely redesigned.
    * Completely redone textures and animations of fog over water.
    * The fog textures near the waterfalls have been completely redone.
    * Completely redesigned evaporation textures.
    * Large waterfalls will now be smoother and the flow will be visually faster.
    * Animated waves hand placed throughout Skyrim with additional sound effects.
    * Animated waves now look and blend with the water surface much better, and also have new textures.
    * Rain ripple effects on water are now much softer and more realistic.
    * The appearance of a fog effect over water, during precipitation, during rain.
    * Thresholds have their own textures and have been changed to be more uniform.
    * Fast flows of water in the mountains and on rocks have been reworked, bugs fixed, everything is now more visually attractive.
    * Water splashes/splashes in small bodies of water have been improved, texture seams have been reduced and are more likely to render.
    * Foam effects in city water streams have been sped up to match the speed of water flow.
    * Player splashes have more refined changes in terms of transparency and timing of appearance.
    * Various other water splashes have been improved in terms of size and spawn speed.
    * Added new fog animation effects to all water data that require it.
    * Improved parallax effect for users of ENB modifications.
    * Made a lot of small bug fixes in a bunch of files.
    * Added USLEEP compatibility.
    * Future support for Skyrim Special Edition.

    Special changes in the re-release:
    * Removed all optional modules for the Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLCs, as the mod now requires all DLCs.
    * The "Wet rock" module has been removed, since these effects are available in the SMIM mod.
    * Removed the Trough Water module because no one could clearly see the movement of water in the trough.
    * Waterfalls no longer generate fog particles at the top, to improve performance.
    * Reduced the number of textures for the water surface, as there were too many of them.
    * The module "Puddle Textures" (Frozen Puddles) has been removed and they are a thing of the past, since all this is now in the mod.
    * The module "Animation Boats" (Row Boats) has been removed, since all this is included in the mod.
    * Patches for Falskarr and Realistic Needs have been removed, we must wait for the release of Skyrim Special Edition and whether the authors of these mods will update their mods for Skyrim Special Edition or not is not yet known.
    * All optional modules with textures of high High Res and medium Med Res quality have been removed.
    * Removed all optional green and blue water tint modules.

    Compatibility:
    - All DLC/Legendary Edition
    -
    - Water Parallax for ENB users
    - Static Mesh Improvement Mod ()
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    -
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    - RLO

    Requirements:
    Skyrim 1.9.32.0.8 and higher
    DLC Dawnguard and Dragonborn

    When upgrading to 5.0 and higher:
    - Please save the game, completely delete the mod and all mod files, you will have to completely delete all files of the old version of the mod, that is, all .esp files of the mod itself, as well as optional .esp for DLC and so on, delete all meshes and textures files which were in the old version, if you don’t know what to delete, then look at the files in the archive and look for exactly the same ones in the game and delete them.
    - Install the new version.

    Installation: (can be done manually or through NMM / MO managers)
    1. Take the contents from the Data folder in the archive and throw it into the Data folder in the game, activate the mod.
    2. If you want to add plants, water lilies, reeds on Lake Illinalta and frog eggs, then download the optional module from the additional link and install. Compatible with CACO. Requires Wiseman303's Flora Fixes (download from this site, everything is translated there)

    Compatibility:

    The mod must be installed below any mod that modifies a world cell near water. So I recommend installing this mod VERY low on your mod list.
    Compatibility patches for Realistic Needs and Diseases are available.
    The mod includes changes from the DLC, bugfixes from unofficial patches, improvements to models from SMIM and Skyrim Particle/Subsurface Scattering Patch. So let this mod override everything - including other mods with HD textures.
    Compatible with Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Wyrmstooth and Falskaar water.

    Description:

    This mod is a reimagining of the Realistic Water Textures mod - remade from scratch. The new water surface was created with deep attention to detail to simulate the flow and movement of water. Lakes, streams, rivers and oceans are now visually distinct from each other. Some water effects have also been modified.

    Waters - visuals:

    Rivers and streams are the only reservoirs of water with an obvious direction of flow. It was quite strange to see lakes, ponds and oceans flowing only in one direction, considering that lakes and ponds do not flow anywhere at all. Instead, they will ripple and emulate the vertical movement of real water.

    Lakes, ponds, rivers and oceans are a little bluer. In mountainous regions such as Skyrim, the water should be quite cold. Cooler water limits the growth of algae and other plants that give the water its greenish tint. The water in oceans and rivers is now the bluest, followed by lakes, ponds and then swamps. Please note that this mod was balanced against vanilla lighting, so other lighting mods may affect the color.

    In addition, I went through almost every interior and exterior space in the water work and edited the water where needed to make the water match the above.

    Water - audio:

    Now that lakes, ponds and oceans are separated, they can be assigned unique sound effects. The ponds are silent. Lakes and oceans have soft, bubbling, constant waves. To match the quality and volume of the new sounds, the water sound has also been replaced. If you install RealisticWaterTwo - Waves.esp, all waves from Dragonborn will have the sound of breaking water (but not perfectly synchronized). The volume can be changed through the regular game menu (settings - audio). Finally, the volume of waterfalls and fast flowing rivers has been increased.

    Floating objects:

    Cell changes have also been used to allow small icebergs, chunks of ice, and rowboats to float on the water. Floating pieces of ice will gurgle. Icebergs will sometimes make a cracking sound. An optional boat file will ensure that crates and barrels do not move with the boat.

    Waves:

    All wave plugins require Dragonborn to be installed. The waves themselves from Dragonborn have been slowed down and retextured. In particular, splashes and foam are now more visible. This is achieved by editing models and textures.

    Waterfalls:

    The animation of large waterfalls has been sped up and retextured, plus more splashes have been added. The fogs near the waterfalls have more depth.

    Other:

    Foam effects have been retextured.
    Splashes of raindrops will no longer penetrate the surface of the water. Rain ripples have been retextured and transparency has been increased.
    "Shiny" rocks next to water appear wetter.

    Performance:

    This mod does not contain scripts!

    Normal maps are left uncompressed to reduce the appearance of compression artifacts, which are more noticeable with water. Do not run the texture optimizer with this mod's textures. All files are saved in the required compression format. If you want better performance, choose a lower resolution.

    High quality: 1024x1024 - water normal without compression
    Average: 512x512 - water normals without compression
    Low: - water normal without compression. This is the same resolution as vanilla water.

    As the resolution decreases, reflections and ripples will blend and blur. There will be a loss in detail. If you don't see the difference, I recommend a lower resolution to avoid 3.1GB.

    Installation:

    Fomod - installation via Nexus Mod Manager or Mod Organizer.

    A new graphical modification from the famous modder isoku, which replaces the water textures for all of Skyrim with more realistic ones with high resolution and a wide selection of optional features.

    Requirements: Skyrim, Dragonborn.

    Description of the mod

    All textures have been redesigned and are designed to give the water a natural look and simulate realistic water movement. Oceans, lakes, ponds, rivers differ from each other visually, have their own water behavior and unique sounds.

    Water - visual enhancement:

    The water flows of rivers and streams moved very unnaturally and did not correspond to such movement in real life. Now they have been redone and the movement of water has become more natural and realistic.

    Lakes, rivers, oceans and ponds are bluer in color. In a mountainous region like Skyrim, the water is quite cold. Cold water limits the growth of freshwater algae and various plankton, which give a greenish tint. The water of oceans and lakes is now a bluer color rather than the greenish color found in swamp regions. Keep in mind that this mod has been customized for Skyrim's vanilla lighting and modifications that change the lighting may also change the color of the water.

    Each cell where water is present was edited to diversify all four types of bodies of water in Skyrim: Oceans, lakes, ponds, rivers. Without this editing, all bodies of water would look like ocean water. The behavior of river flows has also been changed so that the direction of flow can be different depending on the viewing angle.

    Water - sounds:

    Now all four types of reservoirs differ from each other not only visually, but also in sounds. Ponds are silent, lakes gurgle quietly, but in the oceans the water is noisier, it is much louder than any other sounds of water. All standard sounds have been replaced to match the quality and realism of the mod. If RealisticWaterTwo - Waves.esp is installed, then the waves in the Dragonborn addon will have their own sound hitting the shore (it is not yet perfectly synchronized, unfortunately). And finally, the volume of waterfalls and rapids has been increased.

    Waves:

    All optional wave plugins require Dragonborn to be installed. The waves from the addon have been retextured and slowed down a bit. Splash and foam effects are now more noticeable. All this was achieved by replacing meshes and textures.

    The logic for placing the waves was quite simple: there is a large open space - deep ocean waters, for example, where the number of waves accumulate due to winds before crashing into the shore. This means the waves there will also be big. Looking at Solstheim, you can see that Bethesda was guided by the same logic. To make changes to the sounds and appearance of waves appear in the game, install RealisticWaterTwo - Waves.esp.

    Waterfalls:

    The speed of falling water for large waterfalls has been increased, the textures of the water have been changed, the splashes have been increased, and the veil of fog that comes from the falling water has become more voluminous. Meshes and textures have been changed.

    Boats:

    Boats now have their own animation and sway calmly on the water. You will be able to install the optional file for boats, but static objects like crates and barrels will not move with the boat.

    Addon "Legendary":

    This is an esp file that combines water and wave plugins for Dragonborn and Dawnguard.

    Enhanced Ambient Sounds:

    Slightly increases the duration of sound effects for oceans, rivers, etc. in case you notice a loop repeating.

    Moving Ice:

    Now the ice has animation and it will periodically float up or dive under water (if you didn’t like this effect, then in the optional files you will find the old static ice).

    Rest:

    Foam textures have been completely changed.
    Raindrops will no longer simply glide across the water surface; all textures of water droplets have been replaced, and the ripples from their fall and transparency have been increased.
    Some "foamy" water flows in Whiterun and Markarth have been sped up.
    The stones sticking out from under the water have now become wetter.

    Installation:
    In the archive you will find a folder with the main files, options for water textures (ultra (2048x2048), high (1024x1024), medium (512x512) and low (256x256) resolution), optional files for waves, boats swinging on the water and water for DLC, and also mods Falskaar and .
    1. Copy the main files to your Data folder.
    2. Select the textures you need from the appropriate folder and copy them to the Data folder, agree to replace the files.
    3. If you have installed the mods and DLCs listed above, copy the water plugins for each of them from the optional folder to your Data folder.
    4. Optionally, you can choose from the same optional folder waves for Skyrim and all DLC + mods and Falskaar, a plugin that will add animation of swaying boats on the water and improve the appearance of waterfalls. Place all files in the Data folder, activate esp files.

    Installing the SSE version only using a mod manager that supports fomod archives!

    Compatibility:

    • All plugins must be placed after any mod that changes a cell near a body of water. Therefore, the author recommends placing this mod at the very bottom of the list. The loading order between the various optional files of this mod (for DLC, waves, etc.) does not matter.
    • Compatibility with "Realistic Needs and Diseases" is integrated into the main mod. No patch required.
    • All fixes made by DLC, unofficial patches, meshes from and Skyrim Particle Patch will be taken into account, just let this mod overwrite their files.
    • The mod is compatible with , just overwrite its files when installing. If necessary, install an optional plugin to improve the appearance of waterfalls.
    • Allow this mod to overwrite everything, including other HD mod textures.
    • The water surface and wave support from the Dragonborn addon have Dawnguard, and Falskaar, all in the optional files.
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