Static Mesh Improvement

For those of you that haven't been keeping up with recent news related to Skyrim, Bethesda recently released free downloadable content for PC users in the form of a high resolution texture pack. The difference for objects like equipment and creatures is stunning, but there a few items that the developers seem to have left out. I considered this a good way of determining which texture replacement mods I would discuss here on the blog.

However, before I go into textures, let me first talk about meshes. The mesh is of course the model onto which the texture is applied, so the level of detail of the mesh is often just as important as the texture. So when you improve the texture of something like a table, the object will only look better defined if the mesh is represented well enough. Brumbek, the author of Static Mesh Improvement, believes that the best way to improve the visual detail of the game is to focus more on changes to the model rather than what texture you put on it. The author's long-term goal is to replace somewhere around two hundred different objects in the game with higher-quality meshes. The most current release includes changes to several pieces of food and furniture. The mod also includes a new opening animation for barrels to go with their new models. A few of these changes can be seen in my video.

Although these changes add a great amount of new detail to various objects within the game, I have yet to experience any kind of performance loss when around these new meshes. The real question is how you want to install it. The modding community now has various options of downloading, uploading, and installing new content due to the creation of the Steam Workshop and the new Nexus Mod Manager. However, these new options don't change my previous preference of using Wrye Bash to install my content after downloading the mod manually from Nexus. Sadly those who are more partial to the Workshop will find that this mod in particular is currently unavailable there for download, but I will always include links to both sites in the future if they are available on either. If my words and video were enough to convince you to try out Static Mesh Improvement for yourself, you can download it from Skyrim Nexus.

The majority of the mods that I will discuss tend to have a large visual component to them simply because it makes them easily to film, but several gameplay mods will also qualify depending on the nature of their changes. I will also always be open for new suggestions and recommendations, so please don't hesitate to let me know what you think. Until next time.