Lighting mod issues. Any suggestions or advice?

[TachyonBlitz]

Hello guys, I am new to modding Skyrim and I have been trying to find anything regarding my issues with lightning mods that I have installed, but found nothing so far. I am using ENB lightning and Enhanced Light and FX, and my mod list is identical to the one found here https://eso-ui.com/skyrim-se-micro-list/ (the mod list is located at the very bottom of the site). After playing for a bit, everything was totally fine until I started to notice that torches, lanterns, and even forges found outside the cities/towns were not working and their lighting would start to fade. They were not giving off any light which immediately tells me something is not right. During the night, everything within the city becomes dark. This really bothers and this is my 3rd attempt trying not to break my Skyrim (meaning I deleted and uninstalled Skyrim plus the mods twice now). I am not sure where I went wrong, I do not have that many lightning mods, mostly the ones shown in the mod list. I really do not want to uninstall everything again because it took me a long creating my mod list. After installing the core mods for the mod list I installed additional mods that had nothing to do with lighting. I do not know if those mods have anything to do with it, but I very much doubt it. I am also using Mod Organizer 2. If anyone has any suggestions or similar issues please respond to my post, I will gladly appreciate it.

[Doom Sayer]

Maybe optional ELFX weather plugin is on? If you dont know skyrim well that mod list isnt very productive to getting it working. Other option is ENB preset being broken or ENB not installed. If its not those I have no clue. Also ELFX otherwise shouldnt do anything except to interiors UNLESS the weather plugin is on. (NAT natural atmospheric tamriel is a weather mod/plugin) Only one weather plugin should be on at a time.
(plugin = .esp .esm .esl etc)

Also light fade is a setting in the launcher/INI/ingame settings.

[TachyonBlitz]

Originally posted by Doom Sayer:

Maybe optional ELFX weather plugin is on? If you dont know skyrim well that mod list isnt very productive to getting it working. Other option is ENB preset being broken or ENB not installed. If its not those I have no clue. Also ELFX otherwise shouldnt do anything except to interiors UNLESS the weather plugin is on. (NAT natural atmospheric tamriel is a weather mod/plugin) Only one weather plugin should be on at a time.
(plugin = .esp .esm .esl etc)

Also light fade is a setting in the launcher/INI/ingame settings.

I have ENB installed properly, I think I did go wrong somewhere with ELFX because I installed a weather patch later on and I also have obsidian weathers on. I'll make sure to install only one of the weather plugins next time, thanks for your help!

[Doom Sayer]

Originally posted by TachyonBlitz:

Originally posted by Doom Sayer:

Maybe optional ELFX weather plugin is on? If you dont know skyrim well that mod list isnt very productive to getting it working. Other option is ENB preset being broken or ENB not installed. If its not those I have no clue. Also ELFX otherwise shouldnt do anything except to interiors UNLESS the weather plugin is on. (NAT natural atmospheric tamriel is a weather mod/plugin) Only one weather plugin should be on at a time.
(plugin = .esp .esm .esl etc)

Also light fade is a setting in the launcher/INI/ingame settings.

I have ENB installed properly, I think I did go wrong somewhere with ELFX because I installed a weather patch later on and I also have obsidian weathers on. I'll make sure to install only one of the weather plugins next time, thanks for your help!

Yeah ELFX has optional weathers so that must be off. That list has NAT as well rather than Obsidian. Mods that add lights outside arent a problem explicitly but that ELFX plugin I believe is specifically labeled as a exterior lighting mod/weather mod which is the same thing.

You can potentially use two weather mods together but its rare and only if you have patch to use them together.

Since you seem to be a modding noob word of warning: If any mod of any type does any type of edit of the same npc's whether they be stats or aesthetics they will need a custom patch most likely as the game has a sort of list for npc's and mods will replace those values with vanilla values breaking mods and causing skin discoloration etc or remove npc equipped mod items from other mods. Commonly this issue shows on vampires so you will play for hours, then encounter a really broken looking generic vampire.

A same sort of thing applies to water and world edits. This all can be somewhat mitigated if you find mods that replace models and textures etc rather than editing the values for npcs and world.

I'm not caught up on the patching utilities so you would have to find reliable source if you ever end up doing that.

[TachyonBlitz]

Originally posted by Doom Sayer:

Originally posted by TachyonBlitz:

I have ENB installed properly, I think I did go wrong somewhere with ELFX because I installed a weather patch later on and I also have obsidian weathers on. I'll make sure to install only one of the weather plugins next time, thanks for your help!

Yeah ELFX has optional weathers so that must be off. That list has NAT as well rather than Obsidian. Mods that add lights outside arent a problem explicitly but that ELFX plugin I believe is specifically labeled as a exterior lighting mod/weather mod which is the same thing.

You can potentially use two weather mods together but its rare and only if you have patch to use them together.

Since you seem to be a modding noob word of warning: If any mod of any type does any type of edit of the same npc's whether they be stats or aesthetics they will need a custom patch most likely as the game has a sort of list for npc's and mods will replace those values with vanilla values breaking mods and causing skin discoloration etc or remove npc equipped mod items from other mods. Commonly this issue shows on vampires so you will play for hours, then encounter a really broken looking generic vampire.

A same sort of thing applies to water and world edits. This all can be somewhat mitigated if you find mods that replace models and textures etc rather than editing the values for npcs and world.

I'm not caught up on the patching utilities so you would have to find reliable source if you ever end up doing that.

That makes a lot of sense, I installed mods for high poly heads including CBBE body-slides (personally I think characters look the best with that) and stuff like that, and I understand what you mean when I have to patch the npcs too otherwise they won't fit in. I will look into vampires because I did not consider that, but I'll make sure to check it out.

So far from what I learned based on this conversation and reading posts is to preferably have one mod for weather and lighting. If i understand correctly, I can have one interior and exterior mod, plus they are compatible with ENB lighting so I can use those mods with it.

[Doom Sayer]

Depends on mods. Certain types of interior lighting mods CAN be used together but only very certain ones and I honestly have forgotten which ones. Mainly RLO, ELFX and uh Lux I think arent compatible? Probably two others as well go in that group. Then weathers are a exception if they have a patch up to date with both mods plugins. Only really common with Obsidian weathers, true storms, etc since I think the authors havent updated those in forever. (Unless they spontaneously have which is 100% possible.)

What it is with interior lighting is there are ones that are functionally different in which case you might pair two of them. Also technically there is nothing not incompatible with ENB lighting. I dont think it matters if a weather is tailored for ENB also given Rudy with two of best presets are on Obsidian and Cathedral which 100% werent made for ENB.

Mainly its a matter of taste but sometimes quality and performance as I have found some enb with nice touches but dont really look better than say rudy yet have like double performance cost.

EDIT: I went looking again:
Relighting Skyrim: "Mods that provide only lighting templates and image spaces (ELE, Luminosity, etc.) are compatible. These types of mods must be loaded after the RS plugin or a patch must be created."

[Vlad 254]

Basic guidlines:
You cannot overwrite mods that add bulbs with mods that add more bulbs because then you'll have an insane amount of bulbs and tons of flickering.

You can overwrite mods that add bulbs with mods that edit lighting colors.

You can overwrite mods that edit lighting colors with mods that only edit indirect lighting (for example, if you wanted to use a darker ambient lighting mod)

So which mods edit what?
Luminosity: edits lighting colors
Relighting Skyrim: adds bulbs, edits lighting colors
ELE: edits lighting colors
ELFX: adds bulbs, edits lighting colors, changes tons of objects to help reduce flickering created by excessive bulb placement
NAT: edits lighting colors
All other weather mods: edit weathers and will not conflict with interior lighting mods

[Doom Sayer]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Basic guidlines:
You cannot overwrite mods that add bulbs with mods that add more bulbs because then you'll have an insane amount of bulbs and tons of flickering.

You can overwrite mods that add bulbs with mods that edit lighting colors.

You can overwrite mods that edit lighting colors with mods that only edit indirect lighting (for example, if you wanted to use a darker ambient lighting mod)

So which mods edit what?
Luminosity: edits lighting colors
Relighting Skyrim: adds bulbs, edits lighting colors
ELE: edits lighting colors
ELFX: adds bulbs, edits lighting colors, changes tons of objects to help reduce flickering created by excessive bulb placement
NAT: edits lighting colors
All other weather mods: edit weathers and will not conflict with interior lighting mods

Huh i thought ELE did bulbs I guess its been too long since i looked at the older lighting mods.

[Vlad 254]

Yeah it can be confusing.

From the ELE Mod Page
-- Uses new Imagespaces, without any color range restrictions --
-- Uses new Lighting Template's, more atmospheric and natural/"realistic" colors --
-- Directional Ambient colors are now rendered as proper hemispheric lighting --
-- Lightweight, highly compatible with other mods --
-- Performance Optimizations, using and/or altering roommarkers and portals --
-- Vanilla performance, if not better --
-- Directional lighting is used as a mild indirect lighting effect --

Also from the ELE Mod Page
- Not compatible -
Realistic Lighting Overhaul
ELFX - Enhancer
Reduced Intensity ImageSpace Settings

- Compatible -
Relighting Skyrim - SSE
Improved Hearthfire Lighting SE
Dynamic Shadows for Skyrim
Climates of Tamriel
Interior Floating Fog Remover
CLARALUX SSE - Controllable Lights Everywhere
Rustic Weathers And Lighting
IMAGINATOR - Visual Control Device for Skyrim
Dolomite Weathers - NLVA II
Surreal Lighting -- vibrant and cheerful weathers and lighting
Vivid Weathers Special Edition - a complete Weather and Visual overhaul for Skyrim SE
True Storms Special Edition - Thunder Rain and Weather Redone
Photorealistic Tamriel
Darker Nights
Dynamic Immersive Seriously Dark Dungeons - SSE

[Doom Sayer]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Yeah it can be confusing.

From the ELE Mod Page
-- Uses new Imagespaces, without any color range restrictions --
-- Uses new Lighting Template's, more atmospheric and natural/"realistic" colors --
-- Directional Ambient colors are now rendered as proper hemispheric lighting --
-- Lightweight, highly compatible with other mods --
-- Performance Optimizations, using and/or altering roommarkers and portals --
-- Vanilla performance, if not better --
-- Directional lighting is used as a mild indirect lighting effect --

Also from the ELE Mod Page
- Not compatible -
Realistic Lighting Overhaul
ELFX - Enhancer
Reduced Intensity ImageSpace Settings

- Compatible -
Relighting Skyrim - SSE
Improved Hearthfire Lighting SE
Dynamic Shadows for Skyrim
Climates of Tamriel
Interior Floating Fog Remover
CLARALUX SSE - Controllable Lights Everywhere
Rustic Weathers And Lighting
IMAGINATOR - Visual Control Device for Skyrim
Dolomite Weathers - NLVA II
Surreal Lighting -- vibrant and cheerful weathers and lighting
Vivid Weathers Special Edition - a complete Weather and Visual overhaul for Skyrim SE
True Storms Special Edition - Thunder Rain and Weather Redone
Photorealistic Tamriel
Darker Nights
Dynamic Immersive Seriously Dark Dungeons - SSE

Yeah skyrim modding is a bit much at this point with the number of mods doing the same thing. I actually know most of them its just after like 7 lighting mods, 7 weather mods, 7+ tree overhauls, 7+ grass mods, etc etc its a bit much. Currently i have only been fiddling with my modded game until I get a better gpu. There should legit be a wikia page or on some other wiki site with every relatively up to date mod.

[Vlad 254]

You can say that again Doom Sayer. But we manage

[Doom Sayer]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

You can say that again Doom Sayer. But we manage

Yeah been installing mods for what feels like forever at this point I remember oldrim gopher vids and the silly imaginator color correction and the other mods of the type. For whatever reason I havent properly done a modded bethesda type game playthrough since TTW for new vegas in like 2014 or 15.

[Vlad 254]

Yeah I've seen your posts over the years, no doubt you know what you are doing. After a while we mod when we get the urge. No sense in burning out.

[TachyonBlitz]

Thank you all for helping me out. I enjoy mmos and Skyrim has been one of my favorites, I originally started playing on X-box 360 and I always wanted to try modding it. After a while I was able to get it on steam and decided at giving it another go, but this time with mods. I know that if I keep trying, I will eventually get it right and I will have my own mod list to enjoy.

[Vlad 254]

Originally posted by TachyonBlitz:

Thank you all for helping me out. I enjoy mmos and Skyrim has been one of my favorites, I originally started playing on X-box 360 and I always wanted to try modding it. After a while I was able to get it on steam and decided at giving it another go, but this time with mods. I know that if I keep trying, I will eventually get it right and I will have my own mod list to enjoy.

I took the same journey after starting this whole TES series on Xbox and after playing Skyrim for over 3,000 hours on console and modding it countless times decided I wanted to start modding properly on PC. Here's a little guide I put together that might be of some help to you or maybe it will simply give you some ideas. Oh, and welcome to the community.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2636368499

[TachyonBlitz]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Originally posted by TachyonBlitz:

Thank you all for helping me out. I enjoy mmos and Skyrim has been one of my favorites, I originally started playing on X-box 360 and I always wanted to try modding it. After a while I was able to get it on steam and decided at giving it another go, but this time with mods. I know that if I keep trying, I will eventually get it right and I will have my own mod list to enjoy.

I took the same journey after starting this whole TES series on Xbox and after playing Skyrim for over 3,000 hours on console and modding it countless times decided I wanted to start modding properly on PC. Here's a little guide I put together that might be of some help to you or maybe it will simply give you some ideas. Oh, and welcome to the community.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2636368499

You seem very knowledgeable for Skyrim modding so I wanted to ask you a quick question considering the new version of Skyrim 1.6. I do not have any of the content for creation club, so I only have Skyrim Special Edition version 1.6.353.0. While installing mods I watched a YouTube video explaining how to downgrade to version 1.5.9 because that is the game version the majority of the mods are at right now, meaning not all the mods have been updated to 1.6.

Since I am new, is it recommended I downgrade and install mods for 1.5.9 or should I stay with my current version of the game? If I stick to my current version of SSE 1.6 (not owning the Anniversay DLC), should mods from version 1.5.9 still work with my game and does that mean that I would have to install SKSE 1.6?