So there was no mid-month update this month? You thought maybe I’d keep you more up to date on what I was doing after that post last month? Well, I will, but this month, there was a reason.
I was working on a secret project.
What that actually means is I abandoned all my things I should be doing in order to do something way different. Something pretty fucking huge, tbh. I mean that in the literal filesize sense. This thing is 8gb compressed, and 20gb in your Skyrim install. It’s massive. There’s a reason for that though.
Okay, so here’s what the heck is actually going on. A while back, I realised that certain programs designed specifically for fancy screenshooting, such as DAZ, had this really kind of disconnected way of working. You take your little screenshooting location, and you take your outfit, and you take your character, and you take 1 or 2 pics of them in this setup, and then you go to a completely different setup, because this is designed to be digital photography, where you have any number of locations, but they’ll small and confined.
I thought “would be kinda cool if we had something like that in Skyrim”. So then I went off and scoured the internet (mostly just Sketchfab) and found kind of a huge pile of free resources to accomplish exactly that goal.
What is “Vignettes”?
So that brings me to the actual mod part of the post. This is vignettes. It’s a mod made up of a huge pile of free assets found online and used (mostly) under creative commons licenses. They are all completely separate. They have no relation to each other, and they most certainly have no relation to Skyrim. The entire point of this mod is provide you with 80 different locations, ranging from downright tiny (literally the corner of a room) to medium sized, that aren’t like anything else, because they were all created by different people. Styles, themes, and quality of assets vary hugely. The only thing any of them have in common is that they made me think “Oh, I like that. I’ll use it.”
The mod is called vignettes because that’s really the whole style of the project. “Small one shot scenes that have no particular relation to anything else and tell a story within themselves”.
The Technical Bit
- 79 unique cells, all presented from 1 hub cell. A museum.
- No relation to Skyrim in any way. Purely for random screenshooting.
- Including 3D scans of real life locations, which are… interesting.
- All interiors, using 360 degree HDRI sky boxes (or they were before they were compressed to DDS)
- Most cells use 4 or less light sources.
- Some scenes have huge resolution textures. Particularly the 3D scans, some of which use 8k chunks. So some of these cells are not for the faint of GPU.
- The download is massive, coming in at a gargantuan 8gb compressed, and a full 20gb installed. If you’re low on space, this mod is absolutely not for you.
- Every location has its own info stand. I know a lot of you don’t like to do the reading, but please do read them. They have info on each scene, and some will tell you things you need to know.
- You get to the museum via a totally inconspicuous picture on the desk in Faringar’s back office, in Dragonsreach. That’s in the Cloud District. You get there often enough, don’t you?
- Each location has an invisible door to return from. It is directly behind you as you enter, and it’s big, so you won’t have a hard time clicking on it. Always make sure you take note of where it is when you enter.
- All assets are used legally, and all legal licenses and credits can be found in the credits.txt file.
- The SE version sky boxes aren’t as good. Nothing I can do about it. The nif functions used in the LE version simply don’t work in SE, so I had to work around it. I don’t think the difference is too huge, but you can tell.
And with all of that long-ass post down, here are the downloads:
Vignettes LE: Download from Halo’s Mods | Download from Google Drive
Vignettes SE: Download from Halo’s Mods
Yes, we have google drive downloads this time, because it’s such a big file, my server’s 2mb/s per user limit just won’t cut it for some people.
Okay, there’s your progress update. That’s been my entire last month. Hope you guys find it useful!
You spent only a month on this? Your content is as amazing as always!
I only had to convert other peoples’ work. It doesn’t take too long. The people who made all these things spent a lot of time on them too.
Well, everyone that worked hard on it did really well.
I love my new starship! Now all we need is a Xenomorph 🙂
Thank you for this surprising new mod!
Hmm, so this isn’t part of Aether Suite then. I was hoping you’ll put the museum in there.
No. It’s just a whole separate thing. The AS update is still a distant dream at the moment.
Hello))
You can add Titanic locations? .. Its would be Awesome!!!! 🥰
Your mods are garbage. The game crashes when you try go to your apartment stop making games
I’ve never made a game, so no problems there.
For some reason on both Firefox and Chrome it says your downloads cannot be accessed due to security problems. Just thought I’d give you a heads up in case you didn’t know already. 🙂
Oh, I think I know why. I must have forgotten to renew the “www” security certificate.
Fixed!
Thanks! 😀
Wow thanks so much for this compilation! Great work, this museum is a ton of fun to explore.
Thanks, this is dope. It reminds me of Blue’s Clues when they would jump into the pictures.
Very nice, thank you so much for all you’ve done!
I am even ready to pay for your work, so that you would create Locations of the Titanic ship, in the style of Vignettes. Several locations, a cabin, a grand staircase and the ship itself is entirely life-size. I can give you $ 7 via paypal. Personally from myself, what would you pay attention to this topic. Do you agree?
But you can choose one thing, let it be better to start with just a life-size ship, with meshes for walking on the upper decks, purely exterior, no interiors. It will be much better. There are a lot of versions of Titanic models on sketchup, I hope that my amount will help, I can add a maximum of $ 7 more, in the end $ 14 is my ceiling of possibilities.
I’m not even close to good enough to recreate the detail and grandeur of the Titanic. I’m just a small time modder.
I did actually try to find some assets for it to put into the vignettes in the first place, because I’m a fan of the Titanic’s design myself, but I was unable to find anything of use (that I didn’t have to pay a lot of money to get.
It would be nice to be able to use parts from the Titanic: Honor and Glory game, but sadly that wouldn’t be legal, and I couldn’t find any references on their site about purchasing the models.
Basically, I actually wouldn’t mind adding some Titanic locations (because I wanted to in the first place), there just aren’t any to add.
Also, the models for Titanic on Sketchup or Sketchfab are designed to be seen from a distance. They look absolutely awful if you view them from the deck. A lot of them don’t come with textures at all, in fact.
I have an idea)
No need to use the Honor and Glory model)
There is another model from another game Virtual Sailor – and there is a very good model of the Titanic, simpler – that is, less polygons, but there are also exteriors and interiors.
I could provide you with the files if you want to go and you decide if you can handle this kind of conversion.
How’s the idea?
That game is also copyrighted, so it would still be illegal.
Really?
But I’m talking about a Modification to the game.
Not about the original model, but about an amateur modification created by an unofficial person.
And I have the files of this mod, addon. Which can be used.
In addition, I personally purchased this model file from the author.
Copyright laws still apply in modding. If I didn’t purchase the model, including a license to redistribute, then it isn’t legal for me to do so. The laws vary from country to country, but where I live, and where my server is hosted, that would be illegal.
That’s why all the illegal ports of things are hosted in places where people can avoid takedown notices, like baidu. I’d rather not delve into illegal ports though. I’m sure you can find someone who’d be willing to do it for you, but I wouldn’t know where to suggest looking, since I usually try to avoid that stuff.
Очень жаль.. Но я вас понимаю)
Тогда у меня есть другая идея, не связанная с Титаником)
Только мне нужно время что бы собрать информацию, я позже вам напишу)
Sorry, im forgot use translator))
It’s a pity .. But I understand you)
Then I have another idea not related to the Titanic)
Only I need time to collect information, I will write to you later)
I mean one file from the Sketchup site, where you can freely find the Dolphin hotel room “1408” – based on the story of Stephen King. Could you add this location in your next update? I tried twice to attach a direct link to the file, but both times my message was not accepted ((
Place the link in the “website” field in the form. I will be able to click on it then. I tried searching for it myself, but I couldn’t find it. Please beware though that if it’s on Sketchup, the model or textures could pose their own problem. I also don’t currently have any plans to update vignettes past what I’ve already done with it, but I’ll see about perhaps using it in future if it’s of reasonable quality.
The quality of the model is certainly not too good) but still better than nothing at all)
Look) and rate) – how much can it be playable?
Just past in search – Room 1408
In site 3dwarehouse.sketchup
Oh. Okay that was the first one I found, but I didn’t think you meant that one because it’s kind of… not so good. Well, it looks okay in Sketchup itself, but when you try to import it into other programs, it looks much worse. Skyrim doesn’t play so well with Sketchup models, for that reason. They use a lot of solid colours and very low resolution tiled textures which look quite poor in-game.
I downloaded quite a few for Vignettes originally, but I ended up never using any because of the way Sketchup makes and renders its models. It’s designed more for architectural designs than gameplay quality assets.
I agree with you!
Indeed, the files of this program do not look Aesthetically pleasing.
Is it possible to contact you somewhere else? So that I can have a free conversation with file attachments, photos, and even videos.
I would like to try to cooperate with you. I have a lot of things I could show you – interesting things.
I myself am a big collector of such mods for Skyrim and I even have a whole group dedicated to this topic, various Modernized, Urban themes) on the Skyrim engine)
I only have my steam tag and my Discord tag, but I don’t give those out any more due to a lot of people trying to contact me to make mods for them. Too many people kept adding me just to try to get me to do things for them, so I stopped sharing them.
I’m not actively modding Skyrim right now anyway. Like I said in my Christmas post, I have a couple of things I will finish up soonish, but I’m not looking to take on more work. I don’t have the time for it right now. I really think you’d be better off trying to find someone who’s still more active in their modding, and like I said, perhaps someone who doesn’t have the legal things to worry about.
I just wish I could point you in the right direction. I’m not really sure where you’d be able to find someone who’s interested in your project that is still actively modding.
I understand))
And I’m not upset)
I didn’t have to do it anyway) I mean what I have is enough for me)
I’ve at least tried to learn about what I need)
And I wish you Great Success in this Project) so that you can update the Vignette mod again) by adding New unique Locations))
I am very impressed with your work)) – I was connected with the Aether Suite from the very beginning of their development) I followed your updates almost from the very beginning)
And now this new style)) It turned out very well)
Halo sir , your mod looks inspiring to me, I’d love to enjoy different scenes by fast switching, I have an improvement idea to fast switch the skybox background texture dynamically in the run-time of game play instead of getting them pre-configured in the ESP, to understand it you may watch the sample video i created below :
https://mega.nz/file/cjxAkBjR#PEPZeGtb_WPgsZem_gJbBnq7LeW6Gc-TtBxnhWvImQw
There are a number of ways that I could do this in real time. I chose pre-configured methods in order to use a sky box that best keeps original feel of each vignette. It’s not that I don’t know how, it’s just not something that seemed necessary, since I was following the style of all the original settings.
i do not expected there would be a reply.
now I understood after you mentioned it’s fitting the original feel of each scene ported.
I agree, I was thinking from your skybox scene settings
that to me i feel would be a good idea that
to have skybox background dynamically switched during runtime easily than porting bundles of 3D nif scenes which definitely take lots of work and time involved adding colllision, linking portal, adding furniture behaviors.
Below is what I experimented on this idea of generating dynamic bg in runtime (video):
https://mega.nz/file/RiIDTCRD#_sxUunpQT8bhyoL1fJJICTPB_IAbfQCcVqXSsTZLAKY
to me i feel the benifit of this implimentation is that textures are not hardcoded in the esp source file nor psc file. so user could either download HRDI from internet or take their own photos to generate 360 degree backgrounds to replace original skybox ( e.g. vignettes for example )
my discord ID is coldloc#2729 not sure if can be allowed to add you as friends , as one of your fans, tried to learn from, sharing some ideas feedbacks.
anyway no matter the result, thanks for your hard working and contribution to the mod community and let us enjoy your creations.
After considering it, I think I’d rather continue with the current style, because it’s the style I settled on in the beginning, but I encourage you to release any modifications or ideas you might have for the mod. Especially if it’s just an esp modification where you don’t have to worry about permissions.
I always encourage people to build on top of my mods.
Thank you for making the Aether Suite. I’ve been spending some time in the mod and it has inspired me to write a cyberpunk fanfic based on the lore I could find in game, set in Knox. If it’s not too much trouble, could I ask, is there any lore or details for the characters that are implied to exist in the world, such as Finnegan, or Senpai, which you didn’t put into the mod?
Thanks again!
Not really. I mean, there’s a lot, in my head, but it’s nothing I ever really intend to put on a page. It’s mostly related to the original Knox plot I had laid out way back when it was going to be an actual quest mod (like 7 years ago) and not the Aether Suite as it is now. Most of the lore from back then doesn’t make sense for what the AS has formed into. I would have to completely rewrite it. Even Senpai probably shouldn’t be there lol. I doubt I’ll ever have a chance to put any of the extended lore into the AS, so you just go with whatever feels right.
Pretty sure I know the answer to this is ‘no’ but did you ever actually record/produce any music for Lurbuk and the Lords of Storm? Looking through the mod it looks like a badass gothic rock band, which is exactly what I love to listen to. I found the lyrics for ‘Mortal Coil’ in one of the PC’s, which gave me some small hope that it actually exists to be listened to.
lol, no. God I wish. I’d have loved to get the Lords of Storm some badass tracks.
While we’re on the topic of music, I’ve been putting together a playlist of music to listen to for inspiration to write. You might enjoy Cryoshell’s ‘Dive’ it seems a bit reminiscent of the Lily Love radio, and you might also like The Blue Stones’ song ‘Make This Easy’ which reminds me of Finnegan’s.
You’re like the only person that creates modern-looking places for Skyrim and I absolutely appreciate your contribution.
If there’s any criticism (nitpick) I would make with this mod, it would be the fact that some areas feel too cramped and small (the kitchen scene for example).
Other than that, an amazing mod.
If you would want to read my work so far in my novelization of the Aether Suite, is there any way I could send you a link to each chapter? I’m somewhat shy about my art and writing.
I don’t have much free time at the moment, since I recently got a new, very time consuming job (hence the lack of any kind of mod releases) so I can’t say I’d really have time to sit and read through anything. I only have the one email really, which I don’t give out freely. For the moment, I’ll just politely decline. I’d rather not have you send it to me and then have me rudely ignore/forget about it for weeks or months.
I feel a bit silly that I only just now realized that the characters in game are in your gallery. I can’t seem to find the girl in the picture in Senpai’s room, though. The file name is riripic, so I guess her name is Riri? Is she in the gallery at all?
She’s Lilim. The Riri thing is a joke that I did long ago.
This is exactly what I have needed to get myself motivated. New locations for fun time. Thank you. You are brilliant.