Skyrim square shadows. Beautiful graphics in Skyrim without any lags

Making backup copies of SkyrimPrefs.ini

Chapter

BMouseAcceleration=1
If you want to disable mouse acceleration, you can change it to 0.

Chapter

IPresentInterval=0
Vsync

IBlurDeferredShadowMask=3
It improves the sharpness of shadows. It is recommended that you change this value to 1, but if the shadows are too harsh, you can set it to 2.
In other words - the clarity of the shadows, the lower the parameter, the sharper it is.
FPS does not change.

FTreesMidLODSwitchDist=0.0000
Distance of visibility of distant trees, You can change it to 10000000.0000 if you want to increase the LOD distance.

FShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
Shadow display range. You can change it to 1000.0000. (will increase the range of shadows)

IShadowFilter=3
Shadow filtering. You can set it between 1 and 4 (Low, Medium, High, Ultra).

BTransparencyMultisampling=0
Change it to 1 to enable transparency multisampling (experimental), you can set it to 4.

IWaterMultiSamples=0
Smoothing on water.. You can change this from 1 to 4 (low, medium, high, ultra).
a value of "4" will improve the smoothing of water surfaces

BTreesReceiveShadows=0
A value of "1" enables additional shadows on trees

BDrawLandShadows=0
A value of "1" enables additional terrain shadows (subtle effect)

FGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000
Grass display fade-out range, performance. You can bet 400.0000.

IWaterReflectHeight = 512
iWaterReflectWidth = 512
Reflection texture resolution Can be changed up to 1024.

UiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20
More skinned (swinging) trees.

IMultiSample=8
Antialiasing slows down the game the most. Range 0-8

IMaxAnisotropy=16
Anisotropic filtering

BUseWaterReflectionBlur=1
Blurring reflections on water.

IWaterBlurAmount=4
The amount of reflection blur.

BReflect Explosions=1
Reflection of explosions (special effects)

BAutoWaterSilhouetteReflections=1
Reflection in water in the form of silhouettes.

BForceHighDetailReflections=0
Increases reflection detail, replace with 1.

FHighBlockLoadDistanceLow=20000.0000

Improves lod.(Visibility distance)


Forced inclusion of high-quality reflections in water.

UInterior Cell Buffer=8
Size, in cells, of interior buffers

UExterior Cell Buffer=36
Size, in cells, of exterior buffers

IPreloadSizeLimit=104857600

FMasterFilePreLoadMB=100.0000
How many MB of the master file is stored in memory.

FSunUpdateThreshold=1.0000
fSunShadowUpdateTime=1.0000

UGridsToLoad=5
The number of simultaneously loaded cells of the game world. 5, 7, 9, etc.
It is recommended to leave 5, if the system is powerful then 7.9

INumHWThreads=4
Number of processor cores.

IRenderingThread2HWThread=1
iRenderingThread1HWThread=0
iHWThread6=5
iHWThread5=5
iHWThread4=5
iHWThread3=4
iHWThread2=4
iHWThread1=4
bMultiThreadMovement=1
iAIThread2HWThread=5
iAIThread1HWThread=3
bUseThreadedMorpher=1
bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1
bUseThreadedTempEffects=1
bAnimateDoorPhysics=0
bPreCullActors=1
bUseHardDriveCache=0


bKeepLowDetailTerrain=0
Disables low detail vegetation.

IShaderPackageMemoryCap=409600
Memory limit for Shaders.

BCompileOnRender=1
Compiling Shaders on the video card instead of the CPU.

UiAudioHWThread=2
Processing audio in a separate thread.

UMaxSizeForCachedSound=262144
bEnableAudioCache=1
Audio cache

BEnableAudio=1
Turn on audio

SAudioAPI=XAudio2
DirectX audio mode


iNumThreads=2
Streams for Havok

BHavokDebug=0
fMaxTime=0.0157

BMouseAcceleration=1 - mouse acceleration, value "0" disables acceleration.

FAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000 - time in minutes after which autosave will occur in the game.

BShowQuestMarkers=1 - value "0" disables quest markers.

BShowCompass=1 - value "0" disables the display of the compass in the game interface.

BShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1 - value "0" disables quest markers over objects in the game.

BDoDepthOfField=1 - value "0" disables the "depth of field" effect.

BTreesReceiveShadows=0 - value "1" enables additional shadows on trees. ON OFF

BDrawLandShadows=0 - value "1" enables additional landscape shadows. ON OFF

IBlurDeferredShadowMask=3 - value "1" or "2" will improve the sharpness of shadows without noticeable loss of frames

FShadowLODStartFade=200.0000 - the value "1000.0000" will increase the shadow drawing distance

IWaterMultiSamples=0 - value "4" will improve the smoothing of water surfaces

Experimental settings may lead to unstable game operation or decreased performance:

FTreesMidLODSwitchDist=0.0000 - the value "10000000.0000" will improve the drawing distance of trees
iShadowFilter=3 - value "4" will improve shadows
bTransparencyMultisampling=0 - value "1" will improve transparent textures
iWaterReflectHeight=512
iWaterReflectWidth=512 - the value "1024" in these two parameters will improve the reflections on the water

Experimental improvements to water rendering. Add these lines at the end of the file, after other values:

Warning: This may cause game instability.

BUseWaterReflectionBlur=1
bReflect Explosions=1
iWaterBlurAmount=4
bAutoWaterSilhouetteReflections=0
bForceHighDetailReflections=1

Additional settings:

BUseWaterReflectionBlur=1, blurring reflections on water.

IWaterBlurAmount=4, reflection blur value.

BReflectExplosions=1, reflection of explosions (effects?) in reflective surfaces.

BAutoWaterSilhouetteReflections=0, reflection in water in the form of silhouettes, probably means that when the option is turned on, the reflections will be without detail, silhouettes, and the HSI is faster than regular reflections.

BForceHighDetailReflections=1, increases the detail of reflections.

FBlockLoadDistanceLow=50000.0000
fBlockLoadDistance=125000.0000
fHighBlockLoadDistanceLow=20000.0000, range of 3 levels of model lods.

Skyrim the day it came out, and fans have already climbed into the .ini files in search of how to fix the most common problems and UI irritants. The following recipes will allow you to disable mouse smoothing, adjust the field of view, disable V-sync, and fix the problem that causes the game to crash to the desktop from the main menu immediately after launch. In addition, there are a couple of recommendations for “cosmetic” improvements Skyrim.

Disable mouse smoothing Go to the Steam folder on your computer, SteamApps\common\skyrim\Skyrim. Just in case, copy the unmodified SkyrimPrefs.ini file somewhere. Open the one in the folder Skyrim, find the section, item bMouseAcceleration=1. Change to bMouseAcceleration=0. Save, get out there and play.

Change field of view Go to My Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Skyrim, make a copy of the skyrim.ini file. Open the file, find the section and add fdefaultfov=XX, where XX is the field of view you need. Save and exit.

It turned out that the setting in this way is reset after fast movement. Therefore, for better results, enter the command through the console. During the game, press "~" and write

where XX is the field of view you need. A value of 95–100 should suit you. However, please note that opening your console in-game (even accidentally) will block achievements from being earned on Steam. We've warned you.

Default fov settings



fov 120


Sound problems and/or crashes
If you have audio problems, try the following:
  • Open the Windows Control Panel (or right-click on the speaker tray icon, "playback devices").
  • Select Sound.
  • In the Sound window, select the active playback device (green circle with a white checkmark inside).
  • On the Advanced tab, assign the parameters 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD).
In some cases, this helps to avoid the game crashing upon startup.

Disable Vsync Open the SkyrimPrefs.ini file (Steam\SteamApps\common\skyrim\Skyrim) and add iPresentInterval=0 to the end of the section. This can improve stuttering frame rates and mouse lag.

Remove the Bethesda logo when starting the game If you don't want to, at every start Skyrim look at the logo Bethesda before loading the main menu, and immediately go to the main menu - open the folder Steam\SteamApps\common\skyrim\Data\Video and remove the “logo” video from there (copy it somewhere just in case: Bethesda will be offended).

Graphics Settings There are some interesting settings in SkyrimPrefs.ini (Steam\SteamApps\common\skyrim\Skyrim) that you can experiment with. To enable the function, replace the number at the end of the line with 1; to disable it, replace it with 0. Don’t forget to make a copy of the unchanged file, just in case.

The settings are in the order of their location in the .ini file with default values:

bDoDepthOfField=1
bTreesReceiveShadows=0
bDrawLandShadows=0
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
bShowCompass=1
bMouseAcceleration=1
fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000

You can also change the iWaterReflectHeight=512 and iWaterReflectWidth=512 values ​​to 1024, and add the following text to SkyrimPrefs.ini to improve the quality of water reflections:

bUseWaterReflectionBlur=1
bReflect Explosions=1
iWaterBlurAmount=4
bAutoWaterSilhouetteReflections=0
bForceHighDetailReflections=1

Below are screenshots of “before” and “after” manipulations with the settings of shadows and reflections in the water. Adding shadows benefits Skyrim's trees.


Including Skyrim, Bethesda created a separate game engine, the Creation Engine. This new development introduces realistic shadow technology and many other advances. Luckily, the game files and configuration options are readily available, allowing us to tweak the Creation Engine ourselves in a few different ways:

1. By adding or changing variables in configuration files (.ini).
2. Using the command line.
3. Using user-created game modifications (Mods)
4. Changing video driver settings.

Below we will analyze all these methods in detail. But before you start making any changes, we strongly recommend that you protect yourself from possible loss of original settings and saved games. The easiest way is to make a backup copy of the entire \My Documents\My Games\Skyrim directory and place it in a safe place.

Changes to .ini files

The Skyrim game engine uses .ini files to store various settings, which are then read and applied as original. The contents of these simple .ini files can be changed in any text editor, for example, in the usual Notepad (Windows Notepad). Many of these files are located in the main game directory \Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim, but these are only templates and cannot be changed.

Those configuration files that you can (and should) change are located in the \My Documents\My Games\Skyrim directory: these are Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini. When we make changes to any of these files, the specific name will always be indicated. Important: if you mess up something in them and you don’t have a backup copy, or if you suspect that changes in their text will cause some problems, then you can safely delete them. The fact is that the next time you start Skyrim, they will be created again with the default settings.

When you change in-game settings using Skyrim Launcher, a number of variables in the .ini files will also change or be reset. Therefore, it will be better to first adjust all the settings within the game to the level you need before moving on to the “jewelry” settings in the configuration files. You can also write down any changes to these files somewhere (since future official patches may also reset or change some settings in them), but you should never copy the entire .ini file (or a large chunk of it) from an older version to a newer one. new.

The settings listed in this guide are not the only correct ones. In general, this kind of change requires experimentation. We will provide some general recommendations, but it depends on your personal tastes and system capabilities which of the proposed options you choose and what it will cost you. Also, don't just mindlessly copy the contents of someone else's .ini file. In most cases, there will be content that will not suit your personal tastes or even cause problems. Each of our advice implies that you understand the essence and consequences of the changes being made and will test them yourself before finally deciding whether to listen to it and apply the changes to your system.

Important: variables that can be completely changed using general game settings, and those that do not have a significant impact on performance or game image, were not considered.

General Performance

uGridsToLoad=5. This variable does not exist, and in order for the changes it makes to take effect, you must add it to the end of the section of the Skyrim.ini file. It controls the radius around the hero in which the game engine loads the greatest detail of objects, characters and landscapes. This variable also has a significant impact on both the quality of the game image and performance. Any value of this variable must be specified as an odd integer (3, 5, 7, 9, 11). Below are screenshots of the game showing how much more detailed the world around the character becomes at a distance when changing the values ​​of this parameter.


Since changes to this variable provide tempting changes to the quality of the game's image, you should experiment with its values ​​in different game locations. Especially where you usually have the lowest FPS. The default value of "5" provides a fairly optimal balance of image quality and performance. But if you need additional FPS units, then you can reduce this parameter to the value “3”. Although Bethesda strongly recommends against doing this, since changing the lower limit can lead to game instability.

Important: Also remember that too high values ​​of this variable can significantly increase the level of resources consumed by the game, and as a result, be a potential source of game instability and decreased performance. Also, if you save your game after changing this setting, the new value will be applied to the saved game. This fact deserves special attention, since in Skyrim you can only load a game “save” in which the uGridsToLoad level is less than or equal to your current parameter. And you will no longer be able to load a saved game with the highest uGridsToLoad level. Simply put, if you change the values ​​of the variable down again, you will not be able to load games that used large values. Therefore, you should study in detail any change created by the uGridsToLoad parameter before proceeding to save the game. If you need to “roll back” uGridsToload changes in an existing game save, then follow this sequence of actions:

1. Launch Skyrim and load your saved game.

2. Press ALT+TAB to switch to the Desktop.

3. As usual, edit the Skyrim.ini file, lowering the value of the uGridsToLoad variable to the desired level and close it.

4. Use ALT+TAB to switch back to Skyrim.
5. Open a command prompt using the tilde (~) key and type refreshini.

6. Save the game to a new slot. The saved game is now set to the required uGridsToLoad value.

uExterior Cell Buffer=36. This variable controls the number of world cells (depending on the uGridsToLoad settings) that are processed in the random access memory (RAM) buffer to ensure smooth transitions and improve image stability. The general rule for calculating the optimal value for this variable is to add one to the value of the uGridsToLoad parameter and square the resulting number. For example, if uGridsToLoad is at level 7, then uExterior Cell Buffer needs to be changed to 64 =(7+1)2.

iPresentInterval=0. In Skyrim, vertical synchronization VSync is enabled by default and cannot be disabled using the game settings. If you add this variable to the end of the section of the Skyrim.ini file and assign it the value “0”, VSync will be forcibly disabled. Disabling VSync reduces/eliminates mouse lag, removes the cap on FPS, and can also improve overall performance. However, disabling Vsync can also have some potentially negative effects: a "crying screen" effect may occur. In itself, it is harmless, but quite annoying, and the timing and physics of the game world can speed up or “glitch” (especially in those locations where the FPS level is high).

The two main methods for using VSync in Skyrim are:

VSync is enabled (default). Instead of using the D3DOverrider utility (which comes with the free RivaTuner software), enable Triple Buffering. This will improve overall performance and reduce mouse lag without causing any additional negative effects. Just remember that Triple Buffering uses more Video RAM (which can cause problems on some system configurations), and may not reduce mouse lag as much as it would with VSync completely disabled. To achieve the same level, look at the other variables (mouse related) in this section.

VSync is disabled. Use FPS Limiter Mod to maintain any FPS you want (regardless of the recommended one). This should prevent issues with game physics and remove mouse lag. But some “drips” will still remain on the screen.

Note that iPresentInterval can also be set to "2" to allow VSync to run at a reduced FPS cap (typically 60 instead of 30). But this will increase the amount of mouse lag, will not improve performance, and will also result in very long loading times. Therefore, it is better not to use this value at all.

You may have noticed that some notable caching and memory settings were not included in this guide. For example, from the Memory Limit Increase mod. When experimenting with them in Skyrim, we didn't find any practical impact on ongoing performance, resource usage, or overall system smoothness. At the same time, we cannot definitively refute their effectiveness on all systems. As a result, we agreed that there was no need to change them.

Only changing the Large Address Aware (LAA) flag on the main game file TESV.exe can have a real impact on optimizing the game's resource usage. This LAA change allows Skyrim to potentially use more than the two-gigabyte limit inherent in 32-bit executables. But this change is recommended to be made only when the amount of system RAM you have is equal to or exceeds 4 GB. Steam prohibits the use of any patches that directly change game .exe files, so you will need something like this mod: 4GB Skyrim LAA mod. This should not be taken as a panacea for all instabilities, but it can work if you use a number of resource-intensive mods or make changes to .ini files in Skyrim.

Audio

fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file is equivalent to the Master volume control in the in-game settings. However, here you can assign it a value greater than the limit of 1.0000, which is present in the game regulator. Thus, if the sound in Skyrim seems too quiet for you, you can make it louder: try, for example, setting the level to 1.5000 or 2.0000. Subsequently, you can adjust other sliders that are responsible for the sound in the game, but remember that further manipulations with the Master volume “from under the game” will again reset the maximum value of this variable to 1.0000.

bEnableAudio=1.0. If you add this variable to the Skyrim.ini section of the file and set it to "0", it will disable all sounds in the game. Very useful during troubleshooting so that you can determine whether the audio is actually the source of game problems such as slowdowns and lags.

Interface and control

  • fDefaultWorldFOV=90
  • fDefault1stPersonFOV=90

To change your field of view (FOV) in Skyrim, you must first add both of these variables to the end of a section of the Skyrim.ini file. Changing their values ​​will correspond to changing the FOV level you want to use. You should also add the variable fDefaultFOV=90 ​​to the end of the section of the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, again setting the value you need. After this, load the last saved game and enter the text FOV 90 in the command line (more details about the command line will be described later in the text) so that the FOV level takes on the values ​​​​of the above variables. Save the game for the changes to take effect permanently.

  • fSafeZoneX=15
  • fSafeZoneY=15
  • fSafeZoneXWide=15
  • fSafeZoneYWide=15

The above section and its variables are added to the end of the Skyrim.ini file. These parameters adjust the distance from the edge of the screen on which Heads-Up Display (HUD) elements are displayed (compass scale, health levels, magic and stamina). The lower the assigned value, the closer to the edge of the screen HUD elements (including status messages or locations) will be located. This will help make them less noticeable and intrusive.

  • uLockedObjectMapLOD=8
  • uLockedTerrainLOD=8
  • fMapWorldMaxHeight=150000.0000
  • fMapWorldMinHeight=1500.0000
  • fMapWorldZoomSpeed=0.0800

Also, the entire section and all the variables included in it should be added to the end of the Skyrim.ini file (if you need the changes they bring). The first two parameters affect the level of detail of the game world, which is visible in Map view, and the above values ​​​​make the map more detailed. The third and fourth variables allow you to zoom in and out further in the “zoom” mode than is possible with the normal game capabilities. The last option reduces the zoom speed, so you can see the map better when zooming in or out. If you want to completely remove clouds from the game, you can also add sMapCloudNIF=0 to the above section, and then they will disappear.

bDoDepthOfField=1. If this variable is set to "0" in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, the Depth of Field effect, most often visible in the backgrounds of the Items, Magic, Skills, Maps screens in the Character Menu, will be disabled. Disabling this effect increases the FPS level, but it also makes it more difficult to distinguish objects in the background of the character menu.

bShowQuestMarkers=1. If this variable is set to "0" in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, all quest arrows will be disabled (including on the map and compass scale), but landmarks will still be shown. When these markers are disabled, it becomes more difficult to complete quests, since now you will have to listen and read their descriptions more carefully.

bShowCompass=1. If this variable is set to "0" in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, the compass scale will disappear from the top of the screen. This will provide a cleaner game image, but you will need to refer to the map more often, or study the pathfinding spell (Clairvoyance) more carefully.

bAlwaysRunByDefault=1. If you set this variable to zero in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, then by default your character will move on foot instead of running. To change this behavior at any time, you simply press the CAPS LOCK key. If the parameter is assigned a certain value manually, then this is the manner of movement the hero will start the game with.

bMouseAcceleration=1. When this variable is set to "0" in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, mouse acceleration will be disabled. This will make your mouse movements more consistent, responsive, and predictable, so you won't have to move it faster for big movements and slower for small ones. Also, with this change you can reduce the feeling of “lag” inherent in Vsync enabled by default.

fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0440. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file is associated with the in-game Look Sensitivity setting and should primarily be adjusted through the in-game menu. However, if you need to assign it a higher value than is available in the game, then you can make changes here.

  • fMouseHeadingYScale=0.0200
  • fMouseHeadingXScale=0.0200

The section and its variables must all be added to the end of the Skyrim.ini file to change the sensitivity of the Y (up/down) and X (left/right) axes of mouse movement accordingly. Larger values ​​increase the effective sensitivity of a particular axis.

Shadows

iShadowMapResolution=4096. This variable from the SkyrimPrefs.ini file directly adjusts the resolution of shadows and is therefore the main determining factor in the quality of shadows in the game. It is included in the in-game “Shadow Detail” settings. When the Shadow Detail parameter is set to Low, iShadowMapResolution = 512; average (Medium) – 1024; high – 2048; ultra (Ultra) – 4096. For shadow resolution, a higher value of 8192 is also available, which will slightly improve the quality of shadows, but will significantly reduce the FPS level. The images below show the difference between using this variable value of 4096 (corresponding to the Ultra level) and 8192. The selected scene is indoors, where the difference in shadow quality will be most noticeable. You can see that the character's shadow and the large shadow to the right of it have significantly smoother edges at 8192.

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file controls the blur effect applied to shadows. Low values ​​will give sharp edges to the shadows, while a value of 0 will turn the effect off completely, giving the most definition. As the variable values ​​increase, the shadows will gradually blur until they become completely shapeless. In the screenshots below you can see the difference between the values ​​0, 3 and 7: it is most noticeable in the shadow of the tree. This effect has a small impact on performance. You can lower the variable's value to see more detail in high-resolution shadows, or increase its value to blur and completely hide jaggedness and flicker in low-resolution shadows.

iShadowMaskQuarter=4. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file also affects the transparency and purity of shadows. When it is set to high values ​​(like 10), it increases the clarity of the shadows, but at too high values ​​it will simply "drown" the game. Low values ​​will make the shadows less detailed, but remember that a value of 0 completely disables indoor shadows. The performance impact is quite noticeable, so you should first use the iBlurDeferredShadowMask settings to change the clarity of the shadows.

fShadowDistance=8000. This variable from the SkyrimPrefs.ini file has a significant impact on the quality of shadows in outdoor locations. It adjusts the distance from which shadows become visible. However, due to the way the game engine works, it also determines the overall level of shadow detail in the game world. By decreasing the values ​​of this variable, the resolution of shadows will increase, and on distant objects they will not be visible at all. This has a significant impact on increasing productivity. With a value of "0", shadows on the street will be completely disabled. The comparison images below show the effect that the values ​​of 400, 2000 and 8000 have. They confirm that at low values ​​the shadows will be shorter, but the level of detail in them will be higher.

fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000. This parameter in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file is responsible for indoor shadows. However, a decrease in its values ​​simply results in more areas being shaded, but not in any noticeable improvement in shadow resolution. Increasing the values ​​of this variable also does not have a noticeable practical effect. Indoors, shadows are usually sharper the closer they are to the light source, regardless of the value of this parameter. Only increasing the values ​​of the iShadowMapResolution variable can really have a positive effect on both indoor and outdoor shadows.

fShadowBiasScale=0.15. This variable from the SkyrimPrefs.ini file determines how much a surface will be shaded by changing the angle at which light hits the object. In practice, larger values ​​reduce shadowing and smaller values ​​increase it on various surfaces.

bTreesReceiveShadows=0. If this variable is set to "1" in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, then leaves on trees will cast shadows not only on the ground, but also on themselves. The visual changes are quite noticeable, as shown in the images below. This effect does not have a noticeable impact on performance, so it can be enabled on most systems to give more natural foliage.

bDrawLandShadows=0. When this variable is set to 1 in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, the terrain will become slightly shadowed. This effect is not easy to see, but if you look at the screenshots below, you will notice that when the effect is turned on, the entire base of the hill in the center of the image and in the distance to the left becomes darker. It has minimal impact on performance.

  • fSunShadowUpdateTime=1.000
  • fSunUpdateThreshold=0.500

If the above variables are added at the end of a section of the Skyrim.ini file, then you can control the position of the shadows depending on where the sun is. By default, when the sun moves, shadows change their position only occasionally, visually perceived as sharp jumps in their jagged outlines as they move from the old position to the new one. As the value of the fSunUpdateThreshold variable changes, the frequency at which the shadow positions change changes: the higher the value, the longer the intervals will last before the shadow moves to its new location. Changing the value of fSunShadowUpdateTime determines how long the transition itself will be: high values ​​will make the movement extended over time, and low values ​​will result in a pronounced jump between the old and new positions of the shadows. For example, try this combination: fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.000 and fSunUpdateThreshold=0.100. It will provide frequent and, as a result, stable updates of shadow positions with shorter and clearer transitions.

Skyrim is the first Elder Scrolls game to make extensive use of dynamic shading. The quality of shadows may vary noticeably in the game, as well as their flickering and movement speed. Since shadows have a fairly intense impact on game performance, very often you have to make compromises with quality when setting them up and balance between the rich texture of shadows and a sufficient level of framerate. However, setting the optimal level of detail for all shadow parameters is not so easy. This guide has covered many combinations for different shadow display settings, but a lot of the final choice comes down to personal preference and the capabilities of your particular system.

Grass and trees

fGrassStartFadeDistance=7000.0000. This SkyrimPrefs.ini file setting has the most significant impact on how grass is displayed. It determines the distance at which it appears in the game world and corresponds to the in-game Grass Fade setting. The lower its value, the less grass will be visible in the distance; the higher the value, the more grass. The game setting does not allow you to exceed the level of 7000.00, but you can increase this value yourself if you want more small vegetation to be visible on the horizon. For example, a value of 14000.00 will double the distance at which the grass will be visible. The performance impact will vary by system, but should generally be small.

iMinGrassSize=20. This variable must be added to the end of the section of the Skyrim.ini file. It is responsible for the density of grass bushes. As its value increases, “bald patches” appear on the surface of the earth caused by the lack of grass; as it decreases, the grass cover becomes much thicker. We noticed that there is no point in going below 20: the grass doesn’t get any thicker anyway. The images below show two opposite values ​​(80 and 20) and the changes in grass bush density are very noticeable. Reducing the density of grass can be seen as an additional way to increase productivity levels without reducing the distance from which it is visible or eliminating it entirely.
Figure 7 - Click here for an interactive comparison of this effect between iMinGrassSize values ​​of 20 and 80

bAllowCreateGrass=1. If this variable is set to "0" in the Skyrim.ini file, all grass will be disabled. This can have a positive effect on the performance of not the strongest GPUs in outdoor scenes, however, with the loss of grass, a sufficient amount of the realism of the game is lost. How to temporarily disable grass in specific locations to prevent the game from slowing down will be described in detail in the “Command Line” section of this guide.

fTreeLoadDistance=75000.0000. This parameter in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file determines the distance from which trees become visible. Increasing the value of this parameter will increase the number of visible trees at a distance, and decreasing it will reduce their number. But note that even with a value of “0”, nearby trees will still be visible. Changing this setting can have a noticeable impact on performance depending on your location. In the screenshots below, the variable was assigned values ​​of 5,000, 75,000 and 150,000. There is a noticeable change from 5,000 to 75,000. At higher values, no visible changes occur in the landscape.

fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=10000000.0000. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file controls the level of detail of trees at close distances. When it is set to a low value, fewer leaves and branches are visible on nearby trees. If you increase the values, then there are more leaves and branches. The performance impact will vary depending on the system.

bRenderSkinnedTrees=1. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file determines the amount of foliage on nearby trees. If it is assigned a value of "0", then the trees will lose a certain number of branches and leaves, although they will remain quite detailed. Changing its values ​​increases performance, but reduces the realism of the game. Note that the uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file also adjusts the maximum possible tree detail, but increasing its value does not make any visible difference and does not increase the number of trees in most game scenes.

Level of detail

fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15.0000. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file regulates the distance at which game world objects appear in the field of view and corresponds to the game's Object Fade setting. In-game it can be set to a value of no more than 15, but manually you can increase it even more by increasing the spawn distance of objects.

fLODFadeOutMultItems=15.0000. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file is responsible for the distance at which objects fall into the field of view and corresponds to the game's Fade setting. The in-game maximum for this setting is 15, but you can increase it further yourself to increase the spawn distance of items.

fLODFadeOutMultActors=15.0000. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file controls the distance at which creatures and characters appear in the field of view and corresponds to the game's Actor Fade setting. Using the available means of the game, you will not be able to set her level above 15, but you can independently increase her values ​​in order to increase the distance at which other characters will be visible.

  • FblockMaximumDistance=250000.0000
  • fBlockLevel1Distance=70000.0000
  • fBlockLevel0Distance=35000.0000
  • fSplitDistanceMult=1.5000

The above SkyrimPrefs.ini file variables control the level of detail of distant terrain features and partially correspond to the game's Distant Object Detail setting. The maximum values ​​that they can take when changing game settings are indicated above. However, you can increase their values ​​if desired. When these three variables are increased, it will result in subtle improvements in detail in very distant areas, such as mountain tops. The fSplitDistanceMult variable is responsible for the coefficient at which the overall LOD changes occur. When its value increases, the landscape within a small radius from the character will look much more detailed. Do not forget that any change in the values ​​of these variables only affects distant lands. Therefore, in many scenes the visual effect will be minimal or completely unnoticeable.

fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000. This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file actually controls the distance at which clouds appear in view, especially around mountain peaks. As its values ​​increase, more and more distant mountain peaks are hidden in the clouds. When decreasing, there will be fewer clouds until they disappear completely at the value “0”. Changing this variable has a moderate effect on performance.

General graphic settings

bDisableAllGore=1. If you add this variable to the end of a section of the Skyrim.ini file and set it to "1", it will disable all blood-related effects in the game (such as pulsating fountains from wounds)

  • bBloodSplatterEnabled=0

The above section and variable must be added together to the end of the Skyrim.ini file with a value of "0" (for the variable) if you want to disable bloodstains on the screen. This will not turn off the blood spray when you hit an enemy (or they hit you); Only red spots on the screen will be disabled, simulating blood splashes getting into the character’s eyes.

  • bDoRadialBlur=0

The above section and variable must be added to the end of the Skyrim.ini file and the variable set to 0 if you want to completely disable the radial blur effect discussed earlier in this guide in the game settings section. In theory, disabling the effect should improve performance during battles, but the main reason to disable it is if you simply don't like the radial shake effect itself.

  • bPrecipitation=0

The above section and variable must be added to the end of the Skyrim.ini file, and the variable must be set to "0" if you want to disable precipitation in the game (mainly snow and rain). And although the game will lose some of its realism, disabling this effect will have a positive effect on performance.

iMaxDesired=750. This SkyrimPrefs.ini variable controls the intensity of the "particle effects" associated with smog, fog, and especially fire and spells. Experimentally, we found that for smog and fog the effect is almost invisible, but is clearly visible with fire (in particular, from torches) and spells. For example, when the variable's value increases, the Flames spell spews significantly more fire from your hand. But with a value of “0”, the flame from this spell is not visible at all. The images below show the difference between the values ​​of this variable "0" and "950". Notice both the flash near the hand and the torch: the effect affects both. Changing this variable can have a noticeable impact on gaming performance depending on your system.

  • iWaterReflectHeight=512
  • iWaterReflectWidth=512

The SkyrimPrefs.ini file variables listed above determine the resolution of reflections that are visible in the water. Increasing their values ​​(for example, to 1024 each) will slightly increase the detail of all objects reflected in the water; while decreasing (for example, to 256 each) will lower its level. In the images below you can see the difference between 512 and 1024 resolution, with the higher value making the reflections a little clearer. This is especially noticeable in the distance on the right side of the picture. The effect of this parameter on performance and picture quality depends on the system configuration; on how high you set the level of reflection in the water in the game settings; from Anisotropic Filtering installations and, of course, from the proximity and size of water areas.

bAllowScreenShot=1. If this variable from the Skyrim.ini file is set to "1" (which is the default), then you can take a screenshot of the game at any time by simply pressing the PrtScn key. Screenshots are saved in BMP format in the \Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim directory.

In this section, we've covered most of the most useful changes you can make to your game by adjusting .ini files. Many important settings were tested, and many minor and non-impact settings were ignored. All of the above changes will work correctly if you make them exactly as shown in this guide. It is equally important to install each one separately and observe the effect it has on your system. Do not directly copy-paste information into your .ini files from the examples in this guide or from other sources.

In the next section, we'll talk about other ways to vary your gameplay and graphics settings.

Command line

Unlike .ini files, which are read and executed at the start of a game by the game's engine, the command line is where you can quickly change certain aspects of the engine while you're playing and see the immediate results of those changes. The main mission of the commands that are written in it is to regulate gameplay or interface parameters rather than to change the quality of the game image or performance. Remember that using these commands does not prevent you from using new products from Steam. Although some of these new products are just cheats, and they can spoil the experience of the game. Moreover, Bethesda warns that commands executed from the command line may break the logic of quests, lead to incorrect visual display of the game world and dungeons, and some saved games may become incompatible with subsequent patches.

To enter command line mode, you need to start the game and then press the tilde (~) key. On most keyboards it is located above the TAB key, to the left of the number 1, below the ESC key and it shows the letter Yo on the Russian layout. Clicking it will open a command line dialog box at the bottom of the screen. When it is open, the game pauses. You can also close or reopen the command prompt by pressing the ~ key.

To run a command, simply type it, specifying the appropriate value (if required) and press Enter. After this, you will receive confirmation of its successful completion. In general, commands can be in short or long form: it is normal practice to use both forms. For example, both the ToggleCollision command and its short version, TCL, will have the same effect (this command turns on/off the parameters for objects hitting each other). If there is a need to assign a value to a command, this is done like this: first, the command itself is printed, followed by a space - the required value. For example, to change your character's field of view by 90 degrees, you need to type FOV 90 and press Enter: the changes will take effect immediately. If you type FOV again without any value, the default value will be returned.

Some commands require you to specify the object to which they will be applied. To do this, first call the command line, then left-click on the desired character or object, and the code will appear in the center of the screen. There is no need to write it down or remember it, as in most cases this code is simply used as confirmation that you have made a certain choice. Now you can execute the appropriate command and it will be applied specifically to the selected object or character.

There are many command line commands in Skyrim, but most of them are designed to satisfy the needs of developers for debugging and testing. A short list of the most useful of these commands, with a little explanation, is presented below:

FOV- This command allows you to change your character's field of view (FOV). This term refers to how widely you can see the game world on the screen. Assign the required numerical value to this command, and the changes will take effect immediately. Type FOV (without a number) to return the standard field of view. Once you have decided on an appropriate FOV level, you can change the appropriate variables in the .ini files (discussed in detail in the Advanced Settings section) to make this value permanent in the game.

Showracemenu– this command opens the character creation menu that you encountered at the beginning of the game, when you first created your avatar. With its help, you can vary the race of your hero, his gender and appearance. But if changes in appearance are perceived positively by the system, then changing the race may cause glitches, so just in case, save the game before using this command.

Set Timescale to- such a team will change the speed at which playing time passes. The default value is 16, but by increasing it you can speed up the passage of time, and by decreasing it you can slow down the passage of time. Try, for example, setting Set Timescale to 5000 to observe the frame-by-frame effect of the game flow.

Disable— if you want to remove any object from the game world, then select it, enter the Disable command, and it will disappear. To make the last object you deleted appear again, use the Enable command.

Kill- select a character (or creature) with the mouse, and then type this command, and he will be killed immediately. To kill several characters (creatures) near you at once, use the Killall command. To bring a dead person back to life, select him with the mouse and enter the Resurrect command. This is also useful if your NPC partner accidentally gets caught in the crossfire.

Stopcombat- If you use this command against the specified character you are fighting, he will immediately stop and put down his weapon. This can come in handy when you unintentionally hit a friendly character and they don't respond to the normal fight-stop gestures.

TAI– using this command you can enable/disable Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the game. When AI is turned off, characters and creatures will simply repeat their last actions or do nothing at all. If a character or creature is acting aggressive towards you, then it will continue to attack, in which case you need to use the TCAI command to turn the AI ​​on or off accordingly during battle. The combination of the TAI and TCAI commands completely disables AI for most characters and creatures, but note that using TAI may result in unclear controls, glitchy gameplay, and is not always completely effective at disabling AI. If you simply want to avoid being seen by other creatures or characters, you can use the Tdetect command for this purpose.

TCL– regulates the collision system. When it is turned off, your character can fly over the game world and pass through any solid objects. This command comes in very handy when you get stuck in a certain area of ​​the territory and want to quickly change the location.

TFC– turns on the “flight” of the camera. Similar in action to TCL, but with TFC the flight speed is much higher, and the character remains in place. Very useful when you need to quickly explore the surrounding lands.

TG– regulates grass coverage. Using this command, you can temporarily disable grass in those locations where the game is slowing down. This option is much better than removing all grass from the game forever.

T.G.M.– allows you to enable/disable God Mode. When it's on, you can't be hurt or killed (and your health, magicka, and stamina levels don't decrease). Alternatively, you can use the TIM command to enable Immortality Mode. In this mode, you will be able to play as usual: your health, magicka and stamina levels will deplete, but you will remain immortal since your health bar will remain just above the minimum at all times.

FW— sets the weather according to the code you choose. List of codes here - Weather ID Numbers. For example, the command FW 10a241 will trigger a storm.

Unlock- first select a specific door (or box, chest) and using this command you can automatically open it. To close the selected item again, select it and use the Lock command.

Movetoqt- this command will take you to the corresponding goal in the selected quest, allowing you to complete it faster. Look at the list of quest IDs and enter the required code for this command.

P.S.B.– Immediately adds all spells, shouts, and words to your spellbook.

Player.AddItem— this command adds the specified item to your inventory in the selected quantity. Before use, you must look at the list of codes or the list of codes by category. For gold, the code is "F", and for lockpicks, the code is "A". For example, to add 10,000 gold to your treasury, type Player.AddItem F 10000; to add five steel clubs, type Player.AddItem 00013988 5 and so on. Text messages will appear to confirm that new items have been added.

Player.Placeatme- Summons any character from Skyrim a couple of meters away from you. Check out the list of NPC IDs to choose which code to use. Remember that the summoned character will only appear after you close the command line.

COC— teleports you to the specified location. You can equally use both the code and the location name, which you will find in this list. For example, the COC Riverwood command will take you to the Riverwood village where you started the game.

QQQ– a command to quickly exit the game directly to the Windows Desktop, bypassing the questions (prompts) that appear during the standard exit procedure.

Changes made using the command line will not take effect when you exit and restart the game. Some of them will still remain if you save the game or autosave. Based on this, we recommend that you manually create a "game save point" before attempting to use commands from the command line. If, after experimenting with the commands, you want to use some of them every time you play, you can do this automatically using batch files.

To do this, create a new text document and give it any convenient name, for example commands.txt. Edit it and enter each command on a separate line. Below is an example of the contents of such a batch file:

  • Set Timescale to 1
  • Fov 90

Save this file to the \Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim directory. Launch Skyrim, load the saved game, open the command line and write Bat in it so that its contents begin to be executed. In our example, we need to write Bat commands and the three commands above will start to take effect.

Video driver mods and settings

Bethesda Game Studios games are updated everywhere to be modded. And Skyrim was no exception. Existing mods replace and improve textures, but in January Bethesda will release The Creation Kit, free software that allows players to change almost any aspect of the game. New quests, radically different gameplay elements, and much more are expected that will maintain interest in the game even years after release. In addition, Bethesda is integrating Skyrim with the Steam Workshop, giving players the ability to securely, easily and efficiently download and install user-created mods directly onto their own computers.

The purpose of this section is to draw your attention to mods, but not in the form of a list of recommended or necessary modifications. In fact, not a single mod inherently provides for mandatory use. The game can be great without them. Therefore, if you do not enjoy using these modifications, then you should not attach much importance to them. After all, in reality, mods are not only unofficial developments made by users themselves, but they can also carry the risk of unexpected bugs or performance problems. On the other hand, judicious use of some of them will help make Skyrim the way you like it.

The best mods are located on Skyrim Nexus, which has the widest selection of free mods available for download. As you explore this growing list, be sure to read the details and user reviews of the mods you're interested in before installing anything. Here are some popular mods you can try:

Another modification that works in a similar way to the FXAA Post-Process Injector is the SMAA Injector. This mod adds a form of post-processing line smoothing known as Subpixel Morphological Antialiasing (SMAA). This type of anti-aliasing can reduce the jaggedness of an entire landscape without the blur that accompanies FXAA and without the performance hit of MSAA.

If the existing Skyrim mods don't excite you enough, then be prepared to encounter hundreds of new mods literally every day. Just in case, let us remind you once again that modifications in Skyrim are an option, but not a necessity. Therefore, if you start having any problems with the game, you should start troubleshooting by first disabling all mods.

Video driver settings

There is another method that allows us to have more control over the graphics fidelity in Skyrim: graphics card driver settings, which can be changed using the graphics card control panel. This section will cover many effects and settings that are not supported by default in Skyrim, but can be forced to be enabled using the aforementioned control panel. First, make sure you have updated to the latest available video drivers, as described at the beginning of this guide.

Improved Anisotropic Filtering

Anisotropic filtering (AF) has already been discussed in the corresponding section of this guide. The maximum level of its multiplicity can be set to 16. However, if you want to get the best quality of anisotropic filtering, then there is this alternative: disable AF in the game settings, and instead configure it using the video card control panel. NVIDIA owners should follow the following sequence of actions:

2. Set the “Texture Filtering - Quality” parameter to “High Quality”.

3. To set Anisotropic Filtering, select the AF level. The recommended value is 16.

4. Click the "Apply" button

5. Launch Skyrim, click “Options”, disable anisotropic filtering (“Anisotropic Filtering” -> “Off”) and click “OK”.

After this, launch Skyrim as normal and you'll notice much clearer textures, especially from a distance.

In the images above you can compare the in-game AF settings of 16x and the same 16x AF, but already selected through the NVIDIA control panel. When setting AF through the control panel, the surface of the water appears much more detailed, and distant objects (the mountains and the stone building on the left) appear clearer and more defined. The difference in performance levels when using both of these methods is minimal.

Transparency Antialiasing

Just like with anisotropic filtering, in Skyrim it is possible to independently select different types and levels of anti-aliasing settings using the video card control panel. Let's look at transparent anti-aliasing (TRAA), which cannot be adjusted using purely game-based methods. This form of anti-aliasing smoothes out jagged lines on transparent textures, typically affecting foliage, objects with bright edges or transparent parts. For NVIDIA owners, the following sequence of actions is recommended:

1. Open the control panel (NVIDIA Control Panel) and in the “Program Settings” tab, select “Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim” in the first checkbox. If you do not see the name of the game in the list, then uncheck the “Show only programs found...” box and try again.

2. set “Antialiasing - Transparency” to the multiplicity level (Supersample) 2x, 4x or 8x; Multisampling TRAA can cause failures, as discussed earlier.

3. Click the "Apply" button

4. Launch Skyrim and select "Options", then make sure that the anti-aliasing option is set to something other than "Off" and click "OK".

Multiple TRAA should not be used in Skyrim as it may cause instabilities in the game, causing some parts of opaque objects to become transparent. Major visual changes can be easily achieved through the use of different levels of Supersampe TRAA.

The screenshots above compare regular gaming 8x anti-aliasing, followed by Multisampe TRAA, and then 2x, 4x and 8x Supersample TRAA (installed using the NVIDIA Control Panel). As you can see, increasing the TRAA levels evens out the jagged edges of the bushes on the left and the trees on the right, and the subtle shimmer of the foliage is achieved more clearly through the means of the game itself than through TRAA. The impact of Multisample TRAA on performance is almost unnoticeable on most mid-range systems, and 2x TRAA is already acceptable on advanced configurations. However, 4x and 8x Supersample TRAA levels will be a significant drag on performance, especially when the game's MSAA settings are set to high at the same time, and at Ultra settings.

Ambient Occlusion

Ambient Occlusion (AO) is a technique that creates more realistic shadows from daylight. There is no in-game option to enable AO in Skyrim, but it can be easily enabled by NVIDIA owners using video driver settings. However, remember that if you see flickering, artifacts or other graphical oddities when AO is enabled, it is better to disable it or use the Quality mode, which can reduce these effects. Players with NVIDIA graphics cards and R290 drivers can enable Ambient Occlusion through the NVIDIA Control Panel:

1. Open the control panel (NVIDIA Control Panel) and in the “Program Settings” tab, select “Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim” in the first checkbox. If you do not see the name of the game in the list, then uncheck the “Show only programs found...” box and try again.

2. Set the “Ambient Occlusion” parameter to Performance or Quality – see the screenshots below to compare them.

3. Click the "Apply" button

4. launch Skyrim.

For better control of the AO level, you can use the free NVIDIA Inspector utility, which allows you to adjust the NVIDIA driver profile for Skyrim. If you have NVIDIA, then do the following:

1. Launch NVIDIA Inspector and click on the small “Profile Settings” button at the end of the “Driver Version” line.

2. Click on the “Profiles” button and select “Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim” from the drop-down list.

3. Edit the “Ambient Occlusion compatibility” setting and select the “0x00000003 (Fallout 3)” profile.

4. In the “Common” section, select “Enabled” for “Ambient Occlusion usage”.

5. Assign the “Ambient Occlusion setting” to the mode that suits you. We recommend "Performance".

6. Click the “Apply changes” button at the top right.

7. Launch Skyrim normally to see the changes.

With this method, AO can be played in Performance, Quality and High Quality modes. Visual differences are demonstrated in the screenshots above. There you can see that the changes between the absence of AO and the Performance AO mode are significant: grass, trees, stones and the character itself acquire rich shading, and the impact on performance is moderate. Selecting Quality and High Quality improves shadows slightly, but at the cost of a fair amount of performance, which is why we recommend using the Performance mode.

If you need to undo changes that have been made to the video driver profile using NVIDIA Inspector, then simply click on the green NVIDIA logo at the top of this utility and it will restore the default values. Same with the NVIDIA Control Panel: Click the "Restore" button at the top right of your Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim profile to have the same thing happen.

What we have:
percent: AMD Athlon II X4 620 at 2.6 GHz each
memory: 8GB
video: GF 440GT (1GB GDDR5)
OS: Windows 7 x64

Target: play Skyrim and have fun. We download the assembly from a torrent, install it, run it, a problem appears.

Problem: Skyrim is slow. 15-20 FPS, which prevents you from enjoying the game =)

Solution:

 We delete the downloaded assembly along with the saves. The problem is most likely due to the fact that the assembly was made for slightly more powerful machines than mine. There are all the released DLC, a bunch of mods, retextures and ENB. If the video card is not very powerful, the High Resolution Texture Pack is contraindicated for us: even if it fits from memory, we will still lose speed. In addition, packs with large textures are contraindicated on 32-bit systems. Even if the computer can handle them, there will be problems with addressing in memory, and, as a result, crashes out of the blue.

So, no assemblies. We need pure Skyrim. Possible with DLC, but without the high resolution pack. We get rid of huge textures: in the launcher settings we set the texture quality to medium. We also reduce the screen resolution there. 1360x768 is a completely playable resolution, while we gain in the number of frames/s compared to a higher one. By the way, at this screen resolution the difference between medium and high textures is practically not noticeable.

  • Anisotropic filtering: 4-8 samples. It has almost no effect on performance; if you want to squeeze out an extra frame, turn it off completely.
  • Antialiasing: This is the smoothing of ladders along the edges. The footage of him eating is quite noticeable, so we turn it off.
  • We click on the minimum detail button, the game will offer us the minimum settings, which we will correct.
  • Click on the advanced settings button, on the first tab - medium textures, minimum shadows, medium decals. Blur quality is minimal.
  • Check the box for FXAA. This shader-based anti-aliasing takes me one and a half to two frames and does its job perfectly. Some people complain that the edges are very blurry, but I’m quite happy with it.
  • In the water settings, check all the boxes, close the launcher and don’t touch the settings tab again.
You can start the game. If everything suits you, you can play. I was not satisfied, so I climbed further.

In the folder with my documents after launching the game, a My Games/Skyrim folder was created

There we are interested in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file. Open it with notepad and edit it. It’s logical to make a backup before doing this =)

  • bDoDepthOfField - set it to one. This is a depth of field effect that slightly blurs distant mountains, for example, but does not blur the picture. It makes everything look a little more beautiful. If we are still fighting for frames, set it to 0
  • iRadialBlurLevel - Google says that this setting adds blur to the edges of meshes. Personal opinion - this is precisely the quality of the blur from the launcher. Basically, it's something related to blur. I set myself to 2, I don’t feel any difference in performance at any value.
  • iBlurDeferredShadowMask is a blur along the edges of shadows. The smaller, the higher the sharpness of the shadows, set it to 0-1 for lovers of realism, if you want more blurry shadows, set it to 4-5. No impact on performance was noticed.
  • fInteriorShadowDistance and fShadowDistance are tricky values ​​that show at what distance from the player the game will draw shadows. They are tricky in that if we set it to 1000, we will hardly see distant shadows, and the shadows next to the player will become clearer and more detailed (!). Accordingly, with high settings everything will be the other way around, there will be shadows under distant trees, and there will be shadows next to the player too, but worse =) We set the golden mean - 2000 and don’t worry (does not affect performance)
  • iShadowMapResolutionPrimary and iShadowMapResolutionSecondary. The game uses these values ​​only on holidays, set it to 1024 and don’t bother.
  • iShadowSplitCount - no one knows what this setting does. According to legend, it divides shadows into layers. Or to levels. Probably, if it is 2, then there will be two shadows, and the load on drawing shadows will double. In general, I still don’t understand what changed in the game after using it, but I set it to 1 and felt a good increase in speed.
  • iMaxAnisotropy - here we set it to 1
  • fSpecularLODStartFade - the distance at which the game will stop drawing glow on objects. The minimum wage should have been set there at 200. Let it remain. In general, everything that has LOD in its name refers to objects remote from the player.
  • iShadowMode - here the default is three. Owners of powerful PCs plug in 4 and believe that the shadows have become better. I don’t know, I haven’t tried it, 3 suits me quite well.
  • bTreesReceiveShadows - whether trees will “receive” shadows. They will throw them away anyway, but not at themselves, for example. In general, the FPS setting almost doesn’t slow down, but the trees look better, set it to 1.
  • bDrawLandShadows - the same thing, but for the landscape. With this setting, I started having bugs with shadows on the ground: the shadows were crawling back and forth and in general everything was bad. We leave it at 0; this setting does not give anything special in terms of the picture.
  • bShadowMaskZPrepass - this should do something with shadows. Personally, I didn’t notice a difference, either in performance or in the quality of shadows. In theory, setting one should draw shadows in two passes - preliminary and main. Purely intuitively - the prepass simply does not start, since there is no need to break up the shadows. In general, if we go through the config, we just leave zero there.
  • bFloatPointRenderTarget is a very useful parameter. Forces the game to perform more accurate calculations. This thing should be a unit. Zero greatly degrades the quality. In addition, all sorts of cool things like enb require a value of 1 for this parameter
  • bFXAAEnabled - enable FXAA. This is analogous to a tick from the settings, which we no longer mess with =). ENB can do its own anti-aliasing called EdgeAA. This algorithm leads to a drop in the number of FPS by about... 1. That is, another anti-aliasing option for those who find FXAA to be a problem. EdgeAA smooths a little less and doesn't lather. In addition, it works a little faster than FXAA. However, EdgeAA anti-aliasing is not enough for me, so I don't use it.
  • iShadowMapResolution - shadow map resolution. The smaller it is, the faster the shadows are drawn. The larger it is, the better the shadows. Owners of powerful PCs set 4096 and higher and rejoice at the uber-shadows (somewhere there was an opinion that it was useless to set above 4096, the game simply does not support higher values). Frankly speaking, the shadows in Skyrim are shameful: at the maximum value they are beautiful, but if you lower them, noticeable “ladders” appear. ENB can make the rendering of shadows correct, beautiful and smooth, some versions made just cool shadows from the 512-1024 card without unnecessary brakes, on the current version for some reason no parameters want to affect the shadow, I will try to overcome this problem =). In general, a large shadow map improves FPS quite well. By reducing the parameter from 2048 to 1024, I gain about 10 fps. And I get terrible shadows, yes. PS: for the sake of experiment, I lowered 1024 to 256. The shadows became terribly poor, but there was no increase in FPS. At all. Mysticism, however!
  • iShadowFilter - the default value is 3. On the forums they write that if you set it to 4, the shadows will become better, Santa Claus will turn out to be real and there will be peace in the whole world. In fact, this filter is quite crooked and does not do anything useful. I set it to 0 and basically didn't lose anything. (At high values, for example, 16, the shadows generally break and glitches begin with them)
  • bShadowsOnGrass - the unit should include shadows on the grass, as the name suggests. This doesn’t make the grass much better, but I still have one =)
  • bDeferredShadows. If you have glitches with shadows, set this parameter to 0 - that's all Google says about this parameter. It was never possible to find out what it actually influences. I set it to 0 - and there really are no problems with shadows. UPD: the parameter separates the lighting into interior and exterior: this is necessary for ENB-series; if you turn it off, the exterior values ​​in ENB will be ignored and the interior values ​​will be used for the whole world.
  • bDrawShadows - judging by the name, the parameter should enable or disable the display of shadows. In fact, he is obviously not working. If you scour the Internet, you can find out that shadows can still be turned off, but without a special fix, the world of Skyrim will become gray, since shadows somehow affect in-game lighting sources (they are divided into those that cast light without shadows, those that which generate dynamic shadows, generate shadow maps and some others.). In short, I assume that the parameter was simply disabled so as not to scare players. UPD: or maybe it wasn’t disabled, but, as in the case of the previous one, ENB without it does not affect the shadows in any way, although it should if the corresponding options are enabled.
  • fSunShadowUpdateTime and fSunUpdateThreshold - these values ​​should be in the section, but they are not there. You can add and assign a value of 0.0025 to each - this will make the shadows from the sun smooth. By default, they move intermittently, maybe you noticed)
  • b30GrassVS - one includes shader 3.0 for processing grass. I didn’t notice much difference, there is a chance that the parameter is also not working.
  • bMouseAcceleration - set to 0. This disables mouse acceleration and saves nerves.
  • The section contains the only parameter bDoHighDynamicRange. Let's make it equal to 1. Also enable bUseBlurShader. The built-in shaders will slightly blur the picture in the background. We won't lose much in performance, but distant objects (and we sacrificed their detail for the sake of performance) won't look too bad.

To improve performance even further, it would be a good idea to tweak the settings of the video adapter or even overclock it a little, if possible. So, on my system, after all these tricks, the picture became even a little better, and the number of FPS ranged from 47 to 60+. The game runs more than smoothly, in addition, there is a performance reserve for installing mods. At the moment I installed the W.A.T.E.R mod. with HD textures, improvers of bodies, faces, vegetation and sky. In open space I have 40-50 fps, indoors, of course, more.

Still, I want to bring something else good and beautiful to the graphical component of the game. The glance falls towards the ENB-series, which I have already mentioned. But this is a topic for a separate article, thank you for your attention!

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Edits and experiments.

IShadowSplitCount changing the value of this parameter from 1 to 0 gives an increase in speed by 1-2 frames, shadows do not change at all.
+Disabling mods like Climates of Tamriel and similar ones that affect lighting (I tested the enb, encountered some strange things and temporarily turned off the mods to figure it out) SUDDENLY the FPS increased by ~15 frames. The picture, by the way, has not gotten any worse. Hmmm....

Dara
Apparently in your case you need to edit this parameter - iBlurDeferredShadowMask - shadow blur effect

IShadowMapResolution=4096.

This variable from the SkyrimPrefs.ini file directly adjusts the resolution of shadows and is therefore the main determining factor in the quality of shadows in the game. It is included in the in-game “Shadow Detail” settings. When the Shadow Detail parameter is set to Low, iShadowMapResolution = 512; average (Medium) – 1024; high – 2048; ultra (Ultra) – 4096. For shadow resolution, a higher value of 8192 is also available, which will slightly improve the quality of shadows, but will significantly reduce the FPS level.


iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3.

This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file controls the blur effect applied to shadows. Low values ​​will give sharp edges to the shadows, while a value of 0 will turn the effect off completely, giving the most definition. As the variable values ​​increase, the shadows will gradually blur until they become completely shapeless. This effect has a small impact on performance. You can lower the variable's value to see more detail in high-resolution shadows, or increase its value to blur and completely hide jaggedness and flicker in low-resolution shadows.


iShadowMaskQuarter=4.

This variable in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file also affects the transparency and purity of shadows. When it is set to high values ​​(like 10), it increases the clarity of the shadows, but at too high values ​​it will simply "drown" the game. Low values ​​will make the shadows less detailed, but remember that a value of 0 completely disables indoor shadows. The performance impact is quite noticeable, so it's worth first using the iBlurDeferredShadowMask settings to change the clarity of the shadows.


fShadowDistance=8000.

This variable from the SkyrimPrefs.ini file has a significant impact on the quality of shadows in outdoor locations. It adjusts the distance from which shadows become visible. By decreasing the values ​​of this variable, the resolution of shadows will increase, and on distant objects they will not be visible at all. This has a significant impact on increasing productivity. With a value of "0", shadows on the street will be completely disabled.


fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000.

This parameter in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file is responsible for indoor shadows. However, a decrease in its values ​​simply results in more areas being shaded, but not in any noticeable improvement in shadow resolution. Increasing the values ​​of this variable also does not have a noticeable practical effect. Indoors, shadows are usually sharper the closer they are to the light source, regardless of the value of this parameter. Only increasing the values ​​of the iShadowMapResolution variable can really have a positive effect on both indoor and outdoor shadows.


fShadowBiasScale=0.15.

This variable from the SkyrimPrefs.ini file determines how much a surface will be shaded by changing the angle at which light hits the object. In practice, larger values ​​reduce shadowing and smaller values ​​increase it on various surfaces.


bTreesReceiveShadows=0.

If this variable is set to "1" in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, then leaves on trees will cast shadows not only on the ground, but also on themselves. The visual changes are quite noticeable. This effect does not have a noticeable impact on performance, so it can be enabled on most systems to give more natural foliage.


bDrawLandShadows=0.

When this variable is set to 1 in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, the terrain will become slightly shadowed. Performance impact is minimal.

Who has the problem: there is no character shadow (3rd person view),
shadows jump as the camera moves
(you rotate the camera/character’s head and the shadows move with the camera)
in SkyrimPrefs.ini we look for the line
bDeferredShadows=1 and change the value to 0
bDeferredShadows=0
should help