Vistant’s HD Night Sky SE

Skyrim Vanilla Nights is a bit "long-winded". The moon is cluttered, the stars are too big and too few in number to look good, and the galaxies are lackluster, blurry doodles. They're just...you know...there. HD Night Sky by Vistant solves this problem!

I originally made this mod for Oblivion a few years ago, aiming to get maximum effect from minimum texture size. As fans of Oblivion know, it's not the most stable game due to the engine, so overtaxing it with large textures isn't a good idea. So by max effect, I mean using the default texture size to maximize detail and color while also sticking to the legend. While I was out of modding, I ported my Forgotten Moon to Skyrim - and here we are!

According to the legends of Morrowind, Oblivion (Cyrodiil) and Skyrim, Masser (the big moon) is red, similar to the color of our Mars. Here's what Masser looks like in Morrowind (image from Elder Scrolls Wiki):

I particularly like the look of Masser in Morrowind and Oblivion, and used their color schemes as the basis for my editing of Masser in Gimp, with the following results:

The small moon orbiting Masser, Secunda is also unique. It's not completely white, but somewhere between eggshell white and gray, with hints of red and blue. Here's Morrowind (image linked from Elder Scrolls Wiki):

Again, I like the way it looks in Morrowind and Oblivion, so again I select it as a color reference for Gimp, as shown below:

The moon texture has a completely different structure compared to the default skyrim moon texture. According to Morrowind and Wikis, the result is a better-looking set of Draco Moons that are highly detailed, strictly dependency friendly, and have no impact on performance. You don't need huge textures to render objects in high definition, and my moon proves it!

Finally, My Moon is also very friendly to ENB and Skyrim Reloaded due to their fidelity and clarity. Also, unlike most other moon models, my moon is supposed to be desaturated when adjusting color and curves (like in ENB, for example).

Note: I've included a screenshot or two using ENBoost, which are labeled. The rest is taken from my Eidolon ENB, which is

Currently hidden due to revision.

feature

There are some other goodies included in the archive. You have two different galaxy types to choose from, as well as an optional pair of sunglasses. They work best when they are tuned in ENB or Skyrim Reloaded.

The first galaxy replacement is a huge enhancement to the default galaxy, both of which were formed after our own Milky Way. Make sure this is high resolution awesome!

The second galaxy replacement is a massive high-resolution creation created by Yuril, allowing it to be freely redistributed. I just want to make sure Yuril gets proper credit.

Finally, replacement stars were created from real images of CptJoker - stars twinkling!

compatibility

HD Night Sky by Vistant looks great compared to vanilla Skyrim and is compatible with all mods and ALL ENB presets.

Note for ENB/SR authors: If you are using Skyrim Reloaded, you may need to disable its Moons for it to work as expected. If you choose to use my SunGlare, you will need to disable Skyrim Reloaded's SunGlare.

credit

Bethesda, for Skyrim!

I would also like to thank Yuril and CptJoker for allowing me to include their work in this mod.

Star venue taken from CptJoker's Enhanced Night Skyrim

Unfortunately, it seems that Yuril's Amazing Nebula mod is no longer available.

Everything else - the Moon (based on a Bethesda texture), the Milky Way (mine, based on a NASA photo) and the Sun Glare (created in Gimp) - are mine.

Tools used

Inkscape

Gimp 2.9.2, recently revised to 2.10

This mod is exclusive! If you find it elsewhere, it's pirated!

〜V〜

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I initially made this mod a number of years ago for Oblivion with the intent to get maximum effect out of minimum texture size. As lovers of Oblivion know, its not the most stable game due to the engine, so over-taxing it with …