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* The Elder Scrolls IV OBLIVION *

* *

* Natural Environments Mod *

* *

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version: 1.1 (express release)


Release Date: 09.04.2006


Filenames: Natural_Weather_by_Max_Tael.esp

Natural_Water_by_Max_Tael.esp

Textures\Sky\*.* (27 files)


Contact: Max Tael

m_tael@yahoo.com


Description:

Natural Environments is an attempt to enhance the original appearance of

Oblivion's weather and water components. The mod also removes several minor

annoyances found in the original product, such as opaque water surfaces, muddy

underwater vision, visibly pixelated cloud textures, and nonsensical meteoric

conditions. Most of the changes are cosmetic and should not affect the game’s

performance noticeably.


1.1

- Corrected the yellow tinting issue. Slightly edited lighting settings for the

sunsets and the sunrises.

- Removed the tiled galaxies from the night sky.

- Altered the previously changed night settings and textures, making the sky

and the clouds appear adequately darker, and the stars crisper; all without

affecting the terrain lighting in any way.

- Replaced the default nebula with a more photographic texture.


v1.0

- Added dramatic lighting to the atmospheric phenomena.

- Fixed the pixelated skies issue.

- Retouched or completely redrew most of the sky-related textures in order to

improve overall picture quality.

- Considerately rebalanced global illumination. For example, sunless and

clouded weather conditions, such as nights and thunderstorms, now receive more

natural ambient lighting.

- Completely altered the water simulator settings, bringing clearness, more

realistic reflection, surface transparency, and better underwater illumination

in the hours of darkness. (Please see the conflicts note below)

- multiple corrective changes


Installation Instructions:

Drop the .esp files and the \Textures folder into your \Oblivion\Data directory

(Press 'yes' to rewrite the previous versions if any). Be sure to select both

.esp files in OblivionLauncher before starting the game. You don't need to

start a new game, of course.


Uninstallation Instructions:

Simply delete all the files whenever you feel like it. Your game files and

saved games are completely separated from this mod's influence. Upon removal of

the mod, the game will revert to its original textures and settings.



Possible Conflicts:

This mod is incompatible with Chris' Better Water mod. I am grateful to Chris

for his wonderful mod, but I felt that it went overboard a little bit. For

example, it made nocturnal underwater lighting much brighter than lighting of

the areas above the water level, thus taking away some of the game's realism.

Since my weather settings use even wider range of light values than Bethesda's,

I had no choice but to try to blend in the best of the two 'waters' in order to

get more natural water lighting. The result is in

Natural_Water_by_Max_Tael.esp. If anyone decides to revert to Better Water,

just select it in the OblivionLauncher and unselect mine. Don't use both at

once - it will probably crash the program.


Other conflict possibilities include all mods that modify the default

World\Weather and Miscellaneous\WaterType settings. Mods that add additional

weather types and world climates should run absolutely fine.


Notes and Comments:

These files can be used in any future projects and developments. Be advised

that some of the replacement textures I used were based on Oblivion's original

artwork. Copyright law is not one of my strengths, but I believe Bethesda is

the owner of all rights to their redistribution outside of the Oblivion project

space. Also, if you're planning on update this whole mod, or a part of it,

please contact me through m_tael@yahoo.com to avoid any possible redundancy

from the both sides.


To anticipate possible inquiries, the name is included into the file names for

authentication purposes only. It has nothing to do with my egomaniacal nature,

but thank you for asking.


Again, if anyone has anything substantial to say about this mod or any of my

future Oblivion-related developments, please mail me at m_tael[at]yahoo.com. I

really hope that some of you will enjoy the thing that consumed my whole

weekend.


Disclaimer:

Use at your own risk. I can't, any way whatsoever, be responsible for your use

of this data. It is being given to you gratuitously and thus there is no

agreement or understanding between you and me regarding your use or

modification of this mod.

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