Static Mesh Improvement Mod – SMIM
NOW VERSION 0.4! A Skyrim edition of my Enhanced Night Sky mod. Modifies the stars and galactic nebula with high-resolution replacements made from stellar photography for a dazzling night sky.
== WHAT IT DOES ==
Replaces the star and galaxy textures with high-resolution night sky alternatives.
Choose between four varieties of nebula (colorful, icy blue, aquamarine, or green) and four levels of starfield density.
Use as a combination, or just the star or galaxy replacement on their own if that’s your preference!
== DESCRIPTION ==
Enhanced Night Skyrim replaces the night sky textures with high resolution alternatives made from real astrophotography – it changes only the stars and galactic nebula background (no other textures are affected, and constellations still appear as normal.) The mod now features four nebula options and four levels of starfield density to choose from. Select one variant of each to install, or use either on their own if that’s your preference.
I highly recommend also installing a mod to darken the night-time light levels, such as Enhanced Shaders (which is what I use currently) or one of the various FXAA Injector mods. It’s not required, but really completes the look for truly dazzling nights.
Enjoy!
== WHAT’S NEW IN v0.4 ==
Based on the feedback I’ve received, this update covers a few things:
Added two new galaxy nebula variations: Green and Aquamarine. (Why aquamarine? Well, I was going for a more intense, turquoise-like color originally, but due to how the texture is rendered I couldn’t quite get it right and settled on this duller blue-green for now.)
Increased the contrast of the galaxy alpha channels, so they appear less muddy and much more vibrant. (Maybe too bright for some, so I’ve left the old downloads still up.)
Added a fourth starfield density level (Lower) which has far less stars than Low but still more than the game default. (Now hopefully there should be something for everyone’s taste!)
A minor fix, but I also remade the mipmaps on the star textures (should look better for lower resolutions now too.)
== INSTALLATION ==
Unzip the “textures” folder from each archive into your SkyrimData folder.
== UNINSTALLATION ==
Remove the “skystars.dds” and/or “skyrimgalaxy.dds” files from the “texturessky” folder (whichever you installed.)
== FAQ ==
Q. Does this mod interfere with mod X?
A. This mod should not affect other mods, except those that also change the night sky textures (specifically the stars and galaxy backdrop.)
Q. Does this affect the moons/aurora/constellations/other?
A. Nope, this mod only changes the look of the stars and galactic nebula backdrops.
Q. Does this mod make nights darker?
A. No, but you could try the Enhanced Shader mod or one of the FXAA Injector mods (or similar) to modify your color and lighting levels.
Q. What’s the difference between the starfield density levels?
A. High is the mod default, with the full range of stars visible. Low has a significantly reduced number of stars (though still retains the same overall pattern.) Medium is between the two – not as intense as High, but without as many stars removed as Low. Lower is the most sparse, with more stars than the game default but less than Low.
Q. My moon(s) disappeared! What’s going on?
A. Make sure it’s not simply a new moon – wait 3 or 4 nights and see if the moon phase changes. If the moon doesn’t reappear, try uninstalling the mod and then reinstalling again. (This is a strange but rare bug I have encountered with Bethesda’s new engine that currently defies explanation.)
