Guide:Lighting

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Updated: 4:23:12 5 December 2012 (UTC)
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This guide is designed to provide information about different lighting mods that are safe to use with STEP and will provide more realistic lighting for a more immersive gaming experience. Please note this guide is only provided as a general overview of these mods. When seeking answers related to a particular mod please contact the mod's author.

The mods that will be covered by this guide are:

  • Project Reality - Climates Of Tamriel (CoT)
  • Realistic Colors and Real Nights (RCRN)
  • Realistic Lighting with Customization (RLwC)

What is a lighting mod?[edit | edit source]

Without getting technical, a lighting mod changes either individual lighting aspects of a game, such as interiors and dungeons, or the the overall lighting of a game; often called overhauls. The above mods are overhauls; but are compatible with most other mods including ENBs to further enhance their effects which is covered in the ENB Guide.


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The instructions below are only general and are not intended to be a step-by-step guide. Modders are highly encouraged to review the Readme file included in each of the mods. It will include the most up-to-date information about the installation of each individual mod.

Pre-installation[edit | edit source]

  • Calibrate your monitor. There are many free online tools for this.
  • Make sure your graphic card drivers is up to date.
  • Back up your game saves. This is good modding practice before using any new mod.

Installation[edit | edit source]

Installation of these mods is just like any other mod.

  1. Download and extract the mod file
  2. Copy the extracted files to your Skyrim folder and/or Data folder
  3. Active the esm/esp files using your mod manager or Skyrim Launcher
  4. Run BOSS to properly sort the load order of the mods
  5. Play Skyrim with your new lighting mod and enjoy!


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There are limited way in which to customize a lighting mod. Some mods contain optional presets such as darker dungeons, warmer interiors, brighter nights, etc. Using these with at your own discretion for your own personal tastes.

Climates of Tameriel (CoT)[edit | edit source]

CoT provides many options for customization using presets. You can customize nights with 4 different options, dungeons and caves with 2 different options, and interiors with 2 different options as well. To learn more about each of these please visit their nexus page.

Realistic Colors and Real Nights (RCRN)[edit | edit source]

RCRN includes three optional night lighting levels to choose from; Legacy, Classic, and Pure. Legacy provides lesser contrast and slightly brighter nights and dungeons; torches will not be needed. Classic provides balanced colors and dark nights and dungeons; suggest you utilize your torch. Finally, Pure provides the ultimate experience with very dark nights and pitch black dungeons; torches are required if you wish to see. You can see an example of each on their Web site.

Realistic Lighting with Customization (RLwC)[edit | edit source]

You can customize RLwC with three different presets; Hardcore, Vanilla with Customization, and Vision Lighting. RLwC also includes an INI file for greater control and tweaking of the entire mod. However, RLwC is moving towards a modular design with 4.0 which will allow for even greater control and compatibility. Please visit their page on nexus for the most up-to-date information.

Imaginator[edit | edit source]

Imaginator is a powerful, yet easy to use in-game tool which allows individual control over visual elements such as: brightness, contrast, saturation, sunlight output, bloom, and tint. It is utilized in-game by the use of a "helper spell". This is a great tool to use as a first choice when tweaking lighting and one of the only way to tweak these mods besides using their presets.


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Below is a basic comparison of the three lighting mods against vanilla. Please note that your results may vary based on the options you choose and the settings of your hardware and software. For a more complete comparison visit each mod's nexus page and view the images uploaded by users.

Frame Rate Comparison[edit | edit source]

The frame rates below are very subjective as they are based off a specific hardware setup. Please note that frame rates vary from system to system. This comparison is provided for a general idea of the performance impact only; therefore, if your frames rate do not match that is perfectly normal. Frame rates were gathered from various areas around Skyrim to provide diversity.

Vanilla CoT RCRN RLwC
54 54 54 54
23 23 23 24
51 51 50 52
60 60 60 60
28 28 29 29

The same results can been see at the other eight areas tested around Skyrim. With only a variation of 1 FPS or none at all, these lighting mods provide no noticeable impact on performance.

Daylight Comparison[edit | edit source]

These screen shots were taken during the day at the same location and time. Vanilla Image - CoT Image - RCRN Image - RLwC Image

Dust Comparison[edit | edit source]

These screen shots were taking at dusk (sun setting) at the same location and time. Vanilla Image - CoT Image - RCRN Image - RLwC Image

Nighttime Comparison[edit | edit source]

These screen shots were taken during the night at the same location and time. Vanilla Image - CoT Image - RCRN Image - RLwC Image

Dungeon Comparison[edit | edit source]

These screen shots were taken in a semi-dungeon environment at the same location and time. Vanilla Image - CoT Image - RCRN Image - RLwC Image

Interior Comparison[edit | edit source]

These screen shots were taken inside an interior at the same location and time. Vanilla Image - CoT Image - RCRN Image - RLwC Image

Additional Lighing Comparison - Fire Glow[edit | edit source]

These screen shots were taken inside a cave environment at the same location and time. Vanilla Image - CoT Image - RCRN Image - RLwC Image

Note: All screen shots were taken with no AA and default game settings in order to generalize performance across all mods.


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For the best experience in lighting without using an ENB, Realistic Lighting with Customization using the Hardcore option is recommended. This provides a truly immersive and beautiful game-play experience.

If you are planning on using an ENB in combination with a lighting mod, please review the ENB Guide. As always, this guide is provided only for general information. The choice of which mods are used or not used is a personal one which only the individual can decided.

Testing Results Ranked:[edit | edit source]

1st: Realistic Lighting with Customization - Hardcore 2nd: Realistic Colors and Real Nights 3rd: Realistic Lighting with Customization - Vision 4th: Climates of Tameriel

Mods were tested as standalone and were not combined with an ENB or any other lighting mod. Results are based on providing the most immersive, realistic, and natural lighting overhaul.