Realistic Water Textures by isoku

The latest version of this mod can be found here: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=711

Please see troubleshooting section at the bottom of the page if you are experiencing problems.

Version History:
1.9.5 Lake LOD seam appearance greatly reduced however lakes are no longer customizable
1.9.4 Water surface normals file size optimized, waterfalls made darker
-----New options for lakes/ponds to be integrated with oceans again until a LOD fix is found
1.9.3 Surface options reduced, folders reorganized to support BAIN, manual installers please read the new installation/customization instructions!
-----New pseudo softer shoreline effect, improved ocean and river water, river flow speed slightly reduced
-----All small bodies of water indoors/outdoors should have correct textures now
1.9.2 Tweaks to river texture, lakes now use a new separate texture that can be customized
1.9.1 Remade water surface textures as uncompressed files for less compression artifacts
1.9 Special thanks to SLuckyD for instructions on modifying the worldspace
-----Manually replaced water in worldspace.
-----This means: lakes finally separated from oceans, made calmer but still share same texture; most outdoor bodies of water now have correct texture
-----Fixed Bethesda's jittery light reflections in some rivers, interior puddles now less flat looking, slowed down puddle water movement, fixed puddle seams
-----New river foam textures that more closely resemble vanilla with 4X or 2X original resolutions
-----Created basis for improved current direction in oceans and rivers (you won't see any changes until the CK is released however)

Description:
-Oceans, lakes, rivers, marshes, and creeks each with a unique ebb and flow.
-Waterfalls, foam, blacksmith's trough, rain and waterdrop ripples replaced with high resolution textures.
-Manually adjusted water in the worldspace.
-Softer edge where water meets land (not perfect).
-Increased object, land, tree, sky reflectivity and image refraction in most bodies of water.
-Murkier underwater view for oceans and lakes. Crystal clear underwater is also available.
-Reduced visibility of object splashing in water.

Ultra = 4X original resolutions, uncompressed water surface textures, 4X original resolutions everything else. Almost no compression artifacts.
High = 2X original resolutions, uncompressed water surface textures, 4X original resolutions everything else. Slight compression artifacts.
Medium = 1X original resolutions, uncompressed water surface textures, 2X original resolutions everything else. Some compression artifacts.
Waterfall foam textures are only 2X original resolutions for both versions.

Recommended Tweaks:
-Force 16x anisotropic filtering through your drivers whether you have ATI or Nvidia for more detailed water at long distances. Strongly recommended.
-Set iWaterReflectHeight and iWaterReflectWidth to at least 1024 in SkyrimPrefs.ini under [Water] for less pixelated reflections.

Customization (manual):
There are five water surface files in this mod, which pertain to five categories. All are located in Data\textures\water.

defaultwater.dds = puddle/slow water
ocean.dds = ocean water
river.dds = river water
creek.dds = creek water
lake.dds = lake water

-Folders 10 through 33 are water surface textures that differ slightly from the default. For example, "LessLight" causes that particular surface to have less light reflectivity and "Shallower" causes the waves to be shallower than the default. To install place the textures folder in your Data folder and overwrite. You should have five water surface textures in Data\textures\water at all times.

-Folders 40 through 42 are the underwater options. "Crystal Clear" causes both the water surface and underwater to become very clear.  If you prefer the vanilla underwater view, take the esp file from "Vanilla Underwater" and place it in your Data folder. Overwrite.

-"Reduce Object Splashing" reduces the excessive splashing of objects on the water surface. "Ocean Foam" uses an older version of my foam. To install place the textures folder in your Data folder and overwrite.

-Screens for some options can be found in the fomod folder.

If you don't care for customization the full package includes five textures made by me as seen in the video below. Just install and play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyWdPKSitGU&hd=1

To Install (manual):
-Extract the textures folder and RealisticWaterTextures.esp from within the "00 Data - Required" folder and place in [...]\steamapps\common\skyrim\Data folder.

-Make sure you have bEnableFileSelection=1 in SkyrimPrefs.ini under [Launcher].

-Make sure RealisticWaterTextures.esp and Load Loose Files is checked in Data Files in the Skyrim launcher.

-If you don't see RealisticWaterTextures.esp there, go into C:\Users\Name\AppData\Local\Skyrim, open up plugins.txt and add RealisticWaterTextures.esp under Skyrim.esm.

-If you are still having problems, use a mod manager to install and make sure RealisticWaterTextures.esp is checked there as well.

To Update (manual):
Extract the textures folder and RealisticWaterTextures.esp from within the "00 Data - Required" folder and place in [...]\steamapps\common\skyrim\Data folder and overwrite everything.

To Uninstall delete the following (manual):

RealisticWaterTextures.esp in the data folder.

Water and Rain:
All files in data\textures\water.

Cave waterdrop ripples:
fxwaterdropripplestile.dds, fxwaterdropripplestile_less.dds, fxwaterdropripplestilebrt.dds in data\textures\effects.

Foam:
fxwhitewater.dds, fxwhitewater01.dds, fxwhitewater02.dds in data\textures\effects.

Blacksmith's trough:
fxwatertileflat_d.dds, fxwatertileflat_emask.dds, fxwatertileflat_n.dds in data\textures\effects.

Waterfall:
fxwatertile01.dds, fxwatertile01_n.dds, fxwatertile02_n.dds, fxfogheavy.dds in data\textures\effects.

Waterfall LOD:
tamriel.objects.dds in data\textures\terrain\tamriel\objects.

Splashing:
fluiddrops.dds, fluiddrops02.dds, fluidsubsplatfilm.dds data\textures\effects.

Troubleshooting:

>If the blacksmith's trough water is not animated - it was never animated. Wait until CK release if you would like to see real water in the trough.

>If you are getting slow moving, non light reflective water everywhere:
You need to follow the steps in the install instructions above to get RealisticWaterTextures.esp activated.

>If you are getting a glassy/mirror-like water surface:
1. Make sure Load Loose Files is checked in Data Files in the Skyrim launcher.
2. Make sure RealisticWaterTextures.esp is the only water .esp file installed.
3. Make sure defaultwater.dds, ocean.dds, creek.dds, lake.dds and river.dds are in data\textures\water.

>If you are getting fog lines in the water:
This is a vanilla problem that was semi-hidden from you due to the rough vanilla water surface. It's caused by the way Bethesda implemented their fog. If it really bothers you, you can try switching to deeper waves in the optional files to hide it again.

Credits:
Frontsalat for getting me started on TESsnip.
SLuckyD for answering all my questions regarding the worldspace.
Everyone who has provided critiques and suggestions.