Today we will be reviewing Skysight - Simply Bigger Trees by fadingsignal, a talented retexturer. But Simply Bigger Trees is not a retex - it is a rescaling of the trees in Skyrim, which has been achieved in a very simple manner, by resizing the mesh. This gives Skyrim a more wild feel, and makes the forests absolutely stunning, on top of feeling positively ancient - in the best way possible. Still, there are still some bugs being ironed out, so we'll be talking about those, too.
The version tested is 1.2a. It is incompatible with any mod that replaces or edits any of the vanilla tree meshes. However, the author is trying to create compatibility patches with these mods, so hopefully there will be even greater compatibility soon. The only thing it requires is the latest version of Skyrim.
Note: All screenshots are taken with Screenshot Hotkeys and RealLike ENB.
The version tested is 1.2a. It is incompatible with any mod that replaces or edits any of the vanilla tree meshes. However, the author is trying to create compatibility patches with these mods, so hopefully there will be even greater compatibility soon. The only thing it requires is the latest version of Skyrim.
Note: All screenshots are taken with Screenshot Hotkeys and RealLike ENB.
SkySight - Simply Bigger Trees (which I'll call SBT from here on out) modifies the meshes of the vanilla trees (Pine and Aspen) by resizing them to 1.5x their original size. It seems pretty simple, but the difference it can make in the game is massive. It makes the game far more beautiful - not just visually, but it also enhances Skyrim itself, making it seem larger, denser, and... Better. How? Let's talk about that now.
Pros
SBT does something fairly simple, though I have no doubt the author put in a lot of work to make it - it makes the trees bigger. But I've personally seen a lot of very simple, but very great mods in the Nexus Hot Files, and for good reason. Simplicity often is enough to accomplish the goal of the mod, and that is especially true in this case. It's what resizing the trees does that makes this mod so great. It seems incredibly simple, but the difference it makes is really quite large. When entering forests, they feel much more wild and denser, giving Skyrim a feel that you really could get lost. Also, as many of you may know, as trees grow older they get larger and larger. Ergo, the newly massive trees in Skyrim make it feel far older, adding to the wild feel. For those of you worried about scripts and reinstallation - don't. There are absolutely no scripts involved, since it just changes meshes, and if you uninstall with a mod manager there are no issues. Note: I did not test with a manual uninstallation. There are two files to choose from on the main page, so if you'd just like the Aspen trees, or just the Pine trees, then you can do that. Fadingsignal has expressed interest in creating a 1.2x version of the trees as well, so for those of you looking for slightly smaller trees than the current ones - definitely track this mod. Also, just like the author of People are Strangers (see Skyrim MW's review), fadingsignal seems very responsive to suggestions, and very determined to improve the mod and iron out the current bugs, which he has managed to do with version 1.2a.
Cons
Now you may have noticed that I've been mentioning bugs once or twice. And it's true - SBT has its share of minor bugs and issues. Or should I say had. While it no doubt still has one or two issues, many of the large ones were fixed in version 1.2a, such as the trees partially disappearing when looking up. The issue with shrinking trees still remains, but there is a workaround on the mod page, and it is also being worked on. However, SBT does cause a noticeable FPS drop. Now, I have a pretty powerful computer, with 12 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M graphics card. I also have RealLike ENB and RLO installed and I play on Ultra High settings, which may have contributed somewhat (OK - probably a lot). This lag is due to the fact that much larger shadows and other effects must be drawn/created for the trees, which means more strain on your system. Still, I know many people didn't have a large performance hit at all, so the performance impact may vary.
If you find an issue with the mod, report it in the comments thread! It helps improve the mod - after all, no mod author can't fix what they don't know about. You might also find a solution to your issue there.
If you find an issue with the mod, report it in the comments thread! It helps improve the mod - after all, no mod author can't fix what they don't know about. You might also find a solution to your issue there.
Conclusion
I think that SBT is a great concept that has been achieved pretty well. There are a few, but not many, bugs in the mod, and fadingsignal seems dedicated to fixing them. SBT completely changed the atmosphere of Skyrim's more forested areas for me, making them far more enjoyable to explore, mostly because it seemed much more dense and secluded. Aside from that, the trees look absolutely beautiful, as you'll be able to see from the screenshots below. Still, the FPS drop is a minor issue for me. While the game was still completely playable hovering around 30 FPS, it was definitely noticeable - for me at least - and may affect less powerful rigs. However, I am playing with some very intensive graphic mods right now, so my FPS drop may be largely due to those. I did notice in the comments that very few people had any sort of FPS hit, so it's fairly unlikely it will affect you. I think that at the very least you should try this mod out and see what you think of it - I think it's pretty likely that you'll enjoy it. Besides, this mod is still being worked on, so it's very likely that if you found an issue with it now, the bug or problem will be gone in a future release.
What did you think of the mod? Post your experiences below. Please be polite when posting. Modders give their content to us for free, so while I'd like to hear what you thought and any bugs you may have encountered, remain civil.
What did you think of the mod? Post your experiences below. Please be polite when posting. Modders give their content to us for free, so while I'd like to hear what you thought and any bugs you may have encountered, remain civil.