Skyrim

About this mod

Greatly improves the quality of the World Map, including accurate hand-drawn roads. Choose between having All Roads, or just the Main Roads. Also includes the Solstheim map from the Dragonborn DLC. Installer support for NMM, MO, and Wrye Bash. Version 9.0

Requirements
Permissions and credits
Translations
  • Russian
Changelogs


Version: 9.0.1 / 8.4 (12/11/2016)

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ all below for important info about what this mod includes, what you'll be getting, and what to expect.






VIVID and CLASSIC




This mod provides a new set of highly-detailed world map textures, complete with roads! This mod also adds a detailed Solsteim map. Best when coupled with the "Clear Map Skies" add-on.

The Vivid style is new in 9.0, and features a refreshed look for the world map and larger, more detailed textures. It includes most roads (artistically selected by IcePenguin) and a detailed Solstheim map. You can select between Stone Roads (which makes some roads appear cobblestone on the map), and Flat Roads (a more dirt-like style). The Vivid 9.0 includes an ESP file. IcePenguin added this in order to tweak the appearance of the weather in the world map in order to improve overall appearance.

The Classic style is the version used in A Quality World Map 8.4 (April 2015) and includes a detailed Solstheim map. You can select between All Roads or Main Roads. Please use the 8.4 Installer for all included options.



PAPER




For the first time, a flat, high quality paper map is available from the world map for Skyrim. Rather than being a simple copy of the existing paper map texture, it was painstakingly recreated using worldspace reference screenshots, the map texture, and custom art assets. The result is something any adventurer would be proud to have tucked away in their pack.

A paper map for Solstheim is not included. It will appear similarly to the way it does in the Vivid style in 3D.

The Paper 9.0 includes an ESP file. IcePenguin added this in order to tweak the appearance of the weather in the world map in order to improve overall appearance. It also includes necessary changes in order to enforce certain camera restrictions in order for the mod to appear correctly.

Due to a chance that another mod can overwrite this mod's necessary edits to the Tamriel worldspace, it is highly recommended to load this near the end of your plugin load order.

Tilt/zoom controls are disabled when viewing the paper map. You can still pan the camera.

Have fun!


CLEAR MAP SKIES


Using this add-on (for VIVID and CLASSIC only) removes all clouds from the center of the map, granting a crystal-clear view of the world below. The clouds at the edges of the map are still present.

This file can also be used alone (without A Quality World Map) to remove map clouds from the vanilla game.

This add-on is an improvement over the 8.4 "Clear" add-on, which could also erroneously remove clouds from the game world. IT IS RECOMMENDED that you use the stand-alone "CLEAR MAP SKIES 9.0" download with 8.4 Classic and not use the one bundled in the 8.4 installer.




COMPATIBILITY


Redundant with No Fog on World Map. The Quality World Map plugin also removes the map fog.

Paper Map: Do NOT use the Clear Map Skies add-on for A Quality World Map, or any mod that modifies map clouds with this mod. It is incompatible.

Compatible with other map marker mods.

INSTALL AND UNINSTALL


It can be safely installed and uninstalled mid-game.

Paper Map: After uninstalling, make sure to exit the game completely to restore your world map settings.


A NOTE ABOUT MAP MARKERS AND THE PAPER MAP


There is an outstanding issue where the paper map is rendered in 2D, but the markers are still 3D. So when the camera is panned around, the markers appear to "float" or "swim" across the map. It's worse in areas of high elevation. This is because the map marker's positions are determined by their 3D position in the game world. I'm sure this will absolutely wreck some people's immersion, but, I'd rather have IcePenguin's hard work released now. Personally, I think it looks pretty great. You might not agree, and that's OK. IcePenguin and I did the best we could.

The problem is that the world map camera is a perspective (3D) camera, and what we really want is an orthogonal projection (2D) camera. I can't change the camera type as that's deep in the game code. I can't fix it in the UI, either (I tried). The map marker positions are updated every frame by the game itself from pre-computed values. The only way to fix it would be to move the map markers themselves, and that's a risky change. It's possible that this might be a feasible thing to do, but I wouldn't get my hopes up for it. This is probably the closest we will ever get to a flat paper map.

Enjoy,

-- Chesko







Original front page content from IcePenguin:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update: 10/29/16 (please read)
Hello folks! IcePenguin here. As of today, Chesko will be taking over this mod and any future updates or releases. This includes the new Skyrim Special Edition.


(Thanks to Arsenalrobert for making this video review!)


(Thanks to ForAdventure for making this mod spotlight!)



Introduction:
This mod aims to give you a World Map that is fun to look at. It now has better textures and introduces detailed roads.  I tried my best to draw out every single road, but if I missed one, please let me know! :D (I'm pretty sure I got them all.) Also, roads are pretty accurate. I walked along every one as I drew them, just to make certain. :p This mod also supports the Dragonborn DLC and adds roads to the Solstheim map.

Also be sure to take a look at the version 9.0 WIP thread: Click here.

Thanks goes to Ethatron for his High Quality 3D Map. This mod uses his improved map textures.  His mod also provides Hi-Res meshes, which aren't required, but highly recommended.  If you want to use his Hi-Res meshes, then you will need to use my Hi-Res Quality World Map.  If you decide to use his meshes, download the file called: "HQ3DMap - Meshes Hi-Res".  Again, it is highly recommend to use the Hi-Res options, because it makes roads even more accurate.  The files were generated with Oscape from the original ESM.

Comparison 1: Vanilla Mesh -- Hi-Res Mesh
Comparison 2: Vanilla Mesh -- Hi-Res Mesh


Important Notice: (please read)
1. The classic map is a Work in Progress. It has a few LOD issues, so as it is now, it's not recommended to use as your main map. If you still want to check it out you can, but expect some bugs. For now, it is best to use the main Quality Maps. :)
2. If you have the following "uLockedTerrainLOD" tweak in your Skyrim.ini, this map won't load properly. Remove that line from your .ini for this mod to work.
3. Another setting that will prevent this map from loading is "fMapWorldTransitionHeight". If you have this setting in your Skyrim.ini, remove it.
4. If you removed the clouds by using the "sMapCloudNIF=0" tweak in your Skyrim.ini, the Clear Map add-on will NOT work. Remove that line from your .ini if you have it.


Installing:
--NMM--
For NMM simply click "Download with Manager" button and activate the mod to initialize the installer.

--MO--
This is only if you have a previous version installed, otherwise, it will install normally. Mod Organizer will prompt the user to Rename/Merge/Replace the mod. Select Replace and the external installer will run to install the mod options.

--Wrye Bash--
For Wrye bash users use the "..download manually" link. Drop the downloaded zip file directly into your "..\Bash Installers" folder. Under the Bain Installers tab pick ONE package prefixed by the word "Map". If you would like to use the optional "Clear Map Add-on" select this package, too.

--Manual Install--
For manual install users, extract the zip file of the map option you have downloaded. Open the extracted folder and copy the Data folder.  Next, locate the Skyrim directory on your computer, and paste the Data folder there.  The file path should look like this:

..\STEAM\SteamApps\common\skyrim\Data\

It will ask you if you want to overwrite the Data folder. Say yes. This will merge the two Data folders together and place my mod with the correct file path within your Skyrim files.  Here is what the full file path should look like:

..\STEAM\SteamApps\common\skyrim\Data\textures\terrain\Tamriel\(this is where the .dds map files go)

--Uninstall--
Delete the files and folders associated with the mod. These are all the files this mod is capable of installing to the data folder across all versions.

..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.0.0.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.0.32.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.0.-32.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.0.-64.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.32.0.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.-32.0.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.32.32.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.32.-32.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.-32.32.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.-32.-32.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.32.-64.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.-32.-64.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.-64.0.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.-64.32.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.-64.-32.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\tamriel.32.-64.-64.dds
..\Data\Textures\terrain\Tamriel\objects\tamriel.objects.dds
..\Data\Textures\sky\skyrimcloudlut.dds
..\Data\Meshes\sky\skyrimworldmapcloudbank.nif
..\Data\Textures\terrain\dlc2solstheimworld\dlc2solstheimworld.32.0.0.dds


Version History:
v8.4 Updated the main installer to include the Solstheim map. Added a missing road in Solstheim, leading to Kagrumez point of interest. Also, made a few roads smoother and cleaner.
v8.3 Greatly increased the texture quality of the Solstheim map.
v8.2 Fixed a tiny road in Solstheim. It got over-looked before, and was a bit off position. All is good now! :p
v8.1 Added roads to the Soltheim map for the Dragonborn DLC.
v8.0 Added 15 missing minor roads. They are all very tiny and really hard to miss, haha. Thanks to those who sent me messages with roads I missed. Thank you all! I also fixed many, many roads. See change log for exact roads and locations.The BIGGEST part of this update is added support for NMM and Wrye Bash users. Big thanks goes to scrivener07 for all his hard work and volunteering to write a million lines of code to create an easy-to-use installer just for you! It really makes this mod 100 times easier to install. Be sure to give him a Kudos! :) Lastly, I edited the worldmapcloudbank.nif, in the Clear Map add-on, so all 4 layers of clouds are closer together which makes them appear more dense around the edge of map.
v7.1 Included optional "Clear Map" add-on.
v7.0 Added seven missing roads. Fixed existing roads. Made both maps compatible with Ethatron's Hi-Res map meshes.
v6.0 Added two missing roads. Re-drew every road to make them smoother. Main roads thicker, side roads thinner. Removed black textures on map.
v5.0 Created two new "Classic" maps, in the style of the popular paper map. (they are still 3D) Fine-tuned a few roads. Option for Hold borders.
v4.0 Compressed map files using DXT1.Improved a few roads for more fluid look. Extended road to Cyrodiil.
v3.0 Updated both maps. Added a missing road. Fixed a few roads to make them look nicer.
v2.0 Made a map with the main roads only.
v1.0 Initial release.


Additional Map Tweaks: (Optional)
Map Overhaul by xAtomz!
Hold Borders by ChromeWarriorXIII.

Add any of the following lines to your Skyrim.ini, under [MapMenu] section, only if you want! :D If you don't have a [MapMenu] section, you can make one at the bottom of your .ini. (Not Skyrimprefs.ini) The .ini is usually located at: ..\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\

uLockedObjectMapLOD=8
(loads objects such as waterfalls, etc) (may not work for some people) (has no affect on classic maps)

bWorldMapNoSkyDepthBlur=1
fWorldMapNearDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapDepthBlurScale=0
fWorldMapMaximumDepthBlur=0
(reduces map blurring for a crispier experience. very subtle difference) (blur) (noblur)

fMapWorldYawRange=3600.0000
(able to rotate the camera 360 degrees)

fMapWorldInitialPitch=90.0000
(gives you a birds-eye view of the map, looking straight down instead of at an angle)

fMapWorldMaxHeight=130000.0000
fMapWorldMinHeight=5000.0000
(changes min/max height of zooming in/out. change to your liking)

fMapWorldZoomSpeed=0.0750
fMapLookMouseSpeed=3.0000
fMapZoomMouseSpeed=15.0000
(these adjust the mouse speed and zoom speed. change to your liking)

For more information on these settings, and many more, check out Improved 3D Map tweaks by FireHawkX.


If you are wondering, the colored map markers, used in the video, is a mod by Forsaken32.
The Fairy Cursor is a mod by Kenney.


My other mods:
Wearable Lanterns - Lighting Fix
Final Fantasy III PC - Menu Replacement + New Font
A Clear World Map - With Clouds
Comfy Leather Armor
Cute and Colorful Armor
Hello Kitty Armor
3rd Person Sprint - Ninja Style
1st Person View Glass Armor Fix
ipHUD - Complete Edition