I downloaded Skyrim’s free Hi-res texture pack shortly after it first came out. I enjoyed the better resolution for months, when I actually played Skyrim. Unfortunately, a problem struck about a month or so ago when one of the mods I had did something rather… uh weird, to some of the torches about Skyrim.

I still have yet to figure out what mod it was. I can only think it was one of the ember mods I had installed just prior to encountering the bug. What it did was turn several torches, candles, and braziers into the complete opposite of what a light source should be- it was more like a magical device tapping into a back whole which sucked all light away and became a “black void radiator” instead of a photon radiator. It was bizarre and affecting my ability to play.

I started uninstalling the most recent mods- no fix. Then I went and uninstalled the less recent mods- still no fix. I said “Screw it,” and stripped the game of all mods- including the Hi-Res packs by accident.

Well, it fixed it when whatever files responsible were finally deleted, and I had my light back. At least I didn’t have to re-install the game! But then I had to clean up and reinstall the mods bit by bit… and I started getting that weird floating grass bug which I fixed. I think. (Check Modding Resources from the menu if you also have this bug.) Anyway, during this, I managed to iron out the incompatibilities between the mods I use the most and install a few more that were pretty awesome.

Unfortunately, I wondered why my textures were so low now. Then I realized just a bit ago the Hi-Res packs disappeared.

A thorough search about how to re-install the Hi-Res pack produced results- for removing it. Not what I wanted. Uh. Okay. So anyway, I tried fixing it on my own. Just opening the game through Steam didn’t work, despite what others mentioned (note that I usually launch Skyrim using SKE). The only other thing I could do was a bit more technical. Usually, when something is wrong with the default game files, you do a cache verify. So I opened up Steam again, right clicked Skyrim in my library, and did one. Lucky me, it detected the Hi-Res packs were gone and slated them to reacquire. The Hi-Res is downloading even as I type, but again, it’s taking it’s sweet time.

Oh, there, it’s done. Actually, it seems to have freshly downloaded the DLCs as well, and BOSS informs me that I have to reclean the ESM files, but a small price to pay for the better resolutions.

Anyway, the moral of the story is clear; trying to fight your way out of darkness may leave causalities.