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[TitusTroy]

I've never really been into modding as I don't like the base game to be altered in any way...I usually only like to improve the graphics...but I have tried a few programs with the most recent being ReShade with Fallout 4...makes a noticeable difference in graphics quality...I'm definitely interested in trying more of them but I notice that there are several types of them nowadays

ENB seems to be the most popular now...what's the difference between ReShade, ENB and mods?...is one better then the other?...is one better in terms of performance?

 

[capitalCORN]

Both ENB and ReShade (and SweetFX) are graphical injectors, They work at the api level and manipulate the image beyond the designed parameters. There's various ways to manipulate each injector and provide different flavours. No two flavours of ENB will be the same, the same way manipulating variables in ReShade will change the image. It's all up to personal preference however. Mods are additional content created with the base game contraints in mind, sans injector or not, although there's usually explicit design between some injectors and mod content..

 

[Toni]

ENB has much more support and this might be sibjective, but I found its extremely easy to utilize. Very user friendly as well with people getting into PC gaming and that want a wondrous taste of Mods.

I tried ENB for Skyrim and it turns it into a complete different game.

ENB's are also very taxing on PC's. Unfortunately.

 

[Ryzaki009]

ENB's are very heavy and give a performance hit.

Reshades are lighter still give some hit but nowhere near as much as ENB.

Mods (textures mods I'm assuming you're talking about) can vary depending on the texture.

Basically I usually use a mixture of ENB and mods to give me a desired look in Bethesda games.

 

[jim2point0]

ENB is a mod made by a single person for very specific games. The most work was put into Skyrim, and is the #1 component in making Skyrim look amazing.

ReShade is a more generic shader injector for all games. Very useful for at least injecting SMAA into games with poor anti-aliasing. Can also be used to sharpen up games with blurry AA as well.

I would classify ENB as a mod since it is a game-specific injector and goes well beyond what ReShade can do.

 

[texhnolyze]

ENB is truly an amazing tool. Sadly, there's only one guy who's working on it and everything depends on his decisions.

Reshade is open for all, you can even make your own presets. But it's nowhere near the depth of what ENB can do.

 

[Stasis]

Only ever used ReShade/ENB in Skyrim and GTAV really, and it was easily installed by following the clear instructions. I would just browse popular presets and use whichever one seemed better to me. I tried a few and stuck with what worked best for all times of the day. I never fiddled with settings myself.

Mods are a whole different story, can be as simple a potion re-texture, to a new item, to a whole zone/area with quests and missions. They absolutely make games better and/or breathe new life into an older title, but if you install too many all at once they can be incompatible and just break everything. Always have a backup vanilla save! They also tend to cease functioning with game updates, so it can be a huge PITA for newer titles. At one point I stopped update TW3 because it was breaking my mods and the updates were for small things I didn't care about.

All in all it can be a little steep of a learning curve initially and daunting to the sheer number of them available, depending on the game, but they're absolutely worth exploring.

GTAV with NaturalVision and a bunch of mods is just amazing compared to vanilla. It can look SO real. Can't wait to see GTAVI and RDR2 because of this.

 

[CaramelMarx]

A lot of this comes down to taste. ENB and the like will change the look and feel of a game as much as they 'improve' anything. There are a number of tools you can use to tweak the ENB or ReShader config settings to your exact specifications...but you'll need to be willing to spend (possibly) a long time with trial and error, especially in the beginning. Or, there are sites with presets uploaded by other people with screenshots attached if you want to skip some of that DIY stuff.

 

[jim2point0]

ENB and the like will change the look and feel of a game as much as they 'improve' anything.

Well that's just silly. ENB adds SSAO, high resolution shadows, subsurface scattering, volumentric light rays, water effects, adaption, soft particles, particle lighting, cloud shadows, reflections, mist, enhanced specular lighting....

It's a clear improvement even if you only enable some of the enhancements and leave stuff like bloom and some of the lighting parameters alone (which change the look of the game the most).

 

[Wolf Akela]

 

[flipswitch]

It's amazing how ENB, such a tiny file can completely transform a game into something that once looked ok to amazing, and that's without mods.

 

[GHG]

If you're looking for an ENB for fallout 4 then these two are the best around at the moment (imo):

Pilgrim ENB: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/23845/?

CFL ENB: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20289/?

Remove whatever reshade/sweetfx you might be currently using then follow the instructions to install either of these two. You won't look back.

A good ENB can add so much more atmosphere and visual depth to a game compared to anything else.

 

[sixteen-bit]

How much of an impact on performance to these have?

 

[GHG]

How much of an impact on performance to these have?

It varies.

Some have very little performance impact and some can have in excess of a -10 fps impact.

It's worth referring to each individual ENB presets page as most authors will state what the hardware requirements are and what the expected performance impact is. Some also come with different presets (low, medium, high) so you can select one in accordance with your hardware (or based on how many FPS you are willing to give up).