ReAL water replacement by insane0h (aka sval)
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=862
Update: 11/22/2011 - fixed the fast flowing water issue for the moment - if it looks "fast" in certain locations, it is the programming for that cell, not the texture.
Hey all,

Above is the mod link for my custom skyrim water retexture.
Basically I took a real photo, made it seamless at 2048x2048, then converted it to a normal map to replace the default water's 512x512 ugliness.

The result is a smoother, almost ridiculous amount of HD texture (probably overkill) to the water - making it look lovely in most situations.


A lot of trial and error went into this, since I could not find any decent guides on doing textures like this on the internet. (any direction to those links will be greatly appreciated!)

Anyways, please feel free to comment here or on the nexus site.

Some common problems are "Sheeting" when one water pattern goes one way, the other goes another creating a "sheeting" effect - looking into fixes.

Another is that the water seems to be going faster, when it is not. It appears to be faster because of the much higher resolution.

You can change the FPS at which the water animates. Might want to look into that.


Skyrim.ini
[Water]
uSurfaceFPS=12

I'm using and enjoy your water. I think the more 'turbulent' looking vanilla water is more fitting for Skyrim, however.

Wow, I shall look into this tomorrow. If this smooths it out, you are a true champion of the internet =P

sadly, this ini tweak showed no differences...hmmm...

I have to agree with some of the comments. It almost looks like glass it's so calm.. I don't know what it is, but it really doesn't feel like water now =/

updated to fix the fast flowing water problem - please see the new link

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=862

Video of the mod in action:::

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oWsT28b4jY