Okay, the new Nvidia 301.42 drivers did bring back Ambient Occlusion for me in Skyrim. But it's so ugly
In a still shot it all looks very pretty. But as soon as I start moving, the shadows are all "stuttering". It looks like all the shadows (especially grass and bushes) are moving wildly in a kind if very fast micro stutter. This also effects the bigger shadows like corners of a building. This was not so before the 1.5 patch, there it all looked fluid.
So, AO is back but it has become very, very ugly when moving.
No shadow mods running or what ever.

Did you tweak your INI files?

Yes. But I did try already with ini-files generated by the game itself (so non tweaked) and that gave the same result.

Drivers didn't do anything for me, AO still pops in and out at nearly evey angle.

Not seeing it at all. Quality, Performance, High Quality, Off. All look the same to me whether through Control Panel or Inspector. With new drivers. Just got it working by using compatability setting for Fallout 3 in Inspector. Dark, but it's not flickering, looks pretty close to what it was before the patch took it away. I think the dark shadow is because I have an IPS monitor now, better black levels.

We need to pick a good spot for an AO screenshot and then compare.

I've updated the driver. I should have taken before and after pics. But well, my outdoor shadows are much better. That black mass of shadowed grass under trees which bothered me so much before seems to have been fixed. I have AO enabled on Quality. I think AO IS working as intended but I need more time to check details. Vanilla INI by the way.

[img]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z222/Majic7_photo/TESV_2012_05_24_02_06_29_621.jpg[/img] Here is what it looks like using Fallout 3 compatability. // This is Fallout 3 compatability. Don't know if you can see it but GPU usage is 98% and framerate is about 45.IMG]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z222/Majic7_photo/TESV_2012_05_24_03_40_15_444.jpg[/IMG] // This is with Skyrim compatability. GPU usage is 82% and framerates are 60. [IMG]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z222/Majic7_photo/TESV_2012_05_24_03_38_26_070.jpg[/IMG]

Gave up on AO. Still see no change with it off or on with Skyrim compatability and it is too much of a performance drag with Fallout 3 compatability. It also has shadow glitches on distant buildings.

@ Majic7
My game with specific Skyrim AO enabled looks like your screenshot 2 when not moving. But when moving, all the shadows are going crazy. Will make a video of it.
But giving up here too ... AO and the whole shadow thing. I mean, tweaking your game is fun, but a basic thing like shadows should have been already been fixed ingame a long, looooong time ago.

https://sites.google.com/site/schnorgldorf/home/AOslide2.gif?attredirects=0

Well I have just updated and I'm using performance AO with a GTX 550ti, and something is different, and (currently) in a good way.

Did try Oblivion compatibility. Works weird, it's like you have a zone of AO about 30 feet around you. You can see the AO coming on as you walk. My shadow problem on distant buildings with Fallout 3 compatibility almost looks like z fighting. You only see it when you are moving and flashes at just about the same rate.

ShootnCrash, do you have any exterior shots with AO? Because many have reported the AO has always worked in interiors, even after the patch.

https://sites.google.com/site/schnorgldorf/home/AOslide_out.gif?attredirects=0

I think the Fallout 3 AO looks a bit better.

Wonder why my system doesn't work at all with Skyrim compatibility? Maybe it's a SLI thing, but I'm married to it with the monitor I am using now. The fallout 3 does look nice on my system, too bad about the shadow thing. What is odd is that my framerates and GPU usage return to near normal as long as I am not looking at trees and bushes.

Nuts, it is a SLI thing. Skyrim comp. does work with only one card.

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=4 needs to be set to 0 in the prefs ini for AO to be activated (iBlurDeferredShadowMask=0)

my iBlurDeferredShadowMask is at 4 and you can see in my examples AO is activated.

The ShadowMask ini change does work. Lets me run AO with SLI enabled, but it still runs like crap. Interiors with or without SLI are choppy and unplayable. Never did go inside before when I was testing before but I think that would have ended the experiment right there. I will have to wait until a Beth patch fixes AO or live without it.

you mean set at 0?

You have a killer rig too, this is just wrong and frustrating.

Just switched to ENB AO. Looks great. Minimal frame loss.

NV-AO seems to be working for me too right now, outside as well as inside. (GTX 560 TI 1,2GBVRAM).