I'm tring to tweak the .ini files to make shadows better, but im blocked by a lot of odd problems, and i want to know everything better before start by myself....(i hope im in the right section)(i hope im in the right section)
maybe exists a link to a good detailed guide, but i cant find one good....

1- in C:\Users\user\My Documents\My Games\Skyrim there are 2 ini files (Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini) and also in the root directory of the game there is a Skyrim.ini file;
in each of theese 3 .ini files there are lines like iShadowMapResolution=2048 ... i want to ask: ...WHY? is one of the above the others? its just to know, but i could be easier if all in a single file...

2- the command usable ingame in the console: refreshini ... dont reload ALL ... I'm doing something wrong? for some changes i must restart the game to see the differences...

3- in SkyrimPrefs.ini there are 3 similar lines: iShadowMapResolution=2048 , iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048 and iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=2048
what each of them do different to the other 2? why 3 lines for shadow resolution? (i hope in a good explanation here)

4- going trough the web I've seen some others lines for shadow settings/tweakings.... and there are some that i cant understand at all:
- iShadowMaskQuarter=
- iShadowFilter=
- iShadowSplitCount=
- iShadowMode=
- iShadowBiasScale=
- iBlurDeferredShadowMask=
(also here, I'm searching for a very good detailed explanation here,... for now i dont even know if its better to increase or decrease the valors in some lines!)

thanks in advance for every answer!! also the shortest one!
(and sorry for my bad english)

(edit: exists somewhere an official guide that explain line by line , all the lines of the .ini files? if no, it would be very good if someone make it XD )

You missed the sticky: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1308114-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide-from-nvidia/

I've seen that post, (but i have ATI lol.. )
btw, its true...it explain in a good way some lines of wich i ask... but not all of them...
mainly im searching for the usage of "iShadowSplitCount=" (i dont even know if its a good point for tweaking); and an easier way to reload ini.... its hard to try tweaking restarting the game EACH time

It's universal. The guy just happens to be employed by Nvidia now. He didn't used to be.


If you're going to tweak/mod, be ready to test often. It's the nature of the game. Pro tip: You can get a full INI with saveini. It'll show up in the Data folder. Move it out of there as it'll mess things up. You can proceed to experiment if you wish after making a copy of your originals.

ok it can be a good method... but still i have to restart the game for each time i do a modify in an .ini file.... i just want to know if there is a better and more complete solution than refreshini command
(if work for me.. i use that command and reload a savegame, in this way a lot of .ini changes is recharged... a lot faster than restart the game..... but some line dont recharge until u restart the game....)

also .. noone have an idea of what "iShadowSplitCount=" do?