I spent a long time looking for the same exact thing(s). Better wolves/animals and shaders because I'm a pixel snob lmao.
go get better render dragon. One of the versions online (the main one, I think) said it had a virus on it so be careful. however, no red flags were raised when I downloaded it from (I think) 9minecraft.
I use that japanese shader (M- something something... it's one of the top ones in searches) with it on my (once magnificent & glorious but now..) potato asus laptop. Alongside realism vfx whatever addon and I went with the "legend" texture pack (with my own textures added over it for a bunch of stuff).
UNFORTUNATELY.... (I just remembered this after typing all that, lmao) this will not work in multiplayer... lol. so. but it'll be pretty for you, at least!
I did activate the shader resources in my world and then went over to my phone to check briefly.. and it did seem like a lot of it was working. just not sure how much of it. the water, at least.. I think. but obviously a lot wouldn't work either without the injector on all devices.
but you can also get a pretty good visual just by using the realism vfx addon. there's also one called "realism fields & forests" which is gorgeous but way too cluttered and I couldn't get past the cursed looking mobs (namely the deer :| ) and it's also a world template. so you're stuck with that world and if you get it on marketplace, you can't play with the textures. you also can't import structures without it breaking the world. but I guess that's another topic....
another one is out called "biomes" which I haven't done much testing with. looks pretty awesome though imo but I don't think I tested it without the shaders on.
you can do a WHOLE lot with textures though. look up colormaps. it changes the color of foliage and whatnot. then look up cubemaps, which (mostly, in MC anyways) change the sky. I was just laughing at some textures the other day that were over 2k... but when scaled down, no visual quality was lost.
You can also find mods online that simulate different effects similarly to shaders.
if interested, I can send screenshots or reply again with some. I'm too lazy to rn.
I know this was 2 months ago, sorry! Just hated the lack of replies and I'm a strong believer in options and personally don't make posts asking for help; relying heavily on posts just like OP made.
btw I'm a 3D and texture artist... but not the greatest knowledge of things over the last 5 years (mom-life lol). having to relearn a whole lot from not turning on a PC for 5 years. so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!
also... yeah. think I saw your post on reddit. should be avoided like the plague. big ol' meanies.
good luck! hope you got it figured out! or that this helps someone else.
edit: omfg I'm blind. this was 2 YEARS ago hahahahha SORRY!!!!!
