SKYRIMLE Expanded Towns and Cities

[Guest]

I once disabled ETaC in my modlist by accident and was horrified how poor, boring and generally lacking all those towns were.

If there are still people who didn't try, do it! At least on a temporary game. You will probably be shocked. The difference is night and day.

I have been thinking about using this for a while, but keep forgetting. Do you know if any of the new textures are forced in some areas or am I going to have to replace them? I know there are vanilla options, but does this extend to everything? I don't like the custom textures from the look of it.

[Nearox]

Since version 11.x you can indeed choose to have all new ETaC buildings appear in vanilla style, using the textures from the mod you desire. I haven't encountered any of them in a different style. 

[CJ2311]

Textures only apply to the towns, and you can choose to install meshes that redirect to the vanilla textures. (Which is why the patches file is so big with the SMIM patches). They're definitely not forced.

[Guest]

That's good to hear, thanks for the replies.

[kryptopyr]

I've actually been thinking about using the file structure from ETaC but then swapping in various textures from other mods, so that I could still have some texture variation in the different towns but use the textures I choose.  I haven't tried this yet, but I don't know why it wouldn't work with a bit of copying and pasting.

[phryxolydian]

Interesting. I probably won't risk adding it to my existing game, but I'll probably give it a go for my new playthrough. Awaiting for STEP to hit 2.3.0 and the Packs compatibility with 2.3.0 for this though :)

I'm not saying it doesn't involve a bit of risk but, rest assured, when I first installed ETaC my playthrough had exceeded more than 100 hrs and 150+ hrs later I haven't noticed any problems whatsoever.. Other than some farmhouses not getting SMIMified and a couple of naked folks on Darkwater Crossing fighting two gargoyyles with their bare hands... I've already done this for myself but perhaps CJ could convince mjb to set their confidence to 0 to avoid such unimmersive content.

 

I've actually been thinking about using the file structure from ETaC but then swapping in various textures from other mods, so that I could still have some texture variation in the different towns but use the textures I choose.  I haven't tried this yet, but I don't know why it wouldn't work with a bit of copying and pasting.

Which textures would you be using, out of curiosity?

[redirishlord]

I'm pretty sure the Darkwater bathers are vanilla FWIW.

[kryptopyr]

 

Which textures would you be using, out of curiosity?

Honestly, I'm not completely sure yet.  I know there are some that have been compared by STEP at various points and were determined that while they looked nice they weren't "vanilla-enough" for STEP.  I also have a bunch of city/town re-texture mods bookmarked, so I need to go through those and see if there's something that I think looks appropriate (and contains the right set of texture files).  Or maybe now that I've made the suggestion, someone else will come up with some good recommendations and save me the trouble. ;) 

[phazer11]

I would use this but it'd require getting rid of my LoS and I need something to see at night, because holding a torch or wearing a lantern gets old dammit! That and if I'd have to mess around to get say, Amidianborn farmhouse textures to show up I'd be annoyed.

[phryxolydian]

Pretty sure ETaC has a patch for LoS.

[EssArrBee]

I would use this but it'd require getting rid of my LoS and I need something to see at night, because holding a torch or wearing a lantern gets old dammit! That and if I'd have to mess around to get say, Amidianborn farmhouse textures to show up I'd be annoyed.

Add fog lamps to your pony.

[CJ2311]

I would use this but it'd require getting rid of my LoS and I need something to see at night, because holding a torch or wearing a lantern gets old dammit! That and if I'd have to mess around to get say, Amidianborn farmhouse textures to show up I'd be annoyed.

There is a patch for LoS. And simply selecting the vanilla meshes option will use whatever texture replacer(s) you currently have.

[DocClox]

Just tried this one out. I've only really seen Winterhold so far (Frostfall, Realistic Needs, Live Another Life and fast travel disabled without an axe - I may be there for a while ). Anyway, initial impressions.

 

Externally, I love it. Winterhold looks like it might have actually once been a mighty city rather than a collection of peasant huts providing services to the College. It's all a huge improvement. I like the layout, I like the ruins and the additional services seem sensible and balanced.

 

Internally ... everything is so clean, it makes my hands itch. I've always been a fan of the dirty, cluttered look of vanilla Skyrim. The mess makes the place seem more lived in and less like a construct in a computer game. That said, I know there are some people out there who can't look at all that clutter without wanting to reach for a mop and broom. I couldn't say that the clean-up was a bad thing ... but personally, I find it distracting. Oddly enough the Immersive College of Winterhold mod bothered me for the exact same reasons. Maybe it's just a Winterhold thing  :)

 

Obviously, I want to see the other locations before I make up my mind. Right now though, I'm genuinely in two minds about this one.

[Kuldebar]

I don't mind the lack of clutter in the interiors, but if the new textures appear too pristine you can choose vanilla instead. I visualize contemporary Winterhold as being mostly new construction so I don't mind the fresh look. As for missing the presence of hay bales and such things in college, I always wondered why that place would be so trashy. I much prefer magical "junk" clutter for the college versus hay and empty wine bottles, etc.

 

But, it's all a matter of taste, I used to not like the interior changes to Inns but all my critical points were addressed in subsequent releases. I now prefer the visual distinctions between locations now...before everything was a cloned copy.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Kuldebar

[Octopuss]

I really don't like the new textures at all, they feel completely out of place, and the colours are often pretty weird (maybe I am half colourblind, but greenish plastic looking house walls, uh, what?...). Besides, they are one 1k in resolution, which sticks out quite badly when most everything is 2k. And don't you dare trying to go closer to walls...

Luckily you can make it use vanilla textures (actually, whatever your mods are).

Interiors feel perfectly fine, I don't notice any lack of clutter or anything.