SKYRIMLE Bump Winterhold Vanilla V1 (by Yuril)

[EssArrBee]

Bump Winterhold Vanilla V1 (by Yuril)

 

With the removal of SRO there are some gaps in the coverage of STEP that should be addressed. This mod takes the College and makes the normals really pop, plus it's made by Yuril, so you know it's top quality. Think Terrain Bump for the College. COlor maps are the same.

 

STEP->Bump Winterhold

Arcaneum

 

Main Hall

 

Tiles look a little more worn. The stones that make up the walls are bit more defined too. I don't mind the vanilla textures for the college and these normals actually accentuate the look to make it that much better. 

 

Yuril has a whole Bump series of mods for cities, so we should probably take look at a few of them for STEP. Very vanilla friendly.

[GrantSP]

I don't usually make comment on texture replacers because of the subjective nature of the design choice and the overheads are probably beyond my system, but in this instance I will.

In my examination of the supplied screenshots I actually think your descriptions highlight the flaws of these sort of mods.

Making the bump map more prominent makes the stones in these fine buildings look of an inferior quality. To my mind stones in impressive structures like Winterhold would have been worked by skilled stonemasons that would produce a much finer finish than that which results from the mod. The vanilla stones are more what you should expect. Especially is this so with the floor stones. Winterhold has been around for a long time so floor stones should look LESS bumpy not MORE.

With the wall stones, they look less well fitted. The gaps are accentuated and make the seams more prominent.

 

Based on that I would advise against its use in STEP CORE.

[EssArrBee]

I agree with your sentiment. This is something I actually apply to other aspects of the game. Where I disagree is with the College of Winterhold itself. It's quite old and the city/college has fallen on harder times after the collapse. It's upkeep wouldn't be nearly as good as it was before half the city fell in to the sea.

 

I recently tested the rustic murals or w/e it's called from Gamwich and thought that adding crags and cracks to it was the wrong thing to do. Someone who had the skill to carve those murals would have made them smooth. And, since they have pretty much been left untouched by nature being underground, there is no reason to apply wear and tear. I didn't even bother posting the screens for that mod.

 

The College is outside in the elements though, so it would have wear and tear outdoors from the harsh environment. The inside would suffer from the lack of upkeep.

[TechAngel85]

I don't like what this mod is doing either. I prefer vanilla in those shots.