Source
r/skyrimmods•
rightfuture

My Alt - Max City Explorers - mod collection.

12-7-2014 update! - Phase 2 - Grouping. Updated some mods.

(MCE) Max City Explorers collection or (MaCE) 57 + City mods that I think work together well.

I made this just to inspire city mod searchers, like yourself, to find even more good city mods.

This is a huge mod compilation based on the mods I've been playing with now that the Memory Patch and EnbBoost have radically improved my ability to add mods with stability.

I've been thinking about posting this combo I had fit together especially since STEP had posted the:

A Real Explorer's Guide to Skyrim on the STEP pack page which is great.

(I also highly recommend playing with STEP to learn how to add mods. This subforum of course has a great guide also.)

I plan on filling this out on a wiki and breaking down my mod merges and load order. So this is my updated list at the moment.

A - Block: Large City Packs - Lot's of cities that work well together..

  1. ETaC - Expanded Town and Cities - complete V12.0. now with the expansive [IS -Immersive Settlements] mod included. MissJennaBee is really going for epic awesomeness by working with other mods.

  2. Forgotten Settlements - FS -modular. This mod is actually very good and brings a lot of personality to Skyrim. I use the 13O and HNaSV compatibility file for Hroldan and 13 oranges mods Tos Oakwod, Lainterdale, and Granite Hall. I recommend not using the Oakwood.esp included in FS as it is buggy (though well done) You can just turn off the correct .esp. Tos Amberguard from steam will also not work well with FS.

  3. Hroldan Nightgate and Sawmill villages - I use the All Villages in a single ESP.esp with the patch in Forgotten Settlements. Villages: Old Hroldan Angas Mill, Half-Moon mill, Mixwater Mill, Heralchen Creek, Heartwood. Nightgate (incomplete list) Also add the new Ravenscar village in the downloads. (8 villages ?)

  4. [TES Arena –Skyrim Frontier Fortress] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/47989/?) -modular I have chosen not to use the modular Heralchen Creek .esp here as Hrolden's is better (and conflicts). I also do not use Pargran villiage as there is a slight issue with Hroldan with the castle 's road running up against the back of a building. Someone recommended disabling side of the building. Other than that fine. Towns I use: Nimalten, North Keep, Granite Hall, Vernim Wood, Dumparwall. Sunguard, etc. The Tes GraniteHall is a full fledged city to the East of Markarth. TES North Keep fits near the expanded village Half-Moon mill in Hroldan. I do not use the FS patch for this mod(on FS) because I have not seen a need for it yet.

  5. TOS Oakwood Hf -for Hearthfires - From Steam - 13 Oranges mod.

  6. TOS Laintardale HF - 13 Oranges mod

  7. TOS -Granite Hall 13 Oranges mod. Different location than Tes GraniteHall, and FS Granitehall.. I like to think of the same named towns as misnamed locations based on myth and legend. This appears as a ruin near TES NorthKeep and the Half-moon mill from Hroldan.

  8. Dawnstar Fishey TPOS - works with Etac Dawnstar. tree conflicts with one of the two watchtowers mods because a tree runs right up the middle. There is now a compatible version (which i use) made by the author to be compatible with watchtowers. This is more of an extra but I like it.

B Block: Whiterun Mod and enchancements

  1. (10) BCW -Better Cities - Whiterun (in download section) - This is by far my favorite Whiterun mod right now. It combines the best parts of Whiterun 7k with Whiterun -alternate entrance. It one ups Dawn of Whiterun (my 2nd choice) especially with the fortifications and the alt entrance.

  2. (11) Better Cities Entrances - Whiterun ext. modular .esp. Goes extremely well with the above 2 mods. I use several of the other entrances .esps also.

  3. (12) Breezehome Fully Upgradeable Perhaps one of the most incredible player homes, in the perfect location. With the upcoming 1.8 Tower mod for Hearthfires version I will be in heaven.

  4. (13) Jorrvasker Renovation This goes with BetterCities Whiterun. creates a second floor inside the Hall, pretty cool upgrade.

  5. (14) [Warmaiden's Overhaul] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/54398/?)

  6. (15) [Apple Garden] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/36746/?) : nice small mergeable near Whiterun upgrade.

  7. (16) Loreius Farm Expansion Mod adds buildings to Loerius farm north of Whiterun.

C Block: - Favorite Misc

  1. (17) CyberGlums' Ancient Watchtowers - from steam - sets a line of watchtowers across the middle of skyrim. I love how it changes the atmosphere. This is a have-to in my book.

  2. (18) The Watchtowers by Manny G - sets a line of watchtowers across northern skyrim. I also love how it changes the atmosphere. Goes great with the other watchtowers.

  3. (19) NE - Northern Encounters - This adds a ton of stuff in the Sea of Ghosts along the whole top part of Skyrim, vastly under-recognized. When I say this adds a lot, trust me, it is a huge amount of content. Look for the NE extras mod as well.

  4. (20) Moon and Star - awesome quest mod. I use it with Undeath and the compatibility patch.

  5. (21) Helgen Reborn - You install it after you get out of Helgen, finished clearing it out at your leisure, and want to start it's quest. save an .esp slot and preinstall it, but leave .esp unchecked so you don't forget it. Have-to quest mod.

D Block - Windhelm city mod enhancements.

  1. (22) Dawn of Windhelm - I really like the access above the grey quarter.

  2. (23) JK's Windhelm - adds the awesome. Extends the city back a touch.

  3. (24) Windhelm Exterior Altered -if you get an invisible building I hear it might be the video refresh rate or load order. I occasionally get this.

  4. (25) Skyrim Radioactive - the Windhelm Docks version - not radioactive - Works awesome with Windhelm Exterior Altered.

  5. (26) Fine Goods from Morrowind - The Grey Quarter

  6. (27) Windelm Bridge Overhaul (Light) Fits is great with Windhelm Exterior Altered also by same author.

  7. (28) [Immersive Windhelm TPOS] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/54700/?) Use the compatible version to go with Windhelm Exterior

  8. (29) Windhelm LightHouse - nice touch almost clashes with the watchtowers, but not really. Can see how someone would want to make a more stable lighthouse than the ancient Nord Watchtower.

E Block - Misc Exterior mods that go well together.

  1. (30) [Skyrim Bridges –Etac Compatability] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/38158/?) - works great around Etac. improves the bridges a bit. Beginning to think this is a have-to - especially with [Immersive Fallen Trees] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/55699/?). (not a city mod per se) but they improve the game so much. (bridges is hidden on the nexus right now - of course -right when I decide to link to it)

  2. (31) [Hidden Hideouts] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49723/?)

  3. (32) Unique Border Gates-works great with Shadow of Morrowwind.

F Block - Solitude city improvements.

  1. (33) Solitude a Capital City -I was only playing with Complete Solitude and Nernie's - solitude only .esp before the awesome Memory Patch solution for Skyrim came out. Now I play this with Complete Solitude -exterior and it works well. (it would be nice to fit in with Solitude - Better Docks since that works with a patch, but there is a building conflict.)

  2. (34)Complete Solitude - Exterior only. Recently updated Sept 2014.

  3. (35) My Own Solitude Outskirts Improvement no not mine. It fits in so well with the rest. Wish I could have the Exterior of Nernie's Solitude separated so I could play it with this!

  4. (36) Solitude Docks District. A great little city under the arch in Solitude. If you have the memory patch this works great other wise - not a good idea.

  5. (37) Solitude Tower Loft - it's a player home - but it adds to the wall atmosphere.

  6. (38) Improved Blue Palace Courtyard Map Marker Fix. - Solitude. Optional could save you an .esp.

  7. (39) Syerscote - Well built town near Solitude.

G Block - Riften

  1. (40) Dawn of Riften - I like this better than Riften -Thief Edition by a smudge.

  2. (41) Dagger Cross Alley - Fits right behind Riften, I use it with Dawn of Riften.

H Block - Winterhold

  1. (42) EWDR - Expanded Winterhold Destruction Ruins - Etac has a plugin to work with it, and it combines the two. Very popular mod. So I will call everything from Winterhold 'E' block including Etac winterhold and the EWDR patch. If you don't like EWDR there is another mod I like called (Ruins of Winterhold) which is a good alternative.

  2. (43) Immersive College of Winterhold - have-to improvement of the college.

  3. (44) [The Midden -Expanded] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/38484/?) - fits underneath the College of Winterhold.

I - Extras

  1. (45) Skyrim Sewers at first I thought this was incompatible with Breezehome but people have since corrected me.

  2. (46) Immersive Environments Project - Northwatch Coast - nice little mod that builds a village on the west coast of Skyrim. Still a WIP but nice. Could end up being the Northern Encounters for the west coast. goes well with it.

  3. (47) Snowbound Acres - This mod adds a village and more to the south of Helgen

  4. (48) Heljarchen farm - fits between White Run and Dawnstar - really like it. Restore and run a destroyed farm (if you like)

  5. (49) Enhanced Cities - Isolated Farm - (Steam) - Fits between Whiterun and Rorikstead - south of the mountain where the Fort and Black Moor are. This is a destroyed town adds a neat atmosphere.

  6. (50) Fleetford - Town Fits nicely over the falls between White run at the 90turn between Whiterun and Dark

  7. (51) Flasho Shi - player home, and small city near Markarth.

  8. (52) Adal Matar- The only one of the series which I use. Adds a lot of great content.

  9. (53) The Lost Wonders of Mzark Great dungeon in the northern ocean.

  10. (54) High Hrothgar Overhaul

  11. (55) Raven Rock Expanded - still haven't tested.

J Block - Markarth

  1. (56) Cities Enhanced Markarth+ - steam (waiting to replace with Dawn of Markarth/ Jk markarth combo when it's completed.)

  2. (57) Sky City v2 - looks good.

  3. (58) Understone Keep Fountains and Rubble.

All Hail to the great mod creators who have created these mods, please keep them compatible and improving.

So yes over 50 mods.

Have-to-have mods that expand outside Skyrim

  1. Haafstaad and The Border with High Rock- Can't wait for Beyond Skyrim -High Rock to come out.

  2. Shadow of Morrowind. Until Beyond Skyrim comes along this is a quickly growing and well done extension that let's you 'walk' to Soltheim.

  3. Orsinium - expansive WIP

  4. Luftharaan - active development.

  5. I recommend everyone support the Beyond Skyrim project and the Skywind teams. They are doing awesome work. Love to see Beyond Skyrim as part of my fame.

  6. Upcoming Beyond Skyrim - Burma.

Things that will not work:

  1. Open cities will not work.

  2. the Cyrodil Frontier has some clashes in the town near the border with trees and trolls.

To run all of this definitely use the Memory Patch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37xAMUQc1oY

http://enbseries.enbdev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2729

Before I could only run a few of the city mods without crashing. Only a few city mods would work. After getting the Memory Patch working, I was able to get all the city mods above,

If you are having issues I recommend working out Wet&Cold, Footprints, DSI, and Enhanced Blood. if you have them -work them back in as you please. I'm assuming that not everyone can get this combo to work, but some of the right ones could be quite excellent for you.

Btw the effect with everything working is completely awesome. Want to see more mods and collections like this? please post the ones you find here!

Posted Jun 22, 2014, 1:40 AM UTC · edited

2932
Lotsofleaves•

City mods are some of my favorites, found some new one in here, thanks!

4
rightfutureOP•

You're welcome. Have you found any other good ones i've missed?

1
rightfutureOP•

If I had to pick only 4 of these Etac, BetterCities Whiterun, and the 2 watchtower mods. (great for those with lessor machines) The memory patch should get you the rest of the way though.

so

Block list updated 9-27-2014

by request I can post the quests and dungeon mods I've added as well.

for those interested just added a list of favorite obscure mods I use in post in this thread:

http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/2h5wjr/what_are_some_obscure_mods_that_you_wish_were/

Eventually I will have my 500+mod modlist ready to post.

2
SolitudeBliss18Whiterun•

great list man i love these types of compilations!!

2
rightfutureOP•

Thank you, let me know if it can be improved or if you know of things that are missing. If anyone spots any conflicts, please let me know.

1
[deleted]•

Brilliant list, keep it up.

2
rightfutureOP•

Thank you, do you know of anything that can be added or improved?

1
Moozilbee•

Keep updating this awesome list :D

2
rightfutureOP•

I will. Any suggestions on your part? I might post my load order soon.

2
Moozilbee•

You might want to look at JK's city mods, they look quite nice but are only visual mods, and the new Dawn of mods that were recently released for Markarth and Solitude, Dawn of now modifies all the 5 big cities, so maybe you could include them as optional mods for those who prefer smaller, visual changes to an all out overhaul?

I'm looking into merging Better Cities with some of the JK or Dawn of mods, to give us a base to work off with adding new buildings and such.

Also, I took a bunch of screenshots of some work I've been doing on Better Cities + Nernie's Solitude recently, [and threw them up on imgur here] (http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/2hm9b3/better_cities_solitude_bakery_screenshots/), if you're interested.

1
rightfutureOP•

Thank you, I just added JK Windhelm , which works with those mods well.

The only reason I don't use the entire Dawn of Series, is because I like Better Cities- Whiterun enough more and Solitude is too sparse. Other than that I completely support the Dawn/JK city combos completely.

I absolutely love the inner wall fortification walkway and like having the alt Whiterun entrance of Better Cities - Whiterun. The poor quarter is good, but not great, but I like to have it.

I of course would love to see them all play nicely of course. I did get a chance to look at your Solitude - with baby I haven't had time to send you my review.

Did you check out my Whiterun and Solitude blocks here?

1
Moozilbee•

I did, and we're actually looking at merging with some of the mods from them, like My Solitude Outskirts improvements, as well as some other mods, like the Radient raiment overhaul mod.

1
rightfutureOP•

and you should see this one also.

http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/2pauo6/pre_release_skyrim_massive_mod_megalist_500/

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Setitimer•

Surprised you don't list Skyrim Sewers. Really well done mod with lots of areas to explore, hidden passages in/out of major cities, etc. Really adds a lot of atmosphere, especially when playing a thief or assassin.

1
rightfutureOP•

It would be nice to fit this one in as well.

1
rightfutureOP•

There was a reported mod conflict reported in the Breezehome thread. You may have to pick which one you like better. With conflict resolution we may be able to solve it. I believe they both use the same waterfall.

I can list it as a breezehome alternate. There is a new version on the way with towers, we may want to ask them to make the 2 mods compatible if possible. Both of us should ask both mod creators. This way it may be possible to fit them in together. I will try Skyrim Sewers out, since I am waiting to put Breezehome back in. Please let me know if you see any other issues.

1
rightfutureOP•

I'm going to add it, since people are telling me it works ok.

1
Setitimer•

Cool. I am not running any other mods that change the interior of Whiterun, so I wasn't able to comment on any potential conflicts. But the sewers themselves are really well done and really add to the big cities. For me it's definitely got a permanent place on my load order.

1
rightfutureOP•

What else do you have that I don't?

1
rightfutureOP•

Block B - Whiterun Mods : in order of how great they are. Because you just have to start with Whiterun.

A. Better Cities Whiterun

  1. Breezehome Expanded- waiting for tower version 1.8 to come out - Beta available for those without Hearthfires . I consider this a have-to.

  2. IS -immersive Settlements modular .esp for whiterun - adds exterior only and goes really well with Better Cities Entrances . Also doubles as a stable Whiterun market that works and may be more Civil War friendly.

  3. Better Cities Entrances - modular file for Whiterun - works great with IS and BC Whiterun here. really expands it out.

  4. Jorrvaskar Renovation - cause it's awesome and updates Jorrvaskar with a 2nd interior Story.

  5. Warmaiden's Overhaul - Does a great job of spicing up the interior. Haven't checked this one out much yet.

  6. Bosmer Huntsman - (testing) will be testing this one.

  7. Apple Garden. - more of an exterior mod.

  8. removed > Whitewatch Tower Camp (unstable) would love to have this one but too many navmesh issues. Anyone willing to contact the author to fix it?

  9. removed > WWT Rebuilt (unstable) also removed. Kinda nice but it crashesz

  10. any thing else we can find that's great.

If anyone uses this with other versions of Whiterun please let me know so I can share it. It should work with most versions of Whiterun - Dawn of Whiterun is my 2nd Fav, but BC Tops in in at least 3-4 ways for me, and that's saying something.

1
rightfutureOP•

Block D -Windhelm Mods: Since I already have a great full block here and someone else posted something exactly the same now, I will go ahead and fill this out. D - Dawn of Windhelm -

  1. Windhelm Exterior Altered -Windhelm Exterior Altered[12] -if you get an invisible building I hear it is the video refresh rate. I'm looking into it. If anyone knows the quick solution. I occasionally get that in 1 building in the BCW lower quarter as well.

  2. Windelm Bridge Overhaul (Light) - works with skyrim bridges (same author) and fits extremely well with Exterior Altered above.

  3. Immersive Windhelm TPOS Use the compatible version to go with Windhelm Exteriors.

  4. Fine Goods from Morrowind - The Grey Quarter

  5. Morrowwind Imports

6 .Windhelm lighthouse

This needs to be updated. 9-27

1
rightfutureOP•

Block C - Solitude

in progress

Solitude a Capital City -I was only playing with Complete Solitude and Nernie's - solitude only .esp before the awesome Memory Patch solution for Skyrim came out. Now I play this with Complete Solitude -exterior only, and , My own Solitude Improvement, Solitude Tower Loft, Improved Blue Palace Courtyard, and Solitude Docks District. (it would be nice to fit in with Solitude - Better Docks since that works with a patch, but this conflicts with I will call this my 'C' block of mods that appear to work well together for Solitude. You can also consider Syercote, since it is nearby - this one will not merge well meaning leave it as a standalone .esp..

1
rightfutureOP•

Block A - Large City Packs - EtaC, Forgotten Settlements, Hrolden, and 13 oranges mods, and Tes Arena -Skyrim Fortress, with the correct patches

1
TeaMistressWinterhold•

Re: Forgotten Settlements - Frontier Fortress patch.

It patches the area of Black Moor and surrounding ruins in Whiterun Hold, as there is significant overlap with the Blackmoor town added by the TES Arena - Skyrim Frontier Fortress mod.

Re: Pargran Village (TES Arena Skyrim Frontier Fortress) and Mixwater Village (Hroldan Nightgate and Sawmill Villages)

The console fix is really easy here. Since the barracks building that is blocking the entrance to the keep is 2 buildings merged together with 2 entrances, use console to disable the left side and the left door, the firewood pile, and the patch of ground under the bridge.

1
rightfutureOP•

Thank you. I will have to try this and see how it works!

1
rightfutureOP•

Removed Mod List:

Thinking of removing Blue City Courtyard (Solitude) adds so little for the .esp

Removed ? Port Windstad 9-27-14 - would rather save the .esp even though this is very nice.

removed >New Morthal -steam. adds an abandoned fort on the edge of the city and a city gate. I like this just a little better than Etac Morthal, (The new version of Etac Morthal contains a wall and is much better than New Morthal now, this makes a good 2nd choice.)

removed > Whitewatch Tower Camp (unstable) would love to have this one but too many navmesh issues. Anyone willing to contact the author to fix it?

[removed for space] Iomaungandr - puzzle quest north of Solitude in the Ocean

removed > WWT Rebuilt (unstable) also removed. Kinda nice but it crashesz

1
rightfutureOP•

[rejected] Bosmer Huntsman - While well done, this did not fit the style I was trying to get.

1
rightfutureOP•

8-24-2014 massive grouping update!

1
Beau_Daniel•

Lol I'm at 262 plugins and I thought I was close to done. So naive...

1