Source
r/skyrimmods•
Moozilbee

Better cities - Skyrim, a city mod coming soon. Recruiting now

Better cities - Skyrim

Better cities - Skyrim is an attempt to revive Skyrim's lifeless, dull, empty cities, and turn them into something new. The mod aims to continue what the Better cities mod for Oblivion did, and recreate Skyrim's cities in the same way.

Better cities - Skyrim was originally posted on the Skyrim nexus in Jan 2013, and got some support, and a few new members to help out with the project, but ultimately the mod never really took off, and there were only two mods in a finished enough state (Whiterun and Windhelm) to be released on the mod page, and even those two had issues such as low framerates and bugs.

But, more recently, Twarrior and I joined and are working on two new cities (I'm working on Markarth, Twarrior on Solitude), I've been helping Twarrior to rid his mod of any bugs, and together we're planning to relaunch the mod, with all cities in a finished state, and free of bugs and fps issues. But to do this, we need help, we need decent modders who can create an enhance a city of their choice, rebuild it in their vision of how that city should have been, add new shops, houses clutter, etc. We are also looking for modders who can do voice acting (if not enough are found, we will simply use vanilla dialogue or generic NPCs, like in Inconsequential NPCs), as well as any modders who can do custom texture work, modelling work, character creation, etc, chances are, if you have a skill, we can probably make use of it.

Now, the reason progress has been so slow over the past year and a bit is because Amblingalong (original mod author, worked on Windhelm) has been absent from the nexus for a while and we've been unable to contact him, and the same seems to have recently happened to Tsewe (author of Whiterun). But the cities they worked on can be rebuilt from the ground up, recreated to make the mod as bug free, fun, and lore freindly as possible.

Modders of r/Skyrimmods, we need you!

Update: We have a problem with a corrupt static mesh Edit: Now fixed!

Update 2: Screenshots!

http://s856.photobucket.com/user/moozilbee/media/Arch2_zps31871123.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

Update 3, August 11: Progress update 1!

Currently I've been working hard on Solitude, ironing out any bugs found and improving the mod in general, navmesh is being heavily worked on, and now all of the current BC Solitude interiors are what I consider a "finished" 1.0 state, no more work will be done for now except for bug fixes and improvements from Beta testers.

BC Solitude has also been fully merged with Nernie's Solitude, it doesn't require the mod, and now you get both mods in one esp, with a lot of improvements to Nernie's work. I'm currently going through Nernie's Solitude interior's and fixing whatever needs to be fixed, Nernie's interiors were quite "bland" lighting wise, and the navmesh could do with improving, so I've gone through around half of his interiors and improved the lighting realism wise, and fixed up the navmesh, the other half of his interiors will be done soon. Next I will be working on the Solitude main street, testing out potential ideas (such as adding in houses to the backstreet) and finalizing the navmesh.

Next Solitude will be merged with [this mod] (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/18811/?), in order to add in a bathhouse to Solitude for some added realism, this was suggested many times so we decided to add it in.

After this is all done, I will hand Solitude back to Twarrior (main Solitude modder), who will proceed to finish off the NPC AI and routines and such.

Expect further updates! PM me on Reddit or the Skyrim Nexus if you have any questions, ideas, suggestions, etc, or write a comment down bellow.

Update 4: Beta Testing!

BC Solitude's interiors are now being Beta tested, if you're interested in testing some parts of Solitude, send me a PM on Reddit or the Nexus, or comment on the [official Beta testing thread here] (http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/2d5lev/better_cities_skyrim_beta_testing/)

Update 5, Update August 12: Progress update 2!

Finished all of Nernie's Solitude interiors, and also finished all of BC Solitude interiors, a few more tweaks have to be made and they're ready! Next I will be working on the main Solitude cell.

Update 6, Update September 10: Progress update 3!

I've handed BC Solitude back over to Twarrior, who is working on merges, NPCs, and a few new interiors. So far, he's added:

  • A barkeeper, Rufus ( who works at night and is a vampire)
  • A female khajit who cleans the bar
  • A drunkard
  • A bosmer gardener for the blue palace

More coming soon!

  • a nord carpenter who does constrcution work and woodworking

Update 7, Update September 27: Screenshots of the Solitude bakery!

http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/2hm9b3/better_cities_solitude_bakery_screenshots/

Update 8: new screenshots of stockades added per user request, these were common in castles that expected to be attacked, they're pretty much expansions to the battlements made of wood. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/462724/[1] ? http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/462725/[2] ? http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/462726/[3] ?

Posted Jun 26, 2014, 4:38 PM UTC · edited

75135
DionysusDerp•

You should try talking to the guys over at immersive settlements, maybe you could get a collaboration with their work going!

20
rightfuture•

It would be nice if there were a lot more city collaboration and teamwork.

Just imagine what could be accomplished!

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DionysusDerp•

IKR, there are SO many city mods and if they all collaborated and worked together we could get a pretty kickass Skyrim.

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MoozilbeeOP•

Yeah I agree with you guys, however it's mostly due to how each of these mods tend to take a different aproach. For example, -TAVE is focused on just adding new clutter and flora -BC is focused on working on all cities in the game, and may expand to minor settlements in future -ETAC and IS are focused on similar stuff to BC, but they currently mostly modify minor settlements and villages -The "Dawn of" series is focused on similar things to TAVE, but with less flora and small clutter and more larger things such as new market stalls added.

But, still, collabaration would be great, me and Twarrior are discussing it. Maybe we could merge BC with parts of the Dawn of series, for example if we got permission from the Dawn of author we could use Dawn of Riften as a base to create a riften mod.

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Dave-CWhiterun•

Just a heads up that missjennabee is planning to do cities. Instead of doing your own thing and creating another mod why not just support etac? How many people in here are suggesting the different groups to work together? I think you can already see that people don't want another world changing mod, they want one that does everything.

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rightfuture•

Imagine if we could just get these guys to team up.

I think people don't realize how much easier it is to work with a team, and pickup eager 'apprentices' to teach and help with some of the basic work. It would free people up to do more creation.

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rightfuture•

It is time that we encouraged some of these people to join together and do something amazing for Skyrim, Beyond Skyrum, and/or Shadow of Morrowind.

It would be awesome of we could inspire a large Skyrim project with the people of Etac, IS and Better Cities, come together with the Interesting NPC's and Inconsequential NPC's creators to peg some great collaborative content as a team. It may help them accomplish their individual projects even better.

It could be the last great thing they could finish before the next Elder Scrolls single player game comes out. Imagine how much that combined energy and ideas could produce! I love to see a awesome and ambitious modder created DLC+ sized mod actually come real and playable with my existing game.

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TWarriorSolitude•

would have some compability problem if the mods get too large and we eventually merged. however what we can do is to link to our supported mods and they do so vice versa.

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TWarriorSolitude•

they are currently not actively modding because of real life stuff :/

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MoozilbeeOP•

Yeah, maybe we will, I'm looking into it and discussing it with Twarrior.

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MoozilbeeOP•

I just checked the IS comments section, as Twarrior said, the mod has been suspended indefinitely because of lack of free time to mod. Shame, it looked pretty good.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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MoozilbeeOP•

I can't really say as that would be up to each individual city builder, but for Markarth (which I work on) I would probably have around 5-10 new npcs, and for Solitude it would be somewhere around 10, and maybe another 10 if we worked on the docks later on.

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TWarriorSolitude•

exactly. how much in depth they will be is another question for another update. we first have to fix performance, meshes, little bugs, clipping and so on.

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MoozilbeeOP•

What cities have performance issues? Is it just Whiterun?

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TWarriorSolitude•

i think it is just whiterun. i have a mediocore rig and my solitude runs fine, whiterun stutters though. i will try to clean it up a bit.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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TWarriorSolitude•

if you are familiar with ai packages i could send you a version of solitude before i release it, so that you can doublecheck them. it is just simple ai routines but why not have someone doublecheck them?

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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Tokens_Only•

I can't mod. But I'm a writer and a pretty creative guy. I have some ideas that could kick your stuff up a level, especially Markarth. Check r/talesfromtamriel for some of my works.

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MoozilbeeOP•

Checked some of your writing out, nice work! What kinda ideas do you have, I'm interested!

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Tokens_Only•

What bothers me about Markarth as a city is that, for all of the claims from the general populace that it's this dangerous, sketchy, wild-west kind of environment, it's functionally the same as all the other cities, save for a few additional unsavory characters.

What I think Markarth needs is an underground. Like really.

You know that little crumbly area where some of the miners stay? You go there to dig through someone's shit as part of "The Forsworn Conspiracy." Well, what if instead of all those doors leading to single hovel-y rooms, one of them actually went somewhere? That would better explain why everyone there is so hostile, because they're covering something up- the entrance to the Cave District.

Here is a part of town full of Dunmer, Orcs, Khajiit, hiding away from the bigoted Nord's of Skyrim. The criminal element has turned this forgotten Dwemer cavern into a thriving black market, so in addition to the cast-off races, you'll also find the unsavory.

Here, a merchant sells only human hearts and flesh, and the blood of the elf races. Over there, in the crumbling ruins of a Dwarven house, stoned khajiit sell you moon sugar while laying around on stone beds in their skooma den.

The weapons merchant sells the shields, armor, and swords of the various Hold guards. Where he got them, he's not saying. Fell off a wagon. Want Imperial armor? Got that too.

The alchemists only sell the ingredients to make deadly poisons. The general goods merchants buy and sell stolen goods without a second thought.

A massive wooden temple to Talos has been built, where priests of Talos who have fled the Thalmor have found a place to worship their god in peace.

The summer corner club sells all the hot drinks from Morrowind, but the also offer a brothel in the upper floors. Room for the night is ten gold, room with a girl is fifteen.

The basement offers a fight club, where people brawl each other for gold, and place bets on the matches.

The worst part is the center of the district, where slave auctions happen during the day. Buy yourself a mute Falmer follower who takes up the same slot as a dog would, or buy a captured Thalmor who promises to help you if you save him from being purchased by someone who will kill him.

Play games of dice in the gambler's den, or buy bootleg Mead that increases all your stats but also has a five percent chance of temporarily blinding you.

There'd be several different unlockable player apartments. One would simply be for sale, a simple hut or Falmer teepee. One would be a somewhat opulent apartment for members of the Thieves Guild. And a long-locked Sanctuary of the Dark Brotherhood can be opened if you know the password.

Overseeing it all, atop a gaudy throne in a lavish mansion, is the "Jarl" of the Cave District, Count Janus Hassildor, once the Count of Skingrad in Cyrodiil, since run out of town by his people when they discovered he was a vampire. His trusted Orc advisor, Shum gro-Yarug is still by his side, and now a vampire as well. The part of housecarl, however, is played by a unique Dwarven Animunculi- looking like a man in Dwarven Armor, but with the face of a Dwemer Centurion, "Animus" serves as a tireless, mostly-mute companion who will cleave in two anyone who threatens his master.

So, those are my ideas. I am totally computers illiterate, but I do know some of these would be harder to implement than others. But it was fun to write them out, at least.

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TWarriorSolitude•

great ideas! as i have little scripting knowledge some of the ideas will just be for decorational purposes, but it could serve for great atmosphere! why even make it that hidden in a cave and not more obvious? sure you wont have all this stuff on the main street, but it shouldnt be hidden in a scumhole like markarth. we have to somehow find a middle way of it being hidden and it being a part of society in markarth with semi legality or the guards looking away and just bothering with the forsworn instead of the criminal scum within its populace.

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Tokens_Only•

I guess I kinda liked the visual of it being underground. All lit by those giant glowing mushrooms and stuff.

Plus, with my limited coding knowledge it seemed to me that it'd be easier to attach a new area to the old one by adding a door someplace than it would be to add all of that stuff into something new.

Oh, did I mention deserters? I thought it'd be cool if the underground was full of Imperial Army deserters, too. People who were all, fuck it.

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MoozilbeeOP•

Yeah, great ideas Tokens_Only! Of course, we wouldn't be able to implement them all, but some of them would be great, and it was an interesting read! Maybe we could add something like a large underground black market ("cave district" doesn't sound sinister enough.... maybe the "Black district"), it could be known of by the citizens of markarth, but would be a taboo subject that none really talk of, and most wouldn't know how to get there anyway, but we could have the main entrance in one of the empty rooms in the warrens, and hidden entrances in and around the city. If we end up adding sewer systems to the cities like I suggested a while back (as a way for players with a bounty to get around unseen), the "Black district" could contain entrances to the markarth sewers, which would be like a hidden new area for players to explore, similar to the Mournhold sewers in morrowind, or the Vivec underworks.

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AnnihilatedTyro•

You're describing a pretty massive project. But... it's freaking awesome.

Solitude and Windhelm as well... while being big cities, they need more. More children, more animals, more houses, more unsavory characters, ruffians and privateers, drunken sailors that come in on the East Empire ships. Because come on, we all know that docks and shipyards attract trouble, and the capital cities should be teeming with families. Windhelm has enough buildings and outskirts that more NPCs and foot traffic could be added, and to and from the docks if a couple of the ships there were big enough to house some sailors. Solitude has the whole area between the gates, the stables, the mill, and the docks to which houses, shops, and NPCs could be added. In Solitude, perhaps a cave/sewer zone accessed from the cliffside near the East Empire warehouse perhaps? There just isn't enough there as it is to fit the scale of the game.

And I always felt that the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace should remain a magical portal to somewhere even after you finish the quest in there. Otherwise it's just wasted space. If you could "attune" Pelagius' Hip Bone to a specific location using a soul gem, and as long as you carried the hip bone, entering the Pelagius Wing would transport you to that spot...

Being able to play dice games in the gambler's den is a cool idea. Like the minigames in Fable, almost? And the player apartments, if there were apartment buildings in other cities and towns, being able to rent them out to generic NPCs would be pretty cool. Come back in a week and collect a couple hundred gold or have it delivered by courier every couple of in-game weeks if you don't. (I confess, I really just want more couriers to murder and pile up in my Honeyside garden.)

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TWarriorSolitude•

i thought about the pelagius wing like you. i will implement something like that in new releases! but first i have to get a major release ready and do that stuff in later patches.

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kramboid•

I have a great condenser microphone and I can try out some voice acting for your mod if you're interested.

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TWarriorSolitude•

as soon as i have a release ready version i will contact you for the next patch with voiced npcs

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MoozilbeeOP•

Sure, give it a shot, just read some basic lines for any race you want (you can choose the race and dialogue), and send me a link to them on soundcloud or something similar!

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kramboid•

I'll do a little research into voice acting and practice before sending a sample so it won't be that cringeworthy haha

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MoozilbeeOP•

Sure thing! Just send me a link once you're done!

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rightfuture•

Better Cities -Whiterun is one of my favorite mods. and I run 500 of them.

It is like having Whiterun 7k finished + Whiterun alternate entrance. The city is as good as Dawn of Whiterun's, plus you get that alt entrance, a lower city, and awesome fortifications to walk on. I wish all Whiterun mods were like this.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/30046/?

If you really like city mods and enhancements I basically make Better Cities -Whiterun the centerpiece (along with ETaC) of my Alternate - Max City Explorers mod collection since it is such an awesome city mod. It frames Better Cities Whiterun, Etac and 50 city addons and enhancement. it's my way of getting a lot of great modders together the best way I know how to without modding (yet).

My alternate Max City Explorers mod collection

http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/28rigd/my_alt_max_city_explorers_mod_collection/

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MoozilbeeOP•

Thanks for the kind words, I'm sure Tsewe would be pleased to hear this! I will look into Whiterun if Tsewe continues to be missing, and see if I can work on bug fixing and performance issues.

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rightfuture•

You are most welcome. It is nice to meet you. I'm certainly one of your biggest fans, please keep the mod updated (especially compatibility with Interesting Npc's) and it will be hard for even Etac to beat it when they get around to redoing Whiterun, This would make me very very happy. I should really give you gentlefolk first billing.

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TWarriorSolitude•

interesting subreddit!

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rightfuture•

I would be interested in talking with you further about your project, as I have lot's of ideas. I admit that there is little I would change in Whiterun, but I'm very creative and would love to see the others get the same detailed treatment.

I love the idea of adding expanded fortifications, thieving path ways including areas on rooftops, wall and behind buildings, and well placed hidden treasures in the cities. I would look at Solitude Capital Edition, and Riften Thief edition as well as the Dawn series as inspiration to do one better!

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arrozconplatano•

skyrim needs larger, more populated cities so bad. The capital of the country is about the scale of a small gated community ffs.

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TWarriorSolitude•

exactly. we had some trouble with our mods, but we are still working on it!

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MoozilbeeOP•

I know what you mean, Better cities - Solitude by Twarrior is great at expanding Solitude to make it feel like a city (of course we can't have 1000s of NPCs, but we can make it seem bigger), and it also some great additions to castle Dour to make it seem more like the hq of the Imperial legion that it's supposed to be.

1
rightfuture•

You really should team up with interesting npc's and inconsequential npc's to make it excellent. I'm sure there are ideas that could be worked out.

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MoozilbeeOP•

In what way do you mean for us to to team up?

The mods do different things, of course, so they wouldn't be merged, do you mean we should get the voice actors from those mods to record some dialogue for us?

1
rightfuture•

Yes we could team up a little and explore some ideas together - use some of the lessor characters that wouldn't fit elsewhere. Build on some of the ideas inspired by you guys. Its a collaboration to greater ends; wouldn't keep them from pursuing their mod - to the contrary - would involve your help. Teamwork can yield great rewards.

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rightfuture•

I like how a lot of how there are some good modular add-ons to city mods like white-run alternate entrance, Windhelm exterior, Daggercross alley, IS -Whiterun, Solitude tower loft, Solitude complete exterior, Solitude Docks District etc. Stack them right and you have an awesome town extension.

In some of the more crowded cities like Solitude , Windhelm, and Riften I 'd like to see some double-decker dwellings, maybe even extending an undercity out. I'd even love to see an under city dungeon that leads to a scripted surprise for the whole city. What about a long underground tunnel with a few villages that leads from one edge of whiterun to the reach below like some old ad&d mods. It would be cool if it led to a huge under the Throat of the world mega dungeon. and why don't we see more misc magic weapons? D&D has a slew of great ideas.

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TWarriorSolitude•

I will check some of your suggested solitude mods and might ask for a merge.

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rightfuture•

I like the idea of keeping them as modular merges.

You can even ask for just permission to incorporate a little, to propose what a combination would look like, and even just start by teaming up for a little cross advice, and help on thornier issues. All of these are potential stepping stones towards an excellent collab.

1
rightfuture•

I suggest we ask for some permission to create a site to promote some of the modular pieces together, like what I proposed in my city explorers thread. A linked collab mod with link to each of the individual mod webpages. We could even post patches to make the components more compatible. I also use Complete Solitude - Exterior .esp and Solitude Docks District - so consider them as well. It would be nice to have an exterior version of Nernie's -Solitude only .exp since the interior buildings overlap in most of the Solitude city only mods.

if you can work towards collaboration then you can work together on combined mods. I still recommend keeping potentially conflicty parts more modular, like outside, so that some pieces can be used around each other. The .esp issue is reduced if you keep a complete version and people learn how to use the TESVEDIT and Merge Patch mods.

MsJennaBee has posted a great merge forum off her ETaC site and describes how to overcome navmesh merging between some mods quite well. ( note: she even created the subforum when I prompted her a little - so I know she's willing to dream a little)

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dokinbox•

im not a modder, but i could be a tester for you if you want

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TWarriorSolitude•

i just need to to test if you crash on a game with no mods at all and if you crash with a heavily modded game.

i send you a pm.

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Oneusee•

I can do the same with a few MO profiles I've got. I've got a pure vanilla skyrim and those profiles; I'll see which (if any) have any issues if ya want.

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TWarriorSolitude•

you have multiple mod profiles? good for easy testing! pmed!

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Oneusee•

I'll run the vanilla first, then the modded. Got any specific things to test? Mods you think will affect it? (aside from other retextures)

Want me to stab people? Want me to stab them with X mods?

Or just fuck around and see what happens?

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MoozilbeeOP•

Don't you use MO Twarrior?

It's like NMM, but much, much, better.

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MoozilbeeOP•

Update 6, Update September 10: Progress update 3! I've handed BC Solitude back over to Twarrior, who is working on merges, NPCs, and a few new interiors. So far, he's added: - A barkeeper, Rufus ( who works at night and is a vampire) - A female khajit who cleans the bar - A drunkard - A bosmer gardener for the blue palace More coming soon! - a nord carpenter who does constrcution work and woodworking

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TWarriorSolitude•

Update 7: new screenshots!

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/462724/? http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/462725/? http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/462726/?

2
MoozilbeeOP•

Here are some screenshots of Markarth & Solitude, they show off some of the Solitude interiors, new buildings, and the Markarth additions.

http://s856.photobucket.com/user/moozilbee/media/Arch2_zps31871123.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

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TWarriorSolitude•

also proof of concept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icthmOhH5mY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZcKitkjuq4

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MoozilbeeOP•

Yeah, though since those videos a lot has changed.

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TWarriorSolitude•

BETTER CITIES SKYRIM Solitude progress & proof of concept http://youtu.be/VvuiIGQs3FQ

1
rightfuture•

How about being able to climb/jump up a waterfall to a dwemer secret or entrance? People would love to explore the edge of Markarth and the wall.

Could leave room for an interesting dungeon that could touch one of the existing interior spaces. Love to see where some of the tech leads to.

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GilgameshWulfenbach•

In the process of making my gaming computer. It will also be my first time modding. If you don't mind a newb I would be more than willing to help anyway way I can( I assume voice acting).

1
MoozilbeeOP•

Your help would be appreciated! If you have a decent quality mic, look up some voice acting tips and guide lines, and then just read out any line you want, as any race.

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MoozilbeeOP•

Once you're done, send me a link!

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ZombieJack•

I've had the forum thread on "watch" for so long. Don't think we've forgotten about you! Keep up the good work dudes :)

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MoozilbeeOP•

Thanks for the support!

1
TWarriorSolitude•

We havent forgotten about our followers either :-) thats why i am so annoyed that development has been so slow lately. I want to present you some stuff!

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TWarriorSolitude•

ladies and gentlemen: THE 100% CTD HAS BEEN RESOLVED!!!

the reason for the ctd was a wrongfully packed .bsa file thanks to the buggy creation kit. by switching to a loose file strcuture i managed to solve the problem and the mod as of now is crash free! i will now finalize ai packages and minor placement fixed. mozilbee will navmesh the rest and then the next release can come!

also we contacted missjennaebee for collaboration and await her response :)

1
MoozilbeeOP•

Yaaaaaay.....

Though we won't release the mod that soon as we're waiting till most of the cities are in a finished state, and we've worked something out with missjennabee

1
myztikrice•

Why on earth are you calling a mod you don't even have the team for and haven't started working on 'coming soon'

-10
TWarriorSolitude•

here is our wip http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/30046/? and on my harddrive is solitude, i already got a few priview videos on youtube also mozilbee has aworking markarth version.

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MoozilbeeOP•

Because, as Twarrior has said, and as I stated in the post, if you cared to read it, the mod has been around for over a year, and some cities are nearly finished, this thread is for recruiting people to help. You should have the courtesy to actually read the post before complaining about it.

3