Visit the Better Cities Wiki on UESP, and feel free to add any information which is currently missing. Also, please read the readme and also our FAQ before posting any possible issues.
If you find a need to post your load order here, please use spoiler tags to compact it down to a few lines. You can do this by typing [ spoiler ] above your load order and [ /spoiler ] below your load order (remove the spaces inside the square brackets to make the tags work). People who fail to use spoiler tags may find their long posts get removed.
Hey Vorians, a suggestion for next update: Remove Peregrine Manor from Skingrad and instead in its place add a Skingrad city door to the behind manor city wall which goes to the Outskirts. Behind that city wall is an open area of the Outskirts that would be perfect for a new entrance to the main city. You'd have to edit both SkingradWorld and the Outskirts cell (open and closed versions) of course. You could also just incorporate the Outskirts INTO SkingradWorld and just delete the city wall to make an opening. I'd do it myself but whenever I try and edit an esp that I downloaded from Nexus the landscape gets all messed up. Screenshots below:
This would be the perfect area for it. Some minor touch-ups can fix the spoiled parts. Maybe you could upload it as an optional/update/misc file esp for the people like me who would want this, and keep the main bc esp separate for those who prefer the current layout? Just an idea.
Install Construction Set Extender (requires Oblivion to be installed OUTSIDE of the default Program Files folder), then you'll be able to create an ESP to edit other ESPs. You can then release your own patch mod replacing this house with a gateway, on the understanding that future releases of BC may break your patch unless you update your patch too.
Vorians if you see this I'm having a CSE problem: I make a new esp, load oblivion.esm and bettercitiesfull.esp and new esp as active file all together, and I can't save the changes to the manor in the new esp. What am I doing wrong? I also tried making BCFull esp a master esm with Bash, saving new esp still didnt work.
Open the ESM and BC ESP in CSE (neither should be active). Make your edits then save, this will create a new ESP which can edit the BC ESP. In the future, make this new ESP active when opening in CSE to continue editing it.
So.....funny story....I did exactly as you said, but when I save the new esp after editing it, the CSE just shuts down and gives me two 0kb files, one esp and one tes. Any help please? I may just give up and try another time or something. Thanks for being patient with me, I'm trying.
Could somebody help please: I am getting a strange bug while fast travelling to the Imperial City from an outside location. Sometimes, I am teleported into a dark space cell where I have to click on "turn around" to get out of the "deadend alley", to get into the city district I was fast travelling to. Initially, it was working like it was supposed to, but on a certain point in the playthrough it stopped working, and if I click on "turn around", I don't get teleported into the city, but stay in the "dead end alley" cell, no matter how many times I click on it. So the only way I can get into the city now, is to fast travel to a close outside location (like the stables near the Talos Plaza district) and walk through the gates from the outside. It's not really game-breaking, but it's weird why did the "dead end alley" cell stop working. I didn't add or remove any mods during this playthrough, the only thing I did was to move the positions of a couple of mods in my load order, to fix some texture clipping problems I didn't notice when I created this character.
If it's a mod conflict, then I don't understand why it was initially working like it was supposed to, only to stop on a certain point. My load order is quite heavy though, could this be the cause of it?
** All Natural - Indoor Weather Filter For Mods.esp [Version 1.38]
** All Natural - Indoor Weather Filter for Extra Mods.esp [Version 1.3.9]
** Unique Artifacts for Unique People - Distribution.esp [Version 1.6.2]
** Artifacts Redone.esp [Version 1.4]
EC Bashed Patch, 0.esp [Version 28]
ED ULM OSPS_BC_IC-II_UL-II_TalosBridge_RRLR_Patch.esp
EE Caught in the Hunt.esp
EF Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul.esp [Version 4.9.4.2]
F0 Banes Guilds UnitedOOO.esp
F1 Banes Merged Plugin.esp
EDIT: before starting the playthrough, I had to merge some Unique Landscapes patches and a few for Banes Guilds United, to get over the 255 plugin limit, therefore there are some names like "Merged plugin".
I cannot think of a reason for that to happen, the travel correcting scripts are very simple and shouldn't suffer interference from any other mods unless it were a mod editing the scripts themselves.
sounds like another mod had relocation some marker objects, and later uninstalling that mod or changing load order let them back to the correct location.
No, the scripts wouldn't be broken by another mod that way. The scripts don't use target objects to teleport to, they specify the X,YZ and ZRot coordinates in the destination worldspace.
How about adding a museum mod like Legacy of the Dragonborn from Skyrim? It would be very interesting if I could exhibit my artifacts rather than just keeping them stuck in my chest... We even have a similar mod called Display Gallery (https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/47702), but it simply isn't enough...
I'm not currently looking for any additional mods to integrate into BC, and if such a mod already existed like LotD then it would likely be quite complex and thus best left on its own.
Currently the only changes are a couple of minor fixes, the removal of two compatibility replacer ESPs, the addition of voice files for the other compatibility replacer ESPs, and replacement meshes for DistantLOD making them less of a drain on FPS. Plus the already released texture hotfix, of course.
Tiny conflict with Mart's Monster Mod - Knights and the Knights of the Nine chapel in Chorrol interior. A big vanilla texture from the original chapel interior inside. It's easy fixed. Just disable the texture and it's gone :-)
Edit: I can't find what is doing the conflict. Tes4edit shows no conflicts looks like a construction set peek is necessary. I don't know what I've done this time 😆
Hello my lovely modder Vorians!! I've been enjoying BC and UL more than I ever had before. Insanely stable! There is one issue that it has though. When selecting the Imperial Isle version I've not been able to enter the Imperial City Diplomatic District. The door is a dud and just says "Wooden Door".
The doors are all correctly placed and linked in BC. Check that you're using v6.4.0 ESM, and v6.4.0 ESPs for the BC Imperial Isle and BC Imperial City. Ensure that BC IC is loading after BC II. Ensure that you are not using Stroti's original Imperial City Foreign Quarter mod as well.
I checked the v6.4.0 archive that I downloaded from this page and in the archive I checked the Imperial Isle esp and it's all in Chinese. Where as all the rest of the esps are in English. Is that normal? I opened it with notepad.
I really don't understand what's wrong. I have no other mods that alter the Imperial City. All my esms and esps are the latest. And MO2 and Wrye Bash are saying I have the latest esps and esms. I checked and older version of Better Cities and it's got the same content in the esp of Imperial Isle.esp So I have no idea what's the issue. I've never had this problem before. What a head scratcher
Hey guys I'm still having this issue. I can't seem to fix it. I've tried everything 😔 I even started fiddling with Better Imperial City.esp and Imperial Isle.esp
@TheRomans do you have any idea what could be causing this? Perhaps the Land Magic tool?
Okay. I narrowed down the problem to GBR's Hamster Addings. It was removing the whole cell from the door. But once I restored everything to vanilla. Now I can go in the diplomatic district, but the city and collisions aren't there except for the doors to the hotel, houses and bathing house
Don't use that mod, the author doesn't provide any clear information on what they've changed. Also, it is intended for use without other mods, so will cause problems with most other mods installed.
Ensure that you are using the Engine Bug Fixes mods mentioned on BC's description page, near the bottom.
Okay. I've reinstalled Oblivion and reinstalled Better Cities Full with Imperial Isle and I still have this issue with no city within the Diplomatic District. Only floating doors. Is there something I'm doing wrong perhaps?
Hello Vorians. I'm sorry to be a pain. I know you're doing your best to keep this mod alive. And I absolutely love it. But I can't get BOSS to work at all. I thought I'd try out BOSS since it apparently is what works best for Better Cities and Unique Landscapes. But for the life of me, I can't run it. It crashes before sorting the masterlist. I've put it in compatibility mode, ran as administrator. Or one of the other or both at once. Nothing. I am on Windows 11. Perhaps it's just flat out incompatible =[
Yeah I've got all the engine fixes. But I also found Skingrad Outskirts walled village is also got the same issue as the diplomatic district. I completely reinstalled Oblivion and even reinstalled MO2 and Wrye Bash but to no avail. Still having this issue. And I also tried using an older version of Better Cities and still having the same issue. I'm using 6.4.0 of course. I just don't know what to do =[ I'm beginning to feel I gotta live with this now
Yup, this was the issue. Had the same problem - no textures in Diplomatic District. For whatever reason, installing some mods using MO2 have no effect: their respective folders are present in the MO2-dedicated mod folder, but the game doesn't recognize them.
I'm almost positive it only affects OBSE-specific ones.
Quick question, I am using the 'No Starting Map Markers' mod from the Ascension mod page. Better Cities adds a lot of new map markers which can be fast travelled to without first being discovered. I used xEdit to make my own patch to remove the 'Can fast travel' starting flag from all the new Better Cities map markers, so now I have to discover them first before I can fast travel to them.
That all works fine, however on the main world map the map markers for the Imperial City Prison, Arcane University, Palace and the 6 districts can be fast travelled to right away, and I can't seem to figure out in xEdit where the map markers for those are housed so I can remove the fast travel flag. Can you point me in the right direction? Are these added in via quest script or something? Happy to share my patch .esp once I solve this last issue (all the other map markers I've done already).
You can release your patch ESP on Nexus if you wish, on the understanding that it is possible a future release of BC may break it.
All the IC map markers are initially in the ESM, each placed in a dummy cell specific to the district it is for, then script-moved to the Tamriel worldspace if the ESP for that district is active (or if the full IC ESP is active)
For example, the Temple District map marker is in cell BANICTempleDistrictDummyCell
In previous comments you didn't respond when I said that the earliest version I still have is v4.2.0, so I have not uploaded this version. I have checked your download history, the last time you downloaded BC was in October 2011, and the files you downloaded have since been removed from Nexus (at one point the site owner made a request to all modders to delete any old versions of their mods to improve capacity on the servers, this was before Nexus moved to cloud storage). This suggests that you downloaded v5.0.6 released in July 2011, the next release being November 2011 after you downloaded. I can reupload v5.0.6 along with resources v5.0.0 if you want the same version of BC you used before. You should first refer to the changelog to see what changes would be missing compared to newer releases. Older versions of BC are not supported, so if you do report any issues, you will be instructed to update to the latest version to see if that resolves the issue.
Thank you, that's very kind but I actually downloaded the latest version of BC and I'll just go with this. :) With your hint I was able to complete my patch. I'll upload it separately and link it here once I do that (tomorrow).
Hey! I loved this mod when I first installed it years ago, and here I am back again. But I have the weirdest problem - when I try to download this mod, the download fails at 64% whether I do it manually or through Vortex. I'm a premium member so speeds shouldn't be a problem...seems baffling. Any ideas? Thanks!
Is there a version of this which doesn't add quests? I just wanted a mod which made the cities feel a bit more lived in, while still being able to play a vanilla experience, but it seems this mod has suffered from significant scope creep since I last used it a decade or so ago.
Hmm, no the last version of this mod I used was from 2011 so that's what I was referencing. It looks like the older versions aren't hosted anymore though? Is there any older version of this mod that is still hosted that adds no quests (or adds only as few as possible).
Bananasplit has never had any involvement with this combined version of Better Cities, so 2007 is the most recent content by Bananasplit himself.
If you don't want the quests, then simply don't do them. I don't know how far back you'd need to go to be completely quest-free, but the oldest version I have archived is v4.2.0 from around March 2009. So if you check the changelog in the current release you'll see whether that version lacks enough content to be good enough.
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14467 comments
Visit the Better Cities Wiki on UESP, and feel free to add any information which is currently missing.
Also, please read the readme and also our FAQ before posting any possible issues.
If you find a need to post your load order here, please use spoiler tags to compact it down to a few lines. You can do this by typing [ spoiler ] above your load order and [ /spoiler ] below your load order (remove the spaces inside the square brackets to make the tags work). People who fail to use spoiler tags may find their long posts get removed.
Oblivion.esm
Better Cities Resources.esm
Better Cities .esp
Better Cities Full.esp
Better Cities - IC Imperial Isle.esp
Better Imperial City.esp
Currently known issues (as of version 6.4.0) which will be fixed in our next release:
Install Construction Set Extender (requires Oblivion to be installed OUTSIDE of the default Program Files folder), then you'll be able to create an ESP to edit other ESPs. You can then release your own patch mod replacing this house with a gateway, on the understanding that future releases of BC may break your patch unless you update your patch too.
UPDATE: I think I just found my problem, explained 14 years ago by a familiar user lol
How do I save on Tes Construction set? - Mod troubleshooting - Nexus Mods Forums
Annnnd YEP LOL It worked! Thanks 2010 Vorians!
If it's a mod conflict, then I don't understand why it was initially working like it was supposed to, only to stop on a certain point. My load order is quite heavy though, could this be the cause of it?
Level 24, Playing Time 80.41.41.ess:
EDIT: before starting the playthrough, I had to merge some Unique Landscapes patches and a few for Banes Guilds United, to get over the 255 plugin limit, therefore there are some names like "Merged plugin".
mods unless it were a mod editing the scripts themselves.
We even have a similar mod called Display Gallery (https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/47702), but it simply isn't enough...
Currently the only changes are a couple of minor fixes, the removal of two compatibility replacer ESPs, the addition of voice files for the other compatibility replacer ESPs, and replacement meshes for DistantLOD making them less of a drain on FPS. Plus the already released texture hotfix, of course.
Edit: I can't find what is doing the conflict. Tes4edit shows no conflicts looks like a construction set peek is necessary. I don't know what I've done this time 😆
There is one issue that it has though. When selecting the Imperial Isle version I've not been able to enter the Imperial City Diplomatic District. The door is a dud and just says "Wooden Door".
Check that you're using v6.4.0 ESM, and v6.4.0 ESPs for the BC Imperial Isle and BC Imperial City. Ensure that BC IC is loading after BC II.
Ensure that you are not using Stroti's original Imperial City Foreign Quarter mod as well.
You cannot view ESM/P files in Notepad, they'll all show up as gibberish. You need to use Construction Set or TES4Edit to view ESM/P files.
You need to check that the files you have in your Data folder are v6.4.0, this most easily done using Wrye Bash.
So I have no idea what's the issue. I've never had this problem before.
What a head scratcher
@TheRomans do you have any idea what could be causing this? Perhaps the Land Magic tool?
Also, test disabling everything except BC Imperial Isle and BC IC (with either a new test character, or a BC-ESP clean save).
Ensure that you are using the Engine Bug Fixes mods mentioned on BC's description page, near the bottom.
Can't help with BOSS, works fine for me on Win 11.
I'm almost positive it only affects OBSE-specific ones.
That all works fine, however on the main world map the map markers for the Imperial City Prison, Arcane University, Palace and the 6 districts can be fast travelled to right away, and I can't seem to figure out in xEdit where the map markers for those are housed so I can remove the fast travel flag. Can you point me in the right direction? Are these added in via quest script or something? Happy to share my patch .esp once I solve this last issue (all the other map markers I've done already).
All the IC map markers are initially in the ESM, each placed in a dummy cell specific to the district it is for, then script-moved to the Tamriel worldspace if the ESP for that district is active (or if the full IC ESP is active)
For example, the Temple District map marker is in cell BANICTempleDistrictDummyCell
In previous comments you didn't respond when I said that the earliest version I still have is v4.2.0, so I have not uploaded this version. I have checked your download history, the last time you downloaded BC was in October 2011, and the files you downloaded have since been removed from Nexus (at one point the site owner made a request to all modders to delete any old versions of their mods to improve capacity on the servers, this was before Nexus moved to cloud storage).
This suggests that you downloaded v5.0.6 released in July 2011, the next release being November 2011 after you downloaded. I can reupload v5.0.6 along with resources v5.0.0 if you want the same version of BC you used before. You should first refer to the changelog to see what changes would be missing compared to newer releases. Older versions of BC are not supported, so if you do report any issues, you will be instructed to update to the latest version to see if that resolves the issue.
Here is Bananasplit's:
Better Cities Skingrad
Better Cities Bravil
Better Cities Imperial City Market District
He also released Anvil, Chorrol and Leyawiin, but it looks like he removed those ones from Nexus, or never released them here. They're probably still available on some German Oblivion mod sites if you search.
If you don't want the quests, then simply don't do them. I don't know how far back you'd need to go to be completely quest-free, but the oldest version I have archived is v4.2.0 from around March 2009. So if you check the changelog in the current release you'll see whether that version lacks enough content to be good enough.