Glad you all are enjoying this, and as requested by several people, I have added a darker, grittier replacement plaster texture. There are a few new images to show off the change (on the second image page). Because of the way I have the mod set up this will also change the plaster on a few Whiterun interiors, but it isn't very dramatic and may even be favorable. I appreciate your work, jackmorris21, but I figured I might as well make my own version of changes.
And Impulseman45, that is indeed a valid way to change villages or even individual farmhouses, but doing so would add in a massive amount of world edits which would easily conflict with a great many mods, and could even destabilize a heavily-modded game. It is not my intention to make a village overhaul, simply to retexture farmhouses. If you do this, however, I wish you luck.
Thank you! Because there is no .esp plugin required, you should be able to install this for SSE the same way as vanilla Skyrim! The LOD files *should* work the same, but you may want to make backups of those before replacing anything. Hope this helps!
Don't bother trying to download this through NMM; it either adds the files to the wrong data folder, or not at all (certainly not to the correct one). Manual install works just fine, though.
Great idea, Kohdi! I always wondered why the Nords would make walls with cracks in them, letting the cold north wind in. Just didn't make much sense. On the other hand, have you ever taken a look at Nordic stave churches and similar buildings? I always wondered if they might have been a base for the original designs of the houses in Oblivion/Burma, and then again for the houses in Skyrim.
Hi, I thought this looked great in the pics - unfortunately when I downloaded it and installed it via NMM, it didn't work - there was no change. I'm very new to gaming and modding, is there anything I can do? I have heard that NMM doesn't always get things in the right order, or something, but .... no idea what to do about that! I have got a few mods installed, but I have only been activating them one at a time, as my laptop won't handle a lot ... so I have presumed that they can't be conflicting with each other. Any advice anyone? Thanks!
Hi Spellsinger, glad you'd like to give this a try! NMM might be having some issues with the folder structure in my mod, so I'd recommend trying to do it manually. You'll want to find your game's Data folder, usually at C:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/Common/Skyrim/Data, then drag and drop the Textures and Meshes folders in my mod to the Data folder. If you're asked to overwrite, say yes. You'll also want to follow that procedure for your chosen LOD (distant mesh) version, whether vanilla Skyrim or with the Skyrim Distance Overhaul installed, with a normal and "summer" version for each. I hope this helps!
Great mod! I would love to see Riften plastered. I hate the way Bethesda just used wood planks for their Nordic architecture simply because it looked "viking". Yet medieval Scandinavian countries did plaster their townhouses with wattle and daub. Makes sense for whiterun, it is in a rather warmer valley, or Windhelm, that lies north of a forest that will easily supply it with renewable wood and no need to plaster. But Riften makes no sense.
Not sure I follow your logic. Riften is in one of the WARMEST regions in Skyrim, if not THE warmest, and is smack dab IN a forest.Falkreath may be warmer, but I'm not sure. When you see more deciduous trees than evergreens, as is in no other part of Skyrim, you may be talking some serious warmth.
Windhelm was once lore-described as THE most snowy city (even over Winterhold), so it should be a LOT colder.
Windhelm buildings also mainly consist of a lot of of stone, which retains and amplifies cold like nobody's business; plaster INSIDE those buildings (but not wattle/daub) would be preferable.
Scandinavians tended to build out of wood (Norse were masters of woodcraft. It did not rot in the cold, tho it might get brittle, and it likely became hard as rock in winter), not out of (hard to work if frozen) stone, so wattle/daub would make sense for them.
I don't think everyone understands each other here, but I'll try to reply
As far as I'm concerned, every residence in Skyrim should, realistically, be insulated somehow. Whether with plaster, wattle-and-daub, or that fluffy stuff at home improvement stores, Skyrim is a really cold place and even the warmest areas like Riften and Falkreath will need it sorely in the winter.
Whiterun, as it looks, is a bit misleadingly warm-toned. It sits on a hill in a bare tundra (tundra is usually cold, remember), which means it gets killer winds and absolutely blanketed with snow in the winter. Thankfully, its houses are some of the most plastered in the game. That's actually where I sourced the texture from. Because of the lack of big trees Whiterun must be one of Falkreath's largest consumers of wood simply for burning lime into plaster. Remember, the stuff's not permanent.
Rifen, while close to Cyrodiil, is still on top of the Rift plateau and surrounded by mountains. Aspens don't grow just anywhere, and even where I'm at (7,000 ft above sea) the aspens don't start taking a hold until another 1,000 up or so. Altitude means cold, and cold means insulation. From what I remember, though, Riften's buildings are plastered lightly on the inside, mostly between the planks, as you might do with a log house. It's not terribly effective, but according to the city's history it was recently rebuilt and with no regard to stability or beauty. I'd say as it stands, it's in a pretty good spot plaster-wise.
Windhelm, as you mention Cliven, would definitely benefit from interior plaster. I think a specialized city like Windhelm is a bit beyond my scope though, and you have to admit seeing the stonework of Ysgramor's ancient city has a certain charm to it. Plus Nords have magical cold resistance, so maybe it's another almost-subtle poke at the Dunmer and Argonian communities to make them feel all the more uncomfortable. Yeah, I'll go with that.
Well realistically speaking all buildings in Skyrim should be plastered. Plastered buildings made of wattle and daub were spread all around Europe, even going all the way down to Spain, in order to keep warmth inside through the winter for the vast majority of the population back in the days. But then again, its a video game. Buildings need variation.
agreeably, a Plastered house looks much better, however it "times" were, the "gentry" could afford plaster but the peasants just wanted a roof over their heads! The jarls houses, nobles, inns, high end merchants,...yes they should have plaster...befitting their stature, but not every home in the shire should be that "well equipped"! Just a thought...great work by the way!
Oh I agree, but the peasants have decided to build their houses in the same form as the gentry, and so I can't change them specifically without a lot of extra world-tweaking. But thank you!
Actually, wattle-and-daub plaster, like the Norse used, was made of mud and dung (yes, that is a nicer variant on the "S" word), so was actually the choice of those who were too POOR to afford other means of keeping the heat in. It was more earth-toned than white or even yellow, and very covered with dabs that cast shadows which broke up the appearance of an even surface, but was used very heavily by peasantry.
Note that the Roman architect Vetruvius bemoaned wattle-and-daub, as "it is made to catch fire, like torches." Ofc, in a colder, snowy clime, fires catch more slowly, but the heavier use of fire to stave off the cold still makes it more of a risk. . .
Debating whether or not to use this, as just got through installing several other farmhouse overhauls, but yeah, they probably should be plastered. Most walls (especially interiors) should be. Ppl usually d/n realize that even castles oft had white plaster over the rough stone for interior walls. Much nicer to live in.
I use BDS myself and have seen no conflict, perhaps something else is influencing your visuals? There is, however, a patch in the works for Prometheus' "No Snow Under the Roof" mod, which should be released soon.
Oh yes, I see what you mean now, I'll look into the problem. Thanks for letting me know! Is there anything specific that has gone wrong when overwriting files, like the snow losing its BDS texture or something similar? It might make it easier to fix if you can describe what happens.
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And Impulseman45, that is indeed a valid way to change villages or even individual farmhouses, but doing so would add in a massive amount of world edits which would easily conflict with a great many mods, and could even destabilize a heavily-modded game. It is not my intention to make a village overhaul, simply to retexture farmhouses. If you do this, however, I wish you luck.
Windhelm was once lore-described as THE most snowy city (even over Winterhold), so it should be a LOT colder.
Windhelm buildings also mainly consist of a lot of of stone, which retains and amplifies cold like nobody's business; plaster INSIDE those buildings (but not wattle/daub) would be preferable.
Scandinavians tended to build out of wood (Norse were masters of woodcraft. It did not rot in the cold, tho it might get brittle, and it likely became hard as rock in winter), not out of (hard to work if frozen) stone, so wattle/daub would make sense for them.
As far as I'm concerned, every residence in Skyrim should, realistically, be insulated somehow. Whether with plaster, wattle-and-daub, or that fluffy stuff at home improvement stores, Skyrim is a really cold place and even the warmest areas like Riften and Falkreath will need it sorely in the winter.
Whiterun, as it looks, is a bit misleadingly warm-toned. It sits on a hill in a bare tundra (tundra is usually cold, remember), which means it gets killer winds and absolutely blanketed with snow in the winter. Thankfully, its houses are some of the most plastered in the game. That's actually where I sourced the texture from. Because of the lack of big trees Whiterun must be one of Falkreath's largest consumers of wood simply for burning lime into plaster. Remember, the stuff's not permanent.
Rifen, while close to Cyrodiil, is still on top of the Rift plateau and surrounded by mountains. Aspens don't grow just anywhere, and even where I'm at (7,000 ft above sea) the aspens don't start taking a hold until another 1,000 up or so. Altitude means cold, and cold means insulation. From what I remember, though, Riften's buildings are plastered lightly on the inside, mostly between the planks, as you might do with a log house. It's not terribly effective, but according to the city's history it was recently rebuilt and with no regard to stability or beauty. I'd say as it stands, it's in a pretty good spot plaster-wise.
Windhelm, as you mention Cliven, would definitely benefit from interior plaster. I think a specialized city like Windhelm is a bit beyond my scope though, and you have to admit seeing the stonework of Ysgramor's ancient city has a certain charm to it. Plus Nords have magical cold resistance, so maybe it's another almost-subtle poke at the Dunmer and Argonian communities to make them feel all the more uncomfortable. Yeah, I'll go with that.
Note that the Roman architect Vetruvius bemoaned wattle-and-daub, as "it is made to catch fire, like torches." Ofc, in a colder, snowy clime, fires catch more slowly, but the heavier use of fire to stave off the cold still makes it more of a risk. . .
Debating whether or not to use this, as just got through installing several other farmhouse overhauls, but yeah, they probably should be plastered. Most walls (especially interiors) should be. Ppl usually d/n realize that even castles oft had white plaster over the rough stone for interior walls. Much nicer to live in.