Skyrim Special Edition

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Saecan

Uploaded by

Saecan

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About this mod

I always thought that the Nightingale Armor in Vanilla Skyrim looked too bright; it didn't live up to what guards said about it. I wanted Nightingale Armor that looked like "forged midnight". So I made this mod.

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Description

I was inspired to make this mod by the guard dialogue that I would hear all over Skyrim when I was wearing my nightingale armor;
"That armor... it's like nothing I've ever seen. Like forged midnight..." -Skyrim Guard
The vanilla nightingale armor texture did not live up to that quote. The vanilla armor looks washed out, like it sat out in the sun for too long. I wanted armor that looked like it had truly been given to me by the daedric prince of night and darkness. This mod attempts to do that.

What this mod does:
  • I darkened the whole armor set. 
  • Some parts such as the straps on the chest were darkened additionally so that they fit better with the rest of the armor.
  • I went back and carefully tweaked the bird on the chest so that it didn't turn into a dark blob after the rest of the armor was darkened. 
  • I redid the gloves so that they better match the rest of the armor. (The vanilla gloves are sort of blue-ish while the rest of the armor is more orange-ish)
  • I changed the color of the eye-glow from blue-white to orange-white. Depending on the light in the environment the eyes will end up looking somewhere between white (in bright outdoor light) to almost demonic red if you're next to a fire. Some of the mod pictures show this effect.
  • I darkened the normal maps so the armor reflects less light. In a dark shadow, you'll blend in almost perfectly now.
  • Slightly (Emphasis on slightly!) increases the resolution of the armor. It's now 3k, where the vanilla armor was 2k. I did this more for my ease of editing it than the effect in game. You probably won't notice the difference very much if at all in look or performance.

UPDATE:
  • Actually darkened normal maps so the armor reflects less light. I forgot to include those in the actual file in the initial release! :P
  • Reverts the eye-glow color to the original blue. I decided I liked the vanilla color better. I hope you do too!
  • Added and emphasized detail in the armor textures. In my opinion it makes the armor look more like it's made of real leather. Mod may now make eyes bleed from the beauty of the textures. Your experience may vary.
  • Added new pictures. The new pictures and comparisons are only male, but I changed both the male and female textures. I just couldn't be bothered to change my character's gender AGAIN for the new pictures.

What this mod does not do:
This is not an "Ultra-HD super crazy retexture that will make your eyes bleed!!!". It does not stray far from the vanilla look and feel of the armor, so if you don't like the vanilla texture already, you probably won't like this mod. UPDATE: With update eyes may bleed. No guarantees.

Installation

Use your favorite mod manager or unzip the file and drop it in your Data folder. It's that simple.

Compatibility

Compatible with everything. Other retextures of nightingale armor will be overwritten by this mod, because this mod consists of loose texture files, which always overwrite .bsa files.

My other mods

If you like this mod, feel free to check out my other mods:

Fully Improvable Nightingale Armor