Introduction

The vanilla blacksmith signs are clunky and low res. No HD overhaul has addressed this yet - for example Skyrim HD and Static Mesh Improvement Mod (SMIM). Neither has any settlement retexture mod. The vanilla signs are also this unpleasant brown-orange color and I had enough of the pixelated rust. Lastly, the vanilla texture was not optimized to fit the sign model, and when viewed at certain angles, black lines appear.

This little mod, the second in my 'SkyFix' series, fixes that problem by replacing the low res vanilla texture of the blacksmith signs (512X512) with custom hand made 2k (2048x2048) resolution textures, which are based on real life photographs. The material style is in tune with the vanilla art, but instead of the old rusty orange pixels, the new texture is more of a smart brushed wood/iron texture, which has been weathered and dyed a darkish color. Lastly, the new HD texture has been optimized to fit the model, which was not the case with the vanilla texture.

I feel that this is one of those mods that you never knew you needed until you install it, because the change is very subtle in the grand scheme of things, yet has a profound impact on your Skyrim experience, at zero performance cost (after all, the blacksmith sign is right in front of you as you enter Riverwood, Whiterun, Windhelm, Riften, Dawnstar and Falkreath). This is the whole purpose of SkyFix mods.

Features

• HD 2k textures based on real life photographs of brushed metal alloy.
• HD texture gives a much smoother and deeper impression of the sign's 3D model.
• HD texture has been optimized to fit the sign's 3D model, unlike the vanilla texture.
• Weathering and general wear and tear on the paintwork and metalwork, for added realism.
• Affects all blacksmith signs in Skyrim (the blacksmiths I have seen in testing are in Markarth, Whiterun, Windhelm, Solitude, Riften, Riverwood, Dawnstar and Falkreath).
• One file only, no .esp.
• This mod is lore-friendly and does not hurt FPS.

Installation

Use NMM or if installing manually just drop the 'textures' folder into your Skyrim 'Data' folder. Plug and play!

Be a sir

If you like this mod, why not endorse it to let others know and encourage me to do more like this. If you left feedback in the comments section about future projects you would like me to work on as part of 'Skyfix' mods, you would also be helping me out a great deal.

Plans

I will be releasing many more of these little oddity-fixing/facelift modifications to the towns and villages in the future as part of my 'SkyFix' series, which as the name suggests, tweaks the vanilla game's environment to enhance its aesthetics, lore and convenience for the player. But I will always aim to stay within the vanilla style. They do not take that long to do but they are fun to make - this one took me a day however I always aim for quality and always test the mod thoroughly in-game. So stay tuned!

Credits

• No assets from other mod authors are used in this mod, as the textures are all made from scratch, using real life photographs.


SkyFix • Series



Other Skyrim mods by the author:

Other mods by the author: