UPDATE 04/10/20: Version 3.0 adds a few windows that were overlooked originally. This update adds the two ship windows used on the Katariah, the emperor's flag ship. It also adds the large stained glass window found in the Night Mother's chamber in the Dark Brotherhood headquarters.
RUSTIC WINDOWS retextures the windows of Skyrim in a lore-friendly way. Much effort was used to maintain the original Bethesda design of the window frames, the main point of emphasis was changing the window glass itself. As the harsh climate would require, these windows are thick, textured, and strong, which limits their transparency. They are "opaque", but with a purpose.
I spent quite a bit of time on these textures, so I hope they bring an added visual element to your gameplay. Textures are 1K for the most part, so they should work fine for people with 1GB of VRAM or more. I will upload a reduced version later on, for people with lower-end computers.
Thanks for visiting, and leave respectful comments, or queries below...... enjoy!
Gamwich
Thanks for the endorsements. It's nice to see that this mod is getting a good reception. All that hard work wasn't in vain.
Thanks to all for helping this mod make Hot Files. I wasn't expecting that big a reception right off the bat. Good to know that performance friendly textures have an audience. :)
UPDATE 11/23/14: I decided it was time to revisit the window textures, so I decided to start with 2K textures, since that has been a popular request. This is a major overhaul, so everyone should update to version 2.0. the 1K version is improved as well, since the 2K textures were the original source. Better detail across the board, and some glass texture were redesigned. I hope people enjoy this revised version.
UPDATE 5/28/14: Added version 1.1 that revises the Solitude windows of the Bards College and the Blue Palace. I toned down the glow maps, to make the backlighting more subtle at night, and I enhanced the glass texture in the normal map. These are the only windows that were updated for Skyrim.
The Thrisk Mead Hall windows from Dragonborn will be added as an optional download.
UPDATE 5/30/14: Revised the glow maps to retain more of the original window color from backlighting. The original glow maps just controlled the backlighting intensity, the new ones add color from the diffuse texture as well. For some windows, the difference is quite subtle, since the glass didn't have much color to begin with, but in Riften and Solitude, the difference should be apparent. The main Windhelm windows were completely reworked, to brighten them overall, and to lessen the "Halloween orange" appearance. The glow at night should now better match the color of the fire pits.
UPDATE 6/3/14: Added optional download for dimmer glow maps for users who want a more subtle window glow. This may be useful for people with lighting mods, or ENBs that increase the glow effect of windows. If you find the default too bright, then try this option.
UPDATE 6/11/14: Removed the moss from the wood framing of the Whiterun window texture, since it's only visible inside the temple of Kynareth. Makes no sense for an interior texture. Bethesda must really like moss. Also added a combined download for people with the Dragonborn DLC who want less mod clutter. Should've done this earlier.
UPDATE 6/15/14: Again revised the Whiterun diffuse window texture. This time, I made the rusted ironwork frame color more even, so it wouldn't cause color anomalies when scaled up (as in the Jorrvaskar)l. Bethesda used the same window as the one used in the Temple of Kynareth, but it's scaled up and tiled in the Jorrvaskar Mead Hall.
***I WILL NOT BE MAKING A 4K VERSION, SO PLEASE DON'T ASK
Wow, this mod is incredible. I've used other window mods before and had pretty much ignored the windows since. I'm glad I found this as it adds another layer to cities and towns.
Hi, not sure if this page still gets checked but thought I'd try anyway.
Firstly just wanted to say how amazing these textures look! I'm also fairly new to modding here and just wanted to confirm if this is compatible with mods such as Immersive College of Winterhold and Expanded Towns and Cities?
I think this was one of the first mods I downloaded from you. I remember going into Riften and seeing the windows and I was blown away. Your work on this mod and honestly all of your mods is absolutely amazing. I have been playing Skyrim since it first came out and one of the great things about mods is that even something as simple as changing the windows just makes the game so much better. I guess when you see certain things in the game for so many years and finally you just have this beautiful small change it just makes the game that much better. Ha ha, I hope that made sense. It sounded better in my head. Not sure if you check messages anymore in the posts section but if you do I just wanted to say thank you and all of your work is absolutely beautiful and I am grateful so much.
To anyone who's using ELFX and the improved windows don't show up, I've found the cause and a solution:
For whatever reason ELFX's meshes point to textures\effects\ELFX\windows\ and then to the corresponding city (riften/winterhold/whiterun/etc) where a copy of the vanilla windows textures are kept. What I did was copy the corresponding city's textures from this mod to these folders, that way they'll show up properly and glow in the night etc.
Alternatively I guess someone could go and manually edit each mesh to point back to the vanilla texture locations, but that'd be waaay more time consuming :P
What very well might be happening is that he has a weather mod that is affecting the lighting. The textures were made using ENB, if you're using something else then the colors may or may not look like the screenshots, regardless of whether the mod is correctly installed/overwritten.
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RUSTIC WINDOWS retextures the windows of Skyrim in a lore-friendly way. Much effort was used to maintain the original Bethesda design of the window frames, the main point of emphasis was changing the window glass itself. As the harsh climate would require, these windows are thick, textured, and strong, which limits their transparency. They are "opaque", but with a purpose.
I spent quite a bit of time on these textures, so I hope they bring an added visual element to your gameplay. Textures are 1K for the most part, so they should work fine for people with 1GB of VRAM or more. I will upload a reduced version later on, for people with lower-end computers.
Thanks for visiting, and leave respectful comments, or queries below...... enjoy!
Gamwich
Thanks for the endorsements. It's nice to see that this mod is getting a good reception. All that hard work wasn't in vain.
Thanks to all for helping this mod make Hot Files. I wasn't expecting that big a reception right off the bat. Good to know that performance friendly textures have an audience. :)
UPDATE 11/23/14: I decided it was time to revisit the window textures, so I decided to start with 2K textures, since that has been a popular request. This is a major overhaul, so everyone should update to version 2.0. the 1K version is improved as well, since the 2K textures were the original source. Better detail across the board, and some glass texture were redesigned. I hope people enjoy this revised version.
UPDATE 5/28/14: Added version 1.1 that revises the Solitude windows of the Bards College and the Blue Palace. I toned down the glow maps, to make the backlighting more subtle at night, and I enhanced the glass texture in the normal map. These are the only windows that were updated for Skyrim.
The Thrisk Mead Hall windows from Dragonborn will be added as an optional download.
UPDATE 5/30/14: Revised the glow maps to retain more of the original window color from backlighting. The original glow maps just controlled the backlighting intensity, the new ones add color from the diffuse texture as well. For some windows, the difference is quite subtle, since the glass didn't have much color to begin with, but in Riften and Solitude, the difference should be apparent. The main Windhelm windows were completely reworked, to brighten them overall, and to lessen the "Halloween orange" appearance. The glow at night should now better match the color of the fire pits.
UPDATE 6/3/14: Added optional download for dimmer glow maps for users who want a more subtle window glow. This may be useful for people with lighting mods, or ENBs that increase the glow effect of windows. If you find the default too bright, then try this option.
UPDATE 6/11/14: Removed the moss from the wood framing of the Whiterun window texture, since it's only visible inside the temple of Kynareth. Makes no sense for an interior texture. Bethesda must really like moss. Also added a combined download for people with the Dragonborn DLC who want less mod clutter. Should've done this earlier.
UPDATE 6/15/14: Again revised the Whiterun diffuse window texture. This time, I made the rusted ironwork frame color more even, so it wouldn't cause color anomalies when scaled up (as in the Jorrvaskar)l. Bethesda used the same window as the one used in the Temple of Kynareth, but it's scaled up and tiled in the Jorrvaskar Mead Hall.
***I WILL NOT BE MAKING A 4K VERSION, SO PLEASE DON'T ASK
and Talos too buahaaaaahaaaa
Firstly just wanted to say how amazing these textures look! I'm also fairly new to modding here and just wanted to confirm if this is compatible with mods such as Immersive College of Winterhold and Expanded Towns and Cities?
Thanks in advance.
Thank you for sharing your work!
For whatever reason ELFX's meshes point to textures\effects\ELFX\windows\ and then to the corresponding city (riften/winterhold/whiterun/etc) where a copy of the vanilla windows textures are kept. What I did was copy the corresponding city's textures from this mod to these folders, that way they'll show up properly and glow in the night etc.
Alternatively I guess someone could go and manually edit each mesh to point back to the vanilla texture locations, but that'd be waaay more time consuming :P