I am abandoning this mod for now.  If you want to continue working on it, use my ruins for another mod, or make use of my assets in any other way, you have my full permission.  Just credit the people I credited and be sure to use DynDoLOD.

Feel free to create your own version of this, taking my files and adding or removing what you like.  No need to request permission.
THIS WILL BREAK MANY QUESTS, INCLUDING THE MAIN QUESTLINE.  THIS WAS REQUESTED BY SOMEONE WHO WANTED IT FOR A SURVIVAL EXPERIENCE.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Ideal for use with survival mods, this mod makes Skyrim more barren by removing the largest cities and settlements from the game.  This was done by request, and I will remove additional settlements or other features if requested.  

This mod simply deletes all of the hold capitals (except for Helgen(if it's a capital)and Winterhold).  I have smoothed out the terrain where the cities once were, and I believe that I have made it look natural, for the most part.  Let me know if you encounter any problems or want any other settlements removed.

Features
-I have not done anything with the major cities other than remove all exterior objects and smooth out the land.  It is possible that I missed something.  For Solitude, I placed some mountain meshes where the architecture meets the hillside to make it look more natural.  In the future, I plan to add ruins where the cities were.  Let me know if you would like anything in particular to be in the ruins and attached dungeons.
 
-I have removed most of the hold capitals, and all of the civil war camps that I could find.  I have not removed Winterhold or Helgen yet.  I didn't remove Winterhold because it doesn't really feel like a capital, and might be a good place to resupply and rest if you find yourself in the area, since there aren't any other settlements near it anymore.  I haven't messed with Helgen because I'm not sure how to override the opening scene.  I'll likely work on removing it soon.
 
-I have deleted a lot of world encounters.  No longer will drunken revelers find you in the deepest reaches of Skyrim's wilderness.  I got rid of the courier.  With so much of Skyrim uninhabited, it seems unreasonable that a courier would have to search the wilderness just to deliver a letter.  You won't meet rich people on the way to a wedding at the no-longer-existent Solitude, young farmers on their way to join no-longer-existent armies, or Thalmor or Imperials escorting prisoners of a non-existent-war.

Requirements
This mod uses SKSE to change the LODs(AKA the low-res models used for distant objects).  I do not know how not having SKSE will affect this mod.  It might crash, it might work perfectly, or it might just make it so you can see cities from a distance even though they are deleted.  I highly suggest using SKSE if you plan to do much Skyrim modding anyway, as it is required for many mods, and does some technical sorcery that I can't even begin to understand, let alone explain.  Bottom line is: if you are modding Skyrim, use SKSE.  It's quick and easy to install.  You can get the latest version here.

There are no other requirements, but there are lots of incompatibilities, which are listed below.

Known Issues and Incompatibilities
- ELFX, and possibly other lighting mods - ELFX's exteriors plugin adds shadow objects under bridges, which remain after the bridges are deleted, leaving weird dark areas in the water.  The main plugin and enhancer plugin are not incompatible.  It may be possible to use the exteriors plugin with this without having issues by placing ELFX under this mod in the load order.  I have tried it and it doesn't consistently work.

- LOD and distant terrain mods - This mod includes its own LODs.  Incompatible mods include SkyMills and SkyFalls.

- mods that add items around roads or cities - This includes mods like Point the Way and Lanterns of Skyrim.

- tree, rock, landscape, building, and potentially other texture and model mods - You can use them, but because this mod includes LODs, objects edited by other mods will look different from afar than up-close, leading to 'texture-popping'.

- mods that edit cities - I don't think having them installed will hurt anything, but they will probably be entirely overwritten and rendered useless.

- mods that change the civil war - I've deleted the civil war camps and the capitals of both factions.  Almost any civil war quests are going to be broken.

- alternate start mods that start inside of cities - If you start in a city or a building within a city, I'm pretty sure that you will be stranded there, as I have deleted city connections to the Tamriel worldspace.


...there are probably others that I missed.  Please point them out to me if you find them.

Recommended Mods
I don't really actually like Skyrim as a survival game, so I haven't tested any of the specific mod recommendations personally.  I am recommending them because they are popular, which means a lot of people like them.  You may not be one of those people.  Read about these mods and maybe try them out before you use them on your main playthrough.  Uninstalling mods in the middle of a playthrough can destroy your save games.  Be careful.

-Roleplaying mods, like Requiem, and alternate start mods(that don't start in cities).
-Any visual mods, from ENBs to body replacers.
-survival mods, like Hunterborn, Realistic Needs and Diseases, and Frostfall
-mods that work well with survival mods, like Cloaks of Skyrim, Winter is Coming, and Wet and Cold



Credits
Bethesda, for making an awesome game and the tools to make it better
ElminsterAU, for making TES5EDIT
Ian Patterson, Stephen Abel and Paul Connelly, for making SKSE
Sheson, for making DynDOLOD
YOU, for reading all the way to the end of the credits for whatever reason you are doing that...and for deriving enjoyment from my mods