My mod gives the Solitude Arch a more impressive, less fragile look. It is a rework of the mod Realistic Solitude Arch SE - Proper Port made by cyde042 which itself is based upon an old mod by EagleBirdman. EB's mod, however, is hidden on Nexus and no longer readily accessible.

What's the deal?
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The Solidude Arch is a prominent landmark in Skyrim and cyde's mod makes a big visual difference for the better. But both his mod plugins are normal .esp's and count towards the plugin limit. This is especially inconvenient and "expensive" in case one wants to install the Solitude Docks Updated mod since this setup occupies two full .esp slots with the cyde042 plugins.

I have simplified the files and streamlined the setup which make the mod much more user friendly:

The vanilla version is now compacted and ESL-flagged in SSEEdit for your convenience. Otherwise this file is totally identical to the plugin that cyde042 provides.

The version for Solitude Docks is a bit more elaborate in that it unifies the changes from the cyde vanilla plugin and SD patch into one single plugin. This version is now standalone and also ESL-flagged. In addition, I cleaned out 3 superfluous vanilla game master .esm files that the original had (Dawnguard, Hearthfires and Dragonborn).

The benefit is that now, you need only one ESL-flagged plugin to obtain a better Solitude Arch instead of one or even two full .esp plugins.

Personally, I use JK's Solitude Outskirts, Solitude Docks Updated (and the JKSO-SDU patch from their patch collection) and the present Realistic Solitude Arch SD Version, and it is a very organic, modern and updated combination that I warmly recommend.

All artistic credit must go to cyde042! In case you like my mod and endorse it, please also download and endorse cyde042's original mod because all I did were some technical changes and without cyde042 we would still be stuck with the underwhelming, fragile vanilla arch. So a big Thank You to cyde042!


Installation
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This small mod is safe to install mid-game. Install with the mod manager of your choice.

You can choose between 4 different downloads. The main choice is whether you want pre-generated LOD's included or not, and whether you use the mod Solitude Docks Updated or not. Please review the file names. I hope they are self-explanatory. See also the Limitations below. It may further assist you in selecting the suitable file for your purposes. 

If you will generate your own LOD with DynDOLOD (or xLODGen only) -> install one of the Main files without LOD.
If you are happy with a simple pre-generated LOD -> install one of the Optionals.
In any case, you only need to install one version. All downloads contain everything.

Sidenote: the Solitude Docks version actually also works when Solitude Docks is not installed; SD is not a master to my mod. However without SD, the non-SD version looks better in-game. So I do recommend to pick the non-SD version for a non-SD setup.


Deinstallation
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This mod is safe to be uninstalled mid-game. All it does is adding and editing a bunch of rocks. There are no scripts or otherwise potentially harmful content that will break your savegame after uninstalling.


Limitations - a bit of background
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Without any so-called LOD files (the Main files of my mod), when viewed from afar, the Arch will show its vanilla shape and not the modified one.

This is not an issue particular to this mod but rather a game-wide fact for all mods that change the vanilla environment, locations, add houses to towns etc. There are several ways to deal with the problem.

Simple and quick but prone to potential mod conflicts, under "Optional Files" I have included 2 versions with LOD files generated in xLODGen. These are vanilla game LOD's. While the visual impression from a distance is better than without any LOD at all, it is not fully satisfactory. Depending from where you look and which way you approach, you may see some gaps and eventual fade-ins.

Also, depending on your load order, these LOD's will get overwritten by LOD files from any other (Solitude area) mods that you may have installed. For example, together with Drengin's Blue Palace Terrace, there is a conflict: Either you have correct BPT LOD visuals or correct RSA LOD's. In this case you will have to pick what you feel is the lesser evil. Legacy of the Dragonborn is another potential conflict but I have not tested that.

The intermediate solution is to run xLODGen for "Objects" on your whole modlist. This is quick (runs in minutes) and eliminates all of the conflict problems because all (relevant) mods in your modlist get built-in. xLODGen64 can absolutely be used as standalone. In fact, this is how I created the Optionals (on an unmodded vanilla game). I think it offers a good compromise between required effort, time to run and resulting visuals.

The visually best, most comprehensive option is to run DynDOLOD for your modlist. It is a multi-step workflow that takes time and a bit of learning. But to the hesitant user I will just say that even a DynDOLOD setup with only moderate settings is visually much superior than anything the vanilla game and (my) pre-generated LOD can produce.


Credits
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• cyde042 for his original mod and having open permissions that allowed me this rework. I have kept my permissions the same as his.
• Sheson, author of xLODGen and DynDOLOD. Thanks for your great help answering questions I had about the LOD for this mod.
• ElminsterAU and the whole xEdit team. This mod, FWIW, is one more example of xEdit's power as no Creation Kit was needed and got abused or cursed at!
• Bethesda Softworks. We love to hate them, but we love them. I certainly do.


My other mods
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• Valtheim Towers for Lawbringer, an add-on for Lawbringer by EpicCrab
• Robber's Gorge for Lawbringer, another add-on for Lawbringer by EpicCrab