Have you ever been reluctant to travel down to the depths of Blackreach after having been once? I know I have.

When I heard about Blackreach and the Silent City, I immediately had high expectations of a underworld location hidden beneath the ground that would really give us the opportunity to adventure and explore. What I instead found was the same copy and paste mushroom every 2 metres and a pile of rubble reputed to be a city so safe to say was left a bit disappointed.

I honestly believe that Blackreach is the probably the most neglected area in the game by both Bethesda and Modders alike which is honestly a shame given that it can be so picturesque at times and there is so much room available for us to expand on.

This mod seeks to add in some enhancements to the cavern by adding in some key landmarks and renovating the central Silent City to appear more like a Clockwork City rather than vanilla's cardboard box.

Now I've always thought that the Dwemer take inspiration from our own history, specifically the Babylonian empire so set about creating structures with this in mind whilst also retaining the clockwork theme. I really wanted to veer away from the endless pipes that Bethesda was so fond of and go in another direction altogether. Please see each new addition to the area along with some flavourful backstory.





Hanging Garden

Inspired by one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This area features a garden overhanging the city waterway offering a scenic detour. 



Hall of Rumination

The Hall of Rumination bears little resemblance to its past self. I opted to give it a clockwork makeover with animated gears and machinery to really bring this building back to life.



Pumping Station

A new megastructure now protrudes from the cavern ceiling hoisting a grand lens which extracts enough essence to have kept the city alive several centuries later.



Dwemer Noble Manor

A noble residence to house the presiding aristocracy from where they can project their influence. Luxury and extravagance all within reach. 



Debate Hall

The Debate Hall has now been fortified with battlements atop the twin towers. The structures also now have connecting bridges that the residing Falmer have built to position their sentries.



Architect Tower

A place of study and innovation for the Academic elite. The base of operations for the city's resident tonal architect where they can plan new construction efforts and conduct research. 



Pyramids - Burial Crypts

Built to last an age and outlast the living. Do not disturb the honoured dead.



Cliffside Residence

Abandoned homes that used to be filled with life and warmth. Now cold empty husks, what now resides in the abyss?




1. This is purely a scenery expansion for now. To accommodate these inclusions I have had to redo the Navmesh in particular areas to ensure that NPC's can find pathing and that they do not become trapped. Blackreach itself has terrible Navmeshing in general, so much so that its generally recommended that you don't take a companion with you even in vanilla. My edits will work fine and have been tested in game with enemy NPC's and nothing will break your game however please take this as disclosure as it has some jank to it.

2. This mod does not make any Quest or Interior edits so is very lightweight. Blackreach is generally devoid of detail compared to other areas in Skyrim so even with my additions it should be a very light encumbrance for your system. Mileage will of course vary depending on your rig and mods.

3. So the majority of assets come from the Dwemer tilesets and architecture however these are super limiting despite me attempting to be creative. I had to then utilise some of the Markarth stone assets as well to achieve what I wanted. This should be fine as the stony texture is very similar and really difficult to distinguish in the darkness. Just realise that if you have a pink Markarth stone texture then you'll have some pink gates and pillars here and there. Hopefully there shouldn't be much discrepancy for you.

For reference I use Noble Skyrim as a base texture alongside the below which I heavily recommend.

CC's HD Dwemer Automatons - Remastered
Improved Dwemer Glass
Dwemer Pipework Reworked
Wskeever's mushroom fixes

4. Nearly all of the assets used in this makeover are from Vanilla so by using Dyndolod you should be able to generate the LOD's to view these. This is heavily recommended as you'll get some serious pop in if you don't. Simply tick the Blackreach option and have the LODS generated whilst this plugin in active in your Load Order.

5. There really isn't that many Blackreach mods to conflict with this one. Place lowest in your load order to ensure priority as this does make cell/Navmesh edits.

6. Definitely recommend a new game especially with cell edits and new Navmeshing. Load mid-game at your own risk.



Compatible
JK's Sinderion's Field Laboratory
Tools of Kagrenac

Not Compatible
Magical Blackreach - Requires a patch
Blackreach railroad - Requires a minor patch
The Blackest Reaches - Requires a minor patch
Lux - TBC

Notes

• One of the two Pyramids is positioned over some Charus cocoons which I couldn't figure out how to get rid of as they don't have markers in the CK. You don't need to worry about being attacked as they only spawn if they're damaged which would be impossible as the pyramids have collision. If anyone knows how to get rid of them then do please let me know.
• Both of the pyramid runways have Navmeshing but NPC's still struggle to navigate on it so likely they will not follow you up there. I will look at this in future but not gamebreaking or a real issue.
• The Falmer near the throne has some issues navigating the Navmesh to his seat and essentialy became frozen. I have since moved him away so this isn't an issue any longer.
• There is light flickering at the top of the throne due to Skyrim's lighting limitation. I have corrected this by removing one unnecessary light source so you shouldn't see further flickering.
  

Installation

Simply click and download with your preferred mod manager.

Possible Future Plans

-Interior cell additions
-Possible quest and NPC additions