LE Winterhold - the once grand city

[Shadeybladey]

Yes, I realise that, and as I say, if someone wants to make a mod like that they will. The question is, why they haven't.

 

It just seems a bit incongruent that anything like that could be rebuilt in 30 years, and certainly not in the Dovahkiin's timeline as Archmage, unless you want it to go on for decades and decades. When 90% of his city disappeared, most of the Jarl's wealth and income went with it.

 

But I think vanilla would have been better if the surviving ruins had looked more like your screen shots, although the towers are too big. Winterhold has been there since at least 1E, if not the Merethic, and would be ancient Nord style, or maybe partially dwemer. There should be some stone ruins left.

 

Unless the entire city disappeared and what is there now was built from wood because it's all they could afford?

 

Anyway, good luck with your request. Maybe you'll end up making it yourself?

 

~

[Burnout122812]

I was thinking about using the Dwemer architecture but it just didn't seem very Nordish. Imperial exterior seemed the way to go. I could throw in some ruins (Dwemer and Nord) near the cliffs and down near the sea bed to make it seem like an old collapsed city. Definitely gotta learn how to do NPC's and get better at Navmesh. If I do, I might actually do this one myself. Just don't really have the time even though I did throw all this together in less than 6 hours today.

Edited November 16, 2013 by majikku22

[Erenussocrates]

Well, if I remember correctly, I believe they said almost %90 of the city sunk below that cliff after that mysterious disaster. So rebuilding the whole city to it's former glory on the same remaining terrain should be out of question now. And building board supports over the gap and rebuilding the rest of the city on that would sound awfully unrealistic and unaesthetic.

 

But that "building upwards" idea inspired me somethings. Since player becomes Archmage of Winterhold, and the College Of Winterhold is Skyrim's main central magical facility, right? By the permission of Jarl, and by player spending some heavy funds into the project, maybe player could have rebuilt the rest of the Winterhold on a magically powered floating city, attached to the lower Winterhold area with levitating cylindrical tower parts? This reminds me of Dalaran. Think about it, a huge floating city island that is far more greater than it's former glory and far more greater than any city on current Skyrim... And maybe with some arrangements, the city could even be moved from hold to hold if wished so! An actual traveling city in the skies. I could only dream about that!

 

 

Do you know how many mods THAT thing could conflict with? Also it didn't look really immersive, as it is still an open city, which isn't even totally enclosed with walls. I mean the rebuilt Winterhold on the ground. Read my this previous post above before totally brushing off my idea and making a game-breaking mistake.

Edited November 16, 2013 by Erenussocrates

[Burnout122812]

The only way to truly do a Rebuilt Winterhold would be an all new cell that you enter through load doors. Big walls to close it off (like Solitude) from "Tamriel World".

 

Not dismissing your idea. But you say "building board supports over the gap and rebuilding the rest of the city on that would sound awfully unrealistic and inasethetic"....and you want to make it a floating city? Not bashing your idea. It does sound great. But just as unrealistic as rebuilding it from where it stands now. Either or would be great. I wish I could do it with an all new cell. That I feel is the only way you'd be able to get the full "BIG" city feel for a new Winterhold.

 

And the reason it doesn't look immersive is because I just threw it all together in a few hours. I'm just using what the game and the Creation Kit will allow me to use. So I don't see how it could be game breaking especially if its AFTER the civil war and mage college quests. I just wanted to show people that a big city can be built over the area that Winterhold sits on.

Edited November 16, 2013 by majikku22

[Cardolan]

Hmm, I'd like to make winterhold different. Use the cliffs and make it seem growing. A fishing settlement area that seemed to become part of the town. Perhaps make it unique by using the cliff. Wooden walkways leading down to a shipyard/port/harbour with wooden lifts to bring cargo to the top of the platform.

 

an open area next to the inn, with stables, blacksmith and all that, behind that a storage area for cargo. A covered bazaar like market behind the inn and so on. You could even include homes into the cliff-face using the walkways as accesspoints.

 

I drew a map once with suggestions for this. Here's the link...

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/893485-rebuilding-winterhold/page-2&do=findComment&comment=8155333

 

 

I'd like winterhold to be an old trade-city. Viking like and all. Once Winterhold fell, Solitude and Dawnstar took up the slack as trade-cities (before the incident, solitude could have been a naval base).

Edited November 20, 2013 by Cardolan

[redwaller66]

Whole thing would require Hearthfire: Rebuild and populate the houses that have fallen into disrepair that already exist. Make a plot of land (requires Hearthfire) for the player to buy. Build houses going down to the new sea line on the slopes. A fishing cabin or two down there. A blacksmith's somewhere, an alchemy shop. Have it so once it's build up, not to it's former glory, but to a reasonable level, the general store will start having a better selection like with other cities. It would require voice acting, and experienced modding skills and would probably require an entire crew to make. The player would have to gather lots of resources like quarried stone. Would require purchasing and paying for lot's of timber to be shipped/hauled into Winterhold from one of the mills along a river. Even to have two docks with two ships by the end would be awesome.

Would require a lot of money donations on the Dragonborn's part. =P Also, one could ask a stables in Riften (remember that poor stables boy you can help?) to set up a stables in Winterhold (cost a pretty penny) so that one could catch a wagon from there.

Carolan's idea he links is well thought out I would recommend seeing it.

If this were to be done, imagine similarly being able to pay for the walls of Whiterun to be rebuilt? As for Helgen, there's already a mod for that.

My advice would be to contact the guys who run this site: http://www.theengineeringguild.co.uk/.

Giskard, on the steamcommunity forum has already commented on a discussion forum about this. He/she mentioned that if there was enough interest, it would be done. So if we all send them an email requesting a quest series for rebuilding Winterhold after one becomes thane...then it could happen!

Edited December 16, 2013 by redwaller66

[ClockOrchestra]

Erenussocrates, like a Vivec but in Skyrim! But somebody will have to add a "we're watching you, scum" voice files with the racist guards... jk. Seriously though, building upwards would be very cool.

[AndyTheLegend]

In case you haven't noticed the recurring theme in Skyrim is "everything used to be great, and now it all sucks" Its kind of a laziness tactic,

 

basically "We were too lazy to make anything great so... it sucks but... it used to be great. trust me. it was. You're just gonna have to take my word for it" - Bethesda

 

You can hear people grumbling about how awesome Riften used to be, how awesome thieves guild used to be, how awesome companions used to be, how awesome Dark brotherhood used to be, how awesome WINTERHOLD used to be, it kind of gets old after a while.

 

But still I have thought about how, after becoming the new archmage, you decide to create a diplomatic truce between winterhold and the college and have the members of the college use magic (:O !!) to help rebuild the city. I've once completed the College questline with a really old school, barbarian Nord who just decided to join the college because he had a thing for dark elves (mm Brelyna) and through a series of amusing events, somehow became the Archmage without ever learning a hint of magic, it was pretty funny. But afterwards I got the idea that this hardy Nord should definitely be the diplomatic bridge between the College and the rest of Winterhold, but decided to screw it and start a new character :3

 

When I saw the platform jumping mechanic in Dragonborn (the thing that made you FLYYY up at Tel Mithryn) I kind of thought that it could be a cool mechanic for Winterhold to make the lower coastal edges beyond the cliff more accessible. It could show the mixture of magic into the rebuilding of Winterhold and how the Nords there began to accept magic and its practical uses. The lower coastal area could become more populated with a dock area and fishing houses and stuff, a slaughterhouse for horkers and the like.

 

What would be REALLY cool and make winterhold stand out is if they had a sort of "Spirited Away" type of situation like this:

http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvjfj9YERt1qdt45yo1_500.png

 

And it would line the entire side of the cliff and it would be FREAKING AMAZING when you viewed it from the roof of the college and stuff.

Edited December 16, 2013 by AndyTheLegend

[flowmarine]

why rebuilding the city house by house if you can open some kind of dragon break right before the incident? After finishing arch-mage quest a some elf comes to Winterhold trying to uncover the mystery behind the events of 4E 122. He manages to open a portal right in the center of the city giving an ability to visit the city and some outskirts and find out what really happened.

[Shadeybladey]

why rebuilding the city house by house if you can open some kind of dragon break right before the incident?

That is the best idea so far. It does not mess with Lore and History, although a Dovahkiin suddenly appearing might cause a stir.

 

Would have to disable Dragon attacks as well. And take care not to change the timeline by killing someone important!

 

 

 

Also, you can rebuild it yourself without the CK if you have Pocket Empire Builder.

 

 

~.~