City/settlement expansion | vanilla-assets-friendly

[bradleybrand]

Hello modders,

 

I thought it would be nice to expand vanilla settlements & cities using only in-game vanilla assets.

 

If implemented correctly, it could look like the works of Bethesda, rather than a skilled modder. Like it came with the game.

 

A compilation mod installer package could then be created, with compatibility patches.

 

In the past I've tried out some village mods. I have thought their quests can be so basic and easy to complete. Perhaps more work can be done.

 

I've used - Better Cities - mod, which is very impressive! Personal preference though, I disliked modifying the - Imperial City.

 

An issue I noticed with - Unique Landscapes Compilation - is with - The Lost Coast - area. Venturing into the cave, and heading into the forgotten ruins interior, you'll find a huge interior with major performance drops. Thankfully I experienced no crashes.

 

Settlements

• Hackdirt - village of a good size but could be further expanded. The residents discovered the - "Deep Ones" - within their vast mines. What do mines need? Lots of miners. More residents to worship the - "Deep Ones" - if the AI packages can be correctly implemented.
• Brindle Home - "village" not too big, could be expanded
• Harlun's Watch - village, could be expanded
• Pell's Gate - village, could be expanded
• Weye - village settlement, could be expanded
• Blankenmarch - village, could be expanded

Cities

• Anvil - could be expanded. Docks "could" be, but maybe tricky to implement.
• Bruma - could be expanded.
• Cheydinhal - could be expanded
• Chorrol - could be expanded
• Kvatch - enjoyed Kvatch Rebuilt mod.

Mod Structure Example

• Weye.esp - village expansion (without quests)
• Weye - Quests.esp - village detailed quests
• Weye - Non Vanilla Additions.esp - non-vanilla additions

[glowplug]

An average laptop or pc is hundreds of more times powerful than when Oblivion came out which leaves me asking 3 questions...

1. Why use 256 or 512 textures where machines now work with 2048 or 4096 textures?
2. Why use extremely low polygon models when there is no need - I remade Skyrim Riften ratway01 as 1 nif on Oblivion at over 15000 polygons. Under 12 draw calls instead of the hundreds that Skyrim ratway01 does.
3. Isn't modding about extension and improvement instead of stagnating?

Hackdirt, for example, could be rebuilt with hi-res with new models and textures where 'compare' screens look almost identical architecturally but photo realism with new models and textures.

[IcelandicPsychotic]

While modern computers can easily handle high quality textures, Oblivion's engine can struggle with them.

[bradleybrand]

An average laptop or pc is hundreds of more times powerful than when Oblivion came out which leaves me asking 3 questions...

1. Why use 256 or 512 textures where machines now work with 2048 or 4096 textures?
2. Why use extremely low polygon models when there is no need - I remade Skyrim Riften ratway01 as 1 nif on Oblivion at over 15000 polygons. Under 12 draw calls instead of the hundreds that Skyrim ratway01 does.
3. Isn't modding about extension and improvement instead of stagnating?

Hackdirt, for example, could be rebuilt with hi-res with new models and textures where 'compare' screens look almost identical architecturally but photo realism with new models and textures.

 

I use - Qarls Texture Pack III Redimized - QTP3 R - textures mod. This mod authour states:

"Most of the textures are 1K (I don't recommend using larger textures anyway, no matter your hardware, as Oblivion is not optimised for modern hardware - if you use overlarge textures and many mods, especially mods that add new NPCs OR/AND new objects, your FPS will go down significantly)."

I know textures can be made so much better. There only issue is - TES IV: Oblivion - game engine. I know - TES V: Skyrim - has a way better game engine, I'm waiting for Skyblivion's release.

 

I have always felt the Oblivion settlements, even cities, were a bit on the small size. Take into consideration the game was also built for games console - the Xbox.

 

While modern computers can easily handle high quality textures, Oblivion's engine can struggle with them.

You're absolutely correct.