Holds

[Galandil]

Love the progress so far. What is the performance like in the new cities, are you using occlusion planes? Also where do you get the edit solitude building meshes, I can't find those resources anywhere. I look forward to see how this progresses!

Hi Harpe12, there are of course Occlusion planes! The fps I have varies between 50-60fps. I can not guarantee that everyone will have the same performance that I do though, in the end it will depend heavily on your texture and graphics alterations to Skyrim. Once it is released, if people are finding the performance bad, or experiencing other issues I will release a Performance version where I'll take it easier on the clutter and NPC AI.

 

The Solitude buildings I got from: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/38550/?

There is a problem though, and that is that the mod author hasn't included new collisions to the buildings. So if you want I could send you the ones I am using with proper collisions, just make sure you credit Ratji15 for the building edits and Breti for the collision fix ;)

[Harpie12]

Ah, I ended up not using those meshes because of the lack of collisions. However, I would certainly appreciate the updated file if you don't mind sending it. On the topic of solitude resources, I would high recommend using Ga-Knomboe Boy's modders resources - http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/43204/?

 

Additionally, now that I finally have six weeks holiday I would like to help with mod in any way I can. I have experience in level design, lighting, navmeshing and generating compatibility patches.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Harpie12

[Galandil]

Ah, I ended up not using those meshes because of the lack of collisions. However, I would certainly appreciate the updated file if you don't mind sending it. On the topic of solitude resources, I would high recommend using Ga-Knomboe Boy's modders resources - http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/43204/?

 

Additionally, now that I finally have six weeks holiday I would like to help with mod in any way I can. I have experience in level design, lighting, navmeshing and generating compatibility patches.

I have checked out this modder's resource and I am using a few select pieces of it, it is very good! :)

 

I'll send you a link to sendspace with the updated architecture on the Nexus mail, please remember to credit Ratji15 for the meshes and Breti for the collision fix!

 

Compatibility patching is definitely something I could use a hand with! I haven't gotten that far yet though. I don't think this mod will be ready for release just yet though. It is a heavy load of work. I just finished the Whiterun Water Canal yesterday, I may have to put a few interiors on hold and patch it in later. Those interiors would be: The Solitude Sewers, the Solitude Museum, and the Falkreath Tunnel Entrance. This should not be the end of the world though, as the mod is released without quests initially it isn't much to do in these places :) As far as it comes to level-design though I would prefer to do this myself, it may take a little longer just having one man working on this but that way I am certain it comes out the way I want it to. I am sure you are an excellent modder, and maybe in the future we could work on something. In fact, if you have six weeks off and nothing to do, I would suggest you head over to the Dark Creations website and post in the recruitment section about what you can do, show off some of your work, and ask to help out. They are a tightly knitted community of hard working modders who are focused on creating the rest of Tamriel. The Beyond Skyrim Project I believe is always open to more workforce ;) http://www.darkcreations.org/forums/forum/141-recruitment/

 

I thank you for the offer though :)

[Galandil]

Late Update!

Sorry for this being such a late update, I was hoping to make this update first after I had added the new Falkreath buildings into the world, but sadly I am having problems. The Falkreath meshes are sadly invisible when I put them in the world. I am getting help from an amazing modeler on the Dark Creations Forum, the ones who are working on the Beyond Skyrim project. She has helped me out with a fair amount of self-made guides and advice, even created an example, sadly when I try to follow these guidelines and replicate her example I still end up with the same problem, an invisible mesh. Seeing as how she is able to make the mesh she is working on perfectly visible, the problem is quite clearly that I am doing something wrong and need to figure out what that is so I can learn from that mistake. Hopefully I'll have the meshes put into the world soon.

Once I do have the meshes in the world the plan is to make some changes to the layout of Falkreath, it has always bothered me, it has never felt right, and after getting a little sneak-peak on the models that are going to be used for Beyond Skyrim Chorrol, well, I doubt anyone will be upset that I have decided to make some changes. If you are like me and enjoy playing Skyrim, and intend to do that for some time yet, then you will no doubt be playing the Beyond Skyrim project as each part becomes available and hence it will be better that the two towns look more then a little noticeably different from one another, rather then look too similar to the point that you'd rather turn my mod off in your load menu. The changes are: Hay on the roofs in Falkreath, removal of a few buildings all together and replace them with new buildings made by myself. Replacing the pavements with wooden walkways, adding two farms inside of town, and over all making Falkreath feel a little less clean and feel more gritty and dirty. I will also replace the Falkreath Keep with a Longhouse that I have created myself. Reason for this is that this never really felt right to me either, the keep itself felt bloated compared to the other Jarls Homes around Skyrim, and so I've replaced it. The keep itself will not be removed from the mod however, it will be part of an update in the future as a part of the necropolis dungeon below Falkreath.

Aside from working on meshes for Falkreath I have also spent quite some time this summer finishing off interiors, the Whiterun Water Canal is now finished so you can sneak in and out of Whiterun through the various water flow grates that you can find around Whiterun, I have also finished the Falkreath catacomb tunnel, the halls of the deads have been worked on. I have overhauled the entire Windhelm Halls of the Dead, giving it a unique look that better fits properly to the Windhelm design, and I have created a hall of the dead in Dawnstar which also has a unique look. I have expanded the Solitude halls of the dead with two cells and made sure that it no longer feels odd that you head in a straight line and end up exiting facing where you came from.

I also asked a developer from the Dark creations forum to test out my mod, and while she only had a few hours it seems like she had a nice experience. It also made me aware of a few problems the mod might have for other users which need to be addressed before the mod is released.

I am also wondering if there are any texture designers out there who'd be interested in helping me out a little with a texture I need for the plain farmer outfit I have created. If you are please do contact me here on the Nexus through PM and I'll provide additional info. :smile:

 

I have a feeling that this project is on the right track, but as always, it is a massive undertaking and will take some time. Here are some screenshots of the buildings I have been working on this summer. Do let me know what you think about them! :smile:

 

Falkreath Longhouse

http://i.imgur.com/CqyR5Cf.jpg

 

Falkreath Longhouse Northwing

http://i.imgur.com/iUoPEx5.jpg

 

Wolvesbane House

http://i.imgur.com/4Y5MNsK.jpg

 

The Seven Goblets Inn

http://i.imgur.com/OdRhF7P.jpg

Edited July 31, 2015 by Galandil

[Tlaffoon]

Change your alpha value to 1 if you haven't already.

[Galandil]

Change your alpha value to 1 if you haven't already.

:facepalm: Fixed now. As you can tell Tlafloon, Nifscope is still a big mystery to me :sweat:

[Tlaffoon]

Glade that was the fix lol

[Galandil]

Glade that was the fix lol

Well, it fixed the ugly black background that is now transparent. The mesh itself is still invisible in the game. Hopefully I can resolve this before I go back to school at the end of August.

[Tlaffoon]

Hmm it depends on the texture path you used when creating the mesh but try this

Immersive multiple =1

Uv texture scale = 1,1

Then make sure your colors are correct

The first little color ball thing by the uv texture scale should be set all the way to black 00000

The one under the alpha channel should be white fffff

(I'm on my phone right now so my help is a little misconstrued)

[Tlaffoon]

If that fails just send me one of the simple models and I'll see if I can get it working. Second times the charm right ;)