Semi-realistic armor mods?

[rpger30]

I'll start with the simple question:

 

Does anyone know of any replacements for Skyrim's armor that could be described as "down-to-earth" or "realistic?" I know that last word carries too much baggage sometimes, but I think most people get the idea.

 

I ask because I've been looking at the Nexus armor category for about 2-3 hours today, and it has been difficult to sift through all of the "skimpy, nude, wink wink, etc" mods. To each their own - if that's your thing I believe you are well served with a wide selection of choices. I'm just looking for help finding some simpler and less flashy armors. I've seen some pretty cool looking mash-ups people have done by combining different elements of existing armors. I think I'm going to try a mod to make some of them replace vanilla armors.

 

For a point of reference - think of what Jaysus and other modders have done for weapons (especially swords). Do you know of any mods that take a similar approach to armor? I seem some awesome screenshots out there but haven't found the mods.

 

Now for the rant:

 

I LOVE this game. I think I have over 400 hrs by now (I don't know because I play in offline mode to avoid updates). After 400 hours, I've realized that I DESPISE most of the armor in this game. There are just a bare handful of sets in either armor category that I like, leaving me with very few choices.

Dragonscale: not as bad as dragonplate, but I really wish they had gone with smaller scales and less bulky pauldrons/helmet

Nightingale: awesome, though the face mask is getting tiresome

Glass: power armor - doesn't look like light armor at all; color balance between "glass" material and base material seems off

Scaled: looks too much like hide armor; not enough scales

Elven: good, but the color has gotten pretty annoying

TG: awesome in all three/four forms. would love to see someone add a craftable version of each under the leather category, or replace the standard leather with a version of TG

leather, hide, fur: meh

 

Dragonplate: worst armor I've ever seen in an RPG of this "historical" period; it basically looks like they reskinned FO3 power armor

Daedric: I think this is an excellent RP armor; definitely seems limited to certain character types

Ancient Nord: not enough coverage for either sex; most of what is covered is meh; helmets are cool but I'd love to see a talented artist clean them up

Ebony: needs to be slimmed down by at least 20-30%; i know it's heavy armor but it makes your character much too wide relative to character weight - it has never looked this bulky in any previous TES game.

Steel Plate: very good especially with one of the many mods that replace some of the fur/cloth/leather with chainmail. The helmet is good but still seems off from behind (shredder's helmet). Needs a matching shield.

Orcish: I'm not a fan, but it serves a role. I love the scales though, and I think other "scaled" armors in the game should look like that.

Dwarven: fits the same niche it always has in TES games.

Iron, Steel: seem fitting for the lower levels they are intended for.

 

My overall opinion is that most of the vanilla armors need to go on a crash diet. Most are too heavy and inflexible looking. Too many armors show a ton of exposed leg in a silly attempt to look barbaric and rustic. I'm really hoping the forums can help me find some good additions to the game.

 

EDIT:

Here's an example: Rangers Armor Leather Replacement (nexus)

Edited January 18, 2012 by rpger30

[redxavier]

While I mostly agree, having recently looked at a video showing Oblivion's armours I'm thinking that we were pretty lucky this time around. I'd argue that Skyrim's selection is the most realistic and function that we've seen so far in the series. Glass looks somewhat plausible now.

 

Their omission might have been intentional, but the best armour sets in the game are probably Tsun's, Imperial (any kind), and the guard armour (though it's somewhat tarnished by its over-use); the Stormcloak officer set is pretty cool as well.

 

I think the biggest disappointments are the lack of mail hauberks and the craptasticness of the current studded and scaled armours - which are simply lazy variants of hide.

 

In terms of armour mods, they've so far been pretty limited. There's a few Witcher 2 armours that look pretty good, especially the recently uploaded Temerian Heavy Knight model (look under 'Geralt and Iorveth armour') which is a proper full plate knight set. I'm working on some Witcher 2 armours myself, mainly because the game features great models with stunning textures (even if the overall style of the game is more 15th century central Europe).

[rpger30]

Thank you for your reply and the suggestion of mod. I definitely like the direction they're taking with many of those armors.

 

I realize I omitted Imperial armors of all types, which was unintentional. I find that they all fall into one of the various major criticisms of other sets. Historically inspired or not, I'm not wearing a skirt as a male. We've invented pants, and we just need to get on with pretending that there was never a time when pants didn't exist :whistling:

 

Yes the complete and total omission of mail in Skyrim was VERY disappointing, since mail would have been a common part of many Norse and Western European armors. The omission of mail from the uncovered areas of the steel plate set was very irritating.

 

The scaled set is super duper lazy, and it should have taken its inspiration from the guard armors instead of hide. Imagine a full scale hauberk with sensible pauldrons and possibly some discs at the joints, completed by a matching set of light plate boots, gauntlets, and a semi-open helm (think Rohirrim from the LotR movies). Throw in a nice wooden shield and one of Jaysus's fine nord axes and we're in business.

 

I guess I need to suck it up and get back into making my own armors (weapons seem well covered). Oblivion got me away from that because of the early availability of a ton of attractive player-made armors.

 

I'm betting we'll finally see some good bow mods once the CK is out.