Project Variance - Skyrim mod

Project Variance

Warning: Not compatible with Expanded Towns and Cities Version 14 and higher. Update coming soon for Project Variance.

About:

This is a mod that gives all the settlements in Skyrim unique and varied textures sets. Why? Because It’s tiring to look at the same textures for every single farmhouse.

Main Plugin:

As of verison 2.0 everything has been merged into one plugin. Now farmhouses and settlements are in one mod.

New in 2.0:

• LODs! Finally everything has matching LODs. You must run DynDOLOD for the LODs to be reconized and used however.
• Orchouses now have their own textures
• Improved textures in Dark Water Crossing
• Fixed errors with plugin, now 100% clean with Tes5Edit
• Merged with Project Variance - Farmhouses.

Project Variance - Settlements: Adds custom texture sets to the major settlements of Skyrim. Different from each other, each settlements has its own ‘theme’. For example Farmhouse04 in Riverwood will use different textures than Farmhouse04 in Ivarstead. The textures have been assigned with great care, and reflect the environment they are in. Furthermore the interiors of the settlements are modified so the texture’s match.

Screens of Project Variance - Settlements:

(Screenshots taken with Gameplay Performance ENB)

• Riverwood
• Kynesgrove
• Rorikstead
• Karthwasten
• Dark Water Crossing
• Dragon’s Bridge
• Ivarstead

Project Variance - Roads: Coming Soon. Adds variety to roads going through some of Skyrim’s main settlements. I always thought it would be cool to see cobblestone roads going through settlements.

Project Variance - Cities: Coming soon. Will add variety to main cities. For example, Whiterun’s ‘districts’ will each have a unique feel to suit their role. More variety to generic buildings found throughout Skyrim’s cities. Will be a ‘light’ plugin, so compatible with all city overhauls like JK’s.

Project Variance - Settlements

• Changes city/settlement’s (See list below) textures. Does not touch ‘main’ cities.
• Adds unique meshes to city areas.
• Requires ETaC.
• Stonewalls in surrounding areas changed to match textures closest to their city/settlement.
• Dirt cliff root variation. 5 New sets of textures.
• Matching Interiors for the texture sets
• Changes default farmhouse meshes textures to give more variations.

• Adds unique fence meshes to random farmhouses through Skyrim. (See list below)
• Snowy farmhouses now have their own texture sets, that are desaturated and not mossy or have plants growing on them
• Changes Stonewalls to have their own texture set.
• Changes Stonewalls Snow to have their own texture set.
• Adds new door to match desaturated wood in snowy areas. (Except in areas ETaC touches)
• Does not technically require ETaC, but recommended because I didn’t make any of the farmhouses in Winterhold and Dawnstar barren. So expect to see moss on their roofs.

Some points:

• 95% 2K textures. Some 1k textures on thatched roofing. (not noticeable imo)
• Each settlement has custom fences! (It’s the little things…)
• 28 different custom meshes for fences!
• SMIM and Parallax Meshes already included.
• Much much more.

Requirements:

Complete version of Expanded Towns and Cities - You need this active in your load order if you use Settlements or else your game will crash. I will not make a version that does not support it. I also expect you to have the new textures installed for Falkreath, Dawnstar, Winterhold, and Morthal. If not, you may get purple meshes. As some meshes rely on textures added by ETaC.

Skse.ini (and also SKSE) - You need this ini file active in your data directory. Why? It fixes 99% of crashes caused by poor memory management. DO NOT complain about this mod causing CTDs if you don’t have this installed.

ENBoost - Note: Not the same as ENB. This also fixes and optimizes Skyrim’s poor memory management. DO NOT complain about this mod causing CTDs if you don’t have this installed.

Parallax Enabled - Enable parallax in your ENB settings. This still takes effect even if you aren’t using the graphics provided by ENB. Parallax is required to get proper experience. Or leave it off, see if I care.

A Decent PC - In general, you don’t need an overly beefy PC to use this. All textures are 2k. They can easily be resized to 1k if you have the need. If you expect a playable framerate on Intel integrated graphics, you’re going to have a bad time.

How to install:

Get Mod Organizer and install the mod with this. NMM may or may not install the mod correctly, it doesn’t handle large archives very well. Activate plugin(s) in your load order.

Load order is important! Not ignore this! LOOT will not sort correctly. It should go as follows:

• ETaC Resources.esm (Up with other ESMs)
• Tamriel Reloaded.esp
• Project Variance - Farmhouses.esp
• ETaC - Complete.esp
• Project Variance - Cities.esp
• (ETaC Patches)

Once you manually sort this, recommended you lock your load order. Note: Mods can be between the plugins listed, just as long as they are in this order.

Compatibility:

In general has the same incompatibilities/compatibilities as Expanded Towns and Cities. Doesn’t add anything that wasn’t there already. Generally this mod is pretty compatible, as it just replaced objects that are already there, it doesn’t move anything.

Anything that replaces the same static objects is not compatible. If you notice a conflict, please report it. I might make a patch. Before doing so, try adjusting your load order. Mods closer to the bottom of the load list overwrite lower mods. It may be necessary for this mod to overwrite something in order to avoid a conflict.

List of Mods that are tested:

• Expanded Towns and Cities - Compatible (duh)
• Inns and Taverns - Compatible with Patch
• Expanded Dragon Bridge South - Compatible with Patch
• Skyrim Better Roads - Compatible, use non-bridges edition
• Skyrim Bridges ETaC Version - Compatible with patch
• Alternative Start - Compatible, Farmhouse outside Rorikstead will be default)
• Cutting Room Floor - Needs patch.
• ELFX - Fully compatible with Settlements without patch, Farmhouses need patch for interiors.
• Anything on ETaC Incompatibility list is not compatible
• Tamriel Reloaded - Don't install the meshes and you should be fine.

Recommended Mods:

Skyrim Realistic Overhaul - Google it. IMO, the best and most complete texture pack for Skyrim. Other textures will look fine.

Known Bugs/Conflicts:

Conflicts with anything ETaC does. Edits the same cells as ETaC. Only replaces static objects added by ETaC and Skyrim. Doesn’t add anything new.

• Collision meshes for railing on Falkreath walkways are little bit off. Barely noticeable. (No planned fix)
• Noticeable texture seems in Dragon’s Bridge imperial wall floor tiles (Possible fix: Place static object over seams)
• Tile texture on farmhouse roofs that use titles instead of straw are stretched. Barely noticeable. (Possible Fix: Edit meshes in Maya or 3DS Max. Beyond my skill range at the moment)
• Minor texture stretching on Karthwasten Farmhouse06. (Fix: Custom mesh edit)
• Minor texture seems on some fences
• Interiors of some houses in Dragon Bridge have gaps/flickering. (Not my problem, ETaC problem. Will not change)

Complete list of changes:

Note: Tes5Edit can give you a technical overview of all the changes this mod makes.

FAQs:

Q: Why did you use so many meshes? Why didn’t you create texture sets and assign them to models in TES5Edit or Creation Kit?

A: I prefer mesh editing. It’s faster for me, and I like the ability to see full models with all the textures I want to use. It’s faster to swap out textures if something's looks bad. Plus there may be custom meshes for buildings, If I find the time or knowledge. For the interiors mostly all texture sets were used.

Q: Performance?

A: Depends. In general expect more Vram usage. Instead of having 1 stonewall texture there are now up to 3 in some areas. Same with other textures. FPS Should not be worst that using ETaC. In fact some of my meshes have less polygons that SMIM models, so there may be some improvement. (Not likely). This mod uses all 2k textures, so that may be an issue for you if you have less than 2gb of Vram. I recommend downloading the 2k/1k pack.

Q: Some textures look terrible?

A: First of all check archiveinvalidation, second use ENB (it makes crappy textures look good imo), third maybe you just think that texture is ugly, feel free to find and replace it with one you prefer.

Q: Why do some of stonewall textures on the inside not match the outside?

A: Simple, because roughy, overgrown, and mossy stones don’t belong on the inside of a house. I did my best not to make them seem too out of place. Can be changed if you wanted.

Q: Are you a bad person for using other's textures?

A: … Maybe? Yes and also no. I feel the Skyrim modding community has permissions all wrong, modding is a community based activity, everyone should be able to build off of each other's work so that the best end product can exist. The current system limits the maximum potential of mods. If we let each other freely and openly build off or each other's ideas the best end product are a result. But limiting each other, we limit what can be achieved.

Q: I don’t like it.

A: That’s not a question, and I really don’t care.

Future Plans:

• Custom textures for cutter; tables, chairs, forges, ect.
• More variety in main cities; Whiterun, Solitude, Riften, Windhelm, (Maybe Markarth)
• Make a damn patch for Cutting Room Floor. (proving difficult).