Coffee with an old Khajiit

[Avrie]

Gooooooood Morning Tamriel!

Ah'vrie wishes you well. It is Fredas the 27th of Hearthfires and divines be praised the weekend is nigh. It is a sticky predawn here on warm sands. It would seem the tyranny of the sun does not want to surrender without a fight this year, but Ah'vrie is still thankful of open window weather. The blessed moons continue to wane through the final crescents and will be new on Middas. But for now it is time once again for this one to tend the inn for our most honored guests. Excuse please while the fires are stoked, and fresh water is brought to a boil.

Our brew of the day is Inspirazione a Venezia, and the biscuits are ginger zingers. Checking the hot sheets we have 60 new mods from all the usual suspects. Let's see what catches the eye of an old cat over a fresh cuppa or two...

aaofyi released Skeever Tail Shack as a fries 'real' mod. Welcome
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecial ... ods/130238
"This skeever free shack, located just north of Riften, is a perfect survival home for the Dragonborn. Hide from your bounty in the Rift or shack up in comfort on your travels. You will find a loyal stead in the stable, and a new dagger inside."

Fairly typical of a first player home mod. All vanilla assets, TARDIS interior, or in this case rather that they chose the wrong interior floor plan for the farmhouse model they picked. The devil's in the details of course, the old cat is not thrilled with the addition of an open fire pit in the basement with a second cooking spit on it, and no chimney... We all have to start somewhere. Thanks, keep working at your craft and someday...

Furiant released Faehaven
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecial ... ods/130252
"A small village dedicated to one of the Eldergleam's offspring, a tree known as Faeweldyn. Become their new Springkeeper and live in harmony with nature. A modest player home with full crafting facilities, a simple travel system, a several other unique features."

A mashup of Telvani mushroom house parts and Eldergleam roots, mixed with normal shacks and a windmill. TARDIS interior with treasure displays... Very inventive, but screams noob on so many levels. Worth a look, but PASS.

Kspace released Hamlet of Northshore Landing
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecial ... ods/130234
"This mod re-imagines Northshore Landing, previously a single ruined hut next to a dock, as a little abandoned hamlet. The design is meant to invoke the idea of a once burgeoning colony that has been ransacked and left to fall in to ruin."

Nice concept, and proper kit piece selection, but some questionable choices, like having an active smelter in a location with nothing to mine. adding two additional shacks does give the place the feel of an abandoned fishing / horker skinning camp. Adding a Skaal hunting camp close enough to throw stones at the Thalmor makes this a miss for the old cat. But worth a look. Thanks

Tem's Houses - Olava The Feeble
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecial ... ods/130246
"Lightweight, vanilla overhaul of Olava The Feeble's home interior. ESL Flagged."

Nicely updated like the rest. Ah'vrie likes the crystal ball on the table, but the added soul gems take away from the effect a bit... A little more to steel for a thief. Thanks, we'll give this one a cookie.

Erik1988 released Riften HQ
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecial ... ods/130240
"The original was created because the vanilla texture was low quality. The vanilla textures have become better since then (2011), but this mod still provides a slight variation from the vanilla."

An updated port of their Oldrim mod. Very much still vanilla, slightly upscaled textures, Worth a look if you really want to keep the vanilla feel of the city. Only subtle improvements. Thanks, we don't see many mods that put a shine on vanilla. Have a cookie

Tomato's Caves and Mines
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecial ... ods/130191
"Caves and Mines with Complex Parallax Material"
"I cranked the parallax here, you might see some stretching in tight areas. Worth it I think.
They are mostly 4k and some 2k. This is best since caves tend to stretch heaps."

Worth a look. The choice of iron bearing slate on some of the interior mine walls is interesting. We'll choose not to notice how the direction of the sediments layers magically change between the walls and the ceiling LOL. Pushing the tessellation algorithms does expose some seams, and stretching, but the overall effect is quite good. Thanks, we love choices. You can have a cookie as well. The old cat is in a good mood.

Let's see... naChooey hit us with 4 revamped 'The eyes of Beauty' mods
https://next.nexusmods.com/profile/naCh ... ameId=1704
Basically upscaled versions of the original mods with patches for UBE and COTR. Very nicely done, All ESL flagged, the original mods are not required as permissions only request the original author credited.

If you like and use the eyes of beauty, these are the versions you want to use. 2 cookies

And that's it for today. We'll mention Halffaces released Sovngarde mead. clean and shiny as usual. 'Only' 278 meg The old cat is now convinced these mods are strictly for screen archers. Most look great, and I'm sure you can stage some great pics, but the Vram usage would almost make the game unplayable.

The fires are stoked, the kettles scrubbed, and the floors are swept. Have a seat by the fires and warm your bones. We-B-Open!