Uglykidcid's Abodes-Hideouts-Player Homes Blob(er Blog)

[uglykidcid]

Uglykidcid's Abodes-Hideouts-Player Homes Blob(er Blog)

 

So basically I decided to test every housing mod in the top 20 and after I got through a few I decided I should share my experiences.  I am going to put the recommended mods in order that I personally like them.  The not recommended mods are in no particular order.  Keep in mind that this is my opinion and that every mod here is a highly endorsed mod so I am not testing garbage at all.  I am a Dark Lord of the Sith and I don't care what you think.  But I do love a good argument so I encourage you to offer feedback.  Being a military man I will substitute lengthy explanations with the bottom line up front.

 

NOTE TO MODERATORS (and everyone else)  When Rayek's End Enhanced is finished it will be uploaded correctly to a download page.

 

Recommend

 

Rayek's End Enhanced (GS) by Rayek & Kuhlserv & UKC

Without a doubt this is my absolute favorite housing mod.  Rayek made my favorite Fallout home: Mini-hideout as well.  This is a simple waterfall cave hideout with an enormous attention to detail and few bugs.  I currently have permission and am working on Rayek's End Enhanced which adds a basement vault with mannequins, shield racks, weapons racks, and unique items displays.  I put considerable attention to the tune of hundreds of hours into the lighting of the original cave removing blinking lights and adding shadows where appropriate.  The main mod containers are converted to General Stores (Cloud Storage) which means you MUST clear out all the original chests before you install this.  I thought long and hard about adding GS and then I decided it was too good to pass up.  Cloud storage is the greatest invention for Skyrim since bouncing breast so try it.  If you really don't want to try General Stores I won't change the mod but I will gladly overcharge you for an eight-track player and a tape drive for a Commodore 64 since you are obviously scared to death of superior technology (the point here is to get General Stores).   Rayeks End Enhanced (GS)  <--LOOK A DOWNLOAD: (GS) Version BETA!!! (General Stores is Required, you don't need to save outside but you MUST clear out all chests except the four next to the bed or you will lose everything!!!!)

 

Underground Bathhouse and Paradise Valley by Andragon

This mod is very well made and as far as I can tell bug free. I consider this a must for anyone who uses LL mods. It does not appear to conflict with other popular mods as the mod uses it's own cells.  The colors, ambiance, and level of detail are just breath taking.  On a functional side you can replace all of the mod's NPCs with your own and the mod is very well organized for convenience of crafting and storage.  One amazing feature is the mod offers a teleport room that truly goes just about anywhere in Skyrim.  The mod has optional esps which move may features to individual rooms.  I highly recommend using the following features and merging them for performance gains:  Underground Bathhouse Merged V6-02

02 Version:  Sexy 

03 Wall Tapestry: Use Tapestry add-on

04 NPCs: 02 Unique NPCs

              03 All NPC Invite

05 Cell Files: 03 Cavern

                    04 Dark Area

                    05 Display Room

                    07 Maintenance Room

06 Adoption: Use Adoption Addon 

 

Dovahkiins Basement NEW Version by kuhlserv

This mod is is already General Stores compatible and features mannequins, shield racks and weapons racks, and Dragon Priest Mask and unique items displays.  I like this because it's small and compact.  I am getting away from large housing mods and this works well.  I only wish there were more unique items displays.  The lighting and ambiance are excellent and the author adds some non-interactive undead NPCs that wander around and protect your vault.

 

Aemer's Refuge by Masterofshadows and LeanWolf

This mod like all of Leanwolf's mods is extremely high quality.  I found no bugs with this mod and the lighting was excellent.  The teleport tower system which transports you to any vanilla player home including the DLCs is flawless.  Because the teleport portal appears and disappears when triggered by a rune it does not conflict with most modded player home.  The house is very large and easy to get lost in so I recommend learning it inside and out but it has everything you could ask for.  I am actually moving away from these larger player homes as I like to get in and out but if you want a unique dungeon feeling home with a lot of unique areas this is the best one out there.

 

Dev Aveza - Airship by Deapri

This is the funnest house mod.  Even if you have no interest in keeping it you should try it out.  I found no bugs but there are some limitations to Skyrim and flying ships.  This airship has cannons, planks, ladders, and they all work.  The interior has three options from one room to many with auto sorters.  The Exterior also has three options the last including cannons.  The author had the foresight to include an MCM menu with just about every fix possible.  The only downside is that if you have a script heavy game it will slow down the ship functions.  The ship auto dismounts at under 20 FPS to prevent CTD.  I am at 60 FPS most of the time but drop a good 20 FPS when using the ship so it might be a good idea to tone down on graphics while flying.  This mod is nothing short of shear genius.

 

Breezehome Fully Upgradable by Sku11M0nkey

Without a doubt this is my second favorite housing mod.  Of course, it hits top of the list just for being in Whiterun.  But this house is amazing.  I run this with Open Cities with no problems.  The only bug I have seen so far is that the weapons portion of the shield racks stops working after you place and remove a weapon from them.  Rayek's end opens up perfectly into the Breezehome.  So these top two mods compliment each other very well.

 

Legend of the Eagle's Nest General Stores Edition by draco original by FlashoShi

This version fixes the game ruining navmesh errors of the original and adds General Stores.  What's not to love?  It's a small but near perfect house with all most everything you need including airship parking.  There is a small quest that keeps the house from being a cheat.  Problems: The kitchen cooking pot will not allow you to cook if you have sneaktools (I made a patch though) which is suicide for iNeeds or R&D folks like me. The facegen folders have to be renamed or you'll get the grey face bug.  

 

Elisdriel - Bosmer inspired tree house by Elianora

Without a doubt this mod hits number one for originality and beauty.  Items are static so you can't mess it up.  Custom music makes you feel like you have warped into a New Age Crystal Blue shop.  She adds crafting for poison arrows and I love archery.  I found no bugs at all.  This house is amazingly beautiful and I highly recommend it for anyone who likes woodsy themes or like me just wants a tree house get away.

 

Thief Player Home in Riften Canal by Elianora

This was the last Elianora mod I tested.  This house really fits a Thief/Assassin Character perfectly.  It is also the only Elianora mod in a major city that offered an Open Cities patch which is why I tested none of her other major city mods.  The home opens into the canal as well as into the Ragged Flagon.  It offers a far better ambiance for role-playing an assassin/thief then anything I ever encountered in the vanilla game while keeping you physically tied into the thieves guild which is something vanilla Honeyside could never offer.  The only problem I found with this mod is that it uses many assets like textures that overwrite popular mods. 

 

Darkwater Den - Argonian themed home by Elianora

Like the Tree house this mod has amazing attention to detail, secret rooms, and unique abilities.  In this case it comes with a mirror that works like showracemenu.  The Argonian theme just means it's really wet.  If you have Frostfall be prepared to warm up once you get inside. This home is an underwater cave get away.  Although Rayek's end is also a cave they have nothing in common as this cave actually gets your character soaking wet and is really nature themed.  I don't believe Elianora intended for players to use more then one of her house mods at a time as I have discovered she reuses the names of her meshes but they are different and will conflict badly. This is an easy fix however and I am thinking of merging several of her homes outside of the major cities with a fix.  I recommend this mod as yet another low FPS impact and bug free; small yet fully equiped getaway that adds just a little extra spice to this game. 

 

Vellamo - Mage Home in Winterhold by Elianora

This is another quaint little cottage by Elianora.  If you play as a mage then you reall want this mod.  It has a staff crafting table and would rival the CDC with its alchemical lab.  It is very mage specific and well tailored for that class exclusively.  The attention to detail is amazing.  Everything is well organized, sorted, and labeled.  All interior items are static so you can't knock them over.  The house is very small so it's more like a mage get away but it's packed full of everything you need plus a host of pleasant surprises and secret compartments.  The mod has no effect on FPS and makes Winterhold less of a Poophole town by adding something there (like an outhouse).  These little Elianora houses add spice to the game without intrusion.  Her work quality is high, her lore is friendly and her obtrusion is low. 

 

Amethyst Hollows Dream World by AmethystDeceiver

I was fascinated with the entire concept of this mod.  The sunset is beautiful especially with an ENB.  The mannequins are controllable.  You can make them disappear if you are not using them.  The ambience is amazing.  But I don't like needing the Tupor to get there.  I know there are ways around it like using Selene Kate custom home teleportation but still it's annoying.  I don't like how this mod uses multiple and unnecessary plugins.  Also if you can fly the surrounding area is not finished.  I have enough houses that this did not offer me anything new so I will not be using it this play through but I highly recommend it if you want a real get away where even reality is not to be found.  It is an amazingly beautiful mod reflective of the authors other high quality works.  Be sure to get Skyrim Optimization Project's Occlusion Culling Patch for this.

 

Reapers the Dark Tower by Reaper

Without a doubt this is the most evil themed player home and you must be wondering why the commander of the legions of the Army of Darkness does not have this as his favorite?  Well the NPCs use vanilla hair and the Armors are only CBBE.  I woudl to have to go back and do a lot of work to get it right but the author will not allow me to make a patch so I do not currently use this mod.  There is also one error in TES5edit.  I believe in attention to detail.  But the house is really well done.  The interior is beautiful and does have a lot of attention to detail in custom static items, wall hangings, and small things.  Items are static so you can't ruin it.  I love being able to fast travel from inside.  Since I fly I like the tower perch.  The layout is very well thought out.  The ambiance is perfect.  I believe this is a house truly befitting Glen Danzig.  If you use CBBE (or don't mind atrocious clipping) I highly recommend this mod for dark characters.

 

Evil Lair of Hydra - Player Home With Sexy Girls by Hydralisk

This mod is buggy as hell but it's so cool who cares.  Sometimes you just have to embrace the suck.  This mod is a truly devious player home with everything that makes devious adult content great.  The Dark Lords of ancient Sith past would have envied this pinnacle of deviant perfection.  I recommend running this only after you are done with your game or on a save you don't care about.  Also, clean it with TES5Edit.

 

 

Do Not Recommend

 

Bathing Beauties or Beefcake - Luxury Suite by Migal

It is a pretty mod with a lot of support but it is near incompatible with everything.  CTDs will be common.  Go ahead and hate me for this as I know it is the most popular housing mod.  If you only goal is to have Skyrim as a smut game then go for it.  I love my adult content but I also like to play the game.  This mod is simply not a good idea for a heavily modded or scripted set up.  If you use this it should be the cornerstone of your entire game.  I like immersion mods and they don't play well.  I do hghly recommend Underground Bathhouse by the same author.

 

The Asteria by mattcm

​This is not a bad mod at all.  It is well deserving of endorsements but...It's a flying ship that doesn't fly.  Seems kind of pointless to me.  The house is beautifully done with a lot of attention to detail.  This mod requires cleaning with TES5Edit.

 

Deus Mons by eldiabs

I was not surprised to see that other posters thought this mod was overrated.  The screenshots look better then the mod.  It was not a bad mod overall but the interior is a little confusing and the exterior has a number of graphical glitches.  The bottom line with this mod is the ESM is corrupt and you have to be downright moronic to intentionally run a corrupt ESM.  Stay away from this unless you want epic game failure.

 

Halls of Dovahndor by Okiir

This has to be the most epic mod of all time.  Even the mannequins are twice normal size.   You have to complete the main quest to get this as reward making this a very lore friendly mod in my opinion.  The house is absolutely beautiful.  If Valhalla exists this is it.  I recommend everyone download it to see something truly astounding but don't run it until it's fixed.  If you can fly the finishing touches are lacking.  The mod is so big that it has issues.  I found myself falling through the floor into the void constantly.  If I didn't have flying spell handy I would have died twenty times in twenty minutes.  Even the guards are falling through the floor in some places.  Also, you can look out the window and see unfinished floor.  On a grand scale this mod is epic but in attention to detail it is plummeting (no pun intended).

 

Lakeview Extended by Ac3s

I am really on the fence with this mod.  I absolutely love it from the layout to the amenities but it is an FPS killer.  The problem with this mod is Bethesda more then the mod.  The author recently incorporated occlusion culling which made the mod tolerable versus constant CTDs however it is still a killer.  You will notice a 30-40 FPS drop depending on which way you are facing while standing in the same spot.  This mod would need a lot of optimization to be worth it.  Otherwise it is not a stable base of operations.  If you run this I would use the no NPC version as it greatly helps FPS and the NPCs use vanilla hairs anyways.  Even though the mod itself is fairly lore friendly the way you get everything is not.  You simply install the mod and everything is there.  Something like this should be earned.  Also the author recommends only installing after completing your base house.  I don't like mods that cannot be installed on a new character.  A light version of this would be great and I would run it in a heartbeat.  It would also need a system like Breezehome Fully Upgradable where the base mod is purchased so that you can use this on a new character.  The author also has an add-on that adds a room to the basement which I recommend.

 

Gypsy Eyes Caravan by berticu0001 

This mod appears to be well made and bug free.  The game physics for carriage rides is not that great though.  This mod is very cool if you like traveling with your house.  It is somewhat redundant if you already have Dev Aveza which allows for quite a bit more freedom of movement.  You cannot fast travel with it so no DLCs but if you are an outdoorsy type I recommend it.  If you don't run General Stores (which you should) this is great sorting tool.  With General Stores, however, it is redundant and less capable.  The only thing that really struck me as a solid no go was that it rained inside the caravan building and under the tents.  I am not sure if this would get you drenched with Frostfall or not.

 

Legend of the Eagle's Nest by FlashoShi

This mod has a serious error and the author has not responded or fixed it.  I will not test or recommend this mod until the issue is fixed, however, the General Stores version listed above is fixed and it is in my top five best homes of all time.  I highly recommend it.

[gokuzeny]

I loved underground hideout in fallout, also the lair of hydra was interesting.

[anim8ss4]

My fave so far is the "Legend of the Eagle's Nest" player home.

[Slammer64]

I use Rayek's End myself, slightly customized, love it. It's perfect for the loner character i.e. Assassin, Thief, etc. Another favorite of my is Skystone Castle, with the female NPC addon to add eye-cancdy.

[uglykidcid]

Check out my merger if you like Rayek's end.  I basically gave it a basement.

 

"Legend of the Eagle's Nest" player home is on my list to test  I am going to add a testing soon list.

 

 

 

[Slammer64]

Thanks uglykidcid, I'll check it out on my next playthrough.

[uglykidcid]

Well actually I changed nothing of the original Rayek's End. So you could install my version right on top and you would be fine. Since no original form IDs or scripts changed, no clean save is needed. None of your storage will be effected at all.

[exceed82]

i am using this house

it just got update to an even better one.

U should try it out

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/33661/?

[XJ347]

 

Breezehome Fully Upgradable by Sku11M0nkey

Without a doubt this is my second favorite housing mod.  Of course, it hits top of the list just for being in Whiterun.  But this house is amazing.  I run this with Open Cities with no problems.  The only bug I have seen so far is that the weapons portion of the shield racks stops working after you place and remove a weapon from them.  Rayek's end opens up perfectly into the Breezehome.  So these top two mods compliment each other very well.

 

 

Well I agree with this for sure. I have used it for a while now and it is a must have.

 

I plan to start a new game shortly for a street rat rogue type, going to make a custom Child NPC to the the players younger sister. So I will try the mini hideout you recommend for that play though.

[Pfactor]

My favorite is Berts Breezehome Remodel. 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/8922/?

 

It is a must for me because it lets me empty out my pockets in an instant and no other mod I've tried has worked. Other mods that say they use the same spells never worked for me.

 

As far as the Bathing Beauties, I had a lot of problems at first, but it's been well over a year since anything terrible has happened. It's a great place when you're starting out, free player home, free income and it lets you house followers there along with the interaction dialogue it comes with. That being said, I rarely need to visit the place, I stay in Breezehome 95% of the time. 

[uglykidcid]

I have decided to take my crappy Rayek's end merger and turn it in to something beautiful with hopefully the help of Elianora.

[Rayblue]

 

Breezehome Fully Upgradable by Sku11M0nkey

Without a doubt this is my second favorite housing mod.  Of course, it hits top of the list just for being in Whiterun.  But this house is amazing.  I run this with Open Cities with no problems.  The only bug I have seen so far is that the weapons portion of the shield racks stops working after you place and remove a weapon from them.  Rayek's end opens up perfectly into the Breezehome.  So these top two mods compliment each other very well.

 

I used this ever since Hearthfire forced me to abandon a vanilla-only Breezehome mod. Given Whiterun's central location it's essential that it should be the proper home base, to be able to do anything and store all sorts of collectibles and supplies.

 

Most other home mods I picked on the basis that I need a small, convenient place to stop for the night or shelter from bad weather, and to serve as bases for followers and further exploration. Personally, I don't want fancy doodads such as light switches, and if I have to dump stuff immediately I use General Storage with Craftable Storage.

[Buddy Christ]

This one is a nice starter home to get you going with a house:

 

Hunters Cabin of Riverwood by Okiir http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/15878/?

 

The DL is only 110kb and it is nice for some early storage, you have to get the key first and it is not too

blown out of proportion for a starter home.

 

I wanted to try "Legend of the Eagle's Nest", but the wind bug was too annoying for me.

 

 

[uglykidcid]

Rayek's end is on the road right after Riverwood making it also a great starter home

[uglykidcid]

I am now looking into the General Storage mods.

[uglykidcid]

So I really like the General Store mod.  I plan to incorporate this into Rayek's End.  I realize someone already did this but I can do a better job.  I will likely turn the basement into more of a Markarth theme that has waterfalls.  It will be the same dimensions I just don't like the look.  It shoudl be pretty wet down there considering it's under a river.  I want to make it look a lot nicer and remove the redundant crafting.

[gokuzeny]

I cannot play skyrim without general storage ever since i discovered it, one of the best ideas ever.

[uglykidcid]

I really need feedback on Rayek's End Extended.  I plan to publish this one.  Any and all advice is welcome.  The very last thing I will do is occlusion culling.  I don't plan to modify the top much so it does't effect anyone's current game, just the basement.

[uglykidcid]

I put a full blown BETA up.  I can't figure out how to make underwater visible.  Any help would be appreciated. 

 

Update:  I figured out the water and I am adding pillars underwater.  Will release today.

[Buddy Christ]

I checked the basement, a lot of space there

 

Are you planning a claw display as well?

 

And can you tell me if a mod that would replace the wooden mannequins with female ones will work?

I have so many nice armors for my female char, I would love to have them on display in their female variant

 

 

Oh, that was probably not clear enough to be feedback:

 

It is a really nicely done basement addition. I am not that much of a fan for the Dwemer style, but this one works very well.

 

 

[uglykidcid]

I use Mannequins look like you MLLY and it works great.  Funny you mention the claw as it was one of the reasons I did this.  I will get to that eventually.  My first goal is to lay out the basic structure to see what the FPS looks like so that you don't CTD from too much clutter when you start adding armor and weapons.  The Dwemer architecture tends to be less heavy on the FPS but this is a Dwemer-Riften hybrid so kind of a mix really to lighten the mood.  About to post an update.  I fixed the water but now I have pink light i can't figure out.

[uglykidcid]

If the basement is purple is has something to do with the latest Nvidia driver but rolling back doesn't fix it.

 

Well I was wrong it was very powerful Dawnguard lighting underwater.

[uglykidcid]

Major overhaul and tweaks with many bug fixes.  All cells are built just need to arrange everything.  Not everything is linked to activate yet.  That is my next goal.  Not going to add any storage or crafting to basement as it was intended for displays and shrines.  I attempted to make separate/secret living space for vampire characters so that if you are not one you don't see coffins but it's a little bit odd at the moment.

[uglykidcid]

I did considerable work on Rayek's End Extended.  I need to fix some cosmetics, add ivy, and add the claw display.

[uglykidcid]

I have been testing the basement today as well as General Stores, Cloudstorage, Dawngaurd(GS), and Hearthfires(GS) and I highly recommend all four. I have requested that Rayek and the author of the display mods take a look. I am going to work on adding general stores, however, if anyone doesn't want General Stores let me know although I think it's one of the best mods ever for this game. Since General Stores already includes and display case for claws and bug jars it may not be necessary to add them to the basement.

 

I will test Eagle's Nest tomorrow. I started to test it and it's in a great location. There is a LOOT/BOSS warning though about deleted navigation meshes.