This mod will replace all but one of the different Holds' guard armors with custom armors based off of the official High Res Texture Pack textures.

Details

Originally this mod started out as a personal project to recreate "Every city have various guard outfits TS Edition" using Bethesda's high res textures as a base, but as I got more familiar with the tools I decided that I wanted to do things differently.

• Dawnstar, Morthal, and Falkreath have entirely different armors.
• Markarth still uses heavy steel, but the texture, helm, boots, and gauntlets are very different.
• Whiterun has a different texture (similar to Laurens RNG Whiterun guard texture) along with matching boots and gauntlets.
• Solitude just uses Imperial Heavy armor now.
• Riften is probably the most similar to the original mod, aside from resolution, but I did recolor the fabrics to be a bit more vibrant.
• Winterhold also didn't see a lot of changes aside from the higher resolution, but the guards did get a new helmet, the ability to carry their shields, and matching boots and gauntlets.
• Windhelm's guards have not been modified.
• Stormcloak and Imperial soldiers have also been left completely alone.

Also, some of the heavier looking armor has been balanced to vanilla Imperial Heavy armor values instead of the vanilla Guard/Stormcloak armor values. The lighter armor still retains the same stats as the vanilla Guard/Stormcloak armor. I think the armors make a bit more sense like this without changing the balance too much.

Recommended Mods

• Official High Resolution Texture Pack DLC
• Diverse Guards Skyrim
• Guard Dialogue Overhaul

Incompatibility

• Every city have various guard oufits TS Edition
• Laurens RNG Guards
• Any other mod that edits the guard outfits

Note:

• If you have mods that replace the default normal maps (*_n.dds) or models (*.nif) for certain armor pieces (like iron armor or steel gauntlets) you may get unexpected results. It's not going to crash your game, but it may look weird.
• This mod was designed to work with the normal maps in Bethesda's High Res Texture Pack.
• I have tested Hvergelmirs Armor Retexture and aMidianBorn's armors with this mod, and I have not seen any drastic problems, just a few minor issues, so they could both be considered to be compatible.
• If you have Cloaks in Skyrim this mod must load AFTER that one.
• I have made an alternate plugin file for Cloaks in Skyrim, and it also must load AFTER Cloaks in Skyrim. The alternate plugin is only necessary if you want the guards to wear the cloaks from that mod. Note that some of the cloaks have serious clipping issues and/or noticeable color differences with some of the armors in this mod. Riften and Winterhold are probably the most noticeable.
• If you choose to use the alternate ESP then you must disable DistinctHoldGuards.esp. You should NOT have both running at the same time.
• If you are already using DistinctHoldGuards.esp and want to switch to the CiS compatible version then you will need to make a clean save, or you will have naked guards.

Known Issues or Bugs

• There may be clipping issues with some of the vanilla base helmets and certain hairstyles. These same issues are present in vanilla Skyrim.
• The helmets from the Witcher 2 Helmets mod may also have hair clipping issues, and they are not compatible with beast races. I do not have the modeling skills required to fix this.
• Currently, the post Civil War guards in the towns that lost have the vanilla Stormcloak or Imperial armor on. I will be making an esp to bring the guards back to pre-Civil War outfits.
• Some of the normal maps on the new armors aren't as detailed as I'd like. I keep trying different techniques and tools, but none have made me happy yet.

Manual Uninstall

• Start Skyrim, click Data Files, and uncheck DistinctHoldGuards.esp.
• Delete these folders:
  - Data\meshes\armor\DistinctHoldGuards
  - Data\textures\armor\DistinctHoldGuards
• Delete the .esp:
  - DistinctHoldGuards.esp
  ---OR---
  - DistinctHoldGuards - Cloaks.esp

History

1.0 - Initial release.
1.1 - Updated some missing/incorrect texture sets for the female armors. Uploaded a new Cloaks in Skyrim compatible plugin file.

Contact

Just send me a PM.

Credits

• Witcher 2 Helmet Pack by redxavier - for the helmets used by the Morthal, Falkreath, and Winterhold guards.
• Chainmail Texture Resource by Edocsil - for the chainmail texture used on the Morthal and Falkreath armors.

Thanks

• Every city have various guard oufits TS Edition - for the fantastic mod which inspired this project.
• Bethesda - for creating the game and encouraging the modding of it.
• CDProjektRed - for allowing the use of their assets.
• The entire Nexus Network - for being the best place to get mods.

Tools Used

• GIMP 2.8 - to modify the textures
• NIFSkope - to modify the nifs from the Witcher 2 Helmet Pack
• DDSOpt - to optimize the textures
• Creation Kit - to create the esp
• TES5Edit - to make sure the esp was clean
• Lhammond's Readme Generator - to create the readme/description

Check out my other mods!

• Smash It Up - Functional Mills