Holds The City Overhaul
⚪ Last updated 2020⚠️ Install Order · 3 steps
Install in this order, then this mod last — most mods fail to load without their framework and dependencies in place.
Preview
🔍 Analysis
- 👍 2.1% endorsement rate — high engagement, a strong quality signal
- 🏆 #5 of 54 Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets mods in this game by downloads
📋 About This Mod
Holds is a city overhaul project which focuses on what I think are the weaknesses of Skyrim compared to the older Elder Scrolls titles. The mod expands upon the cities of Skyrim and adds more settlements, architecture, outfits, books and named characters with their own backgrounds, homes and daily routines while ensuring they feel natural and realistic.
Falkreath, Winterhold, Morthal and Dawnstar have been rebuilt from scratch with their own unique designs. The mod also adds a bundle of new settlements like Amber Guard and Black Moor. Most of these new settlements have been placed far out of the way and hidden from view to not ruin the expansive wilderness theme of the game. The aim of all of this is to create a more memorable and diverse experience, making the cities actually feel like cities hopefully without ruining the natural and realistic design of the vanilla game.
This is not a botanical garden mod, nor is it a beautification mod. Holds aims to stay as lore-friendly as possible and at the same time expand on the backgrounds and stories for its locations.
I started working on this project late November 2012 and have devoted averagely two hours a day to the creation kit. One of the reasons I felt this project was necessary was the announcement of various modding projects adding new content to the game. The problem, for me was how expansive their cities looked compared to the cities in Skyrim. Coming into Skyrim from Oblivion I was expecting there to be a 'Better Cities' mod available early on, but there wasn't and I missed the features the Oblivion City Overhaul brought to the game.
The mod adds a variety of new books written by myself and Alfredasl which attempts to flesh out the land and history of Skyrim. They are spread to three locations: the Book Store in Falkreath, the Haafingar Library in Solitude and The Palace of Kings Library in Windhelm.
Any criticism, questions, and help will be greatly appreciated, even the criticism. However I will have to ask that you make constructive criticism; your opinion does matter and could very well inspire me to make changes, however I have designed this project with myself in mind.
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Installation and Requirements
Make sure that you have a stable and performance friendly game.
It is higly recommended to install ENBoost. Holds uses a lot of memory and might crash unless ENBoost is installed.
Check out the STEP guide on how to install ENBoost.
http://wiki.step-project.com/ENBoost
DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768
ScrapHeapSizeMB=256
in SKSE.ini to make sure you don't get infinite loading screen.
I advice installing the mod manually. I have no experience with the mod installer tools and therefor I cannot be much help,
Holds The City Overhaul expands Skyrim's cities, giving each settlement a unique design. It adds books, named characters, items, and outfits. With over 12,500 endorsements and 600,000 downloads, it's a popular overhaul for players seeking more immersive urban environments.
✨ Key Features
📊 Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Huge community trust with 12,566 endorsements and over 600k downloads.
- Adds lore-friendly content like books and named NPCs to make cities feel alive.
- Gives each hold a distinct visual identity, so no two cities feel the same.
⚠️ Cons
- Last updated in 2020 — may have compatibility issues with newer Skyrim versions or mods.
- Large overhaul mods like this can conflict with other city mods, so load order is critical.
For Skyrim players who want their cities to feel more unique and lived-in without overhauling gameplay. If you're tired of generic towns and want extra lore flavor, this is for you. Skip if you prefer minimal changes or use other city overhauls that might conflict.
💡 Beginner Tips
- Use a mod manager like Vortex or Mod Organizer 2 to handle installation and load order easily.
- Check for compatibility patches if you use other city mods, and place Holds appropriately in your load order.
- Start a new save or make a clean save before installing to avoid issues with existing world data.
📊 Mod Details
- Game
- Skyrim LE Mods
- Author
- Galandil
- Version
- 0.0.9
- Downloads
- 607,448
- Endorsements
- 12,566
- Category
- Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets
- Created
- 4/2/2016
- Updated
- 3/20/2020
🔧 How to Install Skyrim LE Mods
Download from Nexus.
📖 Full step-by-step install guide for Skyrim LE →
Visit the official mod page for specific installation instructions for this mod.
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