1.7 Update: relatively small update, mainly to fix some bugs with the previous update! Fixed issue in some vendors' cells (specifically their vendor chests), as well as nudged around some other things (pathfinding, decor) in those cells. Fixed an issue with a vendor's dialogue having the wrong conditions. Added a guard dog to the shop "The First Stand", and some more silly dialogue to the butcher, Laliacaano. Changed the AI packages from the same 2 NPCs (Haj-Eidu and Tsabhuki) as last time again... I think I fixed the issue they were having before with entering the shop, however I haven't tested it as thoroughly as I prefer yet, so for now they both shop at Sickly Bernice's. Also added unique NPC interactions with some vanilla NPCs! They are the following:

You can give forks to Big Head in exchange for some gold! There is also a special and unique fork somewhere in New Sheoth :o

You can give a new pair of pants to Fimmion the beggar (after you take his for Ahjazda's quest)! You get nothing in exchange for doing this except for the fact there won't be a pants-less Bosmer walking around Bliss anymore, lol.
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1.05 Update, is I guess what I'll call this: it's the "Lite" version! Essentially the same as the original 1.0 release of the mod (hence why this version is called 1.05), but with some of the bugfixes and tweaks from the then-current 1.2 version. Not of all the changes made it over and the ones that did are not exactly 1:1, because I am a mere mortal and cannot recreate a mod perfectly, lol. Changes have been made to reflect changes made in the USIP. Some bits of scenery and items here and there removed, primarily in Crucible, in order to be more performance friendly. Again, because this is the Lite version, it does not include Fellmoor, Split, Vitharn, the greatly expanded Crucible, the town guards, etc. but will hopefully result in better framerate for those who need it.

If you don't want to radically change Crucible, either for aesthetic reasons or for performance reasons* then the 1.05 Lite version is for you! The 1.5 version of SICE is the whole mod.

*Admittedly, I do experience lag in New Sheoth and especially in Crucible - however, a) the lag is when I intentionally look across the densest part of the city, and b) I do not play Oblivion on a proper gaming rig. So if you avoid intentionally staring at the things that cause lots of lag and play on a decent machine, you'll probably have less lag than I do!
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Original description: I love running around the Shivering Isles, but the various towns and settlements are so small that you never really have reason to go there! New Sheoth is a bit better in that regard, but it's still very empty - especially as various quests progress. SI Cities Expanded (which I will shorten to SICE for convenience) aims to fix that by adding new NPCs, new vendors, new buildings (with interiors!), and new decor to some of the cities in question. I've made personal mods before, however SICE is the first mod I'm ever releasing publicly, so I hope you enjoy! :) I kept track of each change I made as I made them, so here is a quite comprehensive description.


In HALE, there are 4 new buildings added with 9 new NPCs, 2 of which are vendors selling "baubles" (actually things like jewelry and soul gems) and arrows and 1 more offering repairs. The central plaza was improved. An enemy spawn point outside of town was moved further away because it was causing trouble. Minimal landscaping was done, primarily in the area near the entrance. Halion's "poetry spot" and Tall-Trees-Falling's "work spot" were moved so they weren't stuck in the scenery.


In HIGHCROSS, there are 4 new buildings and 6 new NPCs, 2 of which are vendors selling iron weapons and books/scrolls. The enclosures of Mirili's creatures were improved. Minimal landscaping was done to ensure ease of walking around without getting stuck. One of Bruscus Dannus' "sweep spots" was moved so he wasn't stuck in a tree.


In DEEPWALLOW, there are 4 new buildings, one of which is a camp not an interior building. There are 6 new NPCs, 2 of which are vendors selling "hunting goods" (actually weapons and creature ingredients) and wine/food. The "camp" is actually a restaurant area where the wine/food vendor stands. The farm area was much improved - 2 of the new NPCs will actually work in the farm, too!


In CRUCIBLE, there are 4 new buildings (and a tent) added with 12 new NPCs, 2 of which are vendors selling books/scrolls and meats. Flora and general clutter were added all over the place. Some bridges were added across the sewage muck. I used the "settlement" set instead of any of the actual New Sheoth buildings to give the new buildings a "rundown" sort of vibe, as the new buildings are primarily in the back sewer area.


In BLISS, there are 2 new buildings (and a tent) added with 7 new NPCs, 1 of which is a vendor selling ingredients and lockpicks. Flora (both harvestable and static) and general clutter were added all over the place. 2 non-interior camp tents were set up, 1 for the new vendor and 1 for the NPC Uungor. I used the "settlement" set instead of any of the actual New Sheoth buildings to give the new buildings a "rundown" sort of vibe, as the new buildings are primarily in the back alley.


In FELLMOOR, there are 4 houses added with 9 NPCs, 2 of which are vendors (they share a shop). One of these vendors is also a fence. There are many rocks added to make the town more closed off and defined. The two lone groups of plants became ponds with waterfalls, and some water effects were added to make it seem like a stream. Many other flora and statics were added, generally to make it seem like an active farm that produced wines. Pathgrids were both added and fleshed out. Some landscape height changes were made.


In CRUCIBLE, everything from the 1.0 version still applies, and more! This update adds 12 NPCs, 6 of which are vendors (and 2 of which are fences), bringing the total to 24 NPCs added to Crucible. Alongside them are 5 houses, 1 tent, and 2 exterior tents. The duelists' "arena" now has a couple more plates and food and such on the tables - they're even set to enable and disable like the rest of the drinks do! I focused heavily on Crucible as it suffers very much from loss of NPCs due to quests - that, combined with its already very large and empty nature, left Crucible feeling desolate at times.


In SPLIT, there are 2 new characters, each with a Mania and Dementia version bringing it up to 4 new NPCs total, and 4 houses added respectively. They are entirely unconnected from the quest that takes place there! Perhaps someday I'll integrate them into the quest, or add in a way to disable or enable them according to which version of the quest you chose, but that day is not today. Fighting them will probably just make everyone in the settlement mad at you as expected, lol. Much in the way of flora and statics were added. Though there were very few landscape height changes, much of the landscape textures have changed - largely to switch out non-grassy grass with grassy grass.


In VITHARN, there is... well, technically 1 new NPC, but it's just a friendly baliwog! He's entirely unrelated to the quest that takes place, and has no quest attached to him or anything! There are now 5 ruined houses added throughout the existing ruins, just with minor loot inside. Some pathgrids were changed, expanded, and added in and around the ruins. Most of the changes were in landscaping (not a lot of height changes beyond making the new houses accessible, just shadows and textures of the ground), decor, and lighting. There weren't any ghost spawn points added or moved, so there shouldn't be any issues with the quest of Vitharn!


In PASSWALL, there is... nothing, actually. At least, not yet! Perhaps someday there will be an update to it.


OKAY, WELL, WHAT ELSE DOESN'T SICE DO? This mod adds no unique quests to the new NPCs, at least not yet. They're basically just more decor to liven up the cities - even their schedules are very simple and keep them out doing activities where the player can see! (Has now changed as of version 1.6!) The NPCs in New Sheoth won't spawn in a new tombstone upon death. This mod doesn't add player homes. The vendors ought to be balanced - the spiciest things you can buy are durable iron weapons. There are no huge landscape height changes - most instances of landscape height changes were simply making a slope or stairs easier to walk up, or making a door not be buried in the ground.


INSTALLATION: This is just an .esp with simple custom resources, you can install it the same way you install any other mod with custom resources, including manually :) just make sure the meshes and textures are copied into your Data folder correctly and that the .esp is checked in the launcher or your mod manager of choice!

Don't run multiple versions of the mod at the same time! If you have a different release of this mod and wish to upgrade to 1.7, then do just as you would do for other .esp's:

1. Go into a cell that IS NOT affected by SICE and save your game there.

2. Uninstall the original SICE .esp however you installed it in the first place.

3. Install the new SICE .esp the same way you install any other .esp :)


COMPATIBLITY: SICE will conflict with mods that add buildings in the same spots, of course. I don't know EVERY mod out there that adds stuff to the Isles, but since SICE affects so many cells I figured I'd do my best and I looked through every SI house mod I can find. Shoutout to NexusMods user DemonLord7654 for compiling a list of Shivering Isles House Mods as it made this task quite easy. This list applies to all versions of the mod!

The list is quite long, so it will be under a spoiler tag :)



If you are using the mod OCOv2, there is a patch for it and SICE on this page here!


KNOWN BUGS: During the Dementia half of the Split community lunch and dinner AI package, one of the NPCs seems to get confused and starts pacing up and down the stairs of a nearby house instead of sitting down at the table to eat. I don't know why this happens! But it seems to be different NPCs every time, so if you really need a specific NPC to sit down and eat, just wait for the next community meal.

Some of the upper levels of the ruined Vitharn houses are difficult to reach. I can't do much about that - it's because of the collision on the stairs. If you have a character with very high Acrobatics (my character is at 130) you might be able to spam the jump button to get up onto the top floors - but there's nothing important in any of the ruined houses, so don't stress out about missing anything :)

There is an issue with Verel Cruscellio and the chair he sits on - namely, that he sometimes cannot sit on it! Hopefully this was fixed in a recent update, however I have not tested it very thoroughly, so let me know if it isn't :)


REQUIRED/RECOMMENDED MODS: This requires Shivering Isles, obviously! It would be wise to use "OBSE -Elys- Universal Silent Voice" and therefore a compatible version of "Oblivion Script Extender - OBSE". Optionally, if unvoiced dialogue annoys you, then go to the "posts" tab for some discussion about other mods regarding voice files! (Because it involves mods I don't use, I don't want to put them on the recommended mods list proper - I can't make guarantees about mods I don't use after all!)

I recommend Universal Silent Voice for 2 reasons. Obviously, the lines of dialogue I added will need something like Universal Silent Voice if you want to read them, as they are unvoiced. However, vanilla SI lacks any SI voice files for female Redguards and female Orcs/Nords, such as the standard greetings or generic rumors. This means something like USV is useful in general for SI mods that add NPCs! However, if you are entirely uninterested in dialogue, then the mod will run just fine without USV.


CREDITS and LEGAL:

Bethesda for creating the game and the CS, and for allowing us fans to create and share mods for their wonderful games! I am not affiliated with Bethesda in any way and am making no money off of this mod. Same thing applies to this mod (and its recommended mods) as applies to any other mod - that I am not responsible for your computer or your save file so install responsibly!

The TES4EDIT team - this mod was cleaned with TES4QuickAutoClean 4.0.3!

The idea of using the ruins doorway piece to create a makeshift sewer entrance comes from the fantastic mod Koyo Town by the Japanese modder HESU! So I'd like to give credit to HESU for such creative ways to use vanilla assets as well as thanks to mhahn123 for translating HESU's mods into English :)

NexusMods user InsanitySorrow for the mod "Mesh Improvement Project", used for the mesh, texture, and normal map for the new signs! - per the original mod page, they may be used so long as credit is given! I did change the name of the files so that they wouldn't overwrite anyone's existing files.

NexusMods user ebeneezersquid for the mod "Blank Shop Sign", used as the base for the new signs - there wasn't a ReadMe included in the download, however other resources uploaded by ebeneezersquid said they may be used so long as credit is given, therefore it seems safe to assume the "Blank Shop Sign" resource falls under the same usage

big thanks to NexusMods users Dispensation and LenaWolfBravil for help with compatibility, bugs, and the like! :)