I've seen a bunch of topics discussing expansion mods but since I haven't seen people specifically talking about the most realistic, seamless, and complimentary to the game mods, I thought I might start this and see if anyone has any good recommendations

I would very much like to add in a lot more expansions but I've had some odd experiences with some that just seemed to ruin the atmosphere for me. I remember a mod that expanded Caldera with enormous outdoor tents with tons of enchantments and such that left the whole vibe of Caldera altered. I just want expansions that are very believable.

I am currently playing with Balmora Expansion, which blows my mind. It's perfect (except for one glitch that I didn't discover for 2 years. I also really love Vivec Expanded that adds docks and buildings constructed in the water, and Vivec Outdoor Mall.

I had an expansion for Suran that added an underworld and an abandoned house, but I'm not sure what that came from now. I tried one that was so ridiculous it had enormous ladders perched against walls that you needed to climb to get to the door. This was hilarious but really ruined the realism.

Still looking for expansions for everything but Vivec and Balmora. Love your recommendations.

Realistic, Morrowind. Hmm...

If you don't find Vivec Outdoor Mall to be atmosphere-altering, then I could just about suggest any expansion mod to you.

But I will suggest Darkelfguy's http://mw.modhistory.com/download-26-12773.

You already know about Walled City of Balmora, so I won't mention that. There are two other two expansion mods I use regularly:

http://mw.modhistory.com/download-87-13658 I've been using this little gem in all my games for years. Subtle touches to most of the towns around Vvardenfell while retaining the vanilla feel.

http://mw.modhistory.com/download-87-5128 by Princess Stomper. Gives Suran a wonderfully mediterranean feel. And it looks stunningly gorgeous at night.

I may not have worded that well but I mean, when you are in an imperial village with enormous outdoor tent shops in the middle of it, or using a mod where you need 20 ft ladders to reach a door, it's just...

I'll check this out. Thanks for the suggestion.

You know I'm thinking I don't use that mod after all. I'm using something called the Doors. I think that might be different.

I'm excited about the Nemon's mod, I'll check that out right away, but isn't that Suran expansion the one that has the 20 ft ladders to reach some of the doors that have houses built up against the cliff?

So, you are looking for town expansion mods, if I understand you correctly?

I personally use More Detailed places compilation 2010, although it might create a few incompatibilities with other mods. I prefer it to 2013 version, since that one does a bit too many modifications IMO.

The Doors is series of 3 mods by Arcimaestro Antares, which add doors to Caldera, Ald-Ruhn, Suran and Balmora that are locked for the night. I also released altered versions of Caldera and Ald-Ruhn. My Walled City of Balmora mod has The Doors - Suran + Balmora mod compatible with WCoB included as possible addon in the archive. But WCoB is not compatible with Balmora Expanded AFAIK.

That's all I use, but there is a lot of popular mods for this topic. Balmora Underground (I hope I remember the name right), then there is Epic Cities series by Mikeandike or Gnaar Mok Expanded by Melchior Dahrk. Just take a look around Nexus or GHF and I'm sure you will find some mods that will suit you

I wish the Doors had a Balmora Expanded esp. I can't play without that mod. It has the underground added too. What an awesome mod.

See I've been looking for weeks on mod sites but many don't really show you enough pictures to get a good idea, and a lot aren't really vanilla-friendly. So I thought in a topic maybe someone would have some suggestion for realistic mods.

Btw, is Antares still active? He had some really great, fun little mods.

Thanks for the recommendation! But I should mention that's an out-of-date version that has a pretty serious bug in it. You can find the current version of http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/17935/?.

As for other suggestions of mods that fit in fairly well, I'd recommend Crankgorilla's http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/43312. It does use a lot of modders resources, but definitely not more than Balmora Expanded, plus it has a ton of quests. I'd also suggest Melchior's http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/22029 which has an excellent town design plus more quests (who can have too many of those?). Another town mod to consider is http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/30958, it fits in nicely with the Ascadian Isles and adds yet more quests (noticing a pattern here?).

LOL thanks, Darkelfguy. I'm glad you popped on to let me know. I loved it from the pictures so much I installed it right away. Thanks for the other recommendations too. I'm looking at them now.

What I'd really love is a mod that makes the cities and villages more believable. I can't understand how a major city like Vivec has no housing at all. In all those giant cantons there are only a few that have housing of any kind. They are like giant, useless monstrosities that serve little purpose. I want to see someone putting in housing in all the cantons, homeless, criminals and unsavory elements, in the underworks, more inns and places to rent beds, more houses for sale, more shops, etc. It needs to feel like a city. I think the designers did a really bad job on it, I'm sorry to say. It would be nice to see a city that would support a large population.

That is one of the reason I'm crazy for BE. It gives you that, gives you an underworld element. You have way more to do and see and experience there. It's totally cool. VoM is really great too, but there needs to be a much larger expansion of cities. It seems like the whole population of Morrowind would barely total 500! I'd ask at the Census and Excise office but that lazy n'wah doesn't do his job anyway.

Have you tried http://www.moddb.com/mods/morrowind-rebirth? Seems like it's exactly what you're asking for.

I'm going to second Morrowind Rebirth. It's much more seamless and complimentary than the ones you've mentioned.

You can never go wrong with http://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/42125/?. Except, of course, you are using mods that are incompatible with it, because they change the same cells...

Not a town expansion mod, of course, but absolutely essential to me for improving "realism".

Yes, Suran Extended - one of mine - is actually a "tribute" to the lovely village I went to on my honeymoon.
It's a novelty, but something I enjoy in my game, and it's nice that PW enjoys it too. You, on the other hand, may prefer New Suran? http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1486473-new-suran/

The more seamless additions I've made to towns are:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/ald-redaynia-extended
http://mw.modhistory.com/download-53-7042
http://mw.modhistory.com/download-18-7146
http://mw.modhistory.com/download-87-15272

I'd definitely avoid Ghostgate and Mournhold Expanded if you don't want to "notice" your expansions!

I don't think anyone's mentioned http://mw.modhistory.com/download-45-7293 yet?

Piratelords Vivec Redesigned - http://piratesretreat.webs.com/Vivec.htm