Skyrim Armor Mods Without Boob Plates

[Johnson McGee]

~snip~

I'm not sure about that. A crossbow bolt would penetrate all but the best heavy medieval armour (Italian-made generally).
The reason that linen armour was often used was that it cost next to nothing compared to mail (which was itself cheaper than good plate), and offered some protection. Hence why it was often used by lighter infantry or archers who relied on manoeuvre and agility to survive.

Now I do remember that attackers used to soak large leather or fabric sheets in sieges to slow bolts and arrows down or to deflect them partially, but that tended to be at extreme ranges and didn't stop the bolts entirely, just made them less lightly to penetrate the armour or shields of the people standing behind them.

Here's a demonstration of how fabric armour worked if you're interested, it's actually quite effective.

 

[DementedSheep]

I am pretty sure that 20kg is not full plate. It's just plate plate. In full plate you are a tank. You are doing good if you can stay on your horse (that you were lifted up onto with a crane)

That's a fallacy even if you ignored the evidence against your argument and look at it logically.

Plate that would be so heavy that required lifting onto a horse is utterly and totally impractical in any field of battle. How would they be able to move such a crane to the battlefield? How long would it take to set up the system to mount the heavy cavalry? Not to mention if you were knocked off your horse you would be useless in a fight.

People seem to assume, for some reason, that those in the medieval era and early Renaissance were stupid and would come up with things that impractical. They were not stupid, their armour was designed for easy mounting and dismounting, and to be able to fight in no matter how the battlefield changed.

Plate was a great, mobile piece of armor that gave great advantages to those that could afford it. It only died out because of advances in gunpowder weapons more easily able to pierce plate, the rise of the pike formation that made heavy cavalry obsolete, and the re-introduction of formalized armies during and after the 100 year war, giving rise to the superiority of firearms wielding infantry. Even then, that type of body armor wasn't entirely abandoned until the late 17th century, with remnants of it lingering on even into world war one.

Plate disappeared not because it was so big and heavy it was stupid, but because advances made elsewhere rendered it obsolete.

Plate was never that common, not "full plate" anyway. People would indeed have to be "lifted" and "assisted" onto their horses.. and it was by no means practical to put on or take off, in an expedient manner. IIRC it was just people that didn't belong on the battlefield, like royalty and such that wore such nonsense and they would carry with them a useless ceremonial sword they couldn't swing. While everyone around them fought.

As far as I know the plate armor that was so heavy you had to be assisted onto your horse was generally for jousting and not used in actual battle. The stuff they used in real battles was much lighter. In the 15 to 22 kg is what most sources seem to say full plate was.

 

[OneCatch]

~snip~

I'm not sure about that. A crossbow bolt would penetrate all but the best heavy medieval armour (Italian-made generally).
The reason that linen armour was often used was that it cost next to nothing compared to mail (which was itself cheaper than good plate), and offered some protection. Hence why it was often used by lighter infantry or archers who relied on manoeuvre and agility to survive.

Now I do remember that attackers used to soak large leather or fabric sheets in sieges to slow bolts and arrows down or to deflect them partially, but that tended to be at extreme ranges and didn't stop the bolts entirely, just made them less lightly to penetrate the armour or shields of the people standing behind them.

Here's a demonstration of how fabric armour worked if you're interested, it's actually quite effective.

That is surprisingly effective - I'm impressed.
However, and I hate to nitpick, that looks to be some kind of reproduced light thorax - which were used in ancient greece where a full metal cuirass was too heavy, not in medieval conflict.
They were reasonably effective at the time, but the greeks often supplemented them with metal 'trauma plates' on key areas to provide more protection. Additionally, they weren't waterproof, and only offered limited protection against later weapons - the guy in the vid looks to be using some kind of self bow, which are usually less powerful than the composite[footnote]Incidentally also not waterproof[/footnote] and recurve variants later used by Steppe and Middle Eastern societies, which were in turn much less powerful than medieval longbows, let alone crossbows.
Yes, Alexander's armies used them, but the only reason they didn't get their own Carrhae was because Alexander always had a plentiful supply of skirmishers and cavalry to screen the infantry. They weren't able to just advance with volleys of Persian arrows bouncing off them!
Because of these weaknesses lighter armours were eventually phased out of use by heavy infantry - it's worth pointing out that the Phalangites of Alexander who used this type of armour were repeatedly devastated by the Romans, who used heavier ones.

To be clear - I'm not saying that linen armour was crap - it probably offered one of the best protection-to-weight ratios until modern body armour, but it simply wasn't good enough to withstand advances in weapon technology.
Metal armours certainly weighed a lot more for a smaller increase in protection, but that small increase made the difference between an arrow penetrating 3cm for incapacitation and a festering wound, and not at all. Protection to weight ratio doesn't mean a thing if you still die.

 

[Zipa]

Game designers should read this, its the thoughts of an actual armourer on the subject of female armour both done right and wrong.

http://madartlab.com/2011/12/14/fantasy-armor-and-lady-bits/

 

[A Weakgeek]

I know obviously it's a game and am well aware of how a portion of the modders treat the games, but aren't they even the slightest bit aware that boob plates are basically inviting a sword tip to the sternum?

I remember seeing a vid somewhere where someone showed how physically boob plates will guide a blade directly to the chest.
The purpose of armor is to deflect, that ain't deflectin' shit!

OT, those female armors you posted there look great.

Not to mention if the lady in question fell forwards, the impact of falling would aaaallll be directed to the sternum. Basically, boob plates = crushed sternum = dead lady adventurer.

I think it's more appropriate as ceremonial armor,

Well to be fair, all armor beyond leather and iron in skyrim look ceremonial.

Not that I'm supporting the mod community for making lame armor like that, most people over at nexus seem to be more interested shaping their digital waifu (god I hate that word) than playing a roleplaying game. Personally, I think its retarded to mod something like Skyrim (Which is famous for its unappealing characters) to jack off to. If thats what people want to do, they'd be better off playing something developed by Illusion, not Bethesda.

 

[piinyouri]

Game designers should read this, its the thoughts of an actual armourer on the subject of female armour both done right and wrong.

http://madartlab.com/2011/12/14/fantasy-armor-and-lady-bits/

There's the article I saw. Read it again.
Good stuff.

I just want to go on record as stating I have no issue with how people choose to mod, portray, or otherwise play thier game. More power to them.

Crazy, stylish and impractical fantasy armor, both male and female shouldn't be abolished completely, but it could use the odd countermeasure here and there.

 

[A Weakgeek]

Also, actually on topic:

Pretty much all armor imported from The Witcher 2 is fucking gorgeous and gender neutral. For all the flack people give that game, that is one thing you can't argue they didn't get right.

Just search Witcher 2 on the nexus.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

So, you're basically looking for armor that leaves no indication whatsoever that the character wearing it is a woman, except for perhaps the slightest curve? That's gonna be pretty hard, also because in a universe that doesn't really discriminate between female and male fighters you're obviously gonna have adapted armor.

I'm not one for skimpy armors etc. either, but I think there is some really good stuff out there that just puts some female shapes in it while still looking like armor.
One of my favourites is this: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/24814/?tab=3&navtag=%2Fajax%2Fmodimages%2F%3Fid%3D24814%26user%3D1&pUp=1

Neither male or female armor is "realistic" either way, I'm not looking for that from this game anyhow.

Several of the male-only armors on the nexus can also be worn by females however, in that case you wouldn't see the difference with a helmet, if you really want your realism.

 

[Denamic]

If you want to be realistic an adventurer would not get very far wearing full plate armor at any rate. You'd need a magic anti-gravity ring or something.

Not really. Full plate was only really used by mounted knights. The biggest obstacle was the mobility of the suit, not the weight. I've trekked with backpacks heavier than a suit of full plate armour. And that's weight purely on my shoulders, not over my entire body.

OT: In a world where women are armoured warriors as often as men, you're going to see armour designs adapted to women. Women tend to have tits. It'd be really uncomfortable for a woman that's not flat chested to wear flat chested armour, as armour need to be strapped on very tight.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

I've been having the same problem, but I actually want boob plates.

on my male orc barbarian.

bonus points for a mod that adds a chainmail bikini for him.

I'm sure you're simply not looking hard enough. Someone, somewhere will have made it.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

I am pretty sure that 20kg is not full plate. It's just plate plate. In full plate you are a tank. You are doing good if you can stay on your horse (that you were lifted up onto with a crane)

Nope, that's all misinformation, sorry. It's extremely light for what it is and getting on a horse was just as easy as if you were only wearing your socks and pants.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm#weight_b

 

[White_Lama]

I stopped going to Nexus mods when cracked.com featured that list with a Skyrim mod that adds horse vaginas and anuses.

 

[Hagi]

ive got to ask, what texture/lighting are you using here its gorgeous?

It's called ENB.

It's a post-processing dll that adds extra instructions to Skyrim's rendering calls.

To put that simply, it's a file you put on your computer that, whenever Skyrim goes 'Yo, GPU draw me this tree', goes 'and add these cool effects to it as well will you?'.

Just google ENB on the nexus and you'll see literally dozens of presets (specifying which cool effects exactly).

Some of them will murder your FPS, some are fairly performance friendly. All of them do have some FPS impact.

ENB itself you can get from another website, but installation instructions should be included in pretty much any preset.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I am pretty sure that 20kg is not full plate. It's just plate plate. In full plate you are a tank. You are doing good if you can stay on your horse (that you were lifted up onto with a crane)

That's a fallacy even if you ignored the evidence against your argument and look at it logically.

Plate that would be so heavy that required lifting onto a horse is utterly and totally impractical in any field of battle. How would they be able to move such a crane to the battlefield? How long would it take to set up the system to mount the heavy cavalry? Not to mention if you were knocked off your horse you would be useless in a fight.

People seem to assume, for some reason, that those in the medieval era and early Renaissance were stupid and would come up with things that impractical. They were not stupid, their armour was designed for easy mounting and dismounting, and to be able to fight in no matter how the battlefield changed.

Plate was a great, mobile piece of armor that gave great advantages to those that could afford it. It only died out because of advances in gunpowder weapons more easily able to pierce plate, the rise of the pike formation that made heavy cavalry obsolete, and the re-introduction of formalized armies during and after the 100 year war, giving rise to the superiority of firearms wielding infantry. Even then, that type of body armor wasn't entirely abandoned until the late 17th century, with remnants of it lingering on even into world war one.

Plate disappeared not because it was so big and heavy it was stupid, but because advances made elsewhere rendered it obsolete.

Plate was never that common, not "full plate" anyway. People would indeed have to be "lifted" and "assisted" onto their horses.. and it was by no means practical to put on or take off, in an expedient manner. IIRC it was just people that didn't belong on the battlefield, like royalty and such that wore such nonsense and they would carry with them a useless ceremonial sword they couldn't swing. While everyone around them fought.

Full plate armour was incredibly useful on the battlefield, the main issue was that it was too expensive for the average soldier:

Youtube vid on weight (Watch it all if you get the chance, there's a great story about how an Italian cavalry charge in full plate armour decimated the English army because their longbows wouldn't penetrate the springy steel)

Also here's a clip about full plate being used both as decorative wear, competition armour and as actual war armour (at 50 minutes), and if you watch on after that there's even a section about what the peasants wore: cruder iron pieces that offering much less coverage of the body and less protection from blows, some of course would be in chainmail. (again I recommend watching it all)


Plate armour was widely used all across Europe for battles, tournaments, and deocorative peacocking in royal courts, but the armour was still practical for deadly war. It was used in battle from the early 1300s to the early 1500s, a period of about 200 years, this simply wouldn't have happened if it was less practical than the alternative chainmail/coat of plates/partial plate armour etc.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Full plate armour was incredibly useful on the battlefield, the main issue was that it was too expensive for the average soldier:

Youtube vid on weight (Watch it all if you get the chance, there's a great story about how an Italian cavalry charge in full plate armour decimated the English army because their longbows wouldn't penetrate the springy steel)

Also here's a clip about full plate being used both as decorative wear, competition armour and as actual war armour (at 50 minutes), and if you watch on after that there's even a section about what the peasants wore: cruder iron pieces that offering much less coverage of the body and less protection from blows, some of course would be in chainmail. (again I recommend watching it all)


Plate armour was widely used all across Europe for battles, tournaments, and deocorative peacocking in royal courts, but the armour was still practical for deadly war. It was used in battle from the early 1300s to the early 1500s, a period of about 200 years, this simply wouldn't have happened if it was less practical than the alternative chainmail/coat of plates/partial plate armour etc.

i actually read/watched that stuff, pretty nice vids, i want one of those armors now -_-

 

[Lieju]

Neither male or female armor is "realistic" either way, I'm not looking for that from this game anyhow.

Several of the male-only armors on the nexus can also be worn by females however, in that case you wouldn't see the difference with a helmet, if you really want your realism.

I'll be honest, I've never understood the issue with the boob plate in a fantasy/sci-fi setting.

Yes it is completely impractical in the real world but games aren't the real world.

Really I suppose I don't understand the desire to force realism into fantasy worlds.

It's not really 'realism' that bugs me about boob armor, it just looks incredibly silly to me.
(And not something I'd ever wear.)

 

[votemarvel]

I'll be honest, I've never understood the issue with the boob plate in a fantasy/sci-fi setting.

Yes it is completely impractical in the real world but games aren't the real world.

Really I suppose I don't understand the desire to force realism into fantasy worlds.

 

[leeprice133]

I remember a mod that made females wear male versions of hard armours (steel plate, ebony etc), which sounds closest to what you are looking for. It never really made much sense to me that females would be wearing armour that is specifically forged to curve around their breasts. Only queens or especially wealthy women would have that luxury.

A lot of Elder Scrolls mods are silly or juvenile. You need to look harder if you're trying to get more authentic/realistic ones and that can be a hassle sometimes.

In fact, when suits of plate armour were made for women, they weren't curve round the breasts individually like you see in games. There's a VERY good reason why you don't want your armour indented towards your heart.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Right now I pretty much view CNHF(the second one linked in the OP) to be the best female body/armor mod for Skyrim if you are looking for something more practical looking than the usual fetishware available. It'll be even better when version 2.0 comes out, as it should then be compatible with the texture and normal map mods for UNP, of which there are many. There are also a couple of complementary mods that convert more of the stock Skyrim armors to the body mod.
CNHF Extra Armor Conversions [http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36057/?]
CNHF Conversion - souTear and Calyps Vampire Armor [http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36762/?]

 

[lalaquen]

If you want to be realistic an adventurer would not get very far wearing full plate armor at any rate. You'd need a magic anti-gravity ring or something.

Not really. Full plate was only really used by mounted knights. The biggest obstacle was the mobility of the suit, not the weight. I've trekked with backpacks heavier than a suit of full plate armour. And that's weight purely on my shoulders, not over my entire body.

OT: In a world where women are armoured warriors as often as men, you're going to see armour designs adapted to women. Women tend to have tits. It'd be really uncomfortable for a woman that's not flat chested to wear flat chested armour, as armour need to be strapped on very tight.

One, unless I am very much mistaken (which I will fully admit I could be) no armour meant to be fitted to the human torso is/was/can be completely flat, because the human torso is not completely flat. Two, that bit of nit-picking aside, I will point out that even today, most women engaged in significant physical activity, such as sports (which is about the closest most modern people get to warfare in the classic sense), wear sports bras which essentially act like bindings to compress the breasts down more securely to the chest and restrict unnecessary and uncomfortable excess movement. And as a woman with what I would cautiously categorize as moderately sized breasts myself, I have to say that: yes, sports bras (and thus by extension, bindings) can be uncomfortable when too tight/small. But they are actually much more comfortable in the long run than having everything bouncing about all over the place. I would much rather have to bind my breasts a bit in order to fit beneath a uniformly curved and padded breastplate then try to shove them into uncomfortable little metal cones that they're going to bounce off of if I have to sprint or pivot quickly to adapt to a rapidly changing combat scenario. Just like I would much rather wear a sports bra than an under-wire if I'm going to go kick a ball around the yard with friends. Especially since those little cones are also (as others have pointed out) going to invite more significant harm rather than deflecting it, and those under-wires are going to dig, and my breasts are going to have to compress more quickly and violently if I get tackled.

But maybe that's just me. Other women may feel differently, and there may well be a case of diminishing returns (of a sort) involved, wherein the size of a woman's breasts matters more to what kind of armour she would find comfortable than the possibility of excess movement and the need for compression to negate it.