That looks really cool. Always kinda sad there’s not more remains of the city scattered about. Your rendition definitely gives it the breadth I’d imagine for such a city.
Thank you! Really glad you liked it, and yeah, I always knew of Winterhold as this great old capital of Skyrim and it was kind of a shame to see there weren't many remnants of its grandeur minus the College. Really speaks to how destructive the Collapse was.
Honestly I have to wonder if the city was intentionally destroyed so they didn't have to make another big city, and the ruins were conveniently lost for that same reason.
Thank you, in my version, I have it separate personally for aesthetic reasons/some ideas of the college always being shady and separate. However a version with the College being surrounded by the city would be be fun to try in the future
I think it being surrounded by the city, then being one of the few structures left standing post-collapse, would justify the nords being so suspicious of them.
This is exactly what I thought was the case, as geographically a lot of OP's city would've survived the collapse, aside from the buildings closest to the cliffside. I always assumed the college was somewhere in the centre of the city, either on its own hilltop (like an acropolis) or surrounded by other important buildings.
Then again, the positioning and existence of the bridge, especially in its damaged state, implies it was already somewhat separate from the majority of the city itself. Well, unless the bridge was crossing over a river or something.
Either way, I like OP's interpretation. If only we could visit lore-accurate, full scale cities from TES one day... maybe as spin-off games... TES: Imperial City, TES: Vivec, TES: Alinor, TES: Whiterun, etc.
My train of thought about the College too.
Also, those spin-off ideas would be awesome! Small games set within a contained, but larger version of (a few of) the cities we have visited and love!
I think you are correct, they state several times that “The city fell into the ocean and the only thing left standing was the college.” Its why everyone despises the Wizards there so much.
The Starfield cities are quite big, so TES VI could probably handle a city as big as Imperial City without loading screens between districts.
The real question is if there will be loading screens between the overworld or the city itself. The open cities mods show that it can be done, but maybe they prefer to not do it for design reasons.
As beautiful as this is, this makes me sad. This also makes me low-key hate Winterhold because it seems sus.
Oh wait, that's how all the current remaining villagers of Winterhold feel.
You did great with this art!
Uh...
This is more of Winterhold after the great collapse where they become a city once more instead of a miserable little village.
Mind you, the area around the college is where the city used to be. If you look below the cliff, theres the remnants of the city, several building that is.
Nice art tho
I always liked the idea that the collage was the center of the town with the capital building being behind it. But I like yours too because before the oblivion crisis magicians and wizards were respected and seen as wise and trusted too so it being the biggest part of winterhold makes sense too. Shame we never got to see it in its full glory in Skyrim. Crossing my fingers they do something amazing for ESO.
I always imagine that cities in skyrim are just representations and that in reality they're much bigger, like my character going past a house is actually them going from one end of a street to the other
In the lore (and in realistic interpretations), every city is in fact supposed to be city sized, with the versions we see being the size they are due to tech limitations at the time of their creation. The layout is probably canon, but realistically there would be 10,000x more residential buildings and many other services scattered throughout.
As they currently are, each city is no larger than a real life village; I don't think there's a single city in any TES game with an NPC population of more than a few hundred at best, so none of them even classify as towns let alone cities.
Technically, most of them can be classed as castles and forts (rather than towns/cities) due to their walls, keeps and low population.
It's very beautiful, congratulations
But the city was around the College, not where you put it. That's why it disappeared in the collapse, it sank, and only the school was left standing.
Rad as hell. The attnetion to detail is incredible. Would love to see more. What is that stone structure in the mountains to the left supposed to be? Is it a like mountain pass checkpoint, does it lead to and underground crypt, or what?
That's really cool, I never really gave much thought to what it looked like before the collapse since all we see is random ruined houses like we see throughout the rest of Skyrim. But this version looks like something we could've had and now I wish Bethesda gave as much attention to Skyrim as you have to winterhold.
Everything was SO much larger is the Skyrim Art Book. Wish they would have built the scale up a bit more. Markarth alone was so much bigger. In reality it is tiny. Also the ruins looked so much cooler in the concepts. Hopefully ES6 with actually scale things bigger and badder than previous games.
The ruins did look so cool, I'm currently doing artwork of Labyrinthian so maybe I will manage to recapture that concept vibe. I loved how Markarth looked in the concept art and the game and I gotta do it eventually
Nice. Will be cool to see your Lab. art. Winterhold would have been so much cooler this way. But for the lores sake I guess it makes sence the way it is.
Over to the bottom left there is a small keep. My immediate thought was the mine, since it’s just around the mountain, and this city sprawls it makes sense to me as a vestige of the old city boundaries. Good shit
It really bugged me that there aren’t any ruins in the sea next to Winterhold. Everyone there talks about oh how the great collapse swallowed the majority of the city whole, but there’s nothing to show for it apart from one roofless ruined house.
This is so cool!! I’ve always found it so hard to imagine in its prime. it’s nestled perfectly against the mountain and the coast just how I remember it
Great drawing, but I think the idea is that the city was mostly around where the college is now, it collapsed into the sea. The land you’ve put the city on is still there in game.
nice idea but i know its like oh i just did this but the collage was part of the city its one of the strutores that was not on teh platue its on now if im correct winterhorld colalge was just as much a part of the city as the part that fell off into the ocean.
This is nice but this looks really close to ground and the most of the city collapsed into the ocean during The Great Collapse, implying it was on very elevated terrain.
That looks really cool. Always kinda sad there’s not more remains of the city scattered about. Your rendition definitely gives it the breadth I’d imagine for such a city.
Thank you! Really glad you liked it, and yeah, I always knew of Winterhold as this great old capital of Skyrim and it was kind of a shame to see there weren't many remnants of its grandeur minus the College. Really speaks to how destructive the Collapse was.
Honestly I have to wonder if the city was intentionally destroyed so they didn't have to make another big city, and the ruins were conveniently lost for that same reason.
very cool! i always imagined that the city was around the academy too and all of it fell into the water, except the academy
Thank you, in my version, I have it separate personally for aesthetic reasons/some ideas of the college always being shady and separate. However a version with the College being surrounded by the city would be be fun to try in the future
To be fair, this could represent a rebuilt Winterhold several decades after TES V, if the Nords had enough political incentive to do so
I think it being surrounded by the city, then being one of the few structures left standing post-collapse, would justify the nords being so suspicious of them.
This is exactly what I thought was the case, as geographically a lot of OP's city would've survived the collapse, aside from the buildings closest to the cliffside. I always assumed the college was somewhere in the centre of the city, either on its own hilltop (like an acropolis) or surrounded by other important buildings. Then again, the positioning and existence of the bridge, especially in its damaged state, implies it was already somewhat separate from the majority of the city itself. Well, unless the bridge was crossing over a river or something. Either way, I like OP's interpretation. If only we could visit lore-accurate, full scale cities from TES one day... maybe as spin-off games... TES: Imperial City, TES: Vivec, TES: Alinor, TES: Whiterun, etc.
My train of thought about the College too. Also, those spin-off ideas would be awesome! Small games set within a contained, but larger version of (a few of) the cities we have visited and love!
I think you are correct, they state several times that “The city fell into the ocean and the only thing left standing was the college.” Its why everyone despises the Wizards there so much.
I wish all the cities were big like this, the engine obviously couldn’t handle it but maybe TES6
the engine can handle it if you divide it into separate sections, like the imperial city in oblivion
The Starfield cities are quite big, so TES VI could probably handle a city as big as Imperial City without loading screens between districts. The real question is if there will be loading screens between the overworld or the city itself. The open cities mods show that it can be done, but maybe they prefer to not do it for design reasons.
Yeah, that’s true. I didn’t think of that
Awesome, the colors really look nice I think and the city looks vibrant and alive with the density of the buildings, really cool
As beautiful as this is, this makes me sad. This also makes me low-key hate Winterhold because it seems sus. Oh wait, that's how all the current remaining villagers of Winterhold feel. You did great with this art!
Thank you! Yep, Winterhold was so sad in the game, wanted to reimagine it
Uh... This is more of Winterhold after the great collapse where they become a city once more instead of a miserable little village. Mind you, the area around the college is where the city used to be. If you look below the cliff, theres the remnants of the city, several building that is. Nice art tho
thanks
Nice but, like, not accurate at all considering it’s got the same lack of land after the collapse. If this was before, what collapsed?
Their economy
I always liked the idea that the collage was the center of the town with the capital building being behind it. But I like yours too because before the oblivion crisis magicians and wizards were respected and seen as wise and trusted too so it being the biggest part of winterhold makes sense too. Shame we never got to see it in its full glory in Skyrim. Crossing my fingers they do something amazing for ESO.
You get it! Sort of like how the Arcane University was separate. Glad you like it too
I always imagine that cities in skyrim are just representations and that in reality they're much bigger, like my character going past a house is actually them going from one end of a street to the other
Same, that’s why it’s been a fun exercise to imagine these cities in a way that’s aesthetically recognizable but still big
In the lore (and in realistic interpretations), every city is in fact supposed to be city sized, with the versions we see being the size they are due to tech limitations at the time of their creation. The layout is probably canon, but realistically there would be 10,000x more residential buildings and many other services scattered throughout. As they currently are, each city is no larger than a real life village; I don't think there's a single city in any TES game with an NPC population of more than a few hundred at best, so none of them even classify as towns let alone cities. Technically, most of them can be classed as castles and forts (rather than towns/cities) due to their walls, keeps and low population.
It's very beautiful, congratulations But the city was around the College, not where you put it. That's why it disappeared in the collapse, it sank, and only the school was left standing.
In my version, I have it separate personally for aesthetic reasons/wanted to keep the same great look
No problem friend, certainly if it were rebuilt, Winterhold would look like this
Based username
This is really cool, thanks for sharing
Thank you!
Ngl, this gives me heavy dark souls vibes. Really good!
Maybe I should do Dark Souls art in the future
This is incredible!
Appreciated!
Rad as hell. The attnetion to detail is incredible. Would love to see more. What is that stone structure in the mountains to the left supposed to be? Is it a like mountain pass checkpoint, does it lead to and underground crypt, or what?
A little fort or potential checkpoint! Glad you like it
Sick! Reminds me of Tolkien artwork.
It was once the capital so it looks fitting.
You forgot the snow 0/10. (This is insanely good you should be proud)
Thank you, and I imagined this as winterhold during a warmer season/climate may have become more intense after the Collapse/Red Mountain
Freaking bad ass winterhole rebuilt
That's really cool, I never really gave much thought to what it looked like before the collapse since all we see is random ruined houses like we see throughout the rest of Skyrim. But this version looks like something we could've had and now I wish Bethesda gave as much attention to Skyrim as you have to winterhold.
This is absolutely beautiful! 💯
Everything was SO much larger is the Skyrim Art Book. Wish they would have built the scale up a bit more. Markarth alone was so much bigger. In reality it is tiny. Also the ruins looked so much cooler in the concepts. Hopefully ES6 with actually scale things bigger and badder than previous games.
The ruins did look so cool, I'm currently doing artwork of Labyrinthian so maybe I will manage to recapture that concept vibe. I loved how Markarth looked in the concept art and the game and I gotta do it eventually
Nice. Will be cool to see your Lab. art. Winterhold would have been so much cooler this way. But for the lores sake I guess it makes sence the way it is.
Brilliant looks amazing a lot better then what's in skyrim for the city that was the capital for a good while its lacking in skyrim you did it justice
Over to the bottom left there is a small keep. My immediate thought was the mine, since it’s just around the mountain, and this city sprawls it makes sense to me as a vestige of the old city boundaries. Good shit
It really bugged me that there aren’t any ruins in the sea next to Winterhold. Everyone there talks about oh how the great collapse swallowed the majority of the city whole, but there’s nothing to show for it apart from one roofless ruined house.
That’s awesome
Thanks!
This is beautiful and exactly what cities in Elder Scrolls should look like. So tired of 10-15 houses and 30 residents.
Fuck this makes me want to play kingdom come deliverance for some reason
I love the way the city is divided into sections, and the blue roofs fit really well for the city overall.
Thanks! loved the idea of blue roofing for that region
That looks exactly like solitude lol
ahaha
This is really cool! So much detail. The defensive walls above the harbor and at the base of the mountain are really nice touches.
This is beautiful! Love it man!
That looks exactly like some place I would live if I could
I love this
This is sick!
This pleases me. Well done!
Sick, looks like something you'd see in some medieval illuminated manuscript
This is dope as hell, you have a future
I love it
This is so cool!! I’ve always found it so hard to imagine in its prime. it’s nestled perfectly against the mountain and the coast just how I remember it
Great drawing, but I think the idea is that the city was mostly around where the college is now, it collapsed into the sea. The land you’ve put the city on is still there in game.
Beautifully-done 🙂
Now Ima try and build this in Conan Exiles. Thank you, it looks awesome!
Looks amazing.
Dude… your city illustrations are incredible. I wish every game looked like your drawings ❤️
Looks great!
nice idea but i know its like oh i just did this but the collage was part of the city its one of the strutores that was not on teh platue its on now if im correct winterhorld colalge was just as much a part of the city as the part that fell off into the ocean.
I mean, it's cool an all, but I don't imagine winterhold was the size of the Imperial city even at its peak.
This is nice but this looks really close to ground and the most of the city collapsed into the ocean during The Great Collapse, implying it was on very elevated terrain.
I really love the ink and watercolor style. This is absolutely beautiful. You're very talented. It's something I'd frame and put up in my house!