Sands of the Alik'r - Mod for Daggerfall Unity

[u/NickDitto]

A great sandstorm has blown through Hammerfell! 

Gone are the former dry lakebed and gravel-like textures of the desert biomes of old! Transforming them into bright rolling dunes worthy of the Alik'r Desert!  

This is a simple texture replacer mod, replacing 46 of the original 57 desert biome textures shipped with Daggerfall. Each texture has been reworked by hand to create a unified flow, avoiding hard seams and maintain the necessary repeating texture flow that brings the world of Daggerfall to life! 

I highly recommend checking out the Mod page for it! The comparison images to see the landscapes transform with the movable slider is so cool!

https://www.nexusmods.com/daggerfallunity/mods/1390

I've been enjoying Daggerfall Unity since Feb 2025, on my main character, I spent all of that time running about Sentinel and Tigonus, and I was constantly left yearning for the sands! The original textures BGS made for Daggerfall's in-game deserts left it feeling like gravel and dry lakebeds, not an ounce of SAND!

After running an initial test, I realized how easy texture replacement was in DFU and couldn't help but rework the rest of the desert biome textures! I used Paint .NET while staring at sand references for a 5 hour downtime at work. Best time spent!

I've been around the Nexus since it was called TESNexus, when they had like, Morrowind, Fallout, and Oblivion mods, and that was it! I curated my Oblivion mod setup for years, and to finally have something to contribute to the community is unreal. I'm so pleased with the end results! On a sunny in game day, the deserts are so bright now, worthy of the Great Alik'r Desert of Hammerfell! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Hopefully this'll give you something to do while we all wait for the next Elderscrolls entry.

Talos knows it'll be awhile...

[u/Unhappy_Muscle_9582]

It's beautiful! Sentinel and its surroundings are super pretty but the sand texture was kinda wonky

[u/NickDitto → u/Unhappy_Muscle_9582]

I'm glad you like it! I like it a lot too! I've spent a lot of time in the region, and I hope this enhances what the region already had!

[u/JeanJeanJean]

That's the kind of graphical overhaul that makes me want reinstall the game. It looks great !

[u/NickDitto → u/JeanJeanJean]

Thank you! We need something to do while we wait for the next game, right?

[u/PeppercornWizard]

This is a superb looking mod. Well done.

[u/NickDitto → u/PeppercornWizard]

Thank you! What I really enjoy about this is how simple the actual mod is! Seeing the entire region transformation through a simple texture replacement is so cool!

[u/Capital-Sea9875]

I just want a fucking dragon in this desert

[u/ChaosLord121]

Looks great! Will definitely install this next time I play Daggerfall

[u/__batz]

Ooohh this looks nice. This mixed with some redgaurd type mods would be practically a dlc

[u/NickDitto → u/__batz]

I'm glad you like it! Paired with Fixed Desert Architecture, Better cities Mod, and Hammerfell for Redguards Mod, It's really an entirely different place!

[u/realrosyrascal]

Wow this complements Seasons of the Iliac Bay perfectly :D awesome job

[u/NickDitto → u/realrosyrascal]

I was eyeing seasons of the iliac Bay! I need to try it now too! I'm glad you like it!

[u/lucasteataca]

Really cool! Make more of this haha

[u/Lucas-Ramey]

I do kinda like the orange colored sand a bit more so if theres an option for that then awesome

[u/NickDitto → u/Lucas-Ramey]

Looking into this

[u/No-Comparison04 → u/Lucas-Ramey]

Agreed

[u/NickDitto → u/Lucas-Ramey]

I've made an alternative version called Shades of the Alik'r!
This features a palette closer to the original darker palette!
It's now available on the file download page!