Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[ArchmageXin]

After 192 hours of skyrim, and dozens of mods going there, I decided to....uninstall skyrim for once and for all.

It appear due to conflicting mods and some even more odd conflicts from mods LONG uninstalled, my skyrim is about as stable as a salmon fillet in front of a starving kitty.

I ran the debugger and the amount of bugs I had was mind numbing.

So, off to another game for now =X Good bye Vija, the most realistic companion in the world, and good bye to Serena XD

It is funny that I never actually beat the Main quest for skyrim, unlike oblivion.

[sa547]

@Archmage:

Have you used BOSS? TES5edit? Also, you have to read closely before using mods and any user comments. Updating the mod -- and the game -- is also necessary.

And how many mods did you installed? Too many mods that are not being used will bring down the game.

It also takes some personal judgment to pick and download mods -- is it going to improve my game? Or make my character or the gameworld look nice? Is it going to work with other mods or my version of Skyrim?

Mods that use scripts will require some close reading because some require you to shut them down first before uninstalling or updating, or they'll be still around even after you removed the mod. So I think you'll have to look closely in data/scripts directory for stray scripts that have been left behind by poorly-made mods.

OBTW, save your earliest gamesaves -- it may get you back on track if you wish to return with a fresh new start.

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On the mod: it turns out that I inadvertently created a good feature for those using Frostfall (which simulates hypothermia and other physical cold-weather effects) -- I installed a couple of braziers, which should be able to help warm up and dry characters after swimming or bathing.

And then I got a brilliant idea!

Next week, I'll start on creating two more mods for the other HF homes.

[ArchmageXin]

I tried going through BOSS but not TFS EDIT. I am not very familiar with Mod editing, although Mods I use are usually 5 star and above with thousands of endorsements. Cept...when I disable them through NMM it was anything but clean Judging by the Paypus log, there were a lot of things causing glitches even though they were disabled years ago (some mods are pre-NMM so they can't be cleaned out, little bit of file here and there), stuff like light potion mod, some odd ball adult mod I installed/unintalled in like two hours after, a bunch of companions I uninstalled after finding out they are nothing more than a pretty face---or really awful quest.

So I decide to go through the clean-wipe, since right now my Windows is a bootlegged version and is running a 32Bit system on a 64 bit machine (finally got a legit CD). Since Skyrim was the biggest ticket I wanted to save, this give me the excuse to burn down my comp for a resurrection.

[Rising Dragon]

For safest use of mods you really should not alter your mod list at all if possible when running a game; it helps avoid save game bloat and such, as well as other instabilities. Also remember that unchecking the plugin does NOT deactivate everything and will leave loose files for the game to take advantage of, resulting in numerous problems.

[sa547]

TES5edit is essentially a cleaning/checking tool, which should check whether the mod is ok or not. Usually it's used to check the mod for compatibility and then report the findings to the mod author, who's supposed to fix the mod and come up with a clean release. "Dirty" mods happen when they inadvertently change the gameworld or the navmesh (such as deleting parts of it).

Also, after installing mods I have to exit NMM, run BOSS to sort out the load list (because one mod may alter another in the hierarchy), and then open NMM again. If my game suddenly goes crazy, I check the Papyrus logs, go see the loading list and by disabling and using the last gamesave try to narrow down to which mod is causing CTDs until I get the game running ok again.

Endorsements are one thing, functionality is another, and a mod shouldn't cause the dreaded CTD.

Well, for the second playthrough I did have to reinstall the game and carefully pick which mods I consider very important and contribute to better gameplay, so saving me the grief of installing too many mods that some of them could screw up the game.

TBH, I rarely used companions unless there's a tough job I have to deal with.

Currently installed:
Update 1.8.151.0.7
Dawnguard DLC
Hearthfire DLC

[ArchmageXin]

The only companion mod I absolutely have to recommend is Companion Vijia. She is actually with full voice (a neat Swedish girl accent) and over 4000 lines (For example, she would nag you if you join the thieves guild, or ask you to do a particular quest) the sheer amount of function she has make you feel like is a live girl rather than a mod. She also come with her own quest, possibility of romance, etc. The whole thing is actually written by Terry Patchett, quite a famous fantasy author.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/26393

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ArchmageXin

The only companion mod I absolutely have to recommend is Companion Vijia. She is actually with full voice (a neat Swedish girl accent) and over 4000 lines (For example, she would nag you if you join the thieves guild, or ask you to do a particular quest) the sheer amount of function she has make you feel like is a live girl rather than a mod. She also come with her own quest, possibility of romance, etc. The whole thing is actually written by Terry Patchett, quite a famous fantasy author.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/26393

She is very extensive, though I'll warn people you really get the feeling she's manipulating you frequently (e.g. wink, smile, wiggle, "won't you be a dear and collect bleebles for me?").

I found the mod both impressive and the character eventually got on my nerves - very realistic. From a construction standpoint, I think my only complaint was that the voice actor read her lines rather slowly for my taste. In her defense, she was trying to stay in accent and I have the same complaint about a few 'professional' voice actors in the game.

So ... consider this a twisted recommendation. She drove *me* nuts in a kill her dead way but she's extremely popular and her greatgrandmother was a big mod hit in Oblivion as well.

[Rising Dragon]

I prefer Cerwiden myself.

[Akito Kinomoto]

After hundreds of gameplay hours I think it's time I finally put this game down. I still need to complete the main story but all four major factions and the Civil War story is done.

Thank goodness for Alchemy and Restoration loops.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

I prefer Cerwiden myself.

I've avoided skse up to this point but she may intrigue me enough to try her on my next play through.

[sa547]

Frustrated with scattering my stash across the countryside in different vanilla chests, I installed General Stores and its companion Craftable Cloud Storage. Next thing I was pleasantly surprised by its powerful utility to store everything everywhere, no matter where you are, be it Blackreach, the Throat, or even Sovgarde, as long as you drop the key and dump your loot in there!

It'll make my playthrough a lot easier, like immediate access to whatever I need in a pinch.

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It appears that some people are using the older version of my mod, without realizing that the first two versions had serious navmesh problems before I went for a full revision without destroying the navmesh and made it nondependent on update.esm; told them to upgrade to 1.7b.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by ArchmageXin

The only companion mod I absolutely have to recommend is Companion Vijia. She is actually with full voice (a neat Swedish girl accent) and over 4000 lines (For example, she would nag you if you join the thieves guild, or ask you to do a particular quest) the sheer amount of function she has make you feel like is a live girl rather than a mod. She also come with her own quest, possibility of romance, etc. The whole thing is actually written by Terry Patchett, quite a famous fantasy author.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/26393

Do you need to install other mods for it to work? Like something for her hair and face?

Been thinking for a while to start another game (clean install) and this may be the thing that convince me to do so.

[NorthernFallout]

After watching The Hobbit last night I felt a real urge to seriously roleplay in Skyrim, which I haven't really done before; I always fall back into powergamer mode and I pick the skills that make it easier...

Still, planning a greedy, psychotic, power-hungry wizard along with a loyalist/racist Nord that hates everyone bar other Nords and only uses axes. A bit cliche now that I think about it.

Oh desktop, y u have to be so far away right now...

[Ak3mi]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

Do you need to install other mods for it to work? Like something for her hair and face?

Been thinking for a while to start another game (clean install) and this may be the thing that convince me to do so.

Everything is in the download, no extra mods needed.

You can install it with NMM or manually, it contains a read-me if you don't use NMM.

If you want to change her face,eyes or body you can look in the optional files for extra addons. Which will allow you to change those features.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Ak3mi

Everything is in the download, no extra mods needed.

You can install it with NMM or manually, it contains a read-me if you don't use NMM.

If you want to change her face,eyes or body you can look in the optional files for extra addons. Which will allow you to change those features.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Can the new faces and hairs be used on your own character during creation? I want to play again, but I really don't want to install too many mods unless necessary.

[Ak3mi]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Can the new faces and hairs be used on your own character during creation? I want to play again, but I really don't want to install too many mods unless necessary.

No you will need to install Xenius character enhancement and Apachii hair.

To be honest Xenius really improves the textures, and if you like wild/anime hair Apachii is nice to have Not necessary but very minimal mods that add a bit more customization and aesthetics to characters.

[sa547]

BTW, it still pays to read closely between the lines when getting mods. I'm running some 115 mods, but those mods that use scripts will require deactivation before uninstallation.

Right now, before I leave for the holidays, I'm getting the patch that will fix ol' Esbern who couldn't speak since the first encounter down in the Ratway. True, I have all Unofficial patches active now, but still it didn't fix the problem.

[ArchmageXin]

How do you deactivate a mod safely? does NMM uninstall the mod would do? (Some of my mods were pre-NMM and all I did was unclick the mod...bad news?)

Also, Steam's workshop. If I "unsubscribe" the mod, will steam "clean it up" behind me?

[sa547]

Unchecking a mod may not be simple. For example, some mods such as Convenient Horses requires entering stopquest CH to shut itself down before uninstalling or upgrading. Same thing with Vinis Food and Rest, or UFO.

Mods that use scripting do often run hidden quests to act as a programmable subroutine or hold global variables, but without proper deactivation these scripts will remain running within a gamesave even after the mod is removed.

It's always best to check the documentation/manual/FAQ that came with the mod to check for any possible uninstallation procedures, but unfortunately some mods have poorly written documentation.

As NMM generates and stores a custom uninstallation routine should a mod does not have it, the program will try to uninstall the mod using that routine, but it cannot "uninstall" the mod from a gamesave.

[ArchmageXin]

Another question, regarding the "high Res texture Pack" that was recently added by Steam.

So far, it created a highrestexturepack1 and highrestexturepack2 in my files. Are they suppose to be ran together, load a head of other mods? or something? So far it made my skyrim crash instantly by loading them.