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In Arthmoor's favor, apparently he has decided to look into and improve the way this mod detects dragon attacks.

The detailed version of the patches - I think it seems pretty clear also. Nice work. Response to the github patches situation: I'm just going to hold off on doing anything else with Skyrim until the 2.2.9 wiki pages get updated. I forsee that adding that AMB Content Addon mod into there will be the next thing done on there since you've already made the changes to the 2.2.9 STEP Patch files available.

EssArrBee - I just upgraded my STEP 2.2.9 Extended Patch to your newest version of it on github and I'm having issues. Being in Wrye Bash and attempting to create a bashed patch - it's telling me that aMidianBorn_ContentAddon.esp is a missing master, but nowhere in the STEP installation instructions (2.2.8 or 2.2.9) for aMidianBorn Book of Silence did it suggest installing the Content Addon. I even tried to remove the skyforge weapons esp and replacing it with content addon esp (aMidianBorn BoS instructions say remove the skyforge one if using the content addon) in my MO mod list just to see what would happen and it didn't work either. I got a different error message - telling me that aMidianBorn_ContentAddon.esp is now a delinquent master. Even if that last step did work without giving me an error, the installation instructions for aMidianBorn BoS with the Content Addon are fairly confusing and it overwrites a bunch of other STEP mod files - even one completely (Shield of Ysgrammor).

Does anyone know if the author, Grieche, has been made aware of or expressed concern with the ruins issue? Anyone notice any other big slowdowns (not including the swamps)?

No. Actually Arthmoor's summary is not correct - he didn't characterize the test scenario properly. He's wrong, flat out. Some of the facts about the way the game has to progress for the first unnamed dragon attack are not correct. Dragon Rising was complete - I encountered Mirnulnir and he was killed. Using the dragon shout for the first time is an "OPTIONAL" quest, which I didn't bother to do since I was trying to progress the game quickly.

I don't know why everyone is saying that I artificially set up the test. Hardly... Perhaps some people don't realize that the game starts spawning dragons on it's own 3 days after the returning to Balgruf after defeating Mirmulnir. Do you honestly think it matters to the game's spawning mechanics that I snuck into the backdoor of Bleak Falls Barrow to grab the Dragonstone (and shout) so that I could give it Whiterun's wizard in order to allow the game to progress to Mirmulnir? The game is an open-ended game that allows quests to be progressed when specific variables are met, and I met them, so it progressed. And then that I waited 3 days for the first unnamed dragon to appear. The dragon spawned near Riverwood, so I ran into Riverwood. In another test it spawned near Honningbrew Meadery and attacked a farmer nearby who acted to same as any other melee-equipped NPC in the video. Sorry, but these NPCs act the same exact way as the NPCs in my original non-test playthrough using Deadly Dragons with the extra spawn system turned OFF - which is supposed to work properly when done that way (according to other people), but it didn't. I even described what was done in order to set up the test in the description. I'm actually f'ing pissed off that I'm getting so many doubters that my tests are legit. I put in a lot of time to try to show every which *bleeping* way that the mod is just not working properly with a properly set up installation. Why is Arthmoor so against looking into the mod or even communicating to try to resolve the issue. He is obviously still updating it from time to time and creates a number of good mods so why doesn't he seem to care that this one works right? I mean, maybe he created the mod for himself and just decided to share it with other people, and if it works for them good, and if not, oh well. It's obvious that it does not work for a LOT of people, so what's with the denial of that fact? I don't get it. It leads me to feel this way: I wish someone else put out a mod like this - someone who cared more about addressing bug reports. Perhaps it's a minor fix too. The fact that this mod is out there already is probably reason enough for someone else not to put out their own version of something similar. That's basically how I feel about it. I'd create the mod myself if I knew how, because unmodded NPC behavior in response to dragons cries for some kind of fix. There's definitely a problem with something in this mod, and definitely a denial of that fact by the author - which is a bad combination altogether.

That's part of the reason that for one of the tests (a test prior to the one in the video) I didn't use MO at all - to show that it's not an issue with MO. I'll put a link to the video up on the Nexus mod page - good idea. EDIT: Previously, when testing with STEP Extended modlist only (no extra custom mods added beyond STEP Extended), I used the SKSE loader instead of the Skyrim Launcher and it was still doing the same thing as can be seen in the video. I can try it again though - I'll do it later tonight. There won't be another video though, unless NPC behavior changes... :)

It's nothing - just telling me I have files in my overwrite mod/folder. I left the bashed patch for the test run in there (instead of making a special mod folder just for it) - that's all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAlA7lNaTDA&feature=youtu.be Example of how installing the Skyrim mod, Run for Your Lives, doesn't work properly on my computer. Note: Mod Organizer (newest version 1.2 used), DDSOptimized vanilla game texture files, all 3 DLCs installed, only mod beyond those installed is "Run for Your Lives" (allowed MO to unpack the BSA in the mod). I have also tried running the mod installed directly into the data directory and not using MO, but just enabling the mod through the Skyrim Launcher. In addition, I tried running the mod with a full S.T.E.P. mod list. I have also tried running the mod with the full S.T.E.P. mod list and extra mods I added on top of those. In every single circumstance I get the same results as seen in this video. The results can be described as: While the dragon is flying - NPCs with melee weapons run around with no clear goal, stand around with weapon out (waiting for the dragon to land), or cower. NPCs with ranged weapons attack. When the dragon lands in NPC-accessible area - melee NPCs attack. This can easily be seen when the dragon is weak and can no longer fly, everyone mobs the dragon because he is on the ground. No one ever runs inside any building the entire time - isn't that supposed to be the main purpose of the mod. The majority of NPCs are supposed to escape the scene so they can't get killed during the attack. I started from the beginning of the game (new game) and progressed the game through escaping from Helgen, grabbing the Dragonstone and shout from Bleak Falls Barrow, defeating Mirmulnir, told by Balgruf to seek the Greybeards, and then I waited 3 days and went to Riverwood and walked near cell border to trigger dragon encounter. Since beginning the game to getting the dragon attack to happen through the normal game system I did not alter any mod configurations. If I had been using any mod that makes dragons more powerful, nearly the entire village population would have been decimated from this attack. And yes, I do prefer to normally use a mod that makes dragons more difficult. I think most Skyrim modders do. Skip to 5:15 for point in which I was able to get the dragon to actually attack.

As to whether or not my particular NVIDIA 700 series card supports Shadowplay - it's all good, because my particular card does support it. It was already installed. ;) I'm going to use that program. Thank you TechAngel85 and EssArrBee - now I don't have to install new software for this.

Hacknpaint seemed to making a lot of progress quickly, but he suddenly disappeared and I haven't seen him commenting or updating his mod for weeks. I hope he comes back. EDIT: I think that having NPCs use lights, even the wearable lanterns, makes an incredible (and good) difference to the game when using a realistic lighting mod (that makes darkness actually dark).

Thommaal - Good idea. Sure - I'll make a video of a dragon encounter. How do I go about doing that - got any suggestions for doing it easily (program for capturing the video)? If I do this, I will run the game through MO and with all mods but RfYL disabled, only because it didn't seem to make any difference to NPC behavior throughout my experiments in trying to get the mod to work for me (between using or not using MO to run the mod) so I'm just going to do it the easiest way. With the newest version of MO, it is easy to restore mod and plugin list configurations to saved settings.

Kuldebar - Why are you saying non-standard dragon attack? And why do you think I'm running a mod that changes dragon attacks? I said over and over again that my final test had no mods installed besides "Run for Your Lives". I don't see how there can be ANY conflict of mods when "Run for Your Lives" is THE ONLY mod installed and a brand new game is started just to test the mod. You obviously have not read my posts. I'm done here - people are not listening to me and certain things I have said multiple times in different ways. Like I requested - has anyone here actually started a brand new game using the newest version of the mod, or are people just using a saved game that was started with an older version of the mod?

Please read my posts - I have done what everyone has asked me to do for proper testing. No one is actually understanding what I am clearly describing. I'm through with this nonsense, and this mod. This is ridiculous. Why is everyone defending this mod like it's perfectly fine, when it clearly has some kind of strange issues? Even on the mod's Nexus page, many people are describing how it doesn't work for them.Kuldebar - you apparently haven't read any of my posts about the testing I've done. I've tried to tell you multiple times about things I did to simplify the environment for the test - things you keep saying I'm not doing or possibly doing wrong. It's very frustrating. There were no mod conflicts because RfYL was the only mod installed in the last test. TechAngel85 - again. This is so frustrating - I don't think people are even reading what I keep writing in detail. I did not force spawn for the real testing. I waited until the game spawned an unnamed dragon outside Whiterun on it's own (3 days after reporting back to Balgruf about Mirmulnir). As a side test, I forced a spawn in Riverwood and NPCs seemed to be reacting to the forced spawn the same as they were reacting to the non-forced spawn - I mentioned this because Kuldebar asked if it was something I tried, so yes, I tried it. I've got a MONSTER headache from this ************************************************************************. I'm out. Maybe I'll be feeling better tomorrow. Night.

OK, now I'm starting to think that a lot of STEP modders think this mod is working for them, but it's actually not. Can some people offer to test this mod out as I described - with a brand new game? EDIT: one person on the Nexus forum for this mod claimed to have tried it with a new game and it worked for him. I just came up with another idea. I bought my copy of Skyrim. Is it "possible" that everyone who is using this mod and having it work properly are all using copies of the same warez copy of Skyrim? I don't know if it would make a difference, but it's seriously the only thing at this point that I can come up with. Maybe I need to find a warez copy of SKyrim on the internet and install that - I don't know. I mean, other scripted mods work for me, such as Wet & Cold, for example... and Skyrim Immersive Creatures... and iNeed. What is the deal?

Kuldebar - I don't think you read my post in full about the last test I did.

Well, I did try "spawning" (using console command) a dragon in Riverwood during the same test. NPCs do not go into buildings, some just stand there with weapons out (like the blacksmith) and others cower. No one runs inside. They seemed to be acting about the same as the NPCs outside of Whiterun with the dragon that spawned by normal game progression near Honningbrew Meadery outside of Whiterun (the one I talked about in my previous posts). No, it's not acting like the mod says it should. People should be running to certain buildings and going inside. Everyone but specific faction NPCs (guards, vigilants of stendarr, etc). No I'm not running any weird Papyrus Tweaks. I already said that I cleaned my game files using Steam and ran the game outside of MO. EDIT: I remember reading in a couple places that all dragons spawned using the vanilla spawn system trigger the NPC RfYL response.

Huh? That's exactly what I already last did. I said in that same post: "The ONLY mod I have installed into the game data directory itself is "Run for Your Lives". I am running the game from outside of MO through the normal launcher and I have ticked off "Run for Your Lives.esp" in the "DATA FILES" part of the launcher" I normally do use MO, I didn't recently just to see if it was a problem with MO or not. The results have me thinking the only problem is with RfYL itself. I'm thinking that people not having problems have upgraded their current saved game without starting a brand new game with the newest version of the mod. That's why I'm asking if you could check this out with a new game on your computer.

Kuldebar, can I ask you to check to see if you are using the newest version of "Run for Your Lives" and the newest version of Skyrim? Also, much more importantly - had you started a new game since upgrading to the newest version of RfYL and Skyrim? If not, do you mind starting one and rushing to get to the first unnamed dragon attack outside of Whiterun? It actually doesn't take that long to do if you use "TCL" and "COC" console commands as well as "wait". Might take 1/2 hour to 45 min once commenced. [spoiler=Possible spoiler (hardly)]Run through Helgen as fast as possible. Then "TCL" up to the back exit of Bleak Falls Barrow and through the rock door. Grab the first shout and use the "kill" command on the Draugr to grab the Dragonstone. COC to Whiterun. Talk to Balgruf all the way to the dragon investigation quest. COC to the Western Watch Tower. "kill" command on Mirmulnir (works once he lands). Return to Balgruf. Then just have to wait 3 days. Then "COC "Whiterun" and start running west along the road - I always get an unnamed dragon coming over Whiterun towards me. Lure it towards Pelagia Farms and see how NPCs respond to it. If you could do that then we can really determine if it's working for you now or not.

You mean it's not supposed to activate and work on the NPCs outside the front of Whiterun between Whiterun, Pelagia Farms, and Honningbrew Meadery? EDIT: and if that's the case, how should I be testing this mod to make sure it's working right? Where should I go and how should I trigger a dragon attack?

OK, I swear now that there MUST be a problem with this mod (and possibly Arthmoor's other one - When Vampires Attack). I have removed all SSME/SMAA/ENboost/etc extra files from my Skyrim installation folder, verified my game cache, and it ended up downloading a few files (though those files were BSAs that I previously removed after DDSOpt optimizing them because they were no longer needed when the optimized textures were loaded through Mod Organizer). Anyway, so I started a brand new game, rushed through the game to the first unnamed dragon attack (it was outside Whiterun). People get scared and run off a little to cower (most at the start of the attack), but no one runs inside any building, and everyone eventually gets the balls to start fighting. The ONLY mod I have installed into the game data directory itself is "Run for Your Lives". I am running the game from outside of MO through the normal launcher and I have ticked off "Run for Your Lives.esp" in the "DATA FILES" part of the launcher. I give up on this mod. From all I can tell, it's broken and does not work as intended/described. Did other people here try the newest version of the mod, because that's the one that I'm using. I'm not using SKSE either because the mod author does not say it's required. I'm running the latest version of Skyrim. I have all 3 DLCs installed...

Wow, 1-4 didn't work. I guess my game is corrupted? I'll have to look into the non-MO mod files as well as the vanilla game files. I'll keep you updated. This is getting to be a lot more of a pain than I ever thought it would. 8(

Thank you for the ideas. This is what I am going to try next: 1. Re-download and install "Run for Your Lives" in MO. if that doesn't change anything: 2. Re-install "Run for Your Lives" in MO and not unpack the BSA. if it doesn't work: 3. Move "Run for Your Lives" to bottom of load order. if that doesn't work: 4. Disable all STEP mods except "Run for Your Lives", start new game, progress game to first dragon attack and lure dragon over to Whiterun farms, if possible, to see how citizens respond. If not I'll trigger the first unnamed dragon over Whiterun through time progression. if that doesn't fix the problem then I'll assume that it is, in fact, an issue with Skyrim files outside of MO and I'll have to look into re-installing or using Steam's game installation fixer.

It overwrites the USKP and nothing overwrites it, according to the conflicts tab in MO for Run for Your Lives.

I let MO extract the bsa upon installation through MO. I assume that's ok to do.