kryptopyr

@rootsrat and Aiyen I've never used an ENB, in part because I was under the impression that nearly all of them just exacerbated the darkness issue. However, lately I've been thinking of trying out a few, and if they can actually be used to help lighten overly dark interiors that would be wonderful. Is it possible to share what tweaks you've made (and for that matter which ENBs you're using)? Since I've not used ENBs before and don't know what's involved with tweaking them, I'm not sure whether it's possible to easily share settings, but I thought I'd go ahead and ask.

There's this one: https://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/34031/

Thanks for the assistance! That helps a lot.

Altered perks may not work properly for NPCs, but unless they're some sort of scripted effect, I think it's pretty unlikely that it would cause a crash. I don't know about Better Magic since I haven't examined it too closely, but I can tell you that Stealth Skills Rebalanced does not change perks in a way that would create problems if those perks were being used by an NPC.

I'm currently in the process of re-installing Skyrim. I've not updated most of my mods since getting Dragonborn (haven't had a chance to play it yet), and I figured it was a good time to start fresh. I'm also taking the opportunity to switch over to Mod Organizer, something I've been wanting to do for awhile now. So far I'm really loving MO. I've watched some tutorials and read the guide, but really almost everything has felt very intuitive and straightforward. I like the way the downloads work and being able to review the file structure/contents prior to installing the mod. And the ability to create profiles is awesome (this is actually the best feature of MO and one of the primary reason that I've been wanting to switch). I do have a couple of questions, though. I have a feeling the answers should be pretty obvious, but I've been searching for awhile and can't find the answers, and I'd rather not have to figure it out through trial and error. When installing a mod that has files outside of the data folder (for example Borderless Window or Double Cursor Fix), how do I install these through MO? Do I manually copy the files that need to go into the Skyrim folder, then use MO for the files that get placed in the Data folder? Second, when I run the CK or TES5Edit through MO and make changes to an existing mod, where are those changes saved? I'm sort of assuming that the changes are getting made to the original file (the one saved in the ModOrganizer/mods folder), and will therefore also apply to any and all profiles using that mod, but I'm not certain of this.

If there are no direct conflicts, then these mods will likely change your game by making your housecarls stronger (which will essentially make the game easier). Just look at the perks they've been given and any other changes that have been made to their stats. The more extreme these changes are, the more likely it is that the NPC is going to be pretty overpowered relative to their vanilla state. On the other hand, if you play at master or legendary level and/or use a lot of mods that affect enemy difficulty, this might actually help make the game feel a bit more balanced, so it's really something you have to evaluate relative to your overall mod list. Understand, though that if an NPC has a perk, the skill level requirements that apply to the player don't apply to the NPC; they will have all of the perk bonuses starting from level 1. I've used Better Followers in the past, which adds perks to followers. While I enjoyed it at higher levels, the followers felt incredibly overpowered at early levels when they could mow through enemies that my character could barely scratch.

Sure, sounds good. I'd definitely be willing to work together on it. I'd also be perfectly happy if you just want to go ahead and run with it. Adding the conditions seems like it should be fairly straightforward, though I haven't actually had a chance to look at these quests in the CK, so I'm not entirely certain that it's as simple as it sounds (which is often the case with the CK).

Finished going through the list of locations. Here are the remaining places that still seem to have bugs associated with them. Many of these issues would not be avoided by the dungeon renaming, but I figured since I was going through looking for problems, I might as well list all of the ones I found. Knifepoint Ridge: Problem: If you have already received the quest Boethiah's Calling and have the objective to kill her current champion, you will be unable to complete the quest Kill the Bandit Leader in Knifepoint Ridge. The quest marker will point to where the bandit chief stands instead of over his head, and even if you kill everyone in the mine, it will not be completed. Waiting until Knifepoint Ridge has reset does not fix the problem. (the 1.4 patch corrects a problem associated with clearing Knifepoint Ridge before starting Boethiah’s Champion but doesn't seem to address this issue). Possible Solution: remove location from radiant quest list, or add a condition to radiant quests so that they will only select Knifepoint Ridge prior to the start of Boethiah's Champion, but will no longer use this location after this quest has been started. Rebel's Cairn: Problem: If you are sent to Rebel's Cairn by a radiant quest, it is generally impossible to complete the quest unless you first start the Rebel's Cairn quest, allowing you to enter the dungeon. If the Rebel's Cairn quest has been completed, you may want to keep Red Eagle's Bane to reenter dungeon and complete the radiant quest without having to find Red Eagle's Fury again. Possible Solution: Remove location from radiant quest list (though this bug doesn't seem particularly critical) Red Eagle Redoubt: Problem: If you have previously killed the leader of the Red Eagle Redoubt and get the task to kill him again you must reanimate the body and kill him a second time. You may get this task while trying to purchase a house in Markarth from the Jarl. Possible Solution: add a condition to certain radiant quests (Kill Bandit Leader) so that they won't use this location after this quest has been completed. Raldbthar: Problem: If you return to the Deep Market after completing it once, the bridge may be up again. It's possible no bones will be in the gears, leaving no way to get the bridge down again. If the bones are there, you may not be able to interact with them properly. (Even if you knock them out with your weapon, the gears won't turn.) Also: Alain Dufont is present even if Mourning Never Comes is not active. This can cause problems for people trying to get the optional objective since it makes it very easy to kill him ahead of time resulting in the optional objective for the quest not being completable. Swindler's Den: Problem: If you side with Kematu in the quest In My Time Of Need, he will still appear at the back of this cave, even after he has "left" for Hammerfell. (not a critical issue) Possible Solution: add a line to the quest script to disable Kematu after the quest has been completed. Uttering Hills Cave: Problem: After Summerset Shadows, the Shadows replace the bandits and follow the bandits' routines. If you have an objective to kill the bandit leader here after the quest, it will be impossible to complete it as the bandit leader will be the corpse of Linwe, who is already dead. This can be fixed by resurrecting Linwe with the console by targeting his corpse and typing resurrect 1 and killing him again. Possible Solution: add a condition to the "Kill Bandit Leader" radiant quest so that it won't use this location after this quest has been completed. Wolfskull Cave: Problem: If you are sent to Wolfskull Cave as part of a radiant quest (such as Shalidor's Insights), you will not be able to complete the radiant quest while The Man Who Cried Wolf is active. You will need to first finish The Man Who Cried Wolf. (not a critical issue) Ysgramor's Tomb: Problem: If you are sent to Ysgramor's Tomb by a radiant quest, it is impossible to complete the quest unless you have started Glory of the Dead, which means that you need to complete the entire Companions questline. (I consider this fairly severe problem, given that you would be forced to complete an entire questline to finish a simple radiant quest.) Possible Solution: this location needs to be removed from any radiant quest that might send you there, or have a condition added so that radiant quests will only use this location after the Companions questline has been completed.

It might work to just disable the loading door. Would need to try it and see if the cave entry mesh would support just walking all the way into it without getting automatically teleported by the door, but from what I've seen elsewhere I suspect that it would. It would just look like a shallow cave or the crevice in the rocks. I don't really think the navmesh issues would be all that bad. You can place an invisible marker around any newly added rocks that will automatically "crop" the navmesh. This would avoid having to directly edit the navmesh in the CK. Hearthfire uses this technique a lot, so instead of constantly adjusting the navmesh with each change or added furniture, items are simply set up with a marker that disables the part of the navmesh that runs underneath them. @WilliamImm The Amulet of the Moon quest was fixed? I checked, but I guess I missed that one.

I can certainly fix some of the issues mentioned (include a SEQ file, carry over changes from EBQO or make a patch). However, some of the other issues are still ongoing known issues because I've not been able to figure out a solution for them. I've never had a report of the mod causing followers to just stand in place and not follow at all. That makes me suspect some sort of mod conflict, but with just baseline STEP, I'm not sure where the conflict would be. Besides Follower Trap Safety are you using any other mods that might affect followers or NPCs? I've found that followers don't always use torches when I think they should. There appears to be a certain light threshold that the game detects and only forces the torch to be equipped if the light gets below that number, so sometimes on moonlit nights my followers won't equip torches as all (or only if in shadows). Certain game settings and cell edits may affect this number. I'm not sure if this applies in your case of not, but I thought I'd mention it since the screenshot you provided looks fairly bright. I have had a few other users report problems with followers standing (just standing...not running forward) while the player sneaks. I can't consistently replicate the problem though. I have had it happen for me but only rarely, and certainly not every encounter (and I don't think I've ever noticed it actually affecting my detection level). I've never been able to figure out what factor causes this to happen (or what causes it to happen for some users and not for others). Any further testing or thoughts from you guys would be greatly appreciated; I would love to figure out the reason for this and hopefully find a way to correct it.

I may take a look at fixing them. A quick and simple fix might be to just remove Dustman's Cairn, Broken Oar Grotto, Cracked Tusk Keep, and Frostmere Crypt from the list of possible locations for radiant quests. I'm not positive, but I believe that this is often a matter of just removing a certain keyword that makes a location selectable for the radiant quests. I agree that Dead Men's Respite is not a critical issue, merely an annoyance. My preferred fix for this sort of problem is a mod like this: https://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8409/? (though I've not tried this one specifically). However, I don't really think that this is appropriate for STEP since it would probably actually increase the chance of breaking quests (I've never had this problem myself, but then I tend to be pretty careful about where I choose to store potentially important items). The other solution for Dead Men's Respite & Fellglow Keep may be to just make these locations inaccessible until their related quests are initiated (would also need to make sure that they weren't candidates for radiant quest assignments).

I've been going through the list of locations and looking at the UESP wiki notes for any locations that have notes that indicate there may be quest issues. I'm about half-way through the list, and so far the locations that have issues that don't appear to be address by either the official or unofficial patch are: Dead Men's Respite: Problem: This dungeon can be completed before activating the related quest. The ruby dragon claw and King Olaf's Verse will remain marked as a quest items and cannot be removed from your inventory until after Viarmo receives King Olaf's Verse. Dustman's Cairn: Problem: If you have been sent here by a radiant quest after you have completed Proving Honor, you will need to reload your game and ask the giver for another quest. This is because this location does not respawn, and you will be unable to complete the quest. If you have received the quest before the quest, it should still be completable while concurrently completing Proving Honor. Fellglow Keep: Problem: If you clear out Fellglow Keep before you accept the quest Hitting the Books, during the mission the game will crash when trying to go in the dungeon. To avoid this, enter coc FellglowKeep03 in the console for entering to Fellglow Keep, then complete the quest Hitting the Books, and enter coc Riverwood in the console. Broken Oar Grotto, Cracked Tusk Keep, and Frostmere Crypt: Problem: If the Amulet of the Moon quest directs you to any of these 3 locations after you've already visited them, then you will need to reload a previous save to get a different locations. These locations do not respawn, so if you have been here before, the Moon Amulet cannot spawn here and you cannot complete the quest. I'll try to finish going through the list tomorrow.

Is there a list somewhere of which quests (or quest locations) this mod alters? I know that the problems with "Supply and Demand" (Cragslane Cave) and "Trouble in Skyrim" (Driftshade Sanctuary) when you cleared the these dungeons prior to starting the quests was fixed by the official 1.9 update.

Is this based on fact of speculation? Not challenging, just wondering. I agree that it makes sense, and I personally use it but cannot confirm the effect. Mostly just OCD :P joshkope is a good example, after sorting his 3.1gb CTDs he still had tons of stuttering and freezes. His save, that had only ever used step mods, was at 38mb. After adding clearinvalidregistrations it went down to 17,5mb and no more freezes/stuttering https://www.darkcreations.org/forums/topic/3752-skse-cleans-invalid-scripts-from-old-mods/

I've used Balanced Magic for ages and have been quite happy with it.

Eliian is correct on both counts. If you don't activate the mod in the MCM menu, then you're just getting the fixes and nothing else. And I'm still planning to eventually add some DLC-specific features, but since it's not critical to the function of the mod it's not very high on my list right now.

:D For installation...there's not much to really say; I feel that it's pretty straightforward. WAF should be placed at the top of the load order, but after the Unofficial Patches. Players who have both Dawnguard and Dragonborn should use the Complete version. Otherwise, they should use the Vanilla (or vanilla + Dawnguard/Dragonborn file, if they have one but not the other). I think I have patches available for all of the current STEP mods that need them.

This mod has now been updated with Dragonborn fixes.

Here's a similar mod that allows for the training amounts to be adjusted: Training Dummies Provide XP by CarlCorey

Yeah, I just wish it didn't give you the tools until you joined the Thieves guild or some such thing. Getting it from the get-go seems like cheating. I'm looking at both these mods, and I might see about possibly doing some sort of a custom patch for Sneak Tools if I get some free time.I've had fun with Sneak Tools, but I find that the (almost) guaranteed kills, knockouts, and disguises to be rather overpowered. Still, it's a well made mod that has a lot of very neat features. I do agree with Neovalen that I'd love to see the tools only available to Thieves Guild members (or at least a bit more difficult to access). I've always thought it would be great if the arrows were sold by the fletcher that eventually appears in the Flagon. Not only would it seem much more integrated into the game that way, but it would provide an added reward for your progression in the Guild.

I like this idea. I know you say these should be obvious (and I agree that most of them are); however, call me lazy, but I do prefer to have the 'sticky' settings laid out clearly for me so I don't have to second guess myself... and I'm sure there are many others who wouldn't find it nearly as obvious. Another suggestion to do with what you will... Perhaps you could include in the rollover description the vanilla value for that particular setting? That way, when I install SkyTweak (you've now fully convinced me to give it a try), I can look at the values and if the slider values match the Vanilla value given in the text description then I know this setting hasn't been altered by another mod. If it's different, then I know that I have some mod that it already changing that setting. If I've managed to follow all of this, then my understanding is that SkyTweak doesn't make ANY changes to the current game setting values, doesn't add any of the new stacker perks, and doesn't change actor values until the player actively decides to change something. So upon loading SkyTweak, I can have it active in my game, and even open and look over the menus, and SkyTweak won't change anything in my game until I manually make a change to one of the options in the SkyTweak MCM interface. Is this correct? I think any suggestions or presets will need to be made with consideration for the other mods that will be included in the gameplay pack(s), since some of the mods included will probably already be making changes to various settings. I agree that SkyTweak seems like a great tool to add to, enhance, and perhaps improve compatibility (in a gameplay sense) between the different mods that will be included in a gameplay pack. I'm looking forward to trying it out in my own game. I can report back on which settings I end up using and why.

I can try to answer a couple of these. Yes, Stealth Skills Rebalanced was the mod being referenced here. It would be #2 by your definitions, as it only changes the settings at certain points in the game, not constantly. Also, it might be worth pointing out that it only does this for one game setting: PickpocketMaxChance. Every other game setting that gets changed by Stealth Skills Rebalanced is done directly (i.e. values are edited in the CK and saved in the .esp...not with a script), so if it weren't for PickpocketMaxChance, SSR would correspond to #3. Scripted changes to Game Settings are not saved, so a mod can either choose to 1) directly edit the game settings and save this in the .esp or 2) use a script plus a secondary maintenance script. This is how most mods deal with using a script to change a game setting... The mod will create a new Global Variable that will correspond to the Game Setting being changed. When the script changes the Game Setting, it will also change the Global Variable. When a player saves & exits the game, the Global Variable gets saved, but the Game Setting reverts back to whatever it was prior to the script change (either the vanilla value or the value as defined by another mod that is using an .esp to directly change that setting). The mod using scripted changes will trigger it's maintenance script when the player reloads their game. That script will check what the last saved value for the Global Variable was and change the Game Setting to match. Because of the way this works, as soon as the mod is removed (thereby also removing the Global Variable and the maintenance script), there is nothing left behind to alter the Game Settings when the game is loaded. This is very reliable, so yes, any Game Settings would 100% revert back after the mod was uninstalled. The changes that SkyTweak is adding through newly created perks would also revert to previous values cleanly, since the changes rely on perks added by the mod that would no longer exist in the game once the mod had been uninstalled. However, the Actor Values would remain changed even after uninstalling since these are changes that get saved in the game. I wonder if it would be possible for SkyTweak to track any changes made by the player to these values, and then offer a "Uninstall" or "Undo Actor Value Changes" button that would quickly and easily revert those changes back to what they were prior to using SkyTweak?

Thank you for your answer. I've been wondering about script priority in cases like this but haven't been able to find any information on it. It sounds like you've done a fair bit of testing with it. I wonder if there would be any value to putting a tiny delay in the script where SkyTweak runs OnPlayerLoadGame, as a way of ensuring that other scripts are making their changes first? Though, if the results of your tests are consistent, then perhaps this isn't really needed. So if I understand correctly, in order to properly change settings via other mods (versus just changing the setting using SkyTweak), you need to at least open SkyTweak's MCM to force SkyTweak to reevaluate the settings. Otherwise whatever settings SkyTweak currently has will overwrite changes made using another mod. I assume this would also apply when installing a new mod...that when adding another mod that makes changes to the game settings, it's best to open SkyTweak's MCM to force the settings to update? SSR edits the PickpocketMaxChance when the mod is first installed, OnPlayerLoadGame, and when specific Pickpocket perks are chosen. So would SkyTweak override these changes with the value it has stored as default? I'm pretty sure I've seen other mods that also alter game settings during the course of gameplay (though, I admit, I can't really name any at the moment). It looks as if you've answered my questions before I could finish typing them. :D Thank you for the clarification. It sounds like you've done a really good job accounting for some tricky compatibility issues.

It's not a problem to use this mod with an existing character. If STEP wants to recommend only the fixes, then you can suggest installing the mod and activating the .esp, but not clicking "start mod" in the MCM options. The fixes to the Investor perk will occur automatically as soon as the mod is added to the game. However, all of the gameplay changes will remain dormant until started in the Mod Configuration Menu. As statmonster mentions, the barter settings and merchant respawn rate can also be left unactivated independently of the other options. I did this to avoid conflicts with other mods that might be trying to edit the game settings via script. By leaving these options deactivated, it means that Trade & Barter won't touch these game settings, completely avoiding any possible conflict with other mods that may be altering these settings directly or via script. I don't think this is currently an issue for STEP, as I don't think any of the mods included change these settings.