Greg

Vurt's stress test is an invalid and inconclusive test that proves nothing and it may cause a crash to desktop that is completely unrelated to what you are attempting to test. One important issue is that the game must load and render cells so quickly that it may not be able to keep up with the load.

Discussion thread: Rustic Elderscroll by Gamwich Wiki Link Gamwich is at it again, this time with Rustic Elderscroll. I think the picture speaks for itself.

I don't know what can be done to resolve this issue if you are experiencing lags on auto and quick saves (other than disabling auto saves and not using quick saves). I was experiencing lags of 15 to 20 seconds using a STEP 2.2.9.2 Extended setup with vanilla ugridstoload. The only difference between my setup and standard STEP 2.2.9.2 Extended is that I had installed XPMSE instead of XPMS and I'm using the higher resolution meshes and textures. One point that is noteworthy is that Neovalen has never experienced these lags and his setup is way more complex than STEP Extended. I know he use the higher resolution meshes and textures as well. I plan to revisit this at some point in the future, but I haven't had time to get back around to it yet.

Yes, ignore the big red X in the left pane.

So to mark a topic for testing, click Edit on the first post in the top then click Use Full Editor. In the full editor, change the Top Prefix to testing, and click Submit Modified Post?

Radiant quests are mostly busy work but you are Dragonborn, Master Butler to all Tamriel. Your purpose in life is to gain employment as a Novice Butler and advance through the ranks until you eventually become Master Butler to all guilds and associations. :O_o: In the early stages of the game, I think the radiant quests force the player to explore Skyrim. I agree this does become rather old and stale as the player becomes Expert Butler in three or more guilds. The College of Winterhold radiant quests are notoriously dull because Dragonborn is nothing more than Labrador Retriever fetching worthless books that are readily available in any bookcase or nightstand in Skyrim. Urag: Would you be so kind as to fetch a worthless book for me? Dragonborn: Don't you already have a copy of that book in the bookcase over there? Urag: No I don't or I wouldn't ask. Dragonborn: Isn't this a mass printed book available all over Skyrim? Urag: Yes it is. What of it? Dragonborn: I don't understand why I need to go delving into a dark cave or dungeon to get a copy of a book I can get across the street. Urga: Your job is to to do my bidding, so stop asking questions and go fetch! Dragonborn: Woof! The radiant quests in the Companions Guild are a bit different in the early stages of the game because they force the player to explore the unexplored territories and to build offensive and defensive combat skills. The initial radiant quest from Aela is to fetch six wolf pelts. This is a relatively easy radiant quest because wolves are readily available anywhere in Skyrim. Eventually she gave me a radiant quest to fetch six Snow Sabre Cat pelts. Gulp! Here I a decked out in the finest fur armor with the finest hunter's bow and she wants me to stalk kitty cats? Not just any kitty cat... kitty cats that weigh about 600 pounds with sharp teeth and claws and that are fast as greased lightning. I'm so dead. Dragonborn: So Aela how'd you like to come along to help me collect some pelts? Aela: You still need to prove yourself whelp! Dragonborn: You know Jenassa, you really need to get out more often. Want to tag along on a little adventure? Jenassa: Sure, I'd love to go on an adventure but it'll cost you 500 septims. Dragonborn: Could you maybe do half an adventure for 300? Please! Jenassa: Go away and come back when you can afford it! At this stage I was forced to do a bit more hunting, woodchopping, and mining so I could upgrade my attire to leather armor and my weapons to a long bow with steel arrows. I'm still so dead, but at least I stand a 15% chance against a snow cat. I won't bore you with the details of how many times I went running with my tail between my legs or how long it took to collect snow cat pelts. Let's just say I jumped off the side of more mountains to get away than I can count. The one disadvantage to extending the Companions Guild questline for me is that I'm forced to stay a werewolf a lot longer than normal and I really don't like being a vampire or a werewolf. I usually cure lycantrhopy immediately after curing Kodlak so I can get back to being a regular Dragon-blooded Joe.

I clicked Mark for Testing and it's still not in the testing tag search even through it has the yellow TESTING tag.

Marked for Testing.

Thank you for the correction darkside. I just changed the video to one from Hodilton that does cover Deathbell HD.

I edited the title of Stealth Skills Rebalanced to add the the mod author's name and it fell off the testing tag search.

EDIT: This is a Hodilton video on Deathbell HD and Fern 3Gen.

I've been using this for a while now and I really like it with a caveat. After joining the Companions Guild, the player must meet the following requirements before the Proving Honor quest triggers: Level 30 in a weapon skill (one-handed, two-handed, or archery)Level 30 in an armor skill (light armor or heavy armor)Player level 10Complete at least 10 radiant quests for the Companions Guild (radiant quests outside the Companions Guild do not count)Complete at least one radiant quest for each member of the circleAt least 14 days have passed since joining the Companions GuildAfter the trial in Proving Honor, the player must meet the following requirements before Joining the Circle: Level 50 in a weapon skillLevel 50 in an armor skillPlayer level 20Complete 20 radiant quests after completing Proving HonorComplete at least one quest for each member of the circleAt least 28 days have passed since completing Proving HonorAfter joining the circle, the player must meet the following requirements before Kodlak's Request: Level 70 in a weapon skillLevel 55 in an armor skillPlayer level 25Complete 10 radiant quests after joining the circleAt least 14 days have passed since joining the circleIt should be very easy for the player to reach level 10 given the above requirements, so I think the player level requirement is pretty much a moot point for the most part. I completed about 15 quests in about 10 days. At this point the main quest triggered, so I killed the dragon and ran off to Solitude to do the initial Potema quest and a few other side quests elsewhere. I then returned to Whiterun after about 15 or 16 days had passed since joining the Companions Guild (meaning I had met all requirements to begin Proving Honor), but the Proving Honor quest would not trigger. To get the Proving Honor quest to trigger, I had to accept one more radiant quest. On my return from completing this radiant quest, the Proving Honor quest triggered. I don't think this is a bug because the vanilla Proving Honor quest triggers after returning completing a radiant quest. The caveat is that when I talked to Vilkas and said I had rescued the kidnap victim, the only dialog choice is "I'm looking for work". This might be a wee tad confusing because the player has to get out this dialog (press ESC to stop the conversation) and then talk to Vilkas to start the Proving Honor dialog. I think the Requirements Only version of this mod is a perfect fit for STEP and I vote for its inclusion in the next version. The mod is very well made and fits right in with Timing is Everything and Thieves Guild Requirements.

You shouldn't have to run any of the tools or the game with administrative privileges. What worries me about this is that if it created those folders/files with administrative access, those files may now require administrative access to read/update.

... and his carryweight. :-)

If you had an older version of FNIS installed, you'll need to remove all the old files before you install the new version of FNIS.

When I read the description I had the impression that the perk trees were unchanged from vanilla as well, but it actually does change the perk trees for Sneak, Lockpicking, and Pickpocket. The screenshots on the mod page are exactly the perks included in the Basic version. The effects of the perks change as well, but I fully expected this. I was just poking around in TESVEdit and see that the Light Fingers perk changed from 40/60/80/100% easier to 20/30/40/50% easier. Overall, I think the changes (even in the perk trees) make perfect sense and I plan to continue using it.

Marked for Testing.

This is normal if you are in an interior area. If you are in an exterior area, "DynDOLOD is active" should be checked with a message at the bottom like "DynDOLOD active world Tamriel."

The Main Font Replacer mod does not support character sets other than English so you should skip this one. This is the only mod in the guide with this restriction. If you switch languages, you do not need to do anything with the plugins you've already cleaned. Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, Dawnguard.esm, Hearthfire.esm, and Dragonborn.esm contain localized string references. All the culture-specific strings are stored externally so the ESMs stay the same regardless of language.

I think you're installing the wrong file for this step. If you go back to the mod page, click the Files tab, and scroll down the page a bit until you find STEP Optimized Vanilla Textures - Performance Version 1.2 under Optional Files. This one contains the optimized vanilla textures that you want to install for this step. The main files are installed later in the patches section of the guide.

You might read Groovtama's explanation of this issue in the XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended thread.

I think the basic version is more appropriate for STEP as well. The full version looks really nice, but it overhauls the perk trees. I'm playing through the Companions quest line with ESF Companions and I'm already level 60 in sneak before getting to the Proving Honor quest. This is without using any trainers or cheats with the caveat that ESF Companions requires completing 10 radiant quests and 14 days before Proving Honor. In any case, it's really easy to level sneak in the vanilla game without even really trying. One possible disadvantage is that I tend to rely heavily on sneak skills. I'm looking forward to seeing what Kryptopyr has done here, even if I might have to relearn how to play the game with this mod. :O_o:

I knew I was forgetting something... one of the pitfalls of getting old. Thanks for the reminder, Nebulous.

Is anyone aware of any additional mods that help slow the progression through the ranks of the various guilds or that balance the skills in a way that meets the STEP mandate? I've outlined the various factions/guilds and skills along with appropriate mods that either are currently in STEP or are being tested for inclusion in the next STEP guide. For the factions/guilds, it would be nice to have something along the lines of Thieves Guild Requirements and Enhanced Skyrim Factions - Companiions that are configurable via MCM. The list of factions comes from one a Skyrim wiki so I just included them all for completeness. I would really like to find a mod for the Dark Brotherhood, but the closest I've been able to find is The Dark Brotherhood Resurrection Part 1. This is a very interesting mod, but it doesn't quite fit in. Factions/Guilds Bards College:Blades:College of Winterhold: Not so Fast - Mage GuildCompanions: Enhanced Skyrim Factions - CompanionsCoven of Namira: perhaps unnecessary?Dark Brotherhood:Dawnguard:Greybeards: perhaps unnecessary?House Telavani: perhaps unnecessary?Imperial Legion: perhaps unnecessary since this is tied to the civil warNightingales: perhaps unnecessary since this is tied into the Thieves GuildStormcloaks: perhaps unnecessary since this is tied to the civil warThieves Guild: Thieves Guild RequirementsTribal Orcs: one quest to slay a giant and you're a blood brother?Volkihar Clan:Magic Skills Alteration:Conjuration:Destruction:Enchanting:Illusion:Restoration:Combat Skills Archery:Block:Heavy Armor:Light Armor:One-Handed:Two-Handed:Stealth Skills Lockpicking: Stealth Skills RebalancedPickpocket: Stealth Skills RebalancedSneak: Stealth Skills RebalancedMisc Skills Alchemy: Complete Alchemy and Cooking OverhaulSmithing: Complete Crafting OverhaulSpeechcraft:

Marked for Testing.