Flickering of Death

[Guest]

When I install DynDOLOD the game starts to flicker in some areas (in particular: Whiterun, Windhelm (not so much), Dawnstar) I know a similar problem was caused by Lanterns of Skyrim but I'm using the latest patch, I tried recreating DynDOLOD starting a completely fresh game but no luck, I even tried the solutions found on this forum thread but they didn't fix the problem. I was thinking of removing the scripts (MCM menu and lights control) from Lanterns of Skyrim because i just want the lanterns I don't care about either removing some of them or making them turn on at night.

 

Could this fix the problem or could there be some other conflicts? And if so, I would I do it without breaking the mod?

 

This is my mod setup: know there are a lot of mods and a lot of merges, but DynDOLOD was one of the first mods I installed and the problem has always been there; I waited to see if a fix was going to be made but no luck).

[Guest]

When I install DynDOLOD the game starts to flicker in some areas (in particular: Whiterun, Windhelm (not so much), Dawnstar) I know a similar problem was caused by Lanterns of Skyrim but I'm using the latest patch, I tried recreating DynDOLOD starting a completely fresh game but no luck, I even tried the solutions found on this forum thread but they didn't fix the problem. I was thinking of removing the scripts (MCM menu and lights control) from Lanterns of Skyrim because i just want the lanterns I don't care about either removing some of them or making them turn on at night.

 

Could this fix the problem or could there be some other conflicts? And if so, I would I do it without breaking the mod?

 

This is my mod setup: know there are a lot of mods and a lot of merges, but DynDOLOD was one of the first mods I installed and the problem has always been there; I waited to see if a fix was going to be made but no luck).

Seems like something got broken on the last line: This is my mod setup I know there are a lot of mods and a lot of merges, but DynDOLOD was one of the first mods I installed and the problem has always been there; I waited to see if a fix was going to be made but no luck.

[sheson]

I have no idea what Flickering of Death is supposed to be. What is flickering?

 

If you installed DynDOLOD and generated LOD first before doing merges, you are doing something wrong.

Edited May 20, 2017 by sheson

[Guest]

I have no idea what Flickering of Death is supposed to be. What is flickering?

 

If you installed DynDOLOD and generated LOD first before doing merges, you are doing something wrong.

The flickering is referred to Objects appearing and disappearing in cities the world just loads and unload Objects with no apparent reason. I did not merge DynDOLOD and it was the last patcher/generator I ran, but should I unmerge everything and redo the patch? And can it load 350 plugins? (otherwise I might try unmerging some of the plugins that I am sure DynDOLOD will take references from; for example merging Enhanced Vanilla Trees plugins causes problems? Or maybe Expanded Towns and Cities? or could it be JK's Skyrim, it was merged by the author using the TES5Edit script).

Edited May 21, 2017 by Project579

[sheson]

What are these objects that are appearing and disappearing exactly? Full models? LOD models? What mod(s) they belong to? When do they appear when do they disappear.

You making it sound like it is a common issue. What's the connection to DynDOLOD?

 

DynDOLOD typically works the same if other plugins are are merged beforehand or not. Make sure to read Dealing with merged Mods in the manual.

Obviously do not merge plugins after generating LOD that are used as masters by DynDOLOD.esp. You should not merge or rename DynDOLOD.esp

 

The game supports a max of 256 plugins. Changing the load order after generating LOD can require having to generating LOD anew depending on circumstances.

[Guest]

Full models and LOD they are all vanilla objects (placed by Skyrim.esm). The connection? No DynDOLOD.esp no Object flickering; but there is still some heavy stuttering, far less compared to having DynDOLOD installed anyway. I can use the generated LOD textures/meshes but not with the plugin. Sometimes the problem disappears but fast travelling is enough to make it come back. I will be installing Windows7 on my machine in one or two days because I think the problem might be related to VRAM limitation (of Windows 10) and I will be moving my entire skyrim installation into an SSD as well, to see if it changes something.

Another thing: the flickering seem to appear on some positions not everywhere for example if I stay near the Whiterun door and look at the bannered mare everything flickers but if I move a bit forward near Breezehome it stops.

 

What are these objects that are appearing and disappearing exactly? Full models? LOD models? What mod(s) they belong to? When do they appear when do they disappear.

You making it sound like it is a common issue. What's the connection to DynDOLOD?

 

DynDOLOD typically works the same if other plugins are are merged beforehand or not. Make sure to read Dealing with merged Mods in the manual.

Obviously do not merge plugins after generating LOD that are used as masters by DynDOLOD.esp. You should not merge or rename DynDOLOD.esp

 

The game supports a max of 256 plugins. Changing the load order after generating LOD can require having to generating LOD anew depending on circumstances.

I already knew about the rules regarding merging and patches, i'm not new to skyrim modding; anyway i always generate DynDOLOD as last because it take a lot of time so it knows everything about the load order and the resources.

[Guest]

Oh just remembered my system specs if they can be of any help:

OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (without Anniversary or Creators updates);

CPU: i7 6700K;

RAM: 32GB (8GBx4) G.SKILL Ripjaws V 3200MHz;

Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII EXTREME;

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Classified 2x SLI (using only 1 with Skyrim);

SSD(for OS): Intel SSD 750 series 400GB;

HDD: WD Blue 4TB;

SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 1TB.

Oh just remembered my system specs if they can be of any help:

OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (without Anniversary or Creators updates);

CPU: i7 6700K;

RAM: 32GB (8GBx4) G.SKILL Ripjaws V 3200MHz;

Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII EXTREME;

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Classified 2x SLI (using only 1 with Skyrim);

SSD(for OS): Intel SSD 750 series 400GB;

HDD: WD Blue 4TB;

SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 1TB.

[sheson]

Lets focus on the problem. Exhausting VRAM *should* only affect textures and performance, but not entire models.

 

To double check, by object flickering, you mean an object actually springs into existing and then disappears again. We are not talking about two models occupying the same space and texture z-fighting?

 

Does it happen with a new game like coc whiterun?

 

What is the frequency?

 

Does that happens when the character/camera stands still or do you have to move for it to occur?

 

Look up the reference form id of such an object in xEdit and see which plugins adds it in the first place, and which plugins overwrite it. For DynDOLOD to have an affect on it it needs to be the last overwrite obviously.

Make a screenshot of the xEdit window for such an object.

Edited May 21, 2017 by sheson

[Guest]

Lets focus on the problem. Exhausting VRAM *should* only affect textures and performance, but not entire models.

 

To double check, by object flickering, you mean an object actually springs into existing and then disappears again. We are not talking about two models occupying the same space and texture z-fighting?

 

Does it happen with a new game like coc whiterun?

 

What is the frequency?

 

Does that happens when the character/camera stands still or do you have to move for it to occur?

 

Look up the reference form id of such an object in xEdit and see which plugins adds it in the first place, and which plugins overwrite it. For DynDOLOD to have an affect on it it needs to be the last overwrite obviously.

Make a screenshot of the xEdit window for such an object.

Exhausting VRAM *should* only affect textures and performance, but not entire models.

I was thinking about memory because when the phenomenon appears the game goes down to really low frames like when VRAM is full it just suddenly drops from 60/30 to 0.

 

Does it happen with a new game like coc whiterun?

Yes I have been testing it exactly like that so I don't have to go through quests or either activate any.

 

To double check, by object flickering, you mean an object actually springs into existing and then disappears again. We are not talking about two models occupying the same space and texture z-fighting?

Yes the Object for example a house just starts appearing and disappearing.

 

Does that happens when the character/camera stands still or do you have to move for it to occur?

No i can stand still and the objects will start to disappear then reappear but looking down on the ground stops it or at least seem to do so if I them move the camera back up it starts again.

 

Here are the some pictures (the screenshots from the game are compressed if you want i can upload the raw version and yes i know my TES5Edit is probably not updated):

 

https://imgur.com/a/F4wIb

Edited May 21, 2017 by Project579

[sheson]

The screenshot shows a base record. DynDOLOD updating LOD flags does not cause references to enable/disable.

 

Can you show a screenshot of a reference record in xEdit? The placement in the world itself, the form id you see in console when clicking on an object.

[Guest]

it's under the first image. I will link it alone:

https://imgur.com/a/T4DG4

 

It does anyway affect any kind of object even the road you can see it on a screenshot if you scroll down on the link I posted before. https://imgur.com/a/F4wIb

And objects flicker even when I'm on the pause menu or while the console is up.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Project579

[sheson]

Hmmm, but DynDOLOD doesn't change that reference.

 

DynDOLOD scripts for dynamic LOD only run when the character crosses cell borders. However thy can only enable/disable objects for which a DynDOLOD created or updated a reference. For a test, disable the DynDOLOD patches script(s), maybe the lantern mod is continuously executing the DynDOLOD scripts.

 

Other than that, DynDOLOD may be just the one thing that puts the load order over the top of some resource issue.

 

I suggest to test with default or BethINIs since the INIs have some questionable or non existing settings. Then follow through with your idea that maybe VRAM or RAM limits play a major role.

 

To test further into resource issues, generate only tree/static LOD, or vice versa temporarily disable tree/static LOD by hiding meshes/texture folder from the output.

Edited May 21, 2017 by sheson

[Guest]

Hmmm, but DynDOLOD doesn't change that reference.

 

DynDOLOD scripts for dynamic LOD only run when the character crosses cell borders. However thy can only enable/disable objects for which a DynDOLOD created or updated a reference. For a test, disable the DynDOLOD patches script(s), maybe the lantern mod is continuously executing the DynDOLOD scripts.

 

Other than that, DynDOLOD may be just the one thing that puts the load order over the top of some resource issue.

 

I suggest to test with default or BethINIs since the INIs have some questionable or non existing settings. Then follow through with your idea that maybe VRAM or RAM limits play a major role.

 

To test further into resource issues, generate only tree/static LOD, or vice versa temporarily disable tree/static LOD by hiding meshes/texture folder from the output.

DynDOLOD scripts for dynamic LOD only run when the character crosses cell borders. However thy can only enable/disable objects for which a DynDOLOD created or updated a reference. For a test, disable the DynDOLOD patches script(s), maybe the lantern mod is continuously executing the DynDOLOD scripts.

It worked, I can't believe it's finally fixed you cannot imagine how happy I am right now. FINALLY            . Thank you so much and sorry for taking your time.

 

Now going back to the problem those scripts where suppose to fix this bug why are they causing it?

 

I suggest to test with default or BethINIs since the INIs have some questionable or non existing settings.

I now use the BethINI generated files but added to Skyrim.ini in the [General] section:

bUseHardDriveCache=0

bUseBackgroundFileLoader=1

bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1

uStaticNeverFade=1

iPostProcessMillisecondsLoadingQueuedPriority=5

bForceFullLOD=1

bRunHighLevelProcess=1

[sheson]

So, there is something going on with the scripts of Lanterns Of Skyrim executing repeatedly?

 

If I remember right, the lanterns script should only run after changing settings and twice an in-game day based on the MCM settings. I am not sure what could prompt it to run continuously.

 

See if changing "Checking every x seconds in its MCM changes the interval of the other objects switching. Maybe turn on debug mode and check the papyrus log for clues.

 

uStaticNeverFade, bForceFullLOD and bRunHighLevelProcess are settings that do not exist in TESV.exe, so they will have no effect. I can not really say anything about the usefulness about the others.

[Guest]

So, there is something going on with the scripts of Lanterns Of Skyrim executing repeatedly?

 

If I remember right, the lanterns script should only run after changing settings and twice an in-game day based on the MCM settings. I am not sure what could prompt it to run continuously.

 

See if changing "Checking every x seconds in its MCM changes the interval of the other objects switching. Maybe turn on debug mode and check the papyrus log for clues.

 

uStaticNeverFade, bForceFullLOD and bRunHighLevelProcess are settings that do not exist in TESV.exe, so they will have no effect. I can not really say anything about the usefulness about the others.

I already have the lanterns check running only every 1200 seconds because i thought about that as well. And I will remove the settings that are useless.

[Guest]

I already have the lanterns check running only every 1200 seconds because i thought about that as well. And I will remove the settings that are useless.

Anyway I discovered that the problem was a mixture of errors from me as well, for example I had ELFX and ELE together with causes lights to be doubled and as you probably already know if there are too many lights into a cell the engine will try to turn some of them off and that was causing the lights to flicker as well. I now have removed ELE and working on redoing my patch to fix all the conflicts with ELFX and ELFXEnhancer.