crash after optimizing

[OniNoSeishin]

Hi all,

i just started going through STEP 2.2.4, and already have a problem right after the optimization. I followed the steps until before step 2, doing this:

 

- extracted, repaired, optimized and 7z-ipped HRDLC1, HRDLC2, HRDLC3 and STD (Skyrim - Textures) - following this

- extracted, optimized and re-packaged Dawnguard

- moved optimized Dawnguard.bsa to Data folder

- removed HRDLC1-3 and Skyrim - Textures's BSAs from Data directory (as i will use them as loose files)

- optimized vanilla BSAs - following this (i don't have "Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa" in my Data folder; made multiple cache checks...)

- installed Skyrim - Textures.7z and HRDLC1-3.7z with Wrye Bash

- made INI tweaks

- installed SKSE

- wrote this in skse.ini:

 

 

[General]

ClearInvalidRegistrations=1

 

[Debug]

writeMinidumps=1

 

 

- unselected HRDLC's corresponding ESPs files (as i don't need them while i'm using the loose version)

 

Then i tried launching skse, but it crashes immediatly.

I'm using Skyrim 1.9.32, with HRDLC and Dawnguard.

I'm using this string in Wrye Bash for 7z:

-mx=7 -m0=lzma2:d=32m -ms=on -mmt=7

(read it here on the forums), and compressing stuff with LZMA2 and Non-solid option.

 

Having a little ocd, the whole process drove me crazy, because main STEP guide isn't really clear on the order in which this things need to be done (as they are on 3 different wiki pages, which links each other multiple times).

It's also a bit confusing on what to do with other mod's BSAs if you're using the loose version for vanilla textures: do i have to extract them entirely? Or do i have to extract just the textures, leaving the other folders in the mod's BSA?

 

Thanks for the attention and the help, if you need more details just tell me!

[Kelmych]

Crashing during the initial game load means there is a missing file. I tried launching Skyrim without Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa and I get an immediate CTD. I don't know what to suggest other than redoing the Verify Integrity of Game Cache step in Steam. You might try renaming a small BSA like Skyrim - shaders.bsa before validating the cache and then seeing if the verification step restores this file; this would help prove that the verification is working correctly (or not).

[OniNoSeishin]

Renamed shaders bsa and the validation redownloaded it. Only thing strange about validation is that every time i do it, it sais that 1 file is missing and re-downloads a file of ~750 bytes.

Anyway, i looked at my old STEP 2.1.1 and 2.2 backups, and i didn't have a VoicesExtra in there either. And it was working...

 

EDIT:

i also tried running skyrim before starting to mod it, and it worked.

What is this VoicesExtra bsa supposed to do? Is It related to Dragonborn or Hearthfire? Because i don't have those dlcs...

[Kelmych]

VoicesExtra primarily contains voices for some of the main Skyrim quests (MQ202-MQ205, , MQ301-MQ302); it is not part of any DLC.

 

Even if somehow this is not essential for your variant of Skyrim, the problem you are having is a missing file and you need to determine what the missing file is.

[uglykidcid]

I also discovered that the Optimized DLCs repacked with DDSopt caused problems. The most obvious I found was that the optimized Dawnguard BSA caused lookup failed on Necromancy in the Conjuration perk tree. The optimized Dragonborn BSA caused look up failed in the Bone Breaker and Hack and Slash in the one-handed perk tree. I kept the optimized archives and installed those instead. The optimized archives worked just fine. So the failure is somewhere in the process of repacking the archives back into BSAs. This leads me to belive that it might be better to leave DDSopt optimized BSAs unpacked. I also experimented with no BSAs. I found that UPDATE and ANIMATION had to stay in BSA form when using FNIS. I spent a good bit of time experimenting with this and found the behavior files specifically to be the problem. UPDATE BSA (which contains behavior files which must remain in BSA form) overides vanilla INTERFACE, MESHES, and SHADERSfx BSAs. Voice and Sound BSAs should not be optimized. Voiceextra and Misc BSA are too small for unpacking them to make any real difference. Based on this I decided that only the DLCs and Textures BSAs were worth installing as optimized archives.

[OniNoSeishin]

So, after 2 reinstalls i began to think that INI tweaks were the problem, so i started testing that. Turns out that the problem was in step 1.F.2, precisely this:

ENB users ONLY! Enabling these without an ENB will decrease performance with no visual impact and possibly introduce excessive shadow striping.

 

bDrawLandShadows=1

bFloatPointRenderTarget=1

I relied on the bolded part, assuming it wasn't much a problem, but i was wrong. I though i could do that before installing the ENB preset, just so i didn't forget later.

 

Now, before i get started with the mods intallations, i've just one more question: as i'm using loose vanilla texture files, do i extract all mod's BSAs files to loose files or do i have to extract just the textures from them?