pack A Real Explorer's Guide to Skyrim

[locthebard]

Sorry for the double post.

I would like to report an early success. Tested stable with the standard stress test (player.setav speedmult 2000 ;tgm ) after 5 min. running around the main worldspace. FPS reasonably stable, with some expected exterior cell loading stutter.

 

Re: Atlas Map Markers causing version mismatch with SkyUI

After consulting both mod nexus pages, mine was a common issue. The issue with ATLAS is caused by an improper load order, both LOOT and  MO left pane. I would kindly suggest this left pane layout:

• Atlas Map Markers Complete
• SkyUI
• .... [sTEP]
• .... [REGS begins]
• ETaC REGS merged
• Atlas Map Markers - Legendary MCM update
• ETaC patches

Re: CTD in Windhelm docks

This appeared to be caused by something I have done with the merge patches. I suspect I have forgotten to extract the RealisticRoomRental.bsa file, though there may have been other issues. In re-doing the merges, I have compiled another list of observations, if you don't mind me being a bloody curmudgeon:

 

In line with previous suggestions, I was thinking one way to make the merge page more gentlemanly is to hand-hold the punter by presenting this in a table (like STEP main)?

col1: plug-in to merge

col2: where is it from

col3: what to deactivate after merge

 

merge 1:
suggest all patches are in farmhouse chimneys mod

merge 2: nsutr
-prometheus_ falskaar docks under Nsutr main
-REGS Patch from regs
-   Cutting Room Floor - No Snow Under the Roof
    Helarchen Creek - No Snow Under the Roof
    Settlements Expanded - No Snow Under the Roof Patch
    Whistling Mine - No Snow Under the Roof

merge 3: RW2
-all files included in RW 2 main

merge 4:
-all from blowing in the wind

 

merge 5
missing:  Compatibility Patch for Convenient Horses
 Typo Patch - The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal
Gray Cowl of Nocturnal Alikr Flora Overhaul
Footprints for The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal

merge 6
missing from merge suggestions:
wyrmstooth - landmarks missing from suggestions
Falskaar - Tweaks and Enhancements - Temper Recipes

mods from:    
missing:    The Notice Board for Falskaar (if installed as separate file)
    Falskaar Wildlife add-on
    Falskaar - Tweaks and Enhancements
    Typo Patch - Falskaar
    Wyrmstooth - Tweaks and Enhancements
    Wiseman303's Flora Fixes for Wyrmstooth
missing:    realistic boat bobbing merged WT hotfix
    
merge 7: 3dnpc
consider moving 3dNPC patches section into main REGS wiki?
regs: REGS Patch - 3DNPC + CWI.esp -- no CWI in v4.2 pack, £DNPC only

----
(comment) REGS patch (main wiki): Why would anyone use 4.04;  unclear?    

cheers for your patience. I hope this might be marginally useful.
  

Edited August 20, 2017 by locthebard

[Kelmych]

Great stuff.

 

The files used are not all 14.2.10. The FOMOD instructions for the modular patches is based on version 14.2.8 Failed to notice, sorry. But thanks for the minor edit. What I would do for those complicated section is have a bullet point pre-flight checklist in between steps, or better yet separate long phrases into digestible "point and grunt".

NSutR+ ETAC: I was mid-way through REGS when i had written that comment. Seeing how the merge patches are in the end-> redundant. Still, may be worth reminding that there is no need to fret about those and can be disabled till later.

 

Atlas Map Markers with SkyUI 5.1  interesting. i'll try. Despite the error message, it did seem to work. Failing that, I remember MCM warnings being supressible.

instruction which said to unpack the BSA when installing. This automatically deletes the BSA   . Hm. I have used MO to unpack bsa, and temporarily renamed it. I don't know of other tools that do it automatically.

Mod Organizer is supposed to install unpacked BSAs or the full BSA, not both. Does it not do this for you?

"Problem 2": not really a problem if one RTFM... sorry to waste your time.

better to ask ...

 

In my install notes, made the following markings as well:

• (comment) after install, i have 6 unmerged patches tied to REGS, 3 of which are mentioned in ETAC is being rather complicated to merge. The other 3: (imersivecitizens - RRR) (settlements expanded -inns and tabverns) (inconsequential NPCs - CRF)

A new small subsection was added at the end of the main pack page mentioning that these 6 plugins are not included in merges since they include NAVI records (and have multiple masters).

• CWI - books - STEP 2.10.0 uses desaturated

The author of Book Covers Skyrim suggests using Saturated for book covers if an ENB is not used, and desaturated if an ENB is used. I use his guidlelines.

• sky haven temple merchants and more -- i found it confusing which version to pick, but that may be because it was 2 am

I'm not sure, use whatever seems best. I prefer and use the original mod that was in REGS (Recruit more blades ...) that requires a bunch of editing in TES5Edit. It was removed because of the additional editing required.

• Gray Cowl of Nocturnal Alikr Flora Overhaul -- audio spaces fix no longer required for director's cut version i think (didn't check with tesedit), no mention necessary?

audio fix comment was not needed and removed. The installation instructions were also wrong; the 1.2 file needed to installed first to get the BSA. This has been fixed in the main pack page and the merge page.

• Grey fox patches section -- could not locate edit 0400F46F

​The text has been fixed to change 04 to xx and explanation added. The first two characters are the mod index while the last 6 are the record index. The first record you deleted was the xx00F46F. It isn't critical, by the way; I'm not sure whether it should be removed or not.

TESedit ITM record:

Removing: [REFR:0100F46F] (places manny_GF_DesertRockPileL02Sand [sTAT:0100353F] in GRUP Cell Temporary Children of [CELL:012004B1] (in manny_GF_Desert "Alik'r desert" [WRLD:01200000] at 24,18))

Removing: manny_GF_WildRuins01 [CELL:0120061D] (in manny_GF_Desert "Alik'r desert" [WRLD:01200000] at 14,24)

Removing: manny_GF_BenEraiMountainSide02 [CELL:012002DB] (in manny_GF_Desert "Alik'r desert" [WRLD:01200000] at 13,11)

Removing: [CELL:012003CF] (in manny_GF_Desert "Alik'r desert" [WRLD:01200000] at 7,15)

 

• ELE version: 0.9.5b -- obviously incompatible with STEP-specific version - I installed FS+ WT plug-in only.

Not incompatible at all. 0.9.5b includes the 0.9.5c records (STEP) and also records for other lands (Falskaar, Wyrmstooth) that are not in 0.9.5c since these are not in STEP

• dreadflopps patches: xx__CollegeOfWinterholdImmersive__Relighting Skyrim.esp -- Relighting Skyrim is not used in REGS

REGS is compatible with STEP Extended and STEP uses ELE_Legendary_Lite and Relighting Skyrim. This is mentioned several places but it is now also near the beginning of the pack page.

• merge patches: Realistic Water 2: (I think) Wyrmstooth had 2 ITMs.

I checked RealisticWaterTwo - Wyrmstooth.esp with TES5Edit again and it was clean.

 

That's all i could come up for now. I had a wee playthorugh before going to bed. Dawnstar was stable, albeit some fps drop (nvidia 1060), Windhelm docks had huge macrostutter (NVME SSD) and eventually CTD. Not a malloc issue. Possibly wrong patch/load order.

 

Some additional changes were made to try to make the pack pages easier to use.

[Kelmych]

Sorry for the double post.

I would like to report an early success. Tested stable with the standard stress test (player.setav speedmult 2000 ;tgm ) after 5 min. running around the main worldspace. FPS reasonably stable, with some expected exterior cell loading stutter.

 

Re: Atlas Map Markers causing version mismatch with SkyUI

After consulting both mod nexus pages, mine was a common issue. The issue with ATLAS is caused by an improper load order, both LOOT and  MO left pane. I would kindly suggest this left pane layout:

The instructions on the Nexus Page for "Atlas Map Markers - Updated with MCM" do mention this, by the way.

• Atlas Map Markers Complete
• SkyUI
• .... [sTEP]
• .... [REGS begins]
• ETaC REGS merged
• Atlas Map Markers - Legendary MCM update
• ETaC patches

A comment about installing REGS mods after the main body of the STEP Extended mods was added, and specific installation instructions for Atlas Map Markers were added.

 

Re: CTD in Windhelm docks

This appeared to be caused by something I have done with the merge patches. I suspect I have forgotten to extract the RealisticRoomRental.bsa file, though there may have been other issues. In re-doing the merges, I have compiled another list of observations, if you don't mind me being a bloody curmudgeon:

 

In line with previous suggestions, I was thinking one way to make the merge page more gentlemanly is to hand-hold the punter by presenting this in a table (like STEP main)?

The current format being used was taken from SRLE Extended LOTD and I prefer it for several reasons to the alternatives I've seen

 

col1: plug-in to merge

col2: where is it from

col3: what to deactivate after merge

 

merge 1:

suggest all patches are in farmhouse chimneys mod

 

merge 2: nsutr

-prometheus_ falskaar docks under Nsutr main

-REGS Patch from regs

-   Cutting Room Floor - No Snow Under the Roof

    Helarchen Creek - No Snow Under the Roof

    Settlements Expanded - No Snow Under the Roof Patch

    Whistling Mine - No Snow Under the Roof

 

merge 3: RW2

-all files included in RW 2 main

 

merge 4:

-all from blowing in the wind

 

merge 5

missing:  Compatibility Patch for Convenient Horses

 Typo Patch - The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal

Gray Cowl of Nocturnal Alikr Flora Overhaul

Footprints for The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal

The CH_Patch_for_GrayCowlofNocturnal.esp compatibility patch is the 4th file in the existing list

merge 6

missing from merge suggestions:

wyrmstooth - landmarks missing from suggestions

Falskaar - Tweaks and Enhancements - Temper Recipes

For completeness the list was revised to include all the options even though several are not recommended for all users

mods from:    

missing:    The Notice Board for Falskaar (if installed as separate file)

The name of the mod that includes the Notice Board was changed and is now Falskaar - Tweaks and Enhancements. The Notice board is one of two files in this mod.

    Falskaar Wildlife add-on

    Falskaar - Tweaks and Enhancements

    Typo Patch - Falskaar

    Wyrmstooth - Tweaks and Enhancements

    Wiseman303's Flora Fixes for Wyrmstooth

missing:    realistic boat bobbing merged WT hotfix

The RBB - Wyrmstooth.esp patch (contents of the hotfix) was in the list as of August 14. Since the hotfix might be a slightly different patch (but same size) as the one in the main RBB file the installation instructions now mention installing the hotfix as they should have done previously.

The RBB patch for RW2 was missing in the RW2 merge list; this has now been added.

 

merge 7: 3dnpc

consider moving 3dNPC patches section into main REGS wiki?

regs: REGS Patch - 3DNPC + CWI.esp -- no CWI in v4.2 pack, £DNPC only

Oops, the patch name was changed in the merge list.

 

----

(comment) REGS patch (main wiki): Why would anyone use 4.04;  unclear?  

It includes some older SRLE patches; rather than delete it entirely is it preserved at least for a while. 

cheers for your patience. I hope this might be marginally useful.

  

[locthebard]

Wee update.
Been playtesting this on/off for the past weeks. Fairly solid.

 

I added "Legacy of the Dragonborn" (mod only) + compatibility patches, merged. For anyone that wants to install this, please be mindful that the main mod file matches the compatibility patch version.
i.e. my mod was v19, but compatibility patches were v18, causing scripting glitches and missing greetings on some added NPCs.
---
Playing as a straight Khajiit thief. After nearly dying of exposure in a late evening, travelling over the frosty sea from Solstheim, finding yourself being denied entry in Windhelm for racial reasons (Inconsequential NPCs), had to try the hospitality of the first farmhouse outside the docks before my character collapsed. The lady didn't call me "cat" and let me join in for some soup.

This. ****. happens. in. real. life.

Edited September 19, 2017 by locthebard

[Kelmych]

There a number of good quest mods that can be used in addition to the mods to the pack. The SRLE Extended LOTD guide has a few including (of course) LOTD.

 

Lately I have been looking at adding Beyond Slyrim: Bruma, and creating some patches so it will work well with STEP Extended.

[Lightsourced]

Is there going to be a huge overhaul update soon for this guide, the sticky at the top says you're going to be adding/removing things? I am just starting modding my game, so just want to know if I should wait or not :) Can't wait to explore!!! Thanks so much for all your hard work! :)

[Kelmych]

When I took over maintenance of the guide I wanted to see what the user community felt before making any significant changes. There hasn't been much comment thus far, especially about any mods that should be removed.  A small number of mods that seemed appropriate for the pack were already added, and a Google Docs spreadsheet of the ideas that have been mentioned over the past few years was provided to get user comments. I don't expect there will be any major changes. Of the large location mods Legendary Cities - Tes Arena - Skyrim Frontier Fortress is being evolved, and as the modular locations change to version 3 most of the updated locations seem like good candidates to be added; CJ was previously looking into these.  Beyond Skyrim: Bruma looks like a good candidate; the biggest patch I'm working on is one for BSB and CACO v2 since I expect CACO will be added to STEP once it is out of beta. A few other mods on the spreadsheet might get added. Any of these should be able to be added mid game (vs. only at the beginning of the game).

 

The most significant changes were those already made to make the pack reasonably compatible with ICAIO. I hope at some point to get permission to host some of the modified files like an ETaC plugin that includes only the locations in REGS; this would make it a lot easier for users.

 

[Lightsourced]

Thank you so much for the info and quick response, guess I'll get to building my cities! Exploration is always my favorite part of a game, so thanks again for your work! :)

[baronaatista]

So both in REGS and I've seen Shurah say to load ICAIO after 3DNPC...  My intuition though says; ICAIO doesn't contain quests, or at least not ones that I'm overly worried about breaking (as far as I know - I know it uses aliases to make it go...)  Whereas 3DNPC does.  Why would ICAIO take priority?  I'm mostly fine if NPC's pathing is a little screwy, but not so much if 3DNPC quests are broken.

[Kelmych]

Handling navmesh incompatibilities with ICAIO varies with the location of the navmesh. Look at the ICAIO "Modifications Overview" table here. It has a list of what level of script changes ICAIO makes in different locations. I would be wary of overwriting any ICAIO navmeshes in places that have a green font such as Whiterun (especially Whiterun); this could affect the behavior of a lot of NPCs.

 

One location you mentioned (000FC127) is in Windhelm Docks. You might be OK in using the 3DNPC navmeshes there. You could of course run a test at each affected location by going to that location and watching what happens for a day: waiting for an hour and then seeing if there are any problems and then waiting for another hour, etc. I've done this for a few of the mods in REGS and there are some mods that haven't been added since I haven't gotten to doing this (e.g., Arthmoor's Darkwater Crossing).

 

In my game I have ignored some navmesh conflicts between mods (these didn't happen to be with ICAIO) and often found they didn't cause any significant problems.

[shambamosori]

I am getting specific CTD with DynDOLOD with this pack but not with base-STEP. (Yes I have re-run DynDOLOD output and texgen after installing and activating all mods in the REGS pack and created seperate 'mods' for the REGS profile)

The CTDs were specific to certain locations - eg Morthal was guaranteed to cause CTDs but as soon as I disabled DynDOLOD it was fine. Other locations would cause no CTDs regardless of stress testing. I would be grateful for any assistance :)

[shambamosori]

I think I have found the source of the issue - when going to Morthal without DynDOLOD (so it doesn't CTD) there are floating torches and moss which I assume are parts of additions by ETaC to make village gates.
 

So I suspect it is an issue with ETaC - I have followed exactly the instructions on the pack pages for ETaC installation however.

Again please let me know how to proceed if you know.

[Kelmych]

Some places have a few floating lanterns with ETaC. I am using most of the REGS mods in the guide wtih DynDOLOD (I use all the location mods and only use a few of the quest mods and I don't use Interesting NPCs myself) and I don't have any CTDs. I have not found things like floating lanterns to cause CTDs. If you are already close to the VRAM limit when in Morthal then leaving off DynDOLOD can reduce or eliminate CTDs simply because it reduces GPU load and VRAM usage. This does NOT mean there is a problem with ETaC, it more likely means that the mods you are using create too high a GPU and/or VRAM load. I had problems in several locations with the profile I was using that included REGS locations until I upgraded my graphics card. Have you used GPUZ or Skyrim Performance Monitor to look into the problem you are having? 

[shambamosori]

Thank you for the reply.
I don't believe it is due to overloading the GPU etc.  Using performance monitor I never get close to the limits of my rig (despite being dx9 I now have the Fall Creators Update for windows 10 so there is plenty of RAM available which is great!)

 

I think maybe it is due to an issue with certain items from ETaC not being rendered or placed and then DynDOLOD has blank entries potentially (just a random thought I am not experienced enough to know)?
The CTD appears to be entirely areas associated with ETaC when using DynDOLOD.
It isn't just floating lanterns as there is also floating moss and a steel charcoal burner over what is presumably the open guard gate that missjennabee added to Morthal.
I will reinstall ETaC although I did follow your instructions very carefully :)

[Kelmych]

Items inside towns - even floating lanterns - do not have LOD meshes/textures so they shouldn't have any effect on DynDOLOD. DynDOLOD does add a lot of GPU and VRAM load so it can increase existing resource usage problems that might otherwise not be problematic. I have had this happen myself; during one game I couldn't exit from Nightcrawler Temple unless I disabled DynDOLOD. You might want to try temporarily disabling a few other resource intensive mods, particularly ones that do have LOD, and see if you still have the problem.