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| ==General Information== | | ==General Information== |
| This section will describe best practices to ensure a stable Skyrim platform to work from. It will also detail various tips for debugging, error tracking, etc. | | This section will describe best practices to ensure a stable Skyrim platform to work from. It will also detail various tips for debugging, error tracking, etc. |
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| ==Specifics==
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| '''Launcher Settings'''
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| Choose Medium or High settings in the Launcher. Then select a screen resolution. If you can, try to select 1920x1080 or as close to it as possible, as this may be the most [http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey?platform=pc common], at 31%, screen resolution at the moment. However, if you are unable to do so, do not worry. Full HD (1920x1080) users are by no means a large majority. Other common screen resolutions to test at are 1680x1050, 1600x900 (laptop users), 1366x768, and 1280x1024. AA should be set to at least 4x, and AF to at least 8x. All view distances can be maxed out. Distant object detail should be high or medium, FXAA disabled (unchecked), and all water reflection options should be disabled (unchecked).
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| '''INI Settings'''
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| It is recommended to test a mod on medium or high settings, and once verified, test on ultra if possible. Testing on ultra may skew the results of the testing, especially if others may want to use the mod. The majority of Skyrim users will not have high end computer setups which are able to run on ultra settings.
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| The easiest way to achieve this is to use Wrye Bash's INI Edits function. Make sure you generate a default Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini. This can be done by deleting your current ini's (remember to back them up first) in your Documents folder. Once deleted, generate new inis by changing your settings to either medium or high in the Skyrim Launcher, as mentioned above. Once these default inis have been generated, back them up. Navigate to the INI Tweaks folder in Skyrim's Data folder. This folder will only be present if you have installed Wrye Bash. Create two new text files and name one Default Medium (or High) Mod Test Skyrim.ini, and the other Default Medium (or High) Mod Test SkyrimPrefs.ini. Make sure that your two text files change from .txt to .ini. Once these have been created, copy the contents of the default ini's into their respective ini files you just created. The same should be done for your normal/custom settings that you play Skyrim with, but name the resulting ini's differently, such as My Skyrim.ini, or My SkyrimPref.ini
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| This will allow you to easily switch between mod testing ini's and your normal ini settings. To apply the ini settings, right click on the ini file in Wrye Bash and chose apply. Be warned that if you would like to remove the applied ini settings, you cannot do so from Wrye Bash. For example, if you apply your normal ini settings to your mod testing ini setting, you will overwrite many ini settings. However, if your mod testing ini settings contain entries that do not exist in your normal inis, then these entries will remain. Only entries that exist in both will be overwritten. It is easier just to copy your settings from your normal ini files, delete the text inside your Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini, and paste the copied text inside if you wish to revert back to your personal settings. This can also be done from your backups.
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| '''uGrids'''
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| This ini setting MUST be set to the default value of 5. For those of you who use a value of 7 and above, be warned that these higher values are 100% inherently unstable. It may be stable as a rock for you, but please don't test a mod with anything but the default value of 5. The chance that a new mod may cause stability issues with higher uGrids values is quite high, and again, most Skyrim players will be using the default value. To easily switch between uGrids values, create the relevant ini files in the INI Tweaks folder for WB as mentioned in the section above.
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| Should you attempt to test a mod on a save game that used to have a higher uGrids value, you will be unable to load it. There are three solutions. The first is to start a new game, which is highly preferred. The second is to use a Bat file to revert to the default value. These can be obtained from the [http://donotargue.com/cfg-makers/skyrim/ DNA INI Generator] site. Once there, navigate to the green panel called Downloads, and follow the instructions there. The third option is to use a selection of vanilla saves and STEP complete saves that can be downloaded under the save game section.
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| Default uGrids Settings (Skyrim.ini)
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| <pre>
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| [General]
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| uGrids=5
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| uExterior Cell Buffer=32
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| </pre>
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| '''Papyrus Logging'''
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| These ini tweaks will allow you to see if mod issues are caused by errors in the mods scripts. Not all mods will contain scripts though. Again the easiest way to apply these is create a sperate ini file in Wrye Bash's INI Tweaks folder. This tweak is applied to the Skyrim.ini file. The log files can be found where your save games are, in the Scripts folder.
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| Papyrus Logging (Skyrim.ini)
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| <pre>
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| [Papyrus]
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| bEnableLogging=1
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| bEnableTrace=1
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| bLoadDebugInformation = 1
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| </pre>
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| '''Mod Tracing'''
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| At the moment, in game mod tracing is very basic. Currently for textures, you can open the command console by pressing the ~ key, and click on the texture that you are interested in. In the console command screen you will see its name and reference ID (eight hexadecimal characters, ie "001C8F02"). The name and/or the reference ID may be useful in tracing the object or texture of interest.
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| = Skyrim Testing Profiles = | | = Skyrim Testing Profiles = |