TK's Mod Questions Thread, Got mod problems, or are you just lost with a tool? Options

[King Coin]

I'm interested in getting a second install of Oblivion going too so I went ahead and renamed the Oblivion folder containing the the launcher, data folder, etcetera, and then renamed the Oblivion folder in the My Documents folder. The issue I'm having is when I pop the DVD in the drive and hit the Setup.exe on the DVD, it asks me if I want to remove Oblivion. What am I missing here?

This post has been edited by King Coin: Jul 24 2011, 02:13 AM

[haute ecole rider]

KC, I hope someone answers your question soon.

I've given up on mTES4 - it keeps giving me an error message (denied access to Hautee\Documents\My Music) and then it won't find the clean copy, even though I've tagged it. I've tried dumping the mTES4 files that are created and relaunching it, but still the same thing. I'm running in admin mode, so it shouldn't deny access to anything on my C drive.I tried looking for the answer on the Bethsoft forums, but it keeps telling me to look for an AppData folder on my C drive, and I don't have an AppData folder (and I had it show all hidden files and folders).

So I'm considering cloning the clean install (with a few select mods that I've been using and have pre-installed and cleaned those few dirty mods with TES4Edit). But I'm not sure how to do that. It's got to be more than just copying the Oblivion Files folder in My Documents, right? I don't mind moving/renaming files as long as I can keep each install self-contained (as in Julian's game files and folders are all currently on a separate hard drive and renamed Julian).

[King Coin]

Hmm...

The only thing I can suggest for you is to check the folder it is trying to edit. I was getting errors like that for another mod (while running in admin mode) and all the problems were because the folder the program was trying to modify was set as read only. It worked as soon as I unchecked that little box.

This post has been edited by King Coin: Jul 24 2011, 02:37 AM

[haute ecole rider]

I'm running in admin mode, and I can uncheck the read-only box for the folder. Unfortunately, the change doesn't seem to stick - when I look again under Properties, it is blue (checked) again. It's driving me nuts!

[King Coin]

I'm running in admin mode, and I can uncheck the read-only box for the folder. Unfortunately, the change doesn't seem to stick - when I look again under Properties, it is blue (checked) again. It's driving me nuts!

I'm having the same issues. I had a service pack install, then suddenly Oblivion breaks. To make a long story short I have the game working again, but I cannot restore it to the way it was because the INI file is in a folder set as Read Only and will not allow an installer to make changes.

[haute ecole rider]

Oh, geez, KC! It sounds like you and I might be having the same trouble! Is there anything we can do other than waaaait for Microsoft to issue a fix to fix the broken fix?

Now, on to a more mundane question: I'm getting ready to start a new game of Oblvion. I've done a clean install, loaded up the mods I want to use, cleaned up a few dirty ones, and now I have run Wrye Bash to avtivate them, BOSS'ed the load order, and going googly eyed just looking at the list. I am wondering if things look good to more experienced modders, or do I have some fatal flaws in my mod order/list? I think I have all the necessary esm's, but can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something. I've compared them to TK's load list and that of one other modder who does immersive gameplay (aka Delte).

[King Coin]

Try playing. You'll know if things are wrong if the game crashes

Usually I load everything up in Tes4Edit before playing. That thing will let you know of (some) errors.

And I got the problem I was having somewhat resolved. I went in and manually made the changes that the installer was trying to make.

[Thomas Kaira]

Issues you need to address:

-You are using both MMM Diverse Water Life and OOO Water Fish. Either expect severe slowdowns when you are nearby a water source. You should probably get rid of one, my recommendation is OOO Water Fish, as MMM Diverse Water Life is more performance friendly.

-Speaking of Diverse Water Life, don't be surprised if you notice your fish seem to be drowning. ( )Grab this updated file to keep this from happening.

-Better Cities VWD for IC is mostly designed for LOD generation and works by placing a copy of every IC structure inside the walls into the main worldspace. This can carry a heavy performance hit, so if you end up with low framerates nearby the IC, you may need to lose this one.

-Do not use Natural Weather together with All Natural, it's already integrated. Both of those plugins must be removed.

-You're going to want a Bashed Patch for that load order. It is always preferable to have one if you are using multiple overhauls together.

-You have installed Better Cities UL patches, but have no UL plugins installed. Same for Skingrad Outer District. If any of those patch plugins are mastered to them, your game WILL crash the instant you start it up. And if not, your terrain surrounding the cities will be really messed up.

[King Coin]

Oh, geez, KC! It sounds like you and I might be having the same trouble! Is there anything we can do other than waaaait for Microsoft to issue a fix to fix the broken fix?

I'm going to try this:
http://itexpertvoice.com/home/fixing-the-w...y-folder-blues/

[haute ecole rider]

@KC: let me know how it goes with the read-only bug (and yes, I'd call it a bug!!).

@TK: I knew I was missing something - rather a bunch of somethings! Thanks for the advice. I was planning on building a Bashed Patch, but I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed first.

Looking at your own load order, I see you have All Natural .esp, SI.esp, and Real Lights.esp, so I kept those. That left me with the plug-ins made by Max Tael, which according to BOSS is notorious for causing conflicts and crashes, so it's a good thing I asked first. Will that be okay, then? Only one way to find out!

I will make the other changes you recommended as well. I was intimidated at all the UL mods (oh, where to begin!!) then found the compilation that has all of them packaged as BAIN/OMOD, so I downloaded that one as I like the idea of having all of them in one place, and then I can pick and choose which mods I want from the bundle as I go to install them. I think I will start with the ones in your load order, as that seems like a pretty good bunch to start with. Unfortunately none of them are around Leyawiin yet (where I plan to start the game), but I see they opened up the map around Topal Bay, so maybe sometime in the near future . . .

I also found the UL LODs file and downloaded that one, though I don't know yet if I will need it. But it's ready just in case! Oh, and would the Oblivion Graphics Extender be useful as well?

Will I be able to play sometime tonight? We'll see!

[Thomas Kaira]

Nughtee Hautee's got modding fever! Me like!

Why even bother skimping on the ULs? Put 'em all in! My actual latest load order has them all in there, the only reason I left a couple out was due to bad behavior around the cities... but that was with my old hardware.

Leyawiin's UL counterpart is Blackwood.

The UL LOD files are for if you want the distant landscape to match the up-close visuals. If you're installing them all, choosing these is easy, just pick the ones with the most ULs in the package names.

OBGE is a little more involved than your normal mod to get working, but once you do, you won't regret it. OBGE is worth it just for Liquid Water, IMHO, and you get a number of cool special effects to use, too, like SSAO, Depth of Field, Godrays, and color effects. You will lose anti-aliasing, though (OBGE v3 is incompatible with GPU anti-aliasing). The basic process is this:

Install the OBGE OBSE plugin
Install the Standalone Effects package
Start the game and load a save
Quit the game without crashing

This allows OBGE to save its config file.

By the way, make sure to download this if you plan on using LW, it fixes a lighting bug introduced by the shader. Replace whatever version of that shader file came with LW, delete its brother file (the non HLSL files are compiled versions of the HLSLs), make sure bCompileSources is set to 1 in the OBGE INI, and reload the game. Otherwise, the waves won't display correctly.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Jul 27 2011, 03:09 AM

[haute ecole rider]

I already put a lot of the UL mods in. I figured they worked fine on your older machine, they oughta do well on mine.

Here is my new load order:

I did perform the Bashed Patch. It took some trial and error to get the mods the way I wanted them (Cobl races for the extra hair, for example). I was able to start up and am now in Leyawiin, with a young Breton who doesn't yet know what she wants to do with herself.

I am noticing a few things that are probably due to OOO and maybe MMM. I've explored Leyawiin (hey, it's flooded around my house - of course, it's the poor quarter, so the Count isn't interested in draining the area properly). Tallei will have to be careful - she is primarily a healer with little combat skill. I decided to try playing a magic character, so we'll see how things go. I've already noticed fletching and leatherworking shears, so it seems like she might be able to make a living, once I figure out how to use them.

There's a couple of bugs I'm experiencing: one is the game is unable to find OBSE 0.92 (I have the latest installed), I'm not sure why. I'll have to look into that. The other thing is the game keeps crashing on exit and I have to go into Task Manager to end the process that is showing "Windows is checking for a solution to the problem." I did see something somewhere about that, and what needs to be done. But it's late and I'm off to bed, so tomorrow's soon enough!

I'm also thinking about installing the hunger, fatigue and sleep mods to make things more immersive. I've been playing with an awareness of time, but would like to see it have an effect on my PC. I also am wondering how I can alter the timescale to slow things down a bit.

Good night, all. I'm going to have some fun with my new character.

[King Coin]

The other thing is the game keeps crashing on exit and I have to go into Task Manager to end the process that is showing "Windows is checking for a solution to the problem."

Basically every heavily modded game will do that.
Fast Exit solves that issue.

I'm also thinking about installing the hunger, fatigue and sleep mods to make things more immersive. I've been playing with an awareness of time, but would like to see it have an effect on my PC. I also am wondering how I can alter the timescale to slow things down a bit.

Good night, all. I'm going to have some fun with my new character.

I use Realistic Fatigue and I'm very happy with it. One of the coolest things it does is blur your vision when your fatigue is low. It also does a variety of other things that you can read about, but that is by far my favorite effect.

See You Sleep is a good one just for visuals. Your character actually gets into bed rather than stands by it. If you want effects based on how long you've been away from bed, you'll have to hunt that down yourself.

[Thomas Kaira]

Real Sleep Extended

With portable bedrolls, too! (This means good-bye to your current portable bedrolls plugin)

Make sure to reduce your timescale! (10:1 should be enough).

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Jul 27 2011, 06:15 AM

[King Coin]

@KC: let me know how it goes with the read-only bug (and yes, I'd call it a bug!!).

The first 2 suggestions didn't work for me. I won't be able to try the last one for about a week.

[haute ecole rider]

Hey, I can use a little advice, or at least a nudge in the right direction.

I seem to be having trouble building a Bashed Patch. I'm not sure if I'm checking too many options or not. I'm seeing NPC's in Leyawiin walking into walls and buildings, which suggests a problem with the paths. I don't know which of OOO and which of MMM I want to keep for the optimum experience.

Here is my Bashed Patch:


I also have the load order here:


Does anyone see any conflicts here? I've tried searching online for some help, but I guess I'm not looking in the right places.

Thanks!

[Thomas Kaira]

Try reverting to a Python-based Bashed Patch, CBash is still in beta and kinda buggy.

[haute ecole rider]

Should I keep the same options checked in the Python version as I have in the CBash?

That's one thing I really like about Wrye Bash - it remembers the last settings I used.

[haute ecole rider]

Okay, I rebuilt the bashed patch as a python-based one - still having issues.

What I'm seeing in the game are missing textures (some foliage in Leyawiin, the polygons are there in various shades of purple but no leaves/branches; skin on Khajiit and Argonian bodies are fluorescent pink instead of the usual colors). I haven't explored more of the city to see what else is wrong. Also the NPC's (the vanilla ones, not the ones added by either OOO or MMM, not sure which) are still having trouble finding their paths. The Countess is stuck walking into a broken wall near the Chapel, and while I'm content to let her keep trying to walk through the wall, I don't like seeing other less deserving NPC's have the same trouble.

So I've printed up my log from BOSS, and had Wrye Bash give me a mod check report. It detected more dirty mods than BOSS did, and I'm wondering if I should go by the WB list and clean those mods (the ones that aren't tagged as intentionally dirty mods by BOSS (i.e. OOO esm and esp, MMM esm and some of its esp's). I still can't shake the feeling that the bashed patch I built has overwritten some essential information.

Can someone please tell me if I'm barking up the right tree, comparing the BOSS log with the bashed patch to see if something got checked off that shouldn't be? And in the case of the dirty mods discrepancies, what should I do about them?

[Thomas Kaira]

Bash can't do anything with the game's resources, so it has nothing to do with your missing textures. I would suggest checking your Archive Invalidation and make sure you have properly set up BSA Redirection, and if you previously performed a BSA Alteration, that you undo it.

To BSA Redirect, you need a BSA Archive containing a single dummy texture file. Stick it into your data folder, open Oblivion.INI, and modify the sArchiveList entry so that it is registered first. So it would look something lke this:

sArchiveList=ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa, Oblivion - Meshes.bsa, ...etc.

As for the pathgrids, I am uncertain as to what is causing that at this point, but now we know for certain it's not Bash, because the Python-based patch will not touch the pathgrid records. If this is not a fresh game, consider waiting around somewhere else for a couple days to let the NPC AI get accustomed to their new surroundings.