Newbies: 5 simple ways to avoid most crashes and bugs

[rynak777]

People don't read FAQs. Me too, because most FAQs are so long, that it would be quicker to read through an entire book.

But with loversPK, 80% of the tech support cases, deal with a tiny number of reappearing issues..

So, this is my attempt at a mini-FAQ. It's so small, you only need to check 5 questions/answers.

------------------------------------------

1. LOAD ORDER BASICS:

Loadorder defines in which order oblivion loads mods. If two plugins modify the same thing, then the one loaded LAST will overwrite all changes made by "earlier" plugins.

Exceptions of course are always possible, but here are some guidelines which should work most of the time:

I) If plugin B depends on plugin A (plugin A is master for plugin , then plugin A needs to load first.

II) If a plugin B extends/updates plugin A, then plugin A needs to load first.

III) Organize your mods into categories in the following order:
 

ESMs:
    Oblivion
    Tamago  (placing it here avoids savedata breakage when adding new ESMs)
    Hiyoko
    Other mods
    LoversPK 
    Other LoversPK mods

ESPs:
    DLC
    Unofficial Patches
    Overhaul Mod
    Race Mods (race record changes!)
    Body Replacers (race record changes!)
    Mods that make very diverse changes (mini-overhauls basically)
    Armor/Clothing/Weapons/Item/Etc mods (levelled lists!)
    Location Mods (new houses, dungeons, etc) (levelled lists!)
    Mods that add NPCs/monsters/bandits (NOT companions) (levelled lists!)
    Quest mods (levelled lists!)
    Beautification mods
    Companion systems (i.e. MCS)
    Companions
    Gameplay tweaks (if it changes lots of game content, its a "mini-overhaul" instead!)
'   BASHED PATCH  (wrye bash should NOT merge anything below)'
    Interface mods and stuff that doesnt change game content
    LoversPK
    various lovers mods
    Tamago
    Hiyoko
    Tamago & Hiyoko (generators) mods
    Setbody
    High priority mods that need to load late (careful about which you choose!)
    ***LoversIdleAnimsPriority***
    ***LoversAnimObjectsPriority***
    ***!!!NOTHING BELOW THIS!!!***

If you have MB2 and 3d orgasm installed, the end of the loadorder instead needs to look like this:

LoversMB2.esp
Lovers3dorgasmMB2.esp
***LoversIdleAnimsPriority.esp***
***Lovers3dorgasm.esp***
***LoversAnimObjectsPriority.esp***
***!!!nothing below this!!!***

-
IV) If your game crashes on launch, then with 99% certainity, this is for one of two reasons (they're actually the same):

A) An activated plugin depends on another mod that is missing/disabled/wrong version.

 

You changed something about your loadorder or disabled/enabled a plugin, but didn't rebuild your bashed patch. If you use a bashed patch, you need to rebuild it whenever you change loadorder or enable/disable a plugin.


------------------------------------------

2. ADD NEW MODS ONE AT A TIME:

Never download and install multiple mods at the same time. Install one mod, then play for an entire hour. Nope, 10 minutes isn't enough. If no issues occur, install another mod, and again play for an entire hour. And so on.

Yes, this means that it will take tens of hours until you finally have the mod setup you want. You don't like that? Well, the alternative is that you will get crashes or bugs, and then you have no idea where in the haystack of mods the culprit might be. And neither will we be able to help you efficiently with this. You will then waste anywhere from MONTHS to a YEAR to find the problematic mods - or you will give up and accept crashing/glitching all the time - or you will do what i proposed from the start: Disable everything, and introduce one mod at a time.

Yes, it sucks, but that's how it is.


------------------------------------------


3. PEOPLE/CREATURES CAST GIANT SPIKES:

This is a skelleton issue. The skelleton of LAPF got replaced by some other mod. Overwrite the current skel with the LAPF one again.


------------------------------------------


4. ALL-IN-ONE PACKAGES AND HONGFIRE:

They use completely different versions of loversPK and its plugins, than this community does. It's basically entirely different things, sharing only the same name. Asking us about them, is like going to a fallout community and asking for oblivion tech support. So, no support for them here. We can't help you, because we have no clue about those packages. You need to ask the people from whom you got those mods.


------------------------------------------


5. ACTORS ARE INVISIBLE/CRUCIFIED/GLITCHED FACE:

Most of the time, this happens if a mod changes something about the camera, or interferes with animations. Another case where this happens, is with buggy companion systems (i've seen it happen with CSR). You can fix the damage by executing "reset3d" on the affected actors (this in mods is usually called "fix follower double-face bug"). This only repairs the damage, but doesn't prevent it happening again. You need to find the culprit mod and disable it.


------------------------------------------

Still have issues? Then ask, but remember that our ability to help you, depends on how well we understand the problem and situation:

 

Provide as much information about your problem as possible (especially loadorder, even if you think it's correct - by posting the loadorder, we also know which mods you have installed). Bad questions result in bad answers. We're not clairvoyant or telepathic: We can only work with what we're provided.

 

------------------------------------------

 

EDIT: added special LO case, when 3dorgasm and MB2 is installed. TamagoHiyoko ESM loadorder tweak. Minor simplification of categories in loadorder (merged "monsters/bandits" and "NPCs" categories into one)