Immersive but more safe/compatible overworld npcs?

[Faxroux]

I have these mods available but not installed:

- Populated Lands/Cities/Roads/Etc.

- Interesting Npcs

- Lively Taverns

- Immersive Patrols

- Warzones

- Organized Bandits of Skyrim

- Skyrim Immersive Creatures

 

I could detail my past experiences, but it doesn't matter because I'm on a fresh install. If anyone has the time, I just want to know:

- Which are most important or recommended?

- Which play nicely with each other?

- Which don't?

- Which can be dropped in place of another?

- Which cause the most bloat, if any, and should use another instead?

 

I want a world npcs compatible with other mods, but that still has some more immersive features than the vanilla. Thank you for reading. The pages themselves of course have instructions, but not a more personal experience answer.

 

[27X]

TPO/DB/DG/S:

 

The author tried his best I guess, but by adding a billion navmeshes everywhere for whatever reason, the author pretty much doomed this mod to all kinds of bullshit with almost any other mod that requires new pathfinding or comes with a new location or navmesh. He also doomed Skyrim in general for any user that has a bunch cloak mods for everything because all these NPCs fall directly under those mods, adding further strain to papyrus and more shit for the game to keep track of. This is especially true of faction and combat overhauls, because the author purposely set up encounters for opposite factions near towns and crossroads on a continual basis. The fact he had so many issues he literally ended up ragequitting modding says enough, really.

 

3DNPCs

 

This one is mostly stable, and the author tries his best to keep up with all the latest scripting methods and tricks as they are discovered, and because he left navmesh fuckery alone, this one tends to be fine in most cases and tends to work pretty well with most other mods since it's mostly self contained.

 

LIAT

 

This one was made back when throwing 300 never-ending cloak spells on npcs was the answer to everything, and it crashes Skyrim and kills saves just like any other mod that adds 300 never ending cloak spells to everything does. It also fucks with sounds, and for whatever reason these mods like nav mods tend to incompatible with everything, bash patch or not. Avoid.

 

IP

 

Ah, IP the mod everyone adds and then posts in the problem section of [insert skyrim forum here] on that they can't figure why their game randomly crashes in the outdoors. Why people continue to install this trainwreck will forever be a mystery.

 

Warzones

 

Warzones was pretty much in the same boat as IP until it was remade. It's now MUCH more stable and less likely to fuck your save by itself, but as with any other 'fuckton of npcs' mod, the issue is not just mod itself, it's all the other mods it interacts with. If you can't run Skyrim at 60 flat, you shouldn't be running this mod, period. If you can, you can.

 

OBIS

 

OBIS tends to work fine, as long as you have the right patches for the right modules, but if you're installing OBIS and creature mods, you need a bashed patch, period. if you install any mod that changes global NPC scripts, even a 'go to bed' mod or a 'npc uses items in their inventory' mod, you need a bashed patch. Period. Also once you install any part of these series, you CANNOT uninstall them and expect your save to last, script cleaner or no.

 

IC

 

See above. Any monster patch that adds things to level lists needs a patch, period.

 

 

[Faxroux]

TPO/DB/DG/S:

 

The author tried his best I guess, but by adding a billion navmeshes everywhere for whatever reason, the author pretty much doomed this mod to all kinds of bullshit with almost any other mod that requires new pathfinding or comes with a new location or navmesh. He also doomed Skyrim in general for any user that has a bunch cloak mods for everything because all these NPCs fall directly under those mods, adding further strain to papyrus and more shit for the game to keep track of. This is especially true of faction and combat overhauls, because the author purposely set up encounters for opposite factions near towns and crossroads on a continual basis. The fact he had so many issues he literally ended up ragequitting modding says enough, really.

 

3DNPCs

 

This one is mostly stable, and the author tries his best to keep up with all the latest scripting methods and tricks as they are discovered, and because he left navmesh fuckery alone, this one tends to be fine in most cases and tends to work pretty well with most other mods since it's mostly self contained.

 

LIAT

 

This one was made back when throwing 300 never-ending cloak spells on npcs was the answer to everything, and it crashes Skyrim and kills saves just like any other mod that adds 300 never ending cloak spells to everything does. It also fucks with sounds, and for whatever reason these mods like nav mods tend to incompatible with everything, bash patch or not. Avoid.

 

IP

 

Ah, IP the mod everyone adds and then posts in the problem section of [insert skyrim forum here] on that they can't figure why their game randomly crashes in the outdoors. Why people continue to install this trainwreck will forever be a mystery.

 

Warzones

 

Warzones was pretty much in the same boat as IP until it was remade. It's now MUCH more stable and less likely to fuck your save by itself, but as with any other 'fuckton of npcs' mod, the issue is not just mod itself, it's all the other mods it interacts with. If you can't run Skyrim at 60 flat, you shouldn't be running this mod, period. If you can, you can.

 

OBIS

 

OBIS tends to work fine, as long as you have the right patches for the right modules, but if you're installing OBIS and creature mods, you need a bashed patch, period. if you install any mod that changes global NPC scripts, even a 'go to bed' mod or a 'npc uses items in their inventory' mod, you need a bashed patch. Period. Also once you install any part of these series, you CANNOT uninstall them and expect your save to last, script cleaner or no.

 

IC

 

See above. Any monster patch that adds things to level lists needs a patch, period.

 

Thank you for the honest and detailed info on what to avoid and what to try out. With a patch, I can see. Does Skyrim bashed patch work just like Wyre Bash in Oblivion? If so, that's not too hard.

 

Kind of depressing I won't see more NPCs on the road aside from enemies since the first one is a train wreck but otherwise looks like I can deal with this set up.

[27X]

Bashing is pretty much the same as it was circa oblivion