Section 2 - Papyrus logs

 

From the Creation Kit:

 

Papyrus is an entirely new scripting system created specifically for the Creation Kit. Like any scripting environment, Papyrus can be a daunting system, especially for those who are unfamiliar with other scripting or programming languages. This page is intended to serve as your portal to all things Papyrus, and there are several ways to use it, depending on expertise level.

 

This means that a Papyrus log is a list (log) of steps taken by Bethesda's scripting system (Papyrus) while your Skyrim game is running. As such it can be useful in the detection of all types of errors, including crashes (CTDs). Sounds good so far but many of my readers will have played Skyrim for years now and never run across a Papyrus log on their computer. There is a good reason for that; Skyrim's default setting for papyrus logging is "off". So, the first step in doing anything with it is turning it "on".

 

1. Turning on papyrus logging

 

There are two ways to do this and I have done them both at different times. The easy method is to turn it on in Bethini (mentioned in my last blog post) and found here:

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/69787

 

To turn on papyrus logging with Bethini simply start the tool.

 

 

Once there, press the "General" tab listed across the top. Tick "on" the buttons that say "logging" and "debug info". Save your changes and exit. The next time you play Skyrim you will generate a papyrus log.

 

 

The other way to turn on papyrus logging is the harder, technosavvy way. First, you have to find your Skyrim.ini file. Mine can be found here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim. However, in the Technical Threads the path given is My Documents > My Games > Skyrim > skyrim.ini. From my reading it appears that you can find Skyrim.ini in one or the other place and sometimes both. I would suggest that you use your computer's Search engine to find it and, when you do, make yourself a note (because when we're done you're going to want to go back there).

 

Having found Skyrim.ini and opened it in your favorite editor (I've always just used Notepad), you should be able to scroll down until you reach a section that looks very much like this:

 

[Papyrus]

fUpdateBudgetMS = 1.6

fExtraTaskletBudgetMS = 1.6

fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS = 2000.0

iMinMemoryPageSize = 128

iMaxMemoryPageSize = 512

iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes = 76800

bEnableLogging = 0

bEnableTrace = 0

bLoadDebugInformation = 0

bEnableProfiling = 0

 

This example was also taken from the Technical threads. Mine was in alphabetical order when I found it. Do not worry about the order and do not worry if all the entries listed here are not in your Skyrim.ini. This one has been tweaked, a lot. To enable logging change the three settings (bEnableLogging, bEnableTrace and BLoadDebugInformation) from 0 to 1 (this is what Bethini did for you). Make certain that you save your changes and exit your editor.

 

2. Finding you papyrus logs

 

Before you go looking for your papyrus logs you must first play some Skyrim. To this point you have had nothing for the script editor to log since you just turned it on. So, go back to Skyrim and, for a change, try to make the game break in the manner that is bothering you. Whether this is misbehaving NPCs, strange happenings in Whiterun or CTDs, you want it to occur. As soon as it does happen close your game and exit.

 

Now, you can use your computer's Search engine to find your papyrus logs also. The default for finding the logs though is this: C:\Users\Owner\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Logs\Script. This folder will, eventually have four logs in it. Papyrus.0.log will always be the most recent with 1,2 and 3 following. Here is an example of a papyrus log:

 

Papyrus.0.log

 

3. Using the papyrus log

 

To the best of my knowledge there is no definitive guide to using papyrus logs. When I first started looking at them I thought that they were called papyrus logs because they might as well have been written in hieroglyphics. It's not quite that bad.

 

Aside:

 

It is not my intention, therefore, to make anyone an expert in papyrus log debugging. If you look at one that has been run during a Skyrim "problem" you are likely to find things listed as issues of various sorts. You'll see things like "VM freezing." Sounds ominous right? Actually, it's normal and expected. However, with some time and inclination you will discover that you can make more and better diagnoses for yourself. At the very least, you now know how to turn it on and make it available to others if you need to.

 

A few things I've learned that I would like to leave you with:

1) Whatever your problem is, it is not likely the last thing listed in the log. Logically, you would expect it to be so since you shut the game off after "discovering" the problem but the editor is too fast for you. You are likely going to have to look back several lines before you find your issue.

2) If you have a lot of warnings and issues at the very beginning of your log you likely have a mod or mods that do not want to play nice. It may be that your next step is to isolate and remove those mods and see if your problem doesn't resolve, and

3) The obvious answer is not always the right one. I worked hard to debug a modded Skyrim game and the log kept throwing up SlaveTats as the seeming culprit. Eliminating it didn't solve my problem it simply moved on to blaming a different mod. I did eventually work out the issue but my lesson was learned.

 

Here is an (old but reliable) guide to some of the things that you can find in your Skyrim log:

 

https://afkmods.iguanadons.net/index.php?/topic/4129-skyrim-interpreting-papyrus-log-errors/

 

 

Last note on papyrus logs. As I mentioned, the default for papyrus logging is "off". There is actually a very good reason for that. Doing the logging causes a significant performance hit. As a result, when you are satisfied that your problem is resolved, be certain to return logging to "off" (either with Bethini or manually). Otherwise, you may find that your game is significantly slowed down.

 

 

Hopefully, performance improvement hints next.