Whiterun vanilla NPCs missing some voice audio, but not all. Strange problem.

[Novosin]

Something weird has happened to my Skyrim AE (1170).

For several vanilla NPCs in Whiterun the initial triggered voiced lines have gone missing. Meaning the initial voiced lines that occur as you go near them or after pressing "E" the first few times you talk to an NPC you haven't spoken to before or haven't spoken to for a while.
Other voiced lines, both initial and deeper in the dialogue tree are working as expected with audio playing.

 

Some examples:

 

Farengar Secret-Fire
Voiced lines with audio missing (yet lips are moving and subtitles show):
- Come to Dragonsreach to Discuss the ongoing hostilities, like the rest of the "great warriors"?
- It seems this damnable conflict has claimed everyone's passions of late. Me, I prefer my books, and my spells.

 

Farengar Secret-Fire
Voiced lines with audio still working as expected:
- I believe I am, yes. Technically speaking, of course. The city is also home to a priest, priestess, an alchemist, and I'm sure others who parctice. (triggered by the dialogue choice "Are you the only wizard in Whiterun?")
- Need something? (triggered by pressing "E" to start a conversation and having already heard the initial triggered longer voiced lines recently).

 

Arcadia
Voiced lines with audio missing (yet lips are moving and subtitles show):
- You look rather pale. Could be Ataxia. It's quite a problem home in Cyrodil.

 

Arcadia
Voiced lines with audio still working as expected:
- I think I can teach you a thing or two. (triggered by the dialogue choice "I'd like training in alchemy").
- Yes? (triggered by pressing "E" to start a conversation and having already heard the initial triggered longer voiced lines recently).

 

So far this seems to be isolated to the NPCs in Whiterun. And since it's not all the voiced lines I dont suspect the .ini files. I also checked skyrim.ini and "sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices_en0.bsa" is there.

 

I do have some NPC overhaul mods, but they were installed a while ago without issues and this problem occured recently.

 

I'm also trying out some SL voice mods, but they're not touching these NPCs, at least not that I'm aware of.

 

Any help here is very much appreciated.

 

Here's a link to my rather extensive mod list (1300+ mods so far).
https://pastebin.com/r8XW3xTT

[traison]

1. Open xEdit, don't change the load order.
2. Inspect the following records, and the mods changing them:
   1.  [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Quest \ 000270A4 <DialogueWhiterun>
   2.  [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Dialog Topic \ 0002707A
   3.  [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Dialog Topic \ 0002707A \ 0002AB97
3. Query your mod manager for the mod that provides sound\voice\skyrim.esm\maleeventondaccented\dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz and remove or otherwise change it.

Edited January 27, 2025 by traison

[Novosin]

2 hours ago, traison said:

1. Open xEdit, don't change the load order.
2. Inspect the following records, and the mods changing them:
   1.  [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Quest \ 000270A4 <DialogueWhiterun>
   2.  [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Dialog Topic \ 0002707A
   3.  [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Dialog Topic \ 0002707A \ 0002AB97
3. Query your mod manager for the mod that provides sound\voice\skyrim.esm\maleeventondaccented\dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz and remove or otherwise change it.

First I want to say how much I appreciate a helpful reply like this. You already made my day.

So, I've followed your instructions and I've come this far. 

1. OK
2. OK
   1. (Link to screenshot: https://www.imghippo.com/i/itpT8244lgs.png)
      So USSEP and AI Overhaul have that record, but everything looks good in Xedit. 
   2. (Link to screenshot: https://www.imghippo.com/i/Gdt5959u.png)
      More mods have this record. But things look OK in xEdit. I did install DOMstories recently, so could be the villain here (last mod in my LO touching this record). 
   3. (Link to screenshot: https://www.imghippo.com/i/Ekx2004hBo.png)
      Looks like no mod touches this record.
3. And here's the strange part (possibly?) 
   There is no \maleeventondaccented\dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz in my sound\voice\skyrim.esm

So I'm wondering if something has gone missing (probably due to me being an idiot)?

[traison]

23 minutes ago, Novosin said:

So I'm wondering if something has gone missing

 

Vanilla files are in the various BSA archives. Unless those files are corrupted, nothing is missing.

 

Also remember to search for this file in mod-provided BSA archives.

[Novosin]

1 hour ago, traison said:

 

Vanilla files are in the various BSA archives. Unless those files are corrupted, nothing is missing.

 

Also remember to search for this file in mod-provided BSA archives.

Yes, ofc. I didn't think of that.
Well, I validated my game files yesterday via Steam and it did download something. But seems like it was nothing affecting this problem.

But should \maleeventondaccented\dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz always be present somewhere, even if it's not in sound\voice\skyrim.esm?
And if it's not there, is that because a mod has "put it" elsewhere?

I will start checking my mod-provided BSA archives. 

[traison]

26 minutes ago, Novosin said:

But seems like it was nothing affecting this problem.

 

fuz files contain both the audio and the lipsync data, since one of them works, you have the file.

 

27 minutes ago, Novosin said:

ut should \maleeventondaccented\dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz always be present somewhere, even if it's not in sound\voice\skyrim.esm?

 

sound\voice\skyrim.esm\ is a directory. There are no files inside plugins.

 

29 minutes ago, Novosin said:

And if it's not there, is that because a mod has "put it" elsewhere?

 

That is why I asked you to inspect the mods changing the records related to the dialogue topic you were having issues with. While that is not guaranteed to reveal the issue, its where I'd start. The fuz file path is hardcoded as far as I know:

sound\voice\<plugin containing the dialogue>\<voicetype>\<quest editor id>__<topic form id>_1.fuz

 

Thus, a mod could relocate that file by:

1. Disabling the original topic, most likely by adding a condition that never evaluates to true.
2. Creating a quest, with a new dialogue topic.
3. Assigning the topic to Farengar.

A setup like this can be detected by inspecting all dialogue topics that reference Farengar's NPC_ record. See the References tab at the bottom of xEdit for a listing.

[Novosin]

17 hours ago, traison said:

 

fuz files contain both the audio and the lipsync data, since one of them works, you have the file.

 

 

sound\voice\skyrim.esm\ is a directory. There are no files inside plugins.

 

 

That is why I asked you to inspect the mods changing the records related to the dialogue topic you were having issues with. While that is not guaranteed to reveal the issue, its where I'd start. The fuz file path is hardcoded as far as I know:

sound\voice\<plugin containing the dialogue>\<voicetype>\<quest editor id>__<topic form id>_1.fuz

 

Thus, a mod could relocate that file by:

1. Disabling the original topic, most likely by adding a condition that never evaluates to true.
2. Creating a quest, with a new dialogue topic.
3. Assigning the topic to Farengar.

A setup like this can be detected by inspecting all dialogue topics that reference Farengar's NPC_ record. See the References tab at the bottom of xEdit for a listing.

Yes, I was perhaps a bit unclear. English is not my native language.
I was confused since I could not find the subdirectory maleeventondaccented\ in sound\voice\skyrim.esm\ when looking for it in MO2, and therefore I could not find the file dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz in MO2.

So for my understanding I made a copy of Skyrim - Sounds.bsa from my games folder in a separate folder and there I extracted it to be able to see what files are in the BSA I have installed for my Skyrim. The file dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz is present in its expected place (in sound\voice\skyrim.esm\maleeventondaccented\). Like you said. 
And I assume that is as it should be if I have no mod changing Farengars dialogue. If I had a mod doing that I would have found a file named dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz in MO2, is that correct?

I then move on to xEdit and the record [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Dialog Topic \ 0002707A \ 0002AB97 to check its references, but no mod is referencing that record. None of his dialogue records in [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Dialog Topic \ 0002707A \ are referenced by another mod that I can see. 
So I checked some of the other whiterun NPCs I've confirmed have missing voice audio for certain lines. Fianna's line "Don't you go trackin' your dirty boots on my clean floor!" is not referenced by any mod either. The lines for Whiterun NPCs that I see are referenced are refernced by mods like USSEP and AI Overhaul. 

So I'm not sure where to go from here. If you have any advice I would appreciate it a lot. Thank you.
 

[traison]

3 hours ago, Novosin said:

If I had a mod doing that I would have found a file named dialoguewhiterun__0002ab97_1.fuz in MO2, is that correct?

 

Only if it replaced the dialogue without, for instance, providing an alternative through a quest like I stated in my previous post.

 

Consider for instance a mod that wanted to make Farengar speak backwards after the player hits him with a spell. You could implement that by copying the dialogue tree to a new quest, setting the apropriate conditions on all dialogue topics and providing new fuz files with altered audio. In-game you'll get the same dialog options and the same force-greet dialogue, but what won't be apparent is that its another quest providing those options... other than the fact that in this example, Farengar would be sounding like a demon as he is speaking backwards.

 

A more realistic example might be a mod that's trying to provide a dialogue overhaul, without altering certain records. Perhaps to try to increase compatibility, or avoid conflicting with something else.

 

3 hours ago, Novosin said:

I then move on to xEdit and...None of his dialogue records...are referenced by another mod that I can see. 

 

The reference would be listed in Farengar's NPC_ record as I mentioned in my previous post. The dialogue topic has to reference it for all dialogue unique to Farengar. Technically it could reference something else as well, like a faction that only Farengar is a member of, or perhaps a keyword, but for now I would go by the assumption that its a direct NPC_ record reference:

 

 [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Non-Player Character (Actor) \ 00013BBB <FarengarSecretFire>

 

[Novosin]

15 hours ago, traison said:

 

Only if it replaced the dialogue without, for instance, providing an alternative through a quest like I stated in my previous post.

 

Consider for instance a mod that wanted to make Farengar speak backwards after the player hits him with a spell. You could implement that by copying the dialogue tree to a new quest, setting the apropriate conditions on all dialogue topics and providing new fuz files with altered audio. In-game you'll get the same dialog options and the same force-greet dialogue, but what won't be apparent is that its another quest providing those options... other than the fact that in this example, Farengar would be sounding like a demon as he is speaking backwards.

 

A more realistic example might be a mod that's trying to provide a dialogue overhaul, without altering certain records. Perhaps to try to increase compatibility, or avoid conflicting with something else.

 

 

The reference would be listed in Farengar's NPC_ record as I mentioned in my previous post. The dialogue topic has to reference it for all dialogue unique to Farengar. Technically it could reference something else as well, like a faction that only Farengar is a member of, or perhaps a keyword, but for now I would go by the assumption that its a direct NPC_ record reference:

 

 [00] Skyrim.esm (7CAB85A9) \ Non-Player Character (Actor) \ 00013BBB <FarengarSecretFire>

 

Sorry I'm a bit slow to grasp the information. But thanks to you I'm learning. 

So I've checked Farengar in xEdit (screenshot: https://www.imghippo.com/i/d8899Tg.png) and from what I can understand it looks good. No mod is referencing that voiced line. And the only mods that seems to reference any voiced lines is USSEP or alternate start - live another life. But I installed those two months ago and the NPC voices in Whiterun worked fine after that. 
xEdit is marking him (and many others) as having conflicts, but those are for his visual appearence as I have Immortan - Complete NPC replacer installed and loading after High Poly NPC Overhaul. These mods were also installed a few weeks ago and voiced lines worked fine after that. 
I also checked some of the other Whiterun NPCs and It's the same for them.

[traison]

52 minutes ago, Novosin said:

No mod is referencing that voiced line.

 

The one you have selected, and the one I marked is the vanilla one. What you'd see in the example I mentioned earlier is a nearly identical line with a different form id, provided by some plugin other than Skyrim.esm. For instance:

 

[INFO:xx000000] ('Come to Dragonsreach to discuss...' in GRUP Topic Children of [DIAL:xx000000])     INFO     [xx] SomeCoolMod.esp

 

We're spending too much time chasing records in xEdit, following some silly idea I had for how one might pull something like this off. There's probably a hundered other reasons for why audio is broken, but I'd have to poke this problem myself to figure it out.

 

RustDesk, make sure you understand what it is, and PM me if this seems like a reasonable idea to you.

[Novosin]

Thank you for all the help @traison! You're a life saver. 

Problem fixed.
The issue was version 1.0.4 of DOM Stories (and possibly me using the wrong version of the mod together with my other mods).
I haven't seen anyone else report on a similar issue with this mod and I can't say exactly what part of the mod was causing the problem. But I'll hold off on DOM Stories for now.
Hoping DOM 7 gets out of beta so I can try the newer version of DOM Stories.