Technical Troubles in Skyrim, Vanilla to Modded

[Dapper Gent]

I've been at Skyrim for months now, literally. I've been trying to get Skyrim to work with a variety of mods since about March or so. I've gotten everything from FPs issues to numerous CTDs to my whole system freezing up. I have yet to make it further than Riverwood on any new playthrough. I've lost count of how many times I've tried starting over from scratch trying to find ways of fixing any number of problems and, quite frankly, I'm tired of dealing with it all. I just want to play my game now.

 

Here are my CPU specs:

 

 

 2015 HP Envy (bought Nov 2015)

 

Processor: Intel Core i75500U CPU @ 2.40 GHz

 

Installed Memory: 16.0 GB

 

System Type: 64-Bit Operating System, x64-based processor

 

Pen and Touch: Touch Support with 10 Touch Points

 

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 940M

 

 

No official load order is able to be generated due to my most recent issue. My game, even on a vanilla load, is freezing my computer right after it closes, either manually or through a CTD. I also have an issue loading sound every time I do a fresh install now. Reinstalling DirectX seems to help but it causes the CTDs and freezing to happen faster.

 

I do have my mods written down just so I can do a fresh download every time.

 

NMM

ENBoost (forgot which mod needed this)

TES5Edit (tried this, A LOT, still don't understand how it works)

FNIS

LOOT

Body Slide and Outfit Studio

CBBE

Extended Towns and Cities

ZaZanimation

Leveler's Tower

Creture Framework

OSA/OSEX

SexLab

Sexlab Aroused

Sexlab Nude Creatures

Sexlab Romance

Sexlab Submit

Sexlab Defeat

Helgen Reborn

Schlongs of Skyrim

Dovakhin Birthright

Dark Brotherhood Reborn

Civil War Overhaul

Immersive Armors

Immersive Weapons

Hentai Creatures

SkyUI

RaceMenu

Lover's Comfort

FNIS + Creature Pack

Familiar Faces

More Nasty Critters

Realistic Ragdoll Force

Prisoner Cart Fix (cause I also kept getting the flipping cart bug)

 

 

 

My ultimate go is to create the most immersive Skyrim that I can with as little mods as possible, mainly just adding on to the story archs, armors and going as far as making it a semi-realistic setting in which things like creating unique armor/weapons, becoming more than just a glorified champion (such as in Dark Bro Reborn), building up locations (such as Helgen Reborn), and potentially being captured and raped by enemies and creatures are all possibilities. Even making it to where my characters can meet and wed each other! (For some reason I tend to always go for Mjoll and want to change it up a bit.) I also don't have any of the smooth or asian model textures due to that reason; despite the graphics issues I like the more rugged looking textures that makes them all look like they've been through some stuff.

 

 

Any help you all can possibly give would be greatly appreciated. And, please, feel free to talk to me like I'm an udder noob at modding. I'd prefer to start at the beginning again and see where exactly things could have possibly gone wrong.

 

 

Thank you in advance!

-DG

 

 

Edit: Forgot to mention. Skyrim is the -only- game I'm having issues with. I play games like LoL, SWTOR, WoW and Fallout 4 (which has double the mods and works smoothly on HIGH settings) and Skyrim is the -only- game that has ever given me trouble, at least to this extent.

[ButchDiavolo]

Hey Dapper,

 

The best advice I can give you is to go read the tips and guides provided by the STEP project. It will explain in detail how you can, for example, use TES5Edit to clean your mods. STEP is a list of mods and tweaks to make Skyrim look and perform better. While it has a whole list of suggested mods to use, you don't have to follow this if you don't want to. The sections up to (and perhaps including) section 2D are general tweaks that anyone can (should?) use.

 

A mod that might be helpful regardless of your modlist is CrashFixes. This mod (SKSE plugin) aims to prevent the most common causes of CTDs. Speaking of SKSE, I didn't see it mentioned in your list. SKSE is obligatory to install if you want to mod Skyrim. If you don't have it, you can find it here.

 

Some general modding tips:

Do NOT install scripted mods until AFTER you have played the first Quest (Helgen). Wait with those until you have reached Riverwood where you can go indoors. Make a save once indoors and then install the scripted mods. Especially do NOT install Helgen Reborn before you made your way through. With scripted mods, I mean i.e. Sexlab, Sexlab mods, Helgen Reborn, Civil War Overhaul etc. It is fine to install texture mods.

Allternatively you could install a mod like Live Another Life or Skyrim Unbound, which skips the first quest completely. I have no experience with Skyrim Unbound, but if you decide to go with Live Another Life, do NOT install Helgen Reborn until you went to Helgen to pick up the main quest.

 

Be wise and use a mod manager to install mods. The most popular ones are ModOrganizer and Nexus Mod Manager. NMM is easiest to use, but can occassionally screw up your install. MO is savest to use, but has a rather steep learning curve, though in the end it will be more stable. the STEP side has the official wiki/ guide for MO. Read up on it when you decided to use MO.

 

A general forum tip: When posting messages/ help requests etc, be sure to tick the "Follow this topic" button in the top right of the page. This way you will get notified when someone responds to your posts. The golden bell in the top will have a number next to it. Just click that and a list with messages will appear.

 

if anything is unclear or you have more specific questions, please feel free to ask

 

And good luck!

[SepticSpoon]

Also to add onto Vachic's very informative post. If you are going to use MO. (you should in my opinion) take a look at Dirty Weasel Media. Most of all his 2016 modding Skyrim playlist.

[Dapper Gent]

Thank you for the help! I'm still in the process of getting the core stuff out of the way. 

 

I went to configure Skyrim for some of the programs and loaded up the game. When I closed out of Skyrim my PC froze, which has been the main problem lately. Do either of you know what could be causing that? 

 

Edit: Also, forgot to mention that I did have SKSE as most of the aforementioned mods need it. I don't have it, or any mods, at the moment though. For reinstalling it, would it be better to do it manually, through MO or via Steam?

[ButchDiavolo]

Thank you for the help! I'm still in the process of getting the core stuff out of the way. 

 

I went to configure Skyrim for some of the programs and loaded up the game. When I closed out of Skyrim my PC froze, which has been the main problem lately. Do either of you know what could be causing that? 

 

Edit: Also, forgot to mention that I did have SKSE as most of the aforementioned mods need it. I don't have it, or any mods, at the moment though. For reinstalling it, would it be better to do it manually, through MO or via Steam?

 

When installing SKSE and using MO, follow the guide that you can find on the step site. It is a two-fold installation process: you put the .dll files in the original Skyrim folder (\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim). After that you install the scripts via MO.

 

A tip for when installing FNIS with MO: make sure you only have one FNIS mod. You can do this by installing the main FNIS file, renaming it for example "FNIS". Then when you install the creature (or anyother) add-on, you also rename it FNIS when installing. You will get a pop-up saying fnis is already installed and what you want to do. Select "Merge". Installing fnis this way will cut down on the possibility of random weirdness.

 

As for Skyrim freezing your pc when you close it... I unfortunately have no idea why that would happen. I have had that happen during a play-through when too much is happening at once. But never when closing Skyrim. So I can't help you with that problem. Sorry.

 

[Dapper Gent]

Thank you again, Super Cow.

 

I think I need to solve that particular issue before I do anything as I have to force my computer to shut off each time it freezes, resulting in a loss of changes and tweaks. 

 

 

Edit: So far I've followed a lot of information that stems from the STEP project. Opened Skyrim a few times, let it sit and then clsoed it. No crashes yet so hopefully that issue is finally resolved but we'll see. Now to continue on and finish setting everything else up.

[Dapper Gent]

Alright, next obstacle. I've searched the STEP project and googled any guides on it but haven't found anything helpful.

 

How do I do the Overwrite mod function? I have quite a few mods located in that section and, despite trying to follow instructions, I haven't figured out how this is supposed to work.

[Dapper Gent]

Finally! It's working! I can play! I'm so excited!

 

Still haven't figured out the whole overwrite bit but I can play the game, no crashes or freezes yet! Knock on wood. 

 

Though, one final thing. I've been experimenting a bit and increased my mods steadily and have gotten all the ones I want. Now, somewhere down the line something started to affect my FPS. The game is functional but a little choppy, like N64 kind of choppy, on medium quality. Know what could be causing it?

 

Here's my load order. I think the only thing not listed is that I'm using Bleak ENB. And the mods associated with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr8XlcFY57U.

 

 

 

  0  0 Skyrim.esm

  1  1 Update.esm

  2  2 Dawnguard.esm

  3  3 HearthFires.esm

  4  4 Dragonborn.esm

  5  5 CreatureFramework.esm

  6  6 ClimatesOfTamriel.esm

  7  7 SexLab.esm

  8  8 Schlongs of Skyrim - Core.esm

  9  9 ETaC - RESOURCES.esm

 10  a ZaZAnimationPack.esm

 11  b LevelersTower.esm

 12  c OSA.esm

 13  d SexLabAroused.esm

 14  e HighResTexturePack01.esp

 15  f HighResTexturePack02.esp

 16 10 HighResTexturePack03.esp

 17 11 SexLabNudeCreatures.esp

 18 12 SexLabNudeCreaturesDB.esp

 19 13 SexLabNudeCreaturesDG.esp

 20 14 LevelersTower.esp

 21 15 ETaC - Complete.esp

 22 16 Dark Fantasy Overhaul.esp

 23 17 DarkbroSanctuary.esp

 24 18 thedovahkiinbirthright.esp

 25 19 Immersive Orc Strongholds.esp

 26 1a Helgen Reborn.esp

 27 1b RealisticWaterTwo.esp

 28 1c BetterDarkBrotherhood.esp

 29 1d Civil War Overhaul.esp

 30 1e CompanionsAriseFinal.esp

 31 1f SexLab_DibellaCult.esp

 32 20 Immersive Whiterun.esp

 33 21 Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

 34 22 HentaiCreatures.esp

 35 23 Immersive Solstheim.esp

 36 24 SexLab More Creatures.esp

 37 25 Further Dark Dungeons for ENB.esp

 38 26 RealisticWaterTwo - Legendary.esp

 39 27 The Honored Dead.esp

 40 28 SexLab Beastess.esp

 41 29 RealisticWaterTwo - Waves.esp

 42 2a BecomeKingofSkyrim.esp

 43 2b MoreNastyCritters.esp

 44 2c SFO - Dragonborn.esp

 45 2d FNIS.esp

 46 2e Immersive Patrols II.esp

 47 2f Tame Beast.esp

 48 30 ETaC - Dragon Bridge South.esp

 49 31 Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp

 50 32 CUYC_CleanUpYourCorpses.esp

 51 33 RealisticWaterTwo - Dragonborn.esp

 52 34 WorldEaterBeater.esp

 53 35 EdhildilsTempleofMephala.esp

 54 36 SexLabAnimalSex.esp

 55 37 RealisticWaterTwo - Waves - Dawnguard.esp

 56 38 RealisticWaterTwo - Dawnguard.esp

 57 39 Doomhammer - Johnskyrim.esp

 58 3a DeadlyMutilation.esp

 59 3b ClimatesOfTamriel-Dawnguard-Patch.esp

 60 3c WetandCold.esp

 61 3d WetandCold - Ashes.esp

 62 3e ClimatesOfTamriel-Dragonborn-Patch.esp

 63 3f ClimatesOfTamriel-Interiors-Cold.esp

 64 40 ClimatesOfTamriel-Nights-Level-2.esp

 65 41 Supreme Fog - CoT.esp

 66 42 RevampedExteriorFog.esp

 67 43 RaceMenu.esp

 68 44 RaceMenuPlugin.esp

 69 45 dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp

 70 46 SOSRaceMenu.esp

 71 47 XPMSE.esp

 72 48 SkyUI.esp

 73 49 UIExtensions.esp

 74 4a LoversComfort.esp

 75 4b ImmersiveGenderChange.esp

 76 4c Beastess Vampire.esp

 77 4d Immersive Arousal.esp

 78 4e RewardYourFollowers.esp

 79 4f SexLab Aroused Creatures.esp

 80 50 SexLab Cumshot.esp

 81 51 dc-untamed-000.esp

 82 52 SexLabMatchMaker.esp

 83 53 LoversVictim.esp

 84 54 SexLabDefeat.esp

 85 55 SexLabWerewolves.esp

 86 56 SexLabAnimalSexDawn.esp

 87 57 SexLabAnimalSexTame.esp

 88 58 SexLabHorribleHarassment.esp

 89 59 SexLabDangerousNights2.esp

 90 5a SOS - Smurf Average Addon.esp

 91 5b SOS - VectorPlexus Muscular Addon.esp

 92 5c SOS - VectorPlexus Regular Addon.esp

 93 5d RaceMenuMorphsCBBE.esp

 94 5e Dragon Combat Overhaul.esp

 95 5f dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp

 96 60 dD-Dragonborn-Dawnguard-EBT Patch.esp

 97 61 vMYC_MeetYourCharacters.esp

 98 62 Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp

 99 63 Immersive Weapons.esp

100 64 Schlongs of Skyrim.esp

101 65 posesivecorpses.esp

102 66 DBRDragonFix.esp

103 67 PDCrossbow - Feykrosah Nin.esp

[ButchDiavolo]

YAY! I am glad you can play again

 

The Overwrite folder is where MO stores the output of the more dynamic mods (FNIS, SKSE plugins etc). What you need to do is create a pseudo-mod with the files that get place in it.

This is very smple. Just right-click on the overwrite folder and select "create mod", give the pseudo-mod a easy to remember name (so you know what is in that mod) and click ok. Done. Now all you need to do is make sure the new mod is ticked, so it will be used by skyrim.

 

HOWEVER... I think you will have an overwrite now with files from all kinds of different mods. It is not a good idea to make a pseudo-mod like that (although you could).

 

The easiest way to split the different files:

Delete all the files that are in overwrite. Then rerun FNIS (be sure to select the skeleton arm fix!) and let it do it's thing. When done, the output from FNIS will be in the overwrite folder. Right-click and make a pseudo-mod of that, call it something simple like FNIS Output or something. Click ok and done. Be sure to activate it. Eacht time you rerun FNIS, it will create new output files. You can either delete the old FNIS Output mod and create a new one with the files in the Overwrite. Or you can open the Overwrite folder and select all files and folders and drag&drop them onto the FNIS Output mod.

Now, when you start Skyrim and make adjustments to, i.e. Sexlab or SOS, you can export the adjusted settings. When you have done that and close Skryim, the next time you start up MO, there will once again be files in the overwrite. Those are the export files of Sexlab and SOS and other SKSE-plugins that create output. The easiest way to make a pseudo-mod is combine all these output files into one mod, call it something like SKSE Output. (don't forget to activate it!). From then on all the SKSE plugin output files will automagically go to this new mod (unlike the FNIS files).

 

More information about how Overwrite works, you can find in the MO Guide on STEP.

 

As for the choppy fps, this can be caused by numerous things. Heavy script load comes to mind. What you could try is setting, for example, the scanning times for various mods (such as Sexlab Aroused Creatures) higher, so the scanning won't cause constant strain on the game engine.

Other possibilities: did you set the SKSE Memory Patch as suggested by STEP? Did you use the correct settings for your ENB? Have you installed texture mods with more that 1 or 2K textures? (4K textures are pointless unless you use a 4K monitor).  All these things can/ will have an effect on your framerate/ gamespeed. The more the game has to load, the slower it will be.

[Dapper Gent]

I found out part of the issue and I guess the rest sorted itself out. I had to into the initial and fix a fee things and manually adjust my load order. It'a still a little choppy but not bad and fully playsble, barring the occasional crash.

 

I do have one last issue that I wasn't able to either locate or couldn't comprehend the solution to. Despite having SOS installed all of the male characters still have their undies on during sex scenes. Do you know how to fix that?

[ButchDiavolo]

Hmm, that could be caused by either not having the SOS "addons" installed properly or that some other mod which uses male body textures is overwriting SOS. Does SOS have a red minus behind it?

[ButchDiavolo]

Did some snooping for ya (cos I am just that nice and stuff) and this is what I found on the SOS page for possible causes:

 

Perma-underwear (the underwear does not come off)
Symptoms: There is a brown underwear instead of a schlong while nude
Causes and / or solutions: The underwear shows up because SOS can't put a schlong in your character or NPC. There are a lot of reasons for this
- you have no SOS addon esp installed or enabled, please install at least one schlong addon
- is a custom race for which you do not have a compatible SOS addon installed. In that case you can force a schlong upon the affected character by using the MCM menu "Player / NPC settings" and select a schlong for him.
- the MCM settings for SOS doesn't allow a schlong for this character

Perma-underwear (the underwear pokes through armor)
Symptoms: There is a brown underwear poking through your armor
Causes and / or solutions: The underwear shows up becouse SOS can't put a schlong in your character or NPC and SOS has not modified the armor to add it the pelvis slot (52).
This may happen on custom races with custom armors, depending how the race is done. If not, this is most likely an error in SOS scripts.

[Dapper Gent]

Thank you so much, you majestic, divine bovine, you! You'be rescued me a few times now! You have no idea how much I appreciate your help and kindness. Again, thank you!