Amazing Follower Tweaks (AFT) Causing Game Freezing

[LucidGamer137]

First off, I want to say that I am not incredibly skilled at modding games; more often than not, I turn to the easiest/most automated method I can to mod a game, purely because one time I tried manually installing mods and basically ruined an entire computer. Granted, now I know a bit more about how files and compatibilities work, I still feel leery about diving too deep into files and folders to manually fix issues. Just a disclaimer.

 

Now the issue. As of today (April 3, 2018) it seems that, whenever one of my followers attempts to change outfits to their standard (outside) outfit, the game freezes. My hypothesis: there is an issue with this specific follower OR there is an issue with my load order or version of my game causing the freeze.

 

For specifics, the follower in question is Derkeethus. I had just found him yesterday, and he seemed to be problem-free until today. I noticed the issue after sleeping in my bed in Breezehome, then going outside, where, for a few seconds, the game flowed normally. However, upon my followers switching from home to standard outfits, the game froze. I figured "maybe its just because my computer ran into an error," or "maybe it was because I wasn't plugged in (charging) and it was too much for the computer to handle." What's strange about this is that yesterday everything worked just fine. So, I tried a few other methods of rooting out the problem: I noticed on another occasion leaving Breezehome that only Lydia (my only other active AFT follower) came out first, and her outfit switched almost immediately with the usual split-second lag. However, a moment later Derkeethus came out, and when the game attempted to change his outfit, it froze just before his home outfit was removed. I tried leaving it to process for a few minutes, nothing. Ambient sounds and music seem to continue, but otherwise the game is entirely frozen: Windows key won't work, Ctrl+Alt+Del won't allow the task manager to appear (even after selecting it) and Alt+F4 won't force the program to close, I have to manually restart my computer each time through Ctrl+Alt+Del.

 

If any of this information helps:

-Derkeethus' standard outfit is partially composed of armor parts from a mod that added several (hundred) new armor sets to the game, though this was not an issue yesterday.

-Yesterday, I also installed a mod that reshapes each race's body to be more "lore friendly," though again I hadn't noticed problems after installing it. If it was only body shapes, I don't understand why it would cause the game to freeze during outfit change.

-My Skyrim did have an update before launching today, I think it was only the VR update, or possibly an update for VR mode bugfixes; it was relatively small, less than 10 MB. This may be the source of the issue, I know sometimes seemingly unrelated updates can change important details.

-I also installed LOOT for the first time after the first few crashes, thinking maybe my load order just needed some tweaking. After sorting my load order with LOOT's automatic sorting, the error still continued, however it seemed like the conversation menu options were in the correct order, a few had changed position. I doubt this was the cause, but it shouldn't be ruled out.

 

After sorting with LOOT, this is my load order (copied directly from LOOT):

 

0 0 Skyrim.esm
1 1 Update.esm
2 2 Dawnguard.esm
3 3 HearthFires.esm
4 4 Dragonborn.esm
5 5 unofficial skyrim special edition patch.esp
6 6 campfire.esm
7 7 Falskaar.esm
8 8 Cutting Room Floor.esp
9 9 static mesh improvement mod se.esp
10 a yot - your own thoughts.esp
11 b ineed.esp
12 c ineed - extended.esp
13 d RLO - Exteriors.esp
14 e RLO - Interiors.esp
15 f Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul - Skyrim.esp
16 10 phenderix magic world.esp
17 11 SoS - The Wilds.esp
18 12 lamposts of skyrim.esp
19 13 ordinator - perks of skyrim.esp
20 14 SkyTEST-RealisticAnimals&Predators.esp
21 15 Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp
22 16 point the way.esp
23 17 inigo.esp
24 18 immersive patrols ii.esp
25 19 incubex delwraith's cooking and alchemy mod.esp
26 1a frostfall.esp
27 1b yot - frostfall module.esp
28 1c yot - campfire.esp
29 1d arrowtweaksfix.esp
30 1e icepenguinworldmap.esp
31 1f rich merchants of skyrim.esp
32 20 violens se.esp
33 21 diversedragonscollectionse.esp
34 22 fast_beast_perks.esp
35 23 cheesemod.esp
36 24 better horses.esp
37 25 realistic_impacts.esp
38 26 amazingfollowertweaks.esp
39 27 get_no_dead_followers_sepc_sp0ckrates.esp
40 28 SkyHUD.esp
41 29 Gri_BeastFeet.esp
42 2a TrainingLimit.esp
43 2b gitgud greaves.esp
44 2c gitgud greaves (dragonborn).esp
45 2d gitgud greaves (dawnguard).esp
46 2e RLO - Effects.esp
47 2f RLO - Illuminated Spells.esp
48 30 RLO - CRF Patch.esp
49 31 Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp
50 32 Verdant - A Skyrim Grass Plugin SSE Version.esp
51 33 Footprints.esp
52 34 Immersive Sounds - Compendium.esp
53 35 unlimitedamuletsandrings.esp
54 36 moonlight tales special edition.esp
55 37 TrueStormsSE.esp
56 38 wetandcold.esp
57 39 Race Scale Remover.esp
58 3a better leveling.esp
59 3b 50 more perk points.esp
60 3c LrsamwaysExpandedSkyrimWeaponry.esp
61 3d Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp
62 3e ForgottenCity.esp
63 3f beltfastenedquivers.esp
64 40 SimpleOutfitManager.esp
65 41 FNIS.esp
66 42 XPMSSE.esp
67 43 Racial Body Morphs.esp
68 44 open cities skyrim.esp
69 45 immersive citizens - ai overhaul.esp
70 46 alternate start - live another life.esp
71 47 relationship dialogue overhaul.esp
72 48 realisticwatertwo.esp
73 49 RealisticWaterTwo+-+Verdant+Patch.esp
74 4a RLO - IC Patch.esp
75 4b RAO - Alternate Start Patch.esp

I personally feel like a few of these are in an awkward order, though nothing seems to be causing issues from my perspective, and nothing pops up as an error from LOOT.

 

If you need any other information, I would be glad to provide it, this is just everything I could think of that would cause the issue. Like I said, I made no changes to the game between yesterday and today, it simply seems to have stopped working correctly. My next few troubleshooting methods will consist of attempting to dismiss Derkeethus, resetting him under AFT or removing him from AFT management, or simply loading an earlier save before the problem occurred. If anyone can provide some feedback, it would be most appreciated.

 

(UPDATE)

 

Well, now the problem has gotten worse: I've run into this error before but I can't remember how to fix it. I tried dismissing Derkeethus, loading an older save, and removing him from AFT management, but it acts like he's permanently a follower now, even though he does not follow me. He draws/sheathes weapons as if he were a follower, and has an option "I think it's time we part ways," but when he says he's leaving the game doesn't say "My follower has left my service," and he remains as my "follower," though as stated he doesn't actually follow me. AFT commands and options are no longer shown either.

Edited April 3, 2018 by LucidGamer137

[Project579]

I don't think the problem is AFT but Derkeethus standard outfit the mesh of the outfit could be corrupted could you try getting it from his inventory an try equipping it to see if the game crashes (it may crash as soon as you open the inventory).

[LucidGamer137]

@Project579

 

If you mean that I should remove the outfit from his inventory, I've tried a few similar actions...

 

I noticed that AFT does this odd thing where they give followers a backpack inventory, seemingly for objects used for other outfits or fenced from other items, and a trade inventory for "I need to trade some things with you." I removed his default outfit, the miner's clothes, and gave him the clothing items I want him to wear. For some reason, it's acting strange and giving his default outfit parts back to him though. For example, I gave him a different set of boots, and when I removed his default outfit parts, he somehow kept the default boots, I checked every inventory option I could and they were nowhere to be found. Also, with Lydia, she seemed to automatically sort her outfits; just an unused set of armor in her inventory was automatically equipped as one outfit, while Derkeethus seems to be unable to handle more than one outfit.

 

I did remove his standard outfit once, then tried going outside, but he had disappeared entirely. I know he goes to Darkwater Crossing when dismissed; I found him there in his home outfit. Acting like he was actively following me (with options to dismiss and all) but no AFT options were shown, and if I dismissed him he would say goodbye but remain in the follower list. I ran into a similar error before, but I have no idea how I fixed it the first time, something about using a console command to hard-remove him from the list...

[2much4l1]

Try moving AFT to the bottom of your load order and use TESEdit to find conflicts.

[LucidGamer137]

Try moving AFT to the bottom of your load order and use TESEdit to find conflicts.

 

I'll be sure to try that. The only thing I'm wary about is that the LOOT program places it really high up, then again I suppose it may not know exactly where to place every mod. Thanks.

[LucidGamer137]

Thanks to both of you guys for the help, looks like shifting the load order a bit fixed the problem, thanks!

[silvercrown5150]

Don’t mean to resurrect this thread, but I’m experiencing this too. But only with Aela the huntress...

[KiokothePirate]

Don’t mean to resurrect this thread, but I’m experiencing this too. But only with Aela the huntress...

Seconded. Moving AFT to the bottom of my load order did nothing.

[arienlee]

Had this issue with only Aela the huntress. Changing the order of AFT to the bottom did nothing. I then went into her inventory and removed all her items. I was then able to check Use Standard Outfits. Readded her equipment as a standard outfit and haven't had any issues since. Hope this helps someone.