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acidzebra

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    Cant get ENB depth of field blur

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted · Edited by acidzebra

    Odd, and ENB is definitely running (that is, when you start skyrim you see "enb series [version]" blah in the top left corner for a while before it fades? (almost like a skyrim debug notice) - no notice, no ENB.

     

    ps. I think the standard is set to 0.5 for fadetime. Not that it will matter much, just FYI.

    Cant get ENB depth of field blur

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted · Edited by acidzebra

    ATI, ENB, and DoF has always been sketchy, in my experience, especially with crossfire (dual ATI 5770s). Also, it reminds me of the world when I take off my glasses, I don't need that :wink:

     

    I assume in the enbseries.ini (main skyrim folder) under section [EFFECTS] it has

    EnableDepthOfField=true

    ?

     

    Further settings (or not) under [DEPTHOFFIELD] section

     

    I don't know the matso one, but depending on his tweaks the effect may be very subtle or just turned off by default, open the file

    enbeffectprepass.fx (it's a text file, same folder)

    and poke around for a bit.

     

    And if you're going to fiddle with ENB settings, highly recommended to get ENB customizer

    http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/17400

     

    run customizer, run skyrim, esc to pause game, alt-tab to customizer, tweak settings and save, alt-tab to skyrim, continue game, backspace to reload settings. You can of course also manually tweak enbsettings.ini and do the same trick.

    Suitable Cave Home?

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted · Edited by acidzebra

    Shadowgreen in the CK is actually a world, and surprisingly heavy on resources. It's also quite "dense", meaning a lot of objects in a relatively small space - but it still spans several cells. If you're going to edit it, it helps to open it and in the cell view window filter and select all the objects starting with "fx" (so fxambbeamwetmists, fxglowfillroundblah etc) and make them invisible (click the top of the render window - not IN the render window) and press the 1 key twice. The same goes for any objects with "trig" in the name. This way, you'll be able to look around and select stuff you want instead of all kinds of other stuff. Press F5 to reset the view and make everything visible again.

     

    If you're looking for a greenish cave to adjust to your liking, I humbly suggest having a look at my little cave/tree home mod, you should be able to expand or adjust it as you see fit or maybe take away a few ideas - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25631

     

    It's nowhere near as beautiful as shadowgreen though - I love that world.

    Frequent freezes

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted · Edited by acidzebra

    As an engineer this all is starting to sound like superstition - I'll be the first to admit that restarting a computer does have its place in the troubleshooting hierarchy but the memory cap hypothesis at least is easily tested - open resource monitor in win 7 (you'll find it in the start menu or start > run > perfmon /res), go to the memory tab, and keep it running in the background. I have trouble pushing Skyrim about 1.7 GB even with a ton of demanding mods and going to ridiculously large and detailed cells, and I'm running on a 64 bit system with lots of RAM. I don't see "ghost RAM" being used by a previously CTD'd skyrim. You can too - details below (skip to the memory resource usage if you're running 64-bit windows with at least 8 GB of RAM.

     

    WINDOWS VERSIONS (32bit vs 64bit)

    I don't know what windows version everyone is running, there might still be people running 32 bit windows for all I know. Hell, they may still be running Windows XP despite it being over a decade old. If you ARE still running XP 32 bit (x86) instead of 64 bit (x64), Skyrim (even the latest version) will only be able to address 2 GB of RAM UNLESS you have set the /3GB boot switch in windows. If you are running Vista/7 starter edition, you won't be able to use more than 2 GB. All other 32-bit versions of vista/7 (home, pro, whatever else marketing came up with) in the 32-bit incarnations support up to 4GB RAM - and skyrim will be able to use it BUT you'll be sharing it with other programs. If you are running x64 on XP/Vista/7, Skyrim will be able to allocate up to 4 GB and your OS can go beyond that.

     

    TL;DR - you should really upgrade to a 64-bit system and have at a bare minimum 4 GB of RAM, 8 GB preferred. Leave XP behind - like I said, it's over a decade old. And if you're unable or unwilling to upgrade at this time, yes, you may run out of RAM, because that <4GB of RAM is going to be shared with other applications too. That means swapping, that means everything grinding to a slow annoying crawl and possibly crashes.

     

    MEMORY AND OTHER RESOURCE USAGE

    Now, assuming you're running 64bit windows and have plenty of RAM, have a look at resource monitor and the windows task manager (you can find both in the start menu or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to start task manager, you can launch resource monitor from the performance tab). Run them in the background while playing. They will tell you exactly how much skyrim is using at any given time. Task manager will keep track of max usage - see the "peak working set" column in the processes tab. Both will also tell you what other programs are running. Chances are this is a large list. PCs are a general purpose computing platform unlike xboxes etc which are dedicated gaming platforms. This means skyrim has to compete with other programs for resources. Demanding games, in general, don't play nice with others and don't take well to being interrupted. If you have a ton of processes in the background demanding CPU power, internet access, and other things, chances are skyrim will be much less stable.

     

    I'll not go into a long discussion of which programs are safe to disable, but if you want the best gaming experience possible you owe it to yourself to invest some time to see and understand what kind of applications are started at startup and as services, and which ones you really want and which ones you can safely disable. The average PC will be starting all kinds of garbage in the background without you knowing it, a "gift" from all those programs you've installed over time. Do you really need java updater, google updater, adobe updater, apple push, quicktime and other tasks to be running in the background and eating resources? Probably not, but only you can answer that. If you've never in your life run a program like msconfig or autoruns, your PC is not tuned for the best skyrim (or other gaming) experience. Even a clean windows install with zero programs added runs a ton of unnecessary stuff. You may even want to consider disabling the pretty aero interface - especially on older graphic cards. As a bonus, learning about this and disabling unneeded startup programs and services will also improve your PC use experience for years to come - it's a good investment of your time IMHO. If you are feeling lost using these tools (msconfig or autoruns, the first comes with your OS > start menu > run > msconfig and the second is available from Microsoft for free), PM me and I'll be glad to help out any way I can.

     

    TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT

    Speaking of gaming experience, are you sure your GPU isn't slowly overheating while playing skyrim? Grab a tool like gpu-z and keep it running in the background together with resource monitor and task manager while you play to keep track of your GPU temperature and VRAM usage. It's free, get it here - http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/ - and open the sensors tab. And if you're overclocking your GPU or CPU, great, but then you already know that performance often comes at a cost to stability, especially at peak loads. Finally (and this should go without saying) make sure your video card drivers are up to date.

     

    In Dutch, there is a saying "meten is weten" which is an amusing/groan-inducing rhyme meaning "to measure is to know". And unless you measure, you will never really know. Your PC provides the tools to let you know exactly what is going on with your RAM and video card - use them. As for defragging, I think that had its glory days in the time of IDE drives and XP, with win7 and fast sata drives I don't really see the dramatic performance improvements we once saw. And to SSD drives (which I personally recommend especially if you're running huge texture packs) it is anathema - don't defrag, period.

     

    Of course, even a PC optimized to the hilt won't be able to make a skyrim install with a bunch of randomly installed/pulled/conflicting or just badly written mods and a bloated savegame run well - but it will give you a stable starting point from where you can try and get skyrim running stable even with tons of mods - it is an attainable goal.

    I'm missing a piece of script, Help please.

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted · Edited by acidzebra 

    int DoOnce

Event OnTriggerEnter(objectreference akactionref)
if DoOnce == 0
if akactionref == game.getplayer()
debug.messagebox("Blah, blah, blah")
DoOnce = 1
endif
endif
endevent

     

    would do it I think but it's pretty brutal. I have no idea about persistence etc.

     

    Urgh, nested ifs are ugly. Let's see if someone has a better way.

    Looking for some help with a mod!

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted · Edited by acidzebra

    Ah, the fish and insects operate differently, they come from an item + associated script called "critterspawnXXX" where XXX are specifics like "pond", "insects", "dragonflies" etc. You can find them in CK under worldobjects > Activator > Markers > Crittermarkers. They are activators, whereas slaughterfish eggs and harvestable flora are ingredients.

     

    If you have the skills it should be possible to create different activators, I suppose, but with the defaults you're stuck with controlling cell resets - which may have other undesirable consequences.

     

    I don't have hearthfire but I think that didn't change.The garden stuff did change - being able to plant stuff yourself I think? That would be worth opening in CK and having a look at, see how it's set up.I find I learn the best tricks from just having a look around at "official" content and seeing what makes it tick ;)

    Frequent freezes

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted

    I'm not sure in what context you're using the term "RAM cache" - does your system have 8GB ram total? Skyrim is a 32-bit app, and with the latest patches it can address (I think) up to about 4 GB of RAM, and no more.

     

    My main question would be after getting everything running again did you remove Crimson tide in the way I described? Because it could also be something like bad scripts stacking and stacking until POW! Or, who knows, your GPU temperature slowly building to a critical level. Or background programs hogging the RAM you need. Or gremlins. Can't discount gremlins.

    taunt/challenge shout

    in Mod Ideas

    Posted

    Ha ha fantastic video.

     

    The draugr have this shield-banging taunt, I don't know how easy that would be to rig to the player character and draw aggro in others. I find arrow in the face usually does the trick ;)

    Skyrim Mods and Hyper-sexualization

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted

    I know exactly what you mean, ever since I've started playing pac-man I just pop every pill I see. Because of the subconscious connection, you see?

    Wakka wakka wakka

    Also FPS shooters have convinced me that blowing someone's brains out is a valid response to interpersonal conflict -subconscious connection again- and Jack Thompson, is that you?

    Amazingly, most people, even kids, can discern between fiction and reality (have you noticed you're killing dragons and undead beings in skyrim?). Those who cannot have bigger issues than unrealistic boobies in a video game. Don't run any mods that change people into supermodels, can't stand them myself and if I could I'd make Skyrim even grimier, but come on. Bring some hard facts to the table instead of endless weasel words like maybe and may or may not, or what the guy above me said. The second part at least. And in a more civil fashion, of course.

    Tiny Homes Made of Pine Trees

    in Mod Ideas

    Posted

    Okay, yeah, so I got tired of messing around with the imperial dungeon kit for a bit and I thought this sounded like fun so I decided to have a go at this too.

     

    My interpretation of tiny tree home:

    http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25631

     

    You can find it on the path between Whiterun and Riverwood near the water, a hidden doorway next to (surprise) a tree stump will let you in.

    Or if you're impatient or can't find it open the console (~) and coc tinytreehome.

     

    http://i45.tinypic.com/f1z310.jpg

    Tiny Homes Made of Pine Trees

    in Mod Ideas

    Posted

    Just joking around Tracy. The tree stump would need some kind of activator (a lever, a button) or load door which would take you to a new cell (like when you open a door in a city the game loads a new cell, usually the inside of a building), this cell can be as large or small as you like. You just say "well it takes you underground and there is a slightly larger room there".

     

    I think it's a neat idea, but I'm in the middle of building a dungeon crawler. I hope someone else takes you up on this idea, or if not, I may be willing to have a go when I get stuck on this blasted dungeon which I probably will at some point.

    Frequent freezes

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted

    You know what they say, give a man a mod and he will mess up his skyrim, teach a man about mods and load order and he will enjoy a CTD-free game for the most part.

     

    Okay, so only I say that. Just now.

     

    Let us know how you get on :)

    Frequent freezes

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted · Edited by acidzebra

    Am I cursed or what? I went to NMM to reinstate the Crimson Tide mod, but at that point I was notified that there was an update for NMM was available. Naturally I installed it. But then when the update was complete, I can't start NMM! I keep getting an error message that tells me I need to report a bug and wait for repairs to be devised.

     

    It's like the gods have declared, "Thou shalt not play Skyrim ever again!"

     

    On the plus side, at least you have all the calamities happening now, all that's left is the joy of a corrupt savegame to complete all the things which possibly could go wrong. When you're at the bottom...

     

    Don't know about NMM, have you tried the old chestnut of (a) restarting the computer and/or (b) reinstalling NMM manually?

     

    If you just want to get on with playing, you can find your mods in (wherever you chose to install)\Nexus Mod Manager\Skyrim\Mods

    Open the crimson tide archive, and extract to your skyrim folder, so the \data folder in the archive ends up in your \skyrim\data folder

    Then perform the save fandango I outlined

    At the point where you normally would use NMM to remove the mod go into the data folder again and remove all the files (and no others!) that crimson tide installed.

     

    New skill aquired: manual mod installation/removal!

     

    ps. my first computers were a TI99/4A followed by a C64 (love of my digital life) so I know quite a bit about going for memory optimization. Oh, the things we did in <64 Kb ;) In fact I loved that brown box so much by the time I moved to PC the first pentiums were coming to market and the days of upper/lower/extended memory and memory management were coming to and end.

    Problems with Steam & ENB

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted

    "making it look like the screenshots" - there are a lot of screenshots out there. Some are completely unplayable configs and only usable for screenshots.

    While a newer .dll may give you extra features - I haven't looked at ENB for a while - you can perhaps do more with ENB customizer which allows you to precisely control what ENB does.

     

    http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/17400

     

    Open up the customizer, open skyrim & start your game, alt-tab back to customizer, make changes, alt-tab back, press backspace to reload the enb config, rinse, repeat.

    And that's not even getting into all those .fx files which came with the ENB package, which are text files which control the effects - allowing you even more precise control and fun tweaking to your heart's content.

     

    This may not be the exact answer you were looking for, but it will allow you to tweak ENB to your liking even with older DLLs.

    Frequent freezes

    in Skyrim LE

    Posted · Edited by acidzebra

    The difference is the modders don't suddenly start asking for money for your next fix ;)

     

    (but now that you mention it - great idea! ha ha ha)

     

    But seriously, these people have spent a lot of time and effort into making these mods for free (with greater or lesser skill and knowledge) and decided to publish them. Presumably, these mods work for them. Once they release them into the wild, people have various versions of skyrim with various mods loaded and in some cases are novices so they yank/install mods pretty much at random - invariably leading to unstable configurations and CTDs. Then the authors get a bunch of s*** poured over them in the comments thread. Which ticks some of the authors right off, and I can't really blame them.

     

    Anyway, rant aside, I've had this same issue with crimson tide. Put the mod back in place. Load your savegame. Go to a small cell somewhere, say, breezehome (or any small cell inside of a city where there is no fighting). Just for good measure, wait for a few hours (in-game wait, not realtime) or have a good night's sleep (say, 24 hrs). Save your game and exit. Now remove the mod. Start up the game and load the savegame. Once again, wait around for a bit. Save. Exit.

     

    Don't overwrite earlier saves - make new ones BTW.

     

    Finally, start the game again, load your savegame and carry on.

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