Reconstructing a save game

[scegielski]

Hi all,

With the common save game corruption issues, I've been thinking about the possibility of reconstructing a save game. What I mean by this is to start a new game make it as identical as possible to another save game. Could this be done by using the console to do the following:

 

-Advance character to the level in the save game

-Add any perks the character had in the save game

-Set any completed quests from the save game to complete

-Add any items the character had in the save game

-Add any companions and homes the player has from the save game

 

I know the first two can be done via the console, but any ideas on the others? Can a list of items the player has be queried from the conole and maybe written to a batch file?

 

Thanks for any ideas!

[Sterki]

As far as I can tell, all of them can be done without much effort (but you'll have to take a lot of notes for commands and codes and you'll have to type a lot of stuff in game). Also, certain quests grant you permanent magical effects to your character, I think they are added as spells, but I'm not sure.

[scegielski]

One thing that would help is the ability to redirect output to a file with the ">". I haven't tried it, but anyone know if that's doable?

 

Sterki:

Can you give an example of a permanent magical effect? Like a shout?

[Sterki]

I remember this one where you cleaned up a falmer infested lighthouse where a redguard family tried to settle in (and got murdered when the falmer broke in through the basement) and you had the option to throw the remains of one of the members of said family into the lighthouse's fire since you figured out from a journal that it was his last wish. Upon doing so, you'd get a permanent bonification to the ammount of health any restoration spell gave you. Said effect shows up at the effects tab, but I'm not entirely sure if adding it like you would a spell would work (I know at least some of them are categorized as spells, but I never tried if adding them directly would make them work as intended).

[Gawin]

That's what I have done actually. I did a clean install of Skyrim, started a new game and adjusted my character's level, added my previously owned items and spells/shouts from the console, so far I haven't ran into any big problems. But I wouldn't alter any quests with the console if I were you. Completing quests with the console can be quite dangerous, you can really messed up some NPC's behaviours, or worse still get leftover scripts from the quest. And that's the same for player homes. It's better to add lots of gold to your inventry via the console and buy the house that way.

[scegielski]

Gawin:

Thanks for your response. That's a real bummer that quests have problems when completed through the console. That would be the most tedious part of starting a new game. I'm pretty much at my wit's end with this game. It's really great when it's working, but no sooner do I get a setup that I think is stable then I start getting CTDs and ILS. I think the best option is not to play.

[Gawin]

Yeah, I feel your pain. I have come to terms to CTD problems myself, it just happens in a complex game like Skyrim. And with mods the probability of getting crashes is even higher, but once you start playing with mods there is no turning back :p. Now I am happy provided the game doesn't crash too frequently.

 

There is one last thing you can try before leaving Skyrim for good though. You can try cleaning your old save file with this tool. You do have to take some time to read the guide but it does work when you use it correctly. I have used this myself and I had no crash at all for a long time until I started installing more mods again.

[scegielski]

Gawin:

Thanks for the clean save link! I tried it last night and I think it may have worked. My CTDs stopped! I'll have to play longer to know for sure, but fingers crossed.