Dragon Skeleton CTDs

[anjenthedog]

Recently, I've been encountering an odd CTD type where dragon skeletons are causing a CTD (once I cross into their cell)

 

Here are two example snippets (only the "possible relevant objects" for illustration) of the output from netscript framework's crash report

Possible relevant objects (11)
{
  [  16]    hkpRigidBody(Node: `NiNode(Name: `NPC Tail2`)`)
  [  29]    TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF0013EC)
  [  29]    Character(FormId: 00060BAE, File: `Skyrim.esm`, BaseForm: TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF0013EC))
  [  42]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Tail2`)
  [  84]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Tail1`)
  [  90]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Spine2`)
  [  96]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Pelvis`)
  [ 104]    NiNode(Name: `NPC COM`)
  [ 112]    BSFlattenedBoneTree(Name: `NPC Root [Root]`)
  [ 120]    BSFadeNode(Name: `skeleton.nif`, Owner: `Character(FormId: 00060BAE, File: `Skyrim.esm`, BaseForm: TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF0013EC))`)
  [ 128]    NiNode(Name: `NPC `)
}

-----------------------
Possible relevant objects (19)
{
  [  16]    hkpRigidBody(Node: `NiNode(Name: `NPC RHand`)`)
  [  29]    TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF00158E)
  [  29]    Character(FormId: 00032AC2, File: `AnthorDragonFix.esp`, BaseForm: TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF00158E))
  [  42]    NiNode(Name: `NPC RHand`)
  [  73]    NiNode(Name: `NPC LHand`)
  [  82]    NiNode(Name: `NPC RForearm2`)
  [  96]    NiNode(Name: `NPC RForearm1`)
  [ 104]    NiNode(Name: `NPC RUpArm2`)
  [ 112]    NiNode(Name: `NPC RUpArm1`)
  [ 120]    NiNode(Name: `NPC RCollarbone`)
  [ 128]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Hub01`)
  [ 136]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Spine3`)
  [ 144]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Spine2`)
  [ 152]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Spine1`)
  [ 160]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Pelvis`)
  [ 168]    NiNode(Name: `NPC COM`)
  [ 176]    BSFlattenedBoneTree(Name: `NPC Root [Root]`)
  [ 184]    BSFadeNode(Name: `skeleton.nif`, Owner: `Character(FormId: 00032AC2, File: `AnthorDragonFix.esp`, BaseForm: TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF00158E))`)
  [ 192]    NiNode(Name: `NPC `)
}

Do these look like something that's "aw yeah old problem mate, there's a patch for that". It's almost nonsensical, because I don't have anything (afaik) that screws with dragons or their skeletons, (ie no "Uber Mean Dragons of Skyrim" mod, or dragon retexturers etc), so I'm a bit befuddled. (ok, anything beyond cutting room floor, and that anthor dragon fix, which are patches to fix game mechanics, not nif/dds stuff)

[SnowFox35]

The second half of the log mentions an "AnthorDragonFix.esp"... since you don't remember installing anything specific to dragons, I wonder if this is part of another root.

[anjenthedog]

The second half of the log mentions an "AnthorDragonFix.esp"... since you don't remember installing anything specific to dragons, I wonder if this is part of another root.

Thanks for the reply,

 

The Anthor mod is a patch to repair game mechanics. Afaik it doesn't fiddle with nifs or dds files.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/38510

 

But... idk... not an unreasonable conclusion,,, maybe it does. I'll try disabling it.

[anjenthedog]

here's another instance just after opening a savefile near Arcwind Point (High Hrothgar issued Shout quest to kill dragon there)

Possible relevant objects (20)

{

  [  16]    hkpRigidBody(Node: `NiNode(Name: `NPC Neck5`)`)

  [  27]    BSFadeNode(Name: `skeleton.nif`, Owner: `Character(FormId: 00060BAE, File: `Skyrim.esm`, BaseForm: TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF0013EB))`)

  [  42]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Neck5`)

  [  93]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Neck4`)

  [ 109]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Neck3`)

  [ 115]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Neck2`)

  [ 121]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Neck1`)

  [ 128]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Hub01`)

  [ 133]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Spine3`)

  [ 139]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Spine2`)

  [ 145]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Spine1`)

  [ 152]    NiNode(Name: `NPC Pelvis`)

  [ 157]    NiNode(Name: `NPC COM`)

  [ 164]    BSFlattenedBoneTree(Name: `NPC Root [Root]`)

  [ 203]    NiNode(Name: `RabbitHead`)

  [ 218]    NiNode(Name: `RabbitRLegToe`)

  [ 227]    hkpRigidBody(Node: `NiNode(Name: `ingredientRoot`)`)

  [ 288]    BSTriShape(Name: `EditorMarker`)

  [ 299]    TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF0013EB)

  [ 299]    Character(FormId: 00060BAE, File: `Skyrim.esm`, BaseForm: TESNPC(Name: `Dragon`, FormId: FF0013EB))

}

( a fast travel away within ~10 seconds of load will avoid the ctd in this case, fwiw)... but again, dragon skeleton heavily implicated in the CTD

[SnowFox35]

I have been doing some research this morning on other people who have had similar crashes. Since this crash has a skeleton.nif crash, it's probably related to any type of mod that modifies creatures' body rigs or animations. The mod doesn't need to be dragon-specific (e.g., one case was solved by downgrading Racemenu), but it is often caused by anything related to the aforementioned variables. Try rerunning any type of application like FNIS to flush out the animation mod.

 

However, something odd I've been noticing when it comes to dragon skeletons in particular is that sometimes the mod is random. One case that involved dragon corpse CTDs (only when the dragon was later a skeleton) was Strange Runes - that mod needed to be downgraded, like Racemenu.

 

And again, another case actually pertained to the newest version of MoreHUD. By installing an older version, that user solved the same problem.

 

I wish I could tell you the exact intricacies of my morning research and how exactly to solve the problem. But what I can tell you is that these factors I mentioned have constituted most of the dragon skeleton CTD cases I've read up on for modded Skyrim SE.

 

Try taking a look at any mods you have installed recently, even if they seem innocent - look for if you have installed the newest version of them, and try out an older version of that mod to see if the issue is resolved.

 

I can keep reading every now and then to see if I find anything new, or another contribution in this thread could help out.

[anjenthedog]

thanks for the reply. I *do* have quite a few land addons (Beyond reach, Beyond Skyrim Bruma, etc), so any could potentially be messing with them. As well, there's immersive creatures which spawns some dragons too.

 

I read the bugs section of this https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Dragon#Bugs too, and the various references to dragons getting stuck in landscape and so forth make me wonder if they (and some intrinsic skyrim engine bug(s) might not have something to do with it, ie a skeleton node gets pinned to something and breaks... when the experts say "idk" it enters the realm of mystical ;)

 

For now I'll just have to escape via FT when possible and return later when, hopefully, housekeeping has addressed the faulty mesh by deletion

 

btw, disabling the Mt Anthor Dragon fix didn't work... c'est la vie