I need help/advice with corrupeted savefiles and using resaver

[redblueblack]

(Disclaimer: mostly made with google translator)

As the tile says, i need help/advice to restore corrupeted savefiles and using resaver.

I've stopped playing Skirim AE about end of 2023. Although there have been occasional corrupt savegames, my build with about 400 active plugings (mods and official game files together) has generally been stable and playable. When I started playing Skyrim again last month, all my savegames were "corrupt". So the character in T-pose, the notification window open and the OK button lead back to the main menu. A more detailed description of my way into misery will be below.

What i have tried so far:
1) Updated SKSE to newest version for Skyrim AE (version 1.6.1170, also Adress Librarry for 1.6.xx and Microsoft Visual C++).
2) Updated ModOrganiser 2.
3) Removed or updated mods that MO2 reported as a problem.
4) installed CreationKit and changed some Mods from Form 43 to Form 44, then stopped doing this. Partly because I didn't manage to do it with mods that required multiple masters, partly because of a  reddit  post that described changing the form as unnecessary and sometimes dangerous. It would be better to deactivate the form check in MO2.
5) Installed SSE Engine Fixes for SKSE64 and changed MaxStdio from 512 to 8192 (i've even tried 2048, as an older reddit-post suggested) and SaveGameMaxSize to true.
6) Moved into an empty corner of my room to cry and curse (also suggested in a reddit-post).
7) Installed Resaver and tried to fix the savegames in different ways blind, without a real guide about how-to-do (after making a copy of the savefile folder):
    - just load and save (both ways, overwrite and with a new save-number)
    - using the clean-menue (both, the batch-clean and the single "remove xxx"-options
    - tried to delete entries from removed mods individually, as far as i could identify them (i mostlikely found only a fraction of those entries)

In another Reddit post I read that mods that have a lot of impact on the open environment (water modification, freezing, NPCs, etc.) can often cause corrupt save games,
so you should try to load savegames, where the character is in tavern or player home. In fact, I was able to recycle a character in 3 out of 4 cases with such saves. Sadly ony
one of the 3 important Charakters has such a savegame.

Otherwise, none of the 7 steps above helped and two level 40+ characters still have corrupted savegames. I want both of them back because they have completed the
"Dawnguard" and "Elder knowledge" quest series, one character even completed the "Path of Knowledge" quest. In my opinion these quests are too long and tedious to be enjoyable
and I really don't want to repeat them.

I did not made a new clean install of Skyrim AE and added all the Tools and mods so far, because i don't know if this would help to "un-corrupt" my savegames, and i can't imagine why it would do so.
Also i'm not desperate enough (yet) to do this.

 

So I'm looking for more ideas to repair my save games or a good, detailed guide for using Resaver.

Thank you in advance for reading this.

 

My path to misery - a story full of lack of knowledge, mistakes, ignorance and noob behavior (probably not necessary to read to answer my questions).
I started playing Skyrim SE in 2022 without really knowing anything about the TES series. The game was cheap to get on a Steam sale, so why not. At level 26 of my first (and at the time only) character I started using mods. Some mods I wanted to install required the Dawnguard or Heartfire. So I upgraded Skyrim to AE as soon as it was offered as a Steam sale and installed more mods.

The name "Skyrim Special Edition" implies that there are different versions of the game. But I didn't know how different they were, nor did it ever occur to me to research it. And so I installed mods for Oldrim, first because I didn't know any better, later because such mods were described as compatible with SSE, or they were necessary for textures or plugins in ported mods. I generated more characters to try out different ways of playing, at the same time mods were installed, patched, deactivated or removed, sometimes even reinstalled (I know, a lot of bad mistakes). Occasionally corrupted save games could simply be compensated for by loading an earlier save game.

At the end of 2023 I took a break from Skyrim, since then there have been at least 2 major updates for the game, as far as I know (all my games in the Steam client are set to automatic update). When I wanted to start playing again in November 2024, the problems really started.

Every time I tried to load a save game of a modded character, the game crashed. When I made a new character, the game crashed as soon as I left the character creation. Only when I loaded the unmodded save game of my level 26 character could I get into the game... only to crash after a few minutes. It didn't matter whether I started SKSE with or without ModOrganizer 2, or Skyrim without SKSE via Steam or directly from the file manager. Everything always crashed. This lead to my quest for saving the savegames, as described above.

Edited December 7 by redblueblack
Typo

[jjb54]

So the first questions:
 

1 - Did you start adding mods to your current saved games?

2 - Did you install the DLC's and continue playing in you current saved game?

3 - Do you have any mods that required Skyrim Script Extender, again, during your current saved games?

I you answered to yes to even 1 of these or all - then, sorry you will have to start a FRESH CLEAN NEW GAME.

[redblueblack]

Thank you for answering so quick.

Well it is a clear yes to all 3 questions.

 

FRESH CLEAN NEW GAME  <<< you mean a full new installation of Skyrim SE -> AE -> SKSE - mod manager and all the mods and patches i want to use? Will this fresh new game be able to load the corrupted savegames?

Or do you just mean starting now with new Characters to replace the corrupted ones?

 

Edit:

Thinking about your questions 1 and 3: do you imply that everytime i add a mod, i should abbandon my existing characters and start from beginning?

Edited December 8 by redblueblack
added a question

[jjb54]

No - you do not need to reinstall -

YES - Just start a new game from the beginning and create a new / same character if you wish.

See the problem is: DLC's are built on some ques in the base game.

Mods are also similar and more so if they use Skyrim Scrip Extender.

Make sure you just delete the current saved games. You do not want to mix and mess things up.

 

[redblueblack]

I see, so the old saves are lost and i have to do certain annoying questlines again.

Thank you again for the clarification.

[jjb54]

No problem - I've been in "your shoes" more than a few times, since I started playing in 2012