Help I keep freezing/CTD

[byrondominguez]

I apologize if I have offended you by saying "guys" as opposed to saying guys/gals. Anyhow, when running boss and tes5edit it loads everything fine w.o any errors. Only thing I get is to clean master files. These are but a few of the saves I have but when I play skyrim none of these appear. What bothers me the most is I dont have the sufficient knowledge to comprehend the papyrus stuff. I have creation kit downloaded on my desktop but is no use. I have not bothered tampering it yet. In theory, shouldnt I be able to just delete my skse folder under skyrim in documents/game to just reassure myself there are no scripts messing around there? Or perhaps my question is how would I reassure myself that I have a COMPLETE. blank skyrim to essentially start from scratch. REMINDER I dont have an ini folder so I dont think that visualize file extensions applies to me.

[Trollkin]

This may take more than one post, as the boards keep trying to log me off. Argh.

 

First, to your animation issue. If you have downloaded an animation mod, it may or may not include an esp. If there is no esp or esm, your animation won't show up in your modlist. Myself, I use Wrye Bash to install my mods (usually as BAIN archives), partly so that I can easily keep track of mesh/texture/animation replacers, and easily/cleanly remove them on a whim. NMM has similar functionality, but I couldn't speak to specifics, as I only use NMM for when I want to mess with my Realvision ENB installer (I haven't gotten around to putting together a useful BAIN for that particular beast). Anyway...

 

Your issue SOUNDS like a mod that requires FNIS (Fore's New Idles Skyrim) - if you have such a mod, or HAD such a mod and did not completely uninstall it, all of your animations go bye-bye. If that is the case, I would suggest installing FNIS and running "Generate FNIS for Users" (included in FNIS, but a separate program). That should get everybody functioning again. Definitely read up on it, though - it's a bit involved, compared to most mods.

[byrondominguez]

Thank you trollkin. I have in fact downloaded FNIS. I know how to sort of use it. I understand that after adding a animation or rather download it, you need to run the program and click on the particular one. However, for this issue, I had no animation mod at all. Now my concern is what you said about not COMPLETELY uninstalling it. From what I understand, once using NMM, you can simply uninstall it through double clicking it and and then just pressing the GIANTX on the side tab. Which if im correct on doing it, means that i successfully did. Now, as for my next step I am going to follow this and see if i can recreate a new VANILLA skyrim and start from scratch. Any advice before doing so? Also, how long would you say I should wait before considering the game to be "okay" (playable w. mods and not really having any crazy glitches). Of course all assuming that im doing this correctly.

[Trollkin]

Next: Cleaning vs Updating:

 

Mod cleaning is something you do with TESVEdit, to remove the previously mentioned ITM/UDR stuff. It's not a magic bullet, but it *will* remove the cause of many CTDs, when performed correctly (and yes, Gopher does it correctly). It is also safe, unless you do something bizarre, like try to clean Skyrim.esm, or clean a mod with intentional "dirty" edits - if in doubt, check out mod readmes and comment pages. Again, it's totally unnecessary for most (?) mods, but essential for a few, such as the DLCs.

 

Mod updating is something you do with the CK. It's generally only useful if an esm/esp was created using an old version of the CK (or, Heaven forbid, TESVSnip), and never updated to function correctly with newer updates. So we're talking about mods that haven't been updated since, say, 2011, 2012, or (maybe as recently as) early 2013. To update these mods, you open them up in the CK, and save them. Then you close the CK, and all is right with the world. Or so I'm told - I haven't actually had to do that myself. Ever. I'm not generally much interested in unsupported mods. It's a thing.

[Trollkin]

Ah - about FNIS - you may not need to click on any particular FNIS mod for "Generate FNIS" to work. Some mods won't show up by name, but the Update Behavior button should still find/activate them.

[Trollkin]

And yes, if I understand NMM's functions correctly, using it to uninstall *should* clean up everything. But you'll definitely need to Generate FNIS after doing so with any anim mod, or you'll have a Skyrim full of floating mannequins.

[Trollkin]

Myself, I think the safest way to mod Skyrim is to first give yourself a vanilla save. Run through the opening sequence with either no mods, or only mods that you KNOW you will continue to use, and make (and keep) a save from after you escape into the wide open world. Then you can test mods, using that save, to your heart's content. You can install a mod or two, TCL to float around, TGM if needed to survive, and generally check out what your mods do to your game. Then you can kill any saves that you made while testing, and go back to your vanilla one - without running through the opening hour a zillion times.

[Trollkin]

And about Papyrus - 99.9% of us will never need to care about it. A Papyrus Log can sometimes be useful as a tool to try to figure out where your game was when it died, but it mostly looks like gibberish to non-coders. I've been running modded Bethesda games for almost 12 years, and never actually found such logs useful. They *can* be useful, but most of us just won't need 'em.

 

And SKSE gets a Bad Rap from some users, but it's COMPLETELY safe. Really. No, really. It doesn't mess with your mods, it doesn't hurt your game. It just doesn't. Period. It's really just a way to sneak new Papyrus functions into your game, so that modders have more coding options, and can mod in stuff that vanilla Papyrus doesn't have functions for. I can't think of a reason to remove it, unless you never want to use a mod that requires it, and can't stand the thought of unused files sitting in your Skyrim folder.

[Trollkin]

Don't be scared to mod your game - I don't personally use Steam for mods, but on Nexus, a dangerously bad mod will usually be pretty obvious within days of release. Good mods will inevitably have detractors too, but most of them will be guys with 3 forum posts and 0 kudos, who just registered to whine about how Mod X is the wurst tang evar! OMGWTHBBQ!

 

The thing to keep in mind is that Skyrim savefiles seem to remember stuff they shouldn't, so removing a mod from your game (after saving with said mod active) will often bork that save. Don't get carried away making permanent saves with any mod that you might not keep around - unless you're willing to go back to an earlier save (like that vanilla one) or you're willing to deal with the weirdness that ensues. Mesh/texture replacers without esps are fine to nix, but most esp-containing mods (especially scripted ones) are Bad News to remove mid-playthrough.

 

Sorry about my textwall - there is just a LOT of ground to cover here...

Edited February 7, 2014 by Trollkin

[byrondominguez]

Please please no apologies necessary. You are a great individual for even helping me. Im installing some mods and as of now no ctds. Just annoying seams that are a pest. Its a good thing I wont have to mess with papyrus. I just really need this to work for my bro. Hes been stressing this trying to fix it and hes a great kid tryna make it work for him. He likes animated related stuff so im including apachi hair and certain animationd w. Some popular anime show weapons and stuff. Wish me luck !! Will keep you updated