NPC´s cause Stutter/Stutter-spikes (might be interesting for authors)

[Zzyxzz]

NPCs, copied with xEdit, cause issues, because when you copy them, not all data is copied. If you then run the game and meet that NPC, it MAY cause stutters.

The game engine will try to recreate the missing data and do its calculations. The recovered data is only temporarily and will not be saved. The more NPCs you encounter without the data, the more it will stutter.

 

If you go to an area with no action and not many objects, you don't even notice it, as there is no strain on the engine.

 

The only solution is to delete the affected NPC records and recreate them with the creation kit.

Mod authors tend to use xEdit, because it's "faster" or the creation kit is too "complicated".

 

Btw, editing an existing NPC with xEdit, should not cause any issues.

[payl0ad]

Btw, editing an existing NPC with xEdit, should not cause any issues.

 

If our theory is true, editing the face morphs of an existing NPC should cause the same or at least similar issues.

[Zzyxzz]

Except that, but you should be good to edit for example templates & stats, inventory etc.

[e1grey]

So, did I get it right that there can't be a universal solution to this, and every mod maker could rework his mod or the part of it with edited NPCs?

 

How difficult would it be to rework a mod like that (say, Varied Raders)?

 

I would've tried to do it myself, but I'm completely IT-retarded.

Edited August 21, 2018 by e1grey

[payl0ad]

If you have a mod that causes this issue, it's a matter of going through all mod-added (or changed) NPC records with the CK, opening them, OKing them without changing anything, saving the plugin and packing up the resulting FaceGen files. A trained chimp could do it.

[e1grey]

NPCs, copied with xEdit, cause issues, because when you copy them, not all data is copied. If you then run the game and meet that NPC, it MAY cause stutters.

The game engine will try to recreate the missing data and do its calculations. The recovered data is only temporarily and will not be saved. The more NPCs you encounter without the data, the more it will stutter.

 

If you go to an area with no action and not many objects, you don't even notice it, as there is no strain on the engine.

 

The only solution is to delete the affected NPC records and recreate them with the creation kit.

Mod authors tend to use xEdit, because it's "faster" or the creation kit is too "complicated".

 

Btw, editing an existing NPC with xEdit, should not cause any issues.

 

 

If you have a mod that causes this issue, it's a matter of going through all mod-added (or changed) NPC records with the CK, opening them, OKing them without changing anything, saving the plugin and packing up the resulting FaceGen files. A trained chimp could do it.

 

I could only install CK. From there, I have no Idea what to do. It does look quite a bit more complicated that FO4Edit. Could somebody make a video tutorial for that?

 

I wonder why any of the mod creators themselves haven't noticed this issue.

[dikr]

Well, after hours of research and fiddling around with my mods, I stumbled across a thread on reddit and found the solution to my stutters. I hope it works for you too.

 

Basicly the mod that caused my stutters was the "high res DLC black face fix" in combination with my texture mods.

Because the black face fix was designed for a different resolution of the face textures that I use. So everytime the engine had to "spawn" an NPC it converted the resolution from mine to the one of the black face fix. Which in the case of "better settlers" took a while and caused the stutter. (My guess is, it applies to all mods that add NPC's to the game, hence the reason it stuttered at the drumlin diner too)

If you wish to read the full thread, here it is: (just look for najt's comment)

https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutMods/comments/66nqpl/fo4_going_from_60fps_to_0fps_in_about_half_a/

 

Also interesting and explained it this thread, if your'e using the looksmenu compendium don't forget to change the resolution of the tintmaps in the ini.

 

I really hope this will fix the stutter for you too. They're really annoying and can ruin the game.

 

My apologies to the mod authors of "better settlers" and "immersive drumlin diner"

 

Greetings

Interesting stuff. Just checked the black face fix resolutions (on the version I had installed and the latest) and both only contain 512 px specular maps of all the faces and parts. While it's advised to have the 2k texture pack installed. Kinda weird ... I had expected them to be larger than my 1k diffuse and normal maps.

 

I do occasionally have a stutter when loading in a good amount of npc's but I reckon it simply has to do with the sudden load on cell change. It's not just body and face textures, it's also behavior and a ton of (often modified) gear and objects in the cell which are probably way less optimized than vanilla stuff in all kinds of ways. It doesn't bother me too much. I still vividly remember all the stability issues in Fallout NV and I have to say FO4 wins the comparison by a landslide on stability and performance.

Edited August 21, 2018 by dikr

[e1grey]

The author of the mod called Outcasts and Remnants (which adds NPCs) said that his mod was made entirely in CK. Yet I have stutters every time the mod-related NPC spawns. I don't think it's my specs. I've got i7, 1050 GPU, 32gb RAM, the game and the mods are on a half-empty SSD. I run mostly on high settings, with only textures on ultra.

 

I have no idea what to think.

Edited August 22, 2018 by e1grey

[payl0ad]

Does the mod ship in ba2 archives or loose files? Loose files have a performance penalty and are likely to cause stutter because they're not streamed.

[calscks]

how's the investigation going? i've suffered this problem for hundreds of hours of gameplay.