Lydia Problem

[aps16]

Hi guys, recently I was doing a quest for the companions (getting some papers from the silver hand) near Windhelm. Outside the Windhelm gates I told Lydia to "part ways". She said "I'll be at home" as usual, so I went ahead and did the quest. Now when I go back to Breezehome, I find that she isn't there. I went back to Windhelm to see if she's there somewhere but no luck. So I tried this console command some dude told me "player.placeatme 000a2c8e" to get her back with all her equipment gone. Now everytime I tell her to "part ways", she always goes someplace else. I tried doing this in breezehome itself, but she goes outside and then finally outside Whiterun gates. Sometimes she just stands near the gates, and sometimes at any random place when I dismiss her in some other village. Does anyone know what the hell's happening?? Help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

PS - She doesn't go to Dragonsreach.

[xlcr]

hi aps16, some not so good news sorry.., using console command "player.placeatme 000a2c8e" should be avoided because this creates a

base duplicate Lydia NPC into your game; and unfortunately, since you referenced 'BaseID' (000a2c8e) instead of 'RefID' (000A2C94)

the additional Lydia you spawned using the BaseID is a fresh new NPC object created from the vanilla game NPC template with no AI history and will be bugged.

 

In other words, don't use 'placeatme' unless you want to create/spawn a COPY of something; and, use the RefID which targets the EXISTING object.

You can read about NPC console ID's in more detail here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:NPCs#Console_IDs

 

Suggest you reload a savegame before using "player.placeatme 000a2c8e"; then, to get your existing Lydia back use console commands:

PRID 000A2C94 <enter>

moveto player <enter>

 

Yep, Lydia (and other followers) sometimes never turn up again after being dismissed far from home, for this reason I do not part ways with

followers until escorting them safely back home, Skyrim is not a friendly place.. its also a good idea to mark your followers essential.

[aps16]

Oh!! :wallbash: . Unfortunately I don't have any previous saves (I overwrite). Should I kill the Lydia clone that is with me right now and then use the RefID you mentioned to get the original one?? Man, I really want to use a destruction spell on the guy who told me to use "placeatme". Anyway thanks a lot for the heads up, otherwise I would have made hundreds of Lydia clones.

[RedRavyn]

I'll say it and I'll be blunt, even if catch a little fire from some people. People who tell people to use "placeatme" are morons who shouldn't have access to a PC, but should just play their games on an XBox, where they can't hurt themselves or anyone else. That's just my opinion, but this console command has been documented as a major source of save game bloat and game instability (including even CTDs) from at least as far back as Oblivion. There are even modders who use it indiscriminately to put things into the game and don't know how to "clean up" afterwards, and those mods have been implicated in all sorts of horror stories.

 

Now, if you're sure you're with the "clone", yes, kill her using the console, and then use "markfordelete" on the body. You should see the refID change to reflect this with a "[D]" immediately following it. Just leave the body where it is. The game will eventually (upon cell reset) remove it entirely from the game. Do not use "disable". This only hides it, and the duplicate will still be there.

 

Never, EVER, overwrite a save. This is one of the reasons that Oblivion was so unstable, at least for those players who used autosave and quicksave a lot. The game engine doesn't handle this well and garbage accumulates in your save game, resulting in the same sort of problems that extensive use of "placeatme" creates. In Skyrim the developers tried to alleviate this a little bit by creating a small "circle" of autosaves, but I still wouldn't trust it because it's only a band-aid over a festering wound. Always create a brand new save at frequent intervals. Never use an autosave and never use quicksave. My policy is to make a new save whenever the game autosaves (usually between transition points), before any major fight, and after any major looting or harvesting that takes up a lot time. If something bad happens (like a crash, for instance), I never lose much gameplay by reverting to the last save.

Edited April 30, 2012 by RedRavyn

[xlcr]

@aps16, don't be too hard on your some dude friend, many people use 'placeatme' which unfortunately has a slightly misleading command name and you were just given the BaseID instead of the RefID; however, as you now know, using placeatme w/named NPC's is not recommended because of possible duplicating issues.

sh*t happens.

Not sure what to do to fix your Lydia issue since you do not have a previous manual hard game save available.

Spawning the new Lydia probably automatically replaced the existing Lydia and you might be stuck or now need to find another follower.

 

On the slight chance you might have 2 Lydia's wandering around Skyrim with different RefID's, the existing original and the new version you spawned with placeatme,

you could try a test (please make a manual permanent game save first).

 

Console, target/select the new Lydia you created, you should see a RefID appear in the middle of your screen, if the ID you see is 000A2C94; then, this might now work,

if you get any other ID then try this or try this anyway:

 

MARKFORDELETE <enter>

 

save game, exit game, restart game, console:

 

PRID 000A2C94 <enter>

moveto player <enter>

 

if there is a Lydia that still exists somewhere in the game she should appear in front of you, hopefully this wil be your original existing Lydia with all history/inventory intact. again, i'm just guessing this could work..

Edited April 30, 2012 by xlcr

[SergeantGrrock]

Just lurking but wow... thanks for the info RedRavyn. I use quick save all the time and when I do make a "new save" which is often, I always just overwrite my oldest "new save". Guess I'll start doing it your way. Gawd, is there anything in this game that isn't buggy??? As for the "placeatme" command, there should almost be a sticky on every skyrim site and board that says "Don't use this!!!!!!!!!!!".

 

It's like a grenade... just 'cause you can pull the pin doesn't mean you should pull it! :biggrin:

[aps16]

I did it. I killed the Lydia clone using the console and then used the markfordelete command on the body. I has vanished now but I forgot to try the "moveto" command. I'll post here as soon as I do it. Thanks RedRavyn and xlcr. :thumbsup:

[Henrydylan]

My lydia started acting strange, she wouldn't leave Breezehome, I'd click on her "follow me" and she'd say ok, bla bla, but then she just went and did other things completely ignoring me, I tried telling her to "part company" and she said "ok I'll go home" etc... but when I clicked on her again she still had the follow me option, so I used the console to kill her and marked her for delete. Perhaps I was a bit hasty because now I want her back. How can I do this please? Edited May 4, 2012 by Henrydylan

[RedRavyn]

@ Henrydylan: Has she disappeared, yet? If not, then I'm not certain what to do if she's inside Breezehome, since Breezehome is not set to respawn. As far as I know "markfordelete" is not reversible. I'm in unfamiliar territory, here.

 

I'll make a suggestion, though. Get her refID displayed by clicking on her body in the console if it's still there (or just type "prid a2c94"). Go to an outside area, preferably one you never visit under normal circumstances. Type "moveto player" to bring her body there. Leave it. Go back four or five days later to see whether it's disappeared. You won't be able to just wait there. The area won't respawn as long as you're there, to my knowledge, so you have to travel to an entirely different cell. Make sure you remove anything from her corpse that you want before you go, though. Once the game deletes her everything in her inventory will be permanently erased as well.

 

Once her body is gone, type "placeatme a2c8e 1". This will create an instance of Lydia (with the refID "a2c94" at your location, wherever you are. She will be running her AI afresh and will have all her original gear (and nothing you gave her).

 

In the future if Lydia (or any other NPC) "stalls out" and you know they're supposed to be doing something, just using "moveto player" on that actor, with your position some short distance away, will frequently jump-start their AIs. No need to go postal on them.