Launching and loading the game is like using a slot machine. Why?

[Xialoh]

So I have a lot of mods installed at this time, but the problem has been present since I had very few, seems like. I am using mod merger, and script merger. I have verified files on several occasions and reinstalled the Unification Patch afterwards each time. It's very important to understand that my mod setup does actually work, when the stars align. Here's the problem:

 

1. Every day I go to launch the game for the first time after booting up my computer. Doesn't work - just comes up in the background.

2. I proceed to close the game via task manager and reattempt this process 2-5 times. Eventually, the game launches.

3. I get in game to find that I have no torso. Well, that's clearly a bad launch. Retry.

4. The game now successfully launches every time without fail. Like a good [old] lawnmower, it's warmed up now.

5. Back in the game again, and my torso is present! But my white wolf face textures aren't there - I know because the skin is red and eyebrows are black. And when this happens, I know that if I walk around, some other textures just won't be there. Like invisible boxes and braziers and rocks, possibly.

6. Finally launch a few more times and it's all there, I've got the full package. A torso, proper face, no missing textures. I can play for hours now without much issue. if I play too long, I may get a minor hiccup in a conversation or two like a slow half second blurry screen load, but even this is only a very minor issue that doesn't happen often enough for me to care. If I'm slightly lucky, I can even relaunch at this point and not have problems. At worst, 2-3 tries and I should be back in the sweet spot.

 

But it's all lost if I close the game for a while, or restart, or make any noteworthy mod change. There was a time when I tried troubleshooting by removing all mods and reinstalling them one at a time and testing, but that didn't work. I'd have everything working seemingly, and suddenly the game would just refuse to launch. Back then when that happened, the only way the game would ever launch would be if I uninstalled all my mods and launched the game. After that I could reinstall every single one of them and it would launch. But then change its mind later. Even with like one single mod installed at times. What worked was basically random. Now I imagine the standard answer to this is "mod limit", but it's a bizarre explanation if so. I've used all manner of merger, and as I said, I can get the game to run near perfectly. I just have to try 5-15 times to make it happen right.

 

So...what could be the explanation for this? I've done verifying files, and before I started this most recent modding adventure, this was a fresh install of the game, having not played in nearly 3 years.

 

TL;DR - It takes a process of several launches, task kills, and game load reattempts before I can get my game working properly. Once it is working, it just works. Until I close the game for a prolonged period, after which I must repeat the process. As I've tried all standard fixes, I don't necessarily want a solution so much as an explanation for why this might be happening. It's annoying, but not completely intolerable. Having an SSD and an otherwise very fast PC is likely the only reason I've maintained sanity however.

Edited July 4, 2018 by Xialoh