Wonders of Thedas - complete black

[thekluze]

When entering the Wonders of Thedas shop everything is black. I don't think the shop is loading since there is no collision with objects when running forward... I can run right off the mini map. Also can't click on party members (which are also 'invisible') or the door back to Denerim. I can't leave the shop without loading to a previous save.

 

Reloads didn't help nor did leaving Denerim and returning. Any assistance the community can provide would be much appreciated!

 

Here is what it looks like:

https://imgur.com/a/RJoWYJq

 

I am using the following mods:

No Helmet Hack 1_6 Origins

Awakening Silverite Mines Bugfix

Plus Healing Received Fix

Character Respecialization

DA2 Isabela and Flemeth to DAO

 

 

[theskymoves]

That's a really light mod load... the only one I'm not familiar with is Character Respecialization, but the others aren't editing the interior of the shop. (I wouldn't have installed the Silverite Mine fix until I started Awakening, but that's just me... I'm excessively cautious about that kind of thing.)

 

• Did the issue occur the first time you entered Wonders of Thedas, or did it show up later? If the latter, did you make any changes to your install in the interim?
• How was the game installed? (Origin. Steam, GOG, from disc...?) Have you tried repairing the install?
• Have you used the toolset at all? That can really screw up the game if it's not used with care or garbage files are left behind.
• Does the issue resolve if all mods are removed? If so, adding them back one at a time will narrow things down to a problematic mod.
  

Edited August 26, 2018 by theskymoves

[thekluze]

Thanks for the reply. It occurred on the first time entering Wonders of Thedas. So that shop has not worked for me yet this playthrough (last playthrough before this was several years ago).

 

- The install is Steam Ultimate Edition

- Don't think I've used the toolset (is that to develop mods?), just the Nexus Mod Manager

- I also have the 4GB patch for increased memory and altered the one line in the launcher's config file to enable console commands, but I don't think those would affect this issue.

 

My next step is to completely reinstall the game and try to load up the save again, but I thought I'd try a post to see if anyone had seen this issue before... google came up empty.

 

I had previously tried the JB3 textures and Elelith textures, but was running into lots of Denerim crashes so I disabled those through the Mod Manager. Could those have caused problems which are still lingering?

[theskymoves]

Using the 4BG patch is good! And the console-enable shortcut shouldn't be an issue. :thumbsup:

 

Yes, the toolset is for developing/creating mods... sometimes people install it to poke around in the game files or try out modding, but don't mention it in their request for help, and with an uncommon issue like yours, it came to mind. Since you haven't installed or used it (and you'd know if you had... it's a pain in the posterior to install!), we can rule it out as a cause.

 

I've never used the Nexus mod manager, so I can't speak to its efficacy when uninstalling mods; sorry.

 

Denerim is notorious for crashing, glitches, and lag, even in an unmodded game, and high res textures would exacerbate that issue, if any were left behind when the texture mods were uninstalled... I'd check the override folder for stragglers for either of those mods.

 

I did some cursory searching and found at least one other report similar to yours (here), but there was no resolution since the OP never responded to requests for more info. That reminded me of another discussion, though, about similar crashes at another Denerim marketplace location, which included a suggestion of lowering graphics settings as a temporary solution.

[thekluze]

The Mod Manager did seem to be doing its job. When disabling mods I could see the folders being deleted from override. I looked through the reports you listed and had found similar ones in my search. I tried some graphics tweaks to no avail. I didn't have too high expectations though since I'm not actually experiencing a crash in the Wonders of Thedas. The game runs and I can move around, I just can't see my characters or any of the environment in the shop. It's as if the game loads the Void instead of the shop.

 

I'm going to reinstall the game through Steam over lunch and see how everything looks unmodded after work.

[YaraC]

Maybe you can find a clue in the log file. To be found in the subfolder of YourProfileName\ My Documents\ BioWare\ Dragon Age\ Logs

[thekluze]

So, the problem is resolved. The Wonders of Thedas now loads properly. I reinstalled the game through steam and it tested out fine. I then reinstalled all my mods and it still works. Not sure what the culprit might have been, but at least this can be used as a solution if anyone else runs across this issue. Reinstall doesn't take too long and there was no corruption of save files, so no loss of progress.

[thekluze]

I'll also add the reinstall solved some other issues I was having... lots of crashes in Denerim (which seemed normal from the posts I had read) and an odd bug where my melee characters would not draw their weapons for attack animations. The damage still reflected the proper weapons being used, but the animation kept swords and shields on their backs and it looked like they just punched enemies. There was probably some modifications done to the game from several years ago which I forgot about or something.