The file switch glitches. What causes it?

[WakahisaSensei]

I'm not putting this in mod troubleshooting as this glitch tends to be very easily fixed (or at least worked around). But it has happened several times to me with wildly different mod types and seems to be an issue with Skyrim modding in general (rather than being a specific problem for a specific mod). Whenever I do a fresh reinstall there is no guarantee it will happen to the same mod twice. This glitch only arises when switching from one file to another in game, leaves no permanent trouble, and is easily rectified by simply exiting and rebooting Skyrim in between files. I'm not here looking for a solution but a cause. I want to know what things could possibly cause this and why only during file switches.

 

I've seen two unique file switch glitches that stick out in my mind.

 

1. When using Sacrosanct for the first time, I noticed if I switched files between two of the same race (I.E. vampire imperial to vampire imperial) the the face from the first file would be placed on the body of the second file. This would occur unless I rebooted skytim and loaded the second file fresh, or used a file of a different race as a buffer. Since my latest reinstall, this does not happen.

 

2. A home mod. When switching files, all NPCs within the cell did not appear. All items, weapons, chests, etc appeared and functioned normally. Changing loading zones did not fix the issue but rebooting the game and loading the file returned the NPCs (even after saving without them).

 

 

There could be plenty of other similar file switch glitches I simply haven't noticed. It seems to be pretty common and not related to a specific mod, but something else. It's always easily fixed by a simple reboot or buffer file. Out of sheet curiosity I'm trying to figure out what causes this. But I don't have the knowledge to even guess where to start. Has anyone experienced something similar to this?

 

 

For additional information's sake, both times these glitches occurred, everything else was fully functional. Load order, Wyre, mod managers, TES5edit, etc. All working, minimal CTDs or other crashes, no noticeable conflicts.

Edited September 23, 2018 by WakahisaSensei