Killing Save File Bloat

[BetterTejbz]

I'd like to know if it's within the scope of a mere mod to eliminate the issue of save game files steadily growing in size as playtime goes on, and what the causes of save game bloat are. I've read in the forums that it's a bug in the game itself and uninstalled mods can leave behind artifacts. plus there's that nirnroot thing.

 

I started at 4 megs and now I'm at 50 something (which is also my level strangely enough). Apparently disable doesn't really remove things from the game world (I'd been doing that to ash piles thinking it would reduce save size. I also realized that once my save reaches a certain size the game will freeze for a few seconds very regularly, about every minute or so while I'm playing, even in barter menus where practically no processing is going on. (Obviously very annoying, kind of makes the game unplayable for me when there are other less buggy ones)

[tg08096]

The unofficial skyrim patch addresses some of the things that cause bloat, such as ash piles and npc dropped weapons. I have not used it myself because I don't play the game much, but as far as a mod that addresses it, that'd be it.

 

Edit: pretty sure that only applies to new games with the mod installed. I don't think there's a way to retroactively remove bloat.

[porroone]

I really doubt there is a proper way to revert save game bloating, there is a guy currently working on a savegame editor, but I dont know if it addresses this particular issue. A good thing to prevent it is to use the console and disable things u know there gonna stick, like ash piles or bodys on a non-respawn area.

[asdgora]

I've fixed save game bloating a couple of times by fixing errors found in the papyrus log. Brought sizes down from over 100 mb to about 12 mb,

Ashpiles and stuff don't add that much to a save game's size anyways.

Edited August 16, 2012 by asdgora

[BetterTejbz]

I've fixed save game bloating a couple of times by fixing errors found in the papyrus log. Brought sizes down from over 100 mb to about 12 mb,

Ashpiles and stuff don't add that much to a save game's size anyways.

Could you elaborate more on that process? And I kinda figured that since it probably would just be a line of text saying ash pile with the cell and coordinates in computer-speak, I was just trying to do whatever I could.

[asdgora]

Enable papyrus looging. Open YourUsername/Documents/My Games /Skyrim /skyrim.ini and add the following lines at the bottom:

 

[Papyrus]

bEnableLogging=1

bEnableTrace=1

bLoadDebugInformation=1

 

Run the game and play till you crash, go to YourUsername/Documents/My Games /Skyrim/ and you'll find a file called "logs" inside of which you'll find a log called "Papyrus.0.log", open it with notepad++ http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ and tell us what lines of errors are repeated and what script ran last before you crashed. Enable papyrus looging. Open YourUsername/Documents/My Games /Skyrim /skyrim.ini and add the following lines at the bottom:

 

[Papyrus]

bEnableLogging=1

bEnableTrace=1

bLoadDebugInformation=1

 

Run the game and play till you crash, go to YourUsername/Documents/My Games /Skyrim/ and you'll find a file called "logs" inside of which you'll find a log called "Papyrus.0.log", open it with notepad++ http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ and tell us what lines of errors are repeated and what script ran last before you crashed.

The lines repeated would indicate the scripts and mods causing bloating. Sometimes un-installing the mods works. Sometimes you need to delete everything except the scripts...

[BetterTejbz]

I saw a debugging option in the .ini before but I thought it would just make a file of computer jargon about various memory addresses and such when I would like it to say 'This plugin is the problem!' But that would be too convenient I guess. Or even better an in-game fight with the Daedric prince of CTD's.

 

I'm starting a new game right now due to bloat issues and partly because I wanted to try out SkyRe but I could go back to my old character if your retroactive save fixing works since i have literally 1000+ saves backed up from that semi-playthrough. Thanks for your help even though I haven't tried it yet, I guess I could edit this later.

Edited August 16, 2012 by BetterTejbz