Strange problem I cannot find an answer to

[MoCheese22]

There's going to be a BIG wall of text here, because I've done everything I can think of to figure out what is causing this problem to avoid having to make a topic on here, but I simply am not versed enough in DA:O modding to understand what is causing my problem. So I'm hoping someone can figue it out after I explain it, so apologies in advance,

 

My specific problem seems to happen regardless of the route I take through the first part of the game(building the army), it seems to happen regardless of the choices I make while acquiring the armies(race, origin, choices of whom to side with, etc), it seems to happen no matter what I do. When I get to the part before the Landsmeet, with all armies acquired and Eamon revived to go confront Loghain, my game starts breaking down. The initial cutscene and confronting Loghain is fine, however, if I leave the Arl's estate and try to go back into the Estate, the same cutscene plays again however this Loghain is not present. His voice lines still play but he's a ghost, he just isn't there? I can do this over and over as many times as I want and it'll happen every time. This isn't the end of problems however as if I continue through with rescuing Anora and get to the part where you can either fight Cauthrien or give up and get sent to Fort Drakon, it simply.... doesn't work. I surrender, the next cutscene plays with Anora and your teammates(sans Alistair) however, my character is just.. there! So I guess the game thinks I'm in Fort Drakon and there at the same time? I don't know. It's at this point where I keep giving up because I WANT to experience Fort Drakon because I've completely forgotten everything about it, and most things after the acquiring of armies really. This isn't the end of the weirdness however.

 

So when this kept happening to me, I figure do a clean install and it'll get fixed. Install the 4GB patch fix, run the DLC fix tool, do all the mods through DAO-ModManager including Overrides I made through the program, run the chargencompiler, etc. I get back to that point of the game and... still happens. So I figure it HAS to be a mod doing this. So one by one I go through every dazip mod I have installed, uninstall it through DAO-ModManager, load the game back up, do the initial Loghain encounter, leave the estate, go back in and "Ghost Loghain" is talking to me again which probably means Fort Drakon is broken as well. Every single dazip uninstalled one by one, and every single the same glitch happens. So it seems that none of my dazips are the problem. So I look at my overrides, and uninstall every conflicting cosmetic mod... AND IT STILL HAPPENS! No matter what I do, this glitch happens and no mods seem to be causing it?

 

So at this point I am beyond frustrated, but I get an idea to load an older save because I always make a save right at the start of any character I make. Not sure why but I'm glad I did. So I load that save, use the console and run the "runscript zz_den_debug" command to pull up the Debug Menu for that area. I try to load into Fort Drakon and... it works?! I can get in! No problem, Alistair's right there talking to me in the cell and everything. Ok, so the same will work on my progress save right? Load up the game right before the Landsmeet, runscript zz_den_debugm try to warp to Fort Drakon and... IT DOESN'T WORK! It just warps me to in front of Eamon and Anora in the Arl of Denerim's Estate?!

 

So now I am just beyond lost. Am I to conclude that whatever is causing this problem is not because of mods being installed and conflicting, but because something is happening sometime in between the start of the game and having all armies collected? I don't know anything about coding but that doesn't sound possible to me.

 

I have a guess, but it sounds pretty ridiculous to me. I use Slinks RAVAge mod to make the game more challenging and loot system a little more interesting, however that mod causes a lot of save file bloat if you turn the settings up too high, which I have. So my question is: Could my save file size be causing these errors? Like I mentioned, loading a save from the start of the game works no problem, but loading my character right before the beginning of the Landsmeet is that glitched out Ghostly Loghain mess that cannot even debug warp into Fort Drakon. Is that how this game works? I know it's old, so maybe it's possible? For the record, my start of game file size is 375 KB's, and my bugged out before the Landsmeet file size is over 12,000 KB's. I remember having similar problems many years ago where the ending of the game didn't even really load except for a empty Landsmeet hall with no one but my character there and no one to talk to. The part that happens after killing the Archdemon. I do not want to start another character and run them through the entirety of the game up to the beginning of the Landsmeet without Slinks RAVAge mod installed or turned way down until I know for certain what is causing this problem.

 

Anyone who has any idea, please help. If it's not my file size, I can't think of what it would be. I know the game is old and I can't imagine too many people hang around this place specifically, but I'm out of my element here so I gotta try. Sorry for the wall of text, just wanted to be thorough.

[MoCheese22]

And if anyone wants the installed modlist, here it is:

dazip's:

 

ALL DLC's(FeastDay, Return to Ostagar, Golem's Might, etc)

Advanced Tactics

Combat Tweaks 3.2

Innodils Pocket Plane

MetaGame Items

No Helmet Hack

Qwinn's DAO Ultimate Fixpack

Skip the Fade

slinks_s3_RAVAge

The Icons Project

Tombs of the Undead

The Winter Forge

Temple of Vulak

 

Override's:

 

My override mods are all cosmetic mods save for the Dragon Age Rules Fixpack mod. But if the list will help...

 

Aurora's Pretty Faces

Bidelle's Cosmetics

CC Extra Tints and Tones

Chargen Package

ColourBlindPortraits

Don't Worry Be Hairy

Eyebrow Presets

Freezedriedbrain's Skins

Just Tattoo

LOTC's Eye Texture

LOTC's Eyelashes

More Hairstyles

Natural Bodies all in One

PT's Vibrant Colours

REN's Hair

Tattoo Pack

The Winter Forge Fix

Tucked Hair

White Teeth

 

(Sheesh, so many mods downloaded so long ago. I'm guessing all those cosmetics require each other?)

 

(And if anyone needs a video to see these problems in action, lemme know. Or if you just want to see this goofiness in action, cause it is kinda funny.)

Edited December 28, 2019 by MoCheese22

[Thandal]

Standard troubleshooting procedures should be used:

 

1. Uninstall all mods.

 

2. Start game.

 

3. Determine if problem solved.

a. If solved, problem is with mods(s), proceed to step 4.

b. If not solved. Problem is with game, so re-install game.

 

4. Add back half of mods removed in step 1

 

5. Determine if problem solved.

a. If solved, add half of remaining mods, rinse-repeat.

b. If not solved, remove half of installed mods, rinse-repeat.

 

Follow those steps and you'll identify the problem mod(s). Then you have to decide whether you can live without.

[MoCheese22]

As I detailed in my post, I did that and went even further than that in an effort to figure out what was causing this problem. Still looking for an idea as to what the problem could be.

[theskymoves]

What Thandal said. *points up there*

 

Your mod list isn't particularly heavy, nor is there any glaring conflict with anything that I see... DAO can be REALLY weird, though! I've encountered situations like two hairstyle mods that work perfectly with just one or the other, but having both of them installed causes the game to crash. Or the armour mod that was fine everywhere in the game but Party Camp, and then it only caused issues if it was equipped by a specific companion... and the only real way to run down those kinds of issues is by going through the pocess of elimination described by Thandal.

 

I do wonder, though... what is the 'DLC fix tool' you mentioned? :confused:

 

Your save size isn't what I'd call 'bloated', BTW... my endgame saves are even larger. :ohmy:

Edited December 28, 2019 by theskymoves

[MoCheese22]

And as I've said... twice now, I've already tried this. As I posted initially and referenced again in post 4. I even tried it again just now for the giggles and it still happens.

 

As for the "DLC Fix Tool", what I meant was the Awakening Transfer Tool that transfers DLC items over to the expansion. I have no idea why I called it a fix tool. I can't imagine why that would be the problem but at this point, I'm desperate.

 

And I guess it's good to know it's not a save file size problem. Though I'm still left empty handed as to what's causing this.

 

(For the record, I tried just warping into Fort Drakon instead of "plot point warping" and it actually works. Obviously this doesn't change much, as I still can't get into Fort Drakon through story means or through plot point warping, but maybe that means something?)

 

EDIT: I did forget to mention Dragon Age Redesigned/Dracomies True Textures were also installed, but I removed those, as well as nuking every single file in my override folder while having EVERY dazip AND override mod uninstalled, and still no change, So again, it does not seem to be a mod conflict problem, that I'm aware.)

Edited December 28, 2019 by MoCheese22

[Thandal]

And so, if you had followed my steps, (see step 3.) you would have un-/re-installed the game, then played through (or force-loaded a save) to see what happens post-Landsmeet with ZERO mods installed.

 

Only when you have verified that the vanilla game is working properly can you re-introduce mods. Carefully.

 

But that's not what you did. You re-installed both the game and your mods, then tried to work backwards.

[MoCheese22]

I actually have done that, however re-reading my initial post, I did not mention the reinstallation part specifically. So that is my mistake on that one. This is what I get for being sick during the holidays and trying to fix this.

 

I've reinstalled the game three or four times now. And it's had no effect, the glitch still happens.

 

So I went as thorough as humanly possible even though it's still happening on a completely fresh install and would make no sense to get fixed while changing more things, but I have no clue anymore. 4GB Patch? Still happens. DLC's downloaded through the two .exe's in the redist folder? Still happens. Although a weird problem happened when both "DAOU_UpdateAddinsXML_Steam.exe" and "DAUServiceSetup_Steam.exe" would just stop and no finish for no reason I could see? Eventually, they just... worked normally on their own again? No clue what that was about. Awakening Transfer Tool? Still happens. After that it's mod time and I've already gone through that.

 

So it's still happening. Other than my initial theory that my save file size is too big, I can't think of anything erroneous. The only other thought I have is that somehow... my profile is bugged out? That's basically the only other thing that carries over after a reinstall, right? With everything that has happened to BioWare, the Keep, and the Social site, could something janky have gone on there?

 

If it helps, I run on Windows 7, on the Ultimate Edition through Steam.

[theskymoves]

The profile file wouldn't affect whether in-game assets work as intended. It just contains information on what achievements and DLC are unlocked on an account. Neither would there be any reason that DLC would affect whether a base-game asset works correctly.

 

As Thandal indicated, determining whether the issue occurs in a an unmodded game is the first step. If you do that, what was the result?

 

I can't offer any insight into whether the Steam install process was typical or not, since I don't use Steam. (Sorry.)

[MoCheese22]

Completely unmodded, fresh out the box as can be. Still happens.

 

As for Steam, I can't imagine it makes any difference myself. I pretty certain when I initially got the game everything worked fine, but this could be faulty memory speaking. This would have been before mods were installed so I naturally assumed to start there. Any place to look right now is a good one with this confounding problem.