CTD outside Helgen Cave

[zuckerjr]

Morning gentles,

 

I've gotten some good advice before on these boards with various problems I've had in the past, so hopefully that trend will continue! :)

 

Here's the situation:

 

Recently started clean, deleted all local files, etc., all that jazz. No saved games, no nothing. Downloaded a bunch of mods. After sorting out a few apparnent conflicts, I thought I had a stable build. Unfortunately, I was incorrect. First of all, here's my list of current active mods:

 

GameMode=Skyrim

Skyrim.esm
Update.esm
HearthFires.esm
Nchuzzrezar.esm
Omegared99-Compilation.esm
Ranger Ridge.esm
SPIKE.esm
Vigilant of Stendarr Quests Master.esm
HighResTexturePack01.esp
HighResTexturePack02.esp
HighResTexturePack03.esp
fFastTravelSpeedMult_4.esp
Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp
Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp
Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp
Morning Fogs.esp
BardSoundsMalukah.esp
Clanking Armor.esp
Improved Combat Sounds v2.2.esp
LIAT - Sounds.esp
Rooster At Dawn v1.0.esp
Fantasy Music Overhaul Redone.esp
Weapons and Armor fixes.esp
Weapons and Armor fixes - Hacks.esp
StaticMeshImprovementMod.esp
AThievesTreasure.esp
Birdsofskyrim.esp
DungeonQuestAwareness.esp
FullyEquippedBlacksmiths.esp
GiveADogAHome.esp
JK Crafting Breakdown.esp
knownspells.esp
LIAT - NPCs.esp
More_Saddles.esp
moredragonloot.esp
Owned.esp
RWL Option - 3x Giant toes.esp
Realistic Wildlife Loot - Reduced.esp
moreloot.esp
Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp
two_handed_rebalance.esp
SkyUI.esp
1nivWICCloaks.esp
1nivWICCloaksCRAFT.esp
1nivWICCloaksNoGuards.esp
HBetterBows.esp
hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp
LeftHandRings.esp
Northborn Fur Hoods.esp
Omegared99-WeaponSets.esp
Tribunal Maskes by Zairaam.esp
Dr_Bandolier.esp
Complete Crafting Overhaul.esp
AutumnLodge(FemaleMannequin).esp
AutumnLodge(MaleMannequin).esp
Bluecreek Estate.esp
BreezehomeEnchanter.esp
Candle Pond Ranch.esp
Destroy the Thieves Guild.esp
Forgotten Windmill.esp
Gildergreen Regrown.esp
EMHighviewCottage.esp
LimbwoodManor.esp
Nchuzzrezar.esp
Pinewoods Cottage.esp
Ranger Ridge.esp
RiverwoodHuntingCabin.esp
Run For Your Lives.esp
thereserve.esp
Vigilant of Stendarr Quests.esp
Work a Steady Job as a Blacksmith.esp
KDC - kevinsterable - Deadly Stronger Poisons.esp
Binocular Vision For NPCs while Sneaking.esp
ENG_Firewood_Ore_&_Ingot_weight_reduction_v1.0.esp
FasterArrows.esp
FasterArrows75.esp
FasterArrows50.esp
FasterArrows100.esp
FasterHorses_Sprint_x1_5.esp
FSS-No pause between lines.esp
GloriousGrass.esp
Guard Dialogue Overhaul.esp
Immersive Weapons.esp
JM_BetterAlchemySatchel.esp
Merchants Reply Only With Take A Look.esp
More Salt Please.esp
OpenFaceGuardHelmets.esp
Proper Aiming.esp
Quieter_Dungeons.esp
Quieter_Winds.esp
Skyrim bigger trees.esp
SFO - Expanded Diversity.esp
dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp
UnreadBooksGlow.esp
Hunting in Skyrim.esp
Populated Cities 2.esp
Realistic crime report radius.esp
ArcheryDummyXP.esp
ReadAndLearnSpeechcraft.esp
Beards.esp
Brows.esp
LovelyHairstylesLITE.esp
ESPv1_1nondependent.esp
3DNPC.esp
UFO - Heartfire AddOn.esp
Reduced Distance NPC Greetings.esp
EMCompViljaSkyrim.esp
Spousetocustomhome.esp
Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp
Height Adjusted Races v4.esp
rcrnShaders.esp
getSnowy.esp
WATER.esp
WATER Plants.esp
Unmarked Places - Shrines.esp
Unmarked Places - Dragon Mounds.esp
Unmarked Places - Player Homes.esp
AlchemistsHiddenValley.esp
RWL_Bleedout_Perks.esp
Urge - Lighter Dragon Bones And Scales.esp
Dead Body Collision.esp
Woodcutter's Axe and Mining Pick Weight Reduction.esp
Lightweighter including Better Sorting.esp
RichMerchants.esp

Here's what's happening. After I exit the cave near Helgen with the imperial dude in tow (sorry Stormcloaks, this time ...) I'll run down the path towards riverwood. As soon as I move about 30 yards down the hill I get a CTD. However, if I move in a different direction, like back up the hill towards Helgen, it seems to not crash. So it seems like there is some sort of invisible barrier that is causing the crash when I cross it. That's speculation though, of course. Here's what I've done: I've used BOSS to arrange my mods, and cleaned all dirty edits in all of them with TESVedits. I set up a papyrus log, and the first time I rolled a character, this situation occured. My papyrus log stated that my Skyrim Economics mod was last running before the CTD, so I assumed that was the culprit and removed it. It still happened, though. So I figured I had a jacked up save and just started a new character. But the CTD at that same place still occured, with the economics mod completely removed AND a clean save, so I know it's not that. Also, interestingly, when I'm in game even if I dink around for a minute before triggering the CTD, I have no new papyrus log generated. So I guess that means no scripts were running during that time?

 

Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts or comments I'd greatly appreciate them! Thanks in advance.

[zuckerjr]

Well, I tried to fight this conclusion for a while, but I decided I ought to try to remove Live another Life and see if that made a difference. At first, everything seemed to be working great, and I was sad, because that's a great mod. However, with a clean save from the beginning, no alternate life at all, it still crashed at the same spot outside the Helgen cave. That makes me feel good about Live another Life, but perplexed as to what is causing the CTD. Thoughts, anyone?

[Miles Tails Prower]

When it comes to mods, implore the "K.I.S.S" method of modding. Keep it simple, stupid! What that means is, before downloading a mod ask yourself a simple question.

 

"Will I finish Skyrim with the help of this mod?"

 

In other words, is this mod so crucial to your enjoyment that you have to have it? Scripts stay in a save no matter what, and the only way to undo a mod with scripts is to load a save before the mod. It's important to only download mods that add to the enjoyment of the game. Is that 2048x2048 texture of ivy really going to enhance your enjoyment? Make some corrections. Let's see here..

 

Run for your Lives isn't really necessary. It's handy, and does add immersion, but I don't know if it would really make or break a Skyrim experience. Debateable.

 

Not sure why you have 5 different versions of Faster Arrows loaded..

 

Umm.. More Loot and More Dragon loot are part of the same mod? Probably want to load More Dragon Loot after more Loot. Shouldn't effect your CTD but it's probably good practice.

 

Not really sure what could be causing problems.

[zuckerjr]

Hi, thanks for the comments -- you know, I didn't even know I had run your your lives on there. I don't remember putting that one in! If I can't remember installing it, it probably isn't too important. So yeah, point taken. I need to look through the list and just weed out some things I could live without. I shouldn't have 5 different versions of Faster Arrow... I'll need to look at that. It should just be the one. Also didn't notice that one, so thanks.

 

As far as clean saves and scripts are concerned, yeah. I've been testing removing scripty stuff by using a clean save, starting a new game and a new save entirely in most cases, so I'm on top of that at least. So I'll weed through that list and hopefully stuff will start working. Have a good one.

[zuckerjr]

Well, I trimmed my mod list down a decent amount. It's down to this:

 

Skyrim.esm
Update.esm
HearthFires.esm
Nchuzzrezar.esm
Omegared99-Compilation.esm
Ranger Ridge.esm
SPIKE.esm
Vigilant of Stendarr Quests Master.esm
HighResTexturePack01.esp
HighResTexturePack02.esp
HighResTexturePack03.esp
fFastTravelSpeedMult_4.esp
Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp
Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp
Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp
Morning Fogs.esp
BardSoundsMalukah.esp
Clanking Armor.esp
Improved Combat Sounds v2.2.esp
Rooster At Dawn v1.0.esp
Fantasy Music Overhaul Redone.esp
Weapons and Armor fixes.esp
Weapons and Armor fixes - Hacks.esp
StaticMeshImprovementMod.esp
Economics of Skyrim.esp
AThievesTreasure.esp
Birdsofskyrim.esp
Dead Body Collision.esp
DungeonQuestAwareness.esp
FullyEquippedBlacksmiths.esp
GiveADogAHome.esp
JK Crafting Breakdown.esp
knownspells.esp
Owned.esp
RWL Option - 3x Giant toes.esp
Realistic Wildlife Loot - Reduced.esp
moreloot.esp
Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp
two_handed_rebalance.esp
SkyUI.esp
1nivWICCloaks.esp
HBetterBows.esp
hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp
LeftHandRings.esp
Northborn Fur Hoods.esp
Omegared99-WeaponSets.esp
Tribunal Maskes by Zairaam.esp
Complete Crafting Overhaul.esp
Bluecreek Estate.esp
BreezehomeEnchanter.esp
Candle Pond Ranch.esp
Destroy the Thieves Guild.esp
Gildergreen Regrown.esp
EMHighviewCottage.esp
LimbwoodManor.esp
Nchuzzrezar.esp
Ranger Ridge.esp
RiverwoodHuntingCabin.esp
Vigilant of Stendarr Quests.esp
Work a Steady Job as a Blacksmith.esp
Binocular Vision For NPCs while Sneaking.esp
ENG_Firewood_Ore_&_Ingot_weight_reduction_v1.0.esp
FasterArrows.esp
FSS-No pause between lines.esp
Guard Dialogue Overhaul.esp
Immersive Weapons.esp
JM_BetterAlchemySatchel.esp
Merchants Reply Only With Take A Look.esp
More Salt Please.esp
OpenFaceGuardHelmets.esp
Proper Aiming.esp
Quieter_Dungeons.esp
Quieter_Winds.esp
Skyrim bigger trees.esp
SFO - Expanded Diversity.esp
dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp
UnreadBooksGlow.esp
Hunting in Skyrim.esp
Populated Cities 2.esp
Realistic crime report radius.esp
ArcheryDummyXP.esp
ReadAndLearnSpeechcraft.esp
Beards.esp
Brows.esp
3DNPC.esp
UFO - Heartfire AddOn.esp
Reduced Distance NPC Greetings.esp
EMCompViljaSkyrim.esp
Spousetocustomhome.esp
Height Adjusted Races v4.esp
getSnowy.esp
WATER.esp
WATER Plants.esp
Unmarked Places - Shrines.esp
Unmarked Places - Dragon Mounds.esp
Unmarked Places - Player Homes.esp
RWL_Bleedout_Perks.esp
Woodcutter's Axe and Mining Pick Weight Reduction.esp
Lightweighter including Better Sorting.esp
FasterHorses_Sprint_x1_5.esp
Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp
IMAGINATOR - Visual Control for Skyrim.esp
TRO_BasicNeeds.esp
TRO_BasicNeeds_WATERPatch.esp

Most of the mods I thought could be the culprit seem to not have been. I got rid of some of the player abodes -- a lot of those always seem kind of dodgy. Trimmed the fat in other ways as well; I had 3 mods that did things to grass. Now I have one, near as I can tell. I only have 1 WIC mod active, and 1 faster arrows. But no matter what, I keep getting that CTD outside of the helgen cave area. Very annoying. Any other comments or suggestions, folks?

[korun]

 

But no matter what, I keep getting that CTD outside of the helgen cave

area. Very annoying. Any other comments or suggestions, folks?

yes if you are just here, then just.....stop, make a real fresh install of the game, then go to riverwood to get rid of the Helgen scripted intro or just install "Alternate Start - Live Another Life" and start to install your mod 5 by 5 from there and test them , if every thing is fine with the first 5 go further etc...as soon it became weird you'll know wich one is the culprit.

 

@@

[zuckerjr]

I'm happy to report that I think I have it figured -- it seems to have been Bluecreek Estate. I tried going through and systematically disabling mods, and testing. When that mod is gone, I don't get the CTD. So, tentatively, extra knock on wood, I think I'm good now.