Dubnoman Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) I recently got Dragonborn, but I'm not ready to play it. I started a new game and activated Dragonborn.esm early on. I'm at level 10 now, and I have deselected the check in the check box for Dragonborn (at around level 6 or 7). I did this because I know it is buggy, and when I first enabled the .esm file, I had an issue with some floating skeever corpses. I thought maybe the buginess is from Dragonborn, so I disabled the .esm and I'll enable it and play Dragonborn when that DLC is not so buggy. However, I'm now concerned that doing this is bad for my game. Will this cause any problems, like corrupt saves or something else? Also, does Dragonborn add new NPCs to Whiterun. I've seen seven or eight new NPCs in Whiterun, but I can't fully interact with them. I'm thinking they are from Dragonborn. I can talk to them, but I'm not getting all the dialogue. Did I make a mistake? Or are we able to enable and disable the DLCs (Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn) as we please? Edited March 4, 2013 by Dubnoman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SineWaveDrox Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 As a general rule, I've always assumed that it is best to not disable mods (or dlc) during a playthrough. I've also read in several places that it is best to start a game with everything enabled that you plan on using, though I assume that enabling something later is less problematic than disabling something later. I do remember in Oblivion, disabling dlc and then re-enabling it later would sometimes cause issues with progression in the quests involved. Whether that will be the case with Dragonborn, I can't say, but I always try to stay on the safe side, and disable as few things as possible (with the exception being mods that have scripts that can be terminated in-game before deactivation and removal of the mod). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubnoman Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 As a general rule, I've always assumed that it is best to not disable mods (or dlc) during a playthrough. I've also read in several places that it is best to start a game with everything enabled that you plan on using, though I assume that enabling something later is less problematic than disabling something later. I do remember in Oblivion, disabling dlc and then re-enabling it later would sometimes cause issues with progression in the quests involved. Whether that will be the case with Dragonborn, I can't say, but I always try to stay on the safe side, and disable as few things as possible (with the exception being mods that have scripts that can be terminated in-game before deactivation and removal of the mod). I've heard of these rules of thumb. I'm afraid I've made a mistake. I'll wait for some more replies, but do guys think I should start a new game? I'm at level 10, and I've only done some bounties. I've cleared out some bandit strongholds. In the main quest, I'm only at the point where I have to go to Bleak Falls Barrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripple Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 The new DLC comes with new scripts that will be baked into your save game, and when disabled, become orphan scripts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubnoman Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) The new DLC comes with new scripts that will be baked into your save game, and when disabled, become orphan scripts. Could you please elaborate? Would that mean a good chance of issues occurring later on? I'm starting to think I might have to start a new game. Would you recommend that? Edited March 4, 2013 by Dubnoman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripple Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) Short answer: yes, you should probably start a new game. Long answer: There is currently no way to fully and safely clean papyrus scripts from save games, so when a script mod is uninstalled, it leaves orphan data in save games made with the mod active. Depending on the script, it can cause anything from save game bloat to bugs and other anomalies.This is an example of what one orphan script can do. In that instance, the mod actually came with 'uninstallation' instructions, but for whatever reason, the user did not successfully uninstall the mod, and that is the result. Most custom script mods cannot actually be 'uninstalled.' I am not sure if the modder used quest alias to run the script so that it can be properly halted (most script modders do not). But regardless, the user attempted to reinstall the mod to see if the problem he was experiencing could be remedied. As you can see, it didn't work. Dragonborn adds...over 1000 new scripts (and modifies a ton of base game scripts)? You can try reinstalling Dragonborn to see if it fixes the issues you've noticed, but I doubt it will. So..... Edited March 4, 2013 by ripple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SineWaveDrox Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 What about the new "ClearInvalidRegistrations" function in SKSE? I've read that's supposed to get rid of orphaned scripts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripple Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 What about the new "ClearInvalidRegistrations" function in SKSE? I've read that's supposed to get rid of orphaned scripts.It's still new and experimental. The SKSE team is very careful not to tout it as a miraculous cure for orphan scripts. Not sure the scope of data that is covered. A number of users have reported that it has worked extremely well to address save game bloat resulting from orphan scripts, but I haven't read anyone posting that it fixed something that was broken by those scripts. Dubnoman can be the guinea pig? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubnoman Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 What about the new "ClearInvalidRegistrations" function in SKSE? I've read that's supposed to get rid of orphaned scripts.Dubnoman can be the guinea pig? :smile: Haha, no. XD I haven't had any problems manifest yet. But disabling dragonborn like that probably will lead to problems, so yeah, I'll just start a new game and recreate the same character I have. I'm not far in, so restarting won't be so bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubnoman Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Could I have avoided a lot of trouble if I had backed up my Skyrim folder before disabling the dragonborn .esm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts