Can't Initiate "Bleak Falls Barrow" Quest

[Kasaru]

So, I have all the DLC installed, as well as a HUGE amount of Mods. I reinstalled Skyrim and all DLC, but I still cannot get the main questline to work, up to talking to the Jarl of Whiterun. Balgruuf just sits at the table while his steward and house carl stare at him stupidly, without any interaction whatsoever. I'm thinking its a mod, but I'm not so sure, I heard the DLC's are bugging the hell out for other people. Maybe its something else. Any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

Edit: Also, when I played the Legion quest line, when I was supposed to deliver a message to Balgruuf, the quest didn't show up in the journal. I also found out that Lilith and Proventius are not essential as they're supposed to be. Someone screwed around in the creation kit when they were making a mod, and messed stuff up. Now I just have to figure WHICH mod... great.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Kasaru

[Georgiegril]

Your problem is very likely caused by, as you point out, having a "HUGE amount of mods." It is probably not caused by someone who "screwed around in the Creation Kit when they were making a mod."

Each mod introduces a large number of variables into the game, as do the DLCs. The more you add, the greater the chance that you will end up with a conflict--caused, not by the mods, but by your installation of them into your particular game and system. The chances are greatly increased if you do not take the time to read everything the mod author has made available--discussion page, readme, discussion thread, etc, install exactly according to the instructions including avoiding known conflicting mods and/or required mods, and ordering your mods correctly. Of course, changing .ini files and driver settings also increases the chance of a problem.

If you want to save yourself considerable time and frustration in trying to troubleshoot your huge amount of mods, I suggest you do the following:

Either uninstall all of your mods manually, or uninstall NMM.

Go to steam, use the delete local content to remove the game files.

Go to your skyrim files in the program files folder, and delete everything Steam left behind.

Go to your documents folder, and delete everything having to do with Sktrium (mods, savegames, etc.)

Make sure your .ini files are also removed.

If you created your own skyrim settings for your graphics driver, revert it to the default.

Shut down your computer completely (use the switch in the back or unplug after going through normal shut-down. Wait 10 seconds or more, then restart.

Go back to steam and reinstall. After it reinstalls, verify the cache to make sure.

If you want all the DLCs, then reinstall them, too.

Play the game through Helgen by using the steam loader. Do not use auto or quick save, as these are more likely to cause savegame file corruption, causing CTDs you might think were mod related.

Download BOSS, skse( if you will need it), any other tools you need.

After you exit Helgen, start adding mods or making other changes (like .ini changes) one or two at a time, after exhaustively reading everything related to that mod and installing exactly according to instructions.

Down load BOSS, run BOSS, read the log it generates and address any messages you get. If a mod is not recognized by BOSS, it may be enough to put it with similar mods. There may also be load order info available on the author's page.

Play a bit to make sure it is working well before repeating with another one or two changes.

Generally, you may find it most useful to start with mods that make major changes (like SkyRe), or mods you feel you can't play without.

If you encounter a problem, it does not mean that the mod you just added is faulty. It may be that there is a conflict between two mods. In the case of mods that are resource heavy (like spawning mods, lighting mods, etc) it may simply be that the most recent mod added pushed your computer's resources past it's breaking point.

In any case, when you encounter a problem, do not make any more changes or continue playing until you fix it. Go back to the mod page and read everything again. If it is a known issue with a mod, it is likely to have already been discussed in the mod's thread, and there may be an available patch or work-around. Or you may need to decide among several installed mods, which you are willing to do without. Or you may be able to free up resources in other areas, for example decreasing your level of detail or the like.

This method will take time up front, but it will save you hours or days of frustration caused by having to try to troubleshoot a huge number of mods, graphics settings and .ini settings when you have no clue where the problem lies.

[starfire42]

Try doing a forum search for bleak falls barrow. I seem to recall a few other people having problems with it and I think at least one of those threads resulted in a solution