Morrowind and CTDs : III

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 2:46 pm

My Morrowind keeps crashing every few minutes, and I don't know what causes it. Now it crashed as I was talking to a few Hlaalu guards that I think is mod-related as they talk about Haldenshore. They started fighitng off bandits and animals as soon as they were going for me (which is the MCA-mod, I think). But the game has crashed in other places too, without guards being involved at all. Can any of you spot something irregular in my mod list?

Spoiler

001 Morrowind.esm
002 Tribunal.esm
003 Bloodmoon.esm
004 Better Heads.esm
005 Better Heads Tribunal addon.esm
006 Better Heads Bloodmoon addon.esm
007 BL-Morrowind.esm
008 MCA.esm
009 Lgnpc_SN.esp (Version 0.31)
010 LGNPC_NoLore_v0_83.esp (Version 0.83)
011 dracandrosvoice.esp
012 Haldenshore_1.2.esp
013 BAR_RethanExpansion_v2.2.esp
014 BAR_RethanExpansion_v2.2_NoM.esp
015 BL-Morrowind.esp
016 Wayfarer's Rest v1.21.esp
017 Morrowind Crafting 2-1.esp
018 Morrowind Crafting Equipment.esp
019 MCA - Guards Patch.esp
020 LGNPC_Indarys_Manor_v1_45.esp (Version 1.45)
021 LGNPC_SM_MCA5.esp
022 LGNPC_GnaarMok_v1_10.esp (Version 1.10)
023 LGNPC_MaarGan_v1_11.esp (Version 1.11)
024 LGNPC_AldVelothi_v1_20.esp (Version 1.20)
025 LGNPC_Secret_Masters_v1_21.esp
026 Stephens Creeper Upgrade v1.1.esp
027 LGNPC_HlaOad_v1_32.esp (Version 1.32)
028 Morag Tong Compatible MCA 5.2.esp
029 ComprehensiveChargen.esp
030 Thieves' Guild Stash.esp
031 LGNPC_Aldruhn_v1_13.esp (Version 1.13)
032 LGNPC_Pelagiad_v1_13.esp (Version 1.13)
033 LGNPC_TelMora_v1_11.esp (Version 1.11)
034 LGNPC_Khuul_v2_01.esp (Version 2.01)
035 LGNPC_VivecFQ_v2_03.esp (Version 2.03)
036 LGNPC_TelUvirith_UI_v1_10.esp (Version 1.10)
037 LGNPC_TelUvirith_v1_10.esp (Version 1.10)
038 LGNPC_VivecRedoran_v1_42.esp (Version 1.42)
039 LGNPC_PaxRedoran_v1_12.esp (Version 1.12)
040 LGNPC_SoulSicknessPatch_v1_00.esp (Version 1.00)
041 Scout's Services 2.esp
042 Imperial Employment Office.esp
043 zanshaa_hall_1.esp
044 ZD_community_mod_WIP.esp
045 Census and Excise Office.esp

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 3:28 am

I don't know why you are crashing, but mlox says:

(Note that when the load order input is from an external source, the [SIZE] predicate cannot check the plugin filesizes, so it defaults to True).[CONFLICT] > 'BL-Morrowind.esm' > 'BL-Morrowind.esp' | ! Choose either "BL-Morrowind.esm" or "BL-Morrowind.esp" not both. If you get conflicts with other mods try "BL-Morrowind.esp". | ! (Ref: Better Looking Morrowind.txt)

You might try the binary search (turning off groups of mods, including external programs like MGE/MWSE if you use them) until the crashing stops, and then start adding them back in until you think you've found the one making your game unstable.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 3:19 pm

Ah, so I should only have one of those activated. I can try that first, thank you.

Edit: I tried it and it still crashed.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 12:17 pm

Edit: I tried it and it still crashed.

It was mentioned as an aside. The crashing is most likely caused by some other mod or external program you are using, which is why I recommended the binary search. Morrowind itself will just crash on occasion, but without any mods, it's pretty stable.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 2:40 pm

Do you use MGE?

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:50 pm

What does your Warning.txt say immediately following a crash?
Which version of Census and Excise are you using? The Standard or Lite version?

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 8:43 am

Well, first I ticked off BL-Morrowind.esp. That didn't do anything, so I ticked off BL-Morrowind.esm instead, and kept .esp. I played for probably an hour without a crash after that, but I did move away from those guards, so I don't know if that was a tricky spot. I did crash just now, though. I was loading a Quicksave, and the game crashed. Odd, since I had done that once or twice before just this hour. The Warnings.txt just now reads:

"Unable to find script 'NOM_well_water_strong1' on object 'NOM_well_common_strong1'.
Required plugin / master file 'BL-Morrowind.esm' not found or not currently loaded."

That first line I get as a box pop-up when I start the game, but I just thought it was one of those Tribunal/Bloodmoon-errors. Of course, looking at it, I should've seen that it isn't. NOM is Necessities of Morrowind, isn't it? But I don't have that in my mod list for that save. :stare:

The C&E-mod is version 1.2. I couldn't find anything in the readme about it being standard or lite, though. I use MGE, MWSE and have Wrye Mash.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 3:58 pm

To start with, you should upgrade to v1.3 of the Census and Excise Office. A lot of issues were corrected that were causing crashes. It's also the version that comes with a "lite" .esp that doesn't track certain aspects of the mod that were causing problems for some users.

KF

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 9:54 am

Thanks, I downloaded and installed 1.3 now.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:10 pm

I had regular CTDs: most of the time I tried to load a game after dying; when walking or running through the world; and almost every time I closed the game. Those pretty much stopped as soon as I changed this in my INI:

DontThreadLoad=1

Used to be a 0. I got a 30% bump in frame rates, although there are longer delays when new stuff gets loaded. At least I'm not crashing all the time.

Could have to do with the age of my single-core with hyperthreading CPU.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 2:05 pm

Thanks, I downloaded and installed 1.3 now.

With 1.3, you can summon Fliggerty and tell him to run in "lite" mode. That mod doesn't track as many things as the standard mode and should help with some of the crashes.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:38 am

What does DontThreadLoad do? I will have a look at that, and the Lite version of C&E, if the crashing continues.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:07 pm

What does DontThreadLoad do?

Supposedly, it will get rid of some of the smaller loading delays in the game, in favor of longer load times elsewhere.

On all the systems I have tested it, the difference was not really noticeable.

» Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:31 am

What does DontThreadLoad do? I will have a look at that, and the Lite version of C&E, if the crashing continues.

It's thread loading cells ahead of you as you move through the world. If you have a multi-core processor, then you're probably playing on a machine fast enough not to notice a difference.

I'm playing on the 3.06GHz P4 I built back in 2003. It only has a virtual second core, and that doesn't work so well. I experience a HUGE difference when turning off threaded loading, because it's not something my machine can really do efficiently in the background. I'm trading lower frame rates and frequent CTDs for higher frame rates and a pronounced pause when new cells load.