I've been using Real Wildlife since it was first released, love and absolutely support it. Never had a crash related to that mod, ever.

What might be happening is one mod conflicting with another (very common thing).

Mod crashes/problems aren't always logical either remember. For example some spell mod out there causes the crosshair to not show when using a bow on horseback with 1.6 patch.

With two of my latest characters Skyrim has turned into minesweeper (the mines being crashes and freezes), might as well be playing Oblivion /swear.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':swear:' />

Except that Skyrim still performs better, and looks better doing it /hehe.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hehe:' />

Actually. Usually when I crash, it is very soon after I pass those wolves and they attack...hmm...

Yep, happens as well. The freeze always occurs in that area, either right after passing the waterfall, right before the wolves attack, during the wolf attack, after the wolf attack when last one is dead, freeze while looting wolves, and freeze after killing all wolves and walking about 50 meters further. All this indicates either a messed up spawn, or a corrupted cell. I think the area is a cell right before the riverwood town cell, so the cell transition also can cause the freeze. Usually I solve that by removing WATER.


Yep your exactly right regarding RW. I think the mod is awesome as well, but it does conflict with other mods. And i can confirm it does cause freezes, especially in the wilderness/ worldspace/ exterior cells, but only since patch 1.5 for me. Then again I do have about 150 plugins... I know that RW is incompatible, but cannot figure out which mods its incompatible with. Following the cleaning method i posted after uninstalling RW stops the freezes. Just cant be asked figuring out the conflict, i can live with SkyTEST.

I used to have that crash happen all the time. The main culprit was Real Wildlife at the time. Although as others have said, there can be some unexpected interactions between unlikely mods that can cause problems. I've now learnt my lesson and am playing with a small amount of mods and testing each one thoroughly before starting a 'proper' game. I used to download eveything all wide-eyed but now I find it better to stick with those mods I consider core to the game.

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. It actually makes sense, because some mods work only partially when you esmify them. I'm wondering if having an integrated sound card could cause some crashes related to SoS, but then again I'm not sure how esmifying gets rid of all the crashes. Maybe the esmifying just disables parts of the mod and takes some strain off the soundcard. Well, my guesswork is useless since I don't know intimately the workings of the creation engine. Currently I'm using a minesweeper character to root out the mods that aren't working for me. I'll start a proper game when Dawnguard/Falskaar/Issgard gets out.

FWIW, I use WATER as well. WATER+SOS = still stable. Neither messes with spawns, so if it's a spawn issue, then I'm still immune. This game engine is prone to corrupt spawns. It's been an issue since Oblivion and the only solution ever known has been to hide out in an isolated cell and run game time past the respawn timer. Resting for 30 days in one spot in Skyrim would svck.

Sound crashes could definitely be because of onboard chips. They're notoriously underpowered for the job of gaming. Even more so with this game engine.

I actually don't know if I have onboard sound...my dad built my PC (he used to be a computer programmer, now he repairs peoples PCs among other things)...so he would be more aware. I actually think I do, because I never bought a sound card with my money I saved up. That was a couple years back...but yeah, pretty sure I have onboard sound.

I also have 5.1 surround sound...maybe that has something to do with SoS+onboard sound.

Also, I updated my video drivers to the latest (uninstalling the old ones of course)...I'll laugh if it stops that particular crash. Hopefully it boosts performance, but I haven't had time to play Skyrim or any other game. So, I haven't tested it yet.

I haven't been able to test this out today, I've had a crossroads in my life to really think about. A life changing decision.

But, I noticed, maybe it was a coincidence...if I stopped and saved a bit before the crash spot. It didn't crash. If I keep running and no save, it seems to crash more often. I've done this 3-4 times with success...but again, maybe it is a coincidence. I can't test this out more fully right now. It does seem to crash more if I keep running and not stopping. Or not...

Hi Guys...I want to put my 2 cents :

I have about 45 mods installed...and I used to get CTDs at the same place (that road from Riverwood to 3 stones, just before the first left curve). /swear.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':swear:' />

I had done some test and when deactivated Real Wildlife...Eureka....CTD was gone. /biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':biggrin:' />

I know there was Mod conflicts...but I can′t find out who was the opponent...so I've just kept Real Wildlife OFF. /down.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':down:' />

(Bad...because I liked that mod).

.

Nope. It's RWS. I spent about two days (solid, mind you) trying to fix the crashing when it first happened because it had not happened previously and I had the same setup. I posted extensive notes about it on the ASIS and AV threads because I thought that they might be the cause, but they were not, in the end. Crashes were constant until I began testing by deactiviating one mod at a time. I always played a fresh game from the very start, too, which is why I spent two days solid figuring it out. In the end, deactivating RWS removed the crashing.

Basically, it is RWS interacting with something else, whether another mod or official DLC, or the base game. The only testing I did not do (because I was fed up by that time) was trying again with only RWS installed.

All I really want out of RWS is the diseases, anyway, so I'll just put up with not having that addition. I'd rather actually anolyze the game than fight to get it working with a mod that I can live without, even if I like it. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

If this happened with my own Hatsune Miku mod, though, I'd just quit playing entirely since that is my character and I cannot tolerate the vanilla aesthetics.

As Arthmoor said, this type of thing can happen with drivers doing odd things. As I originally mentioned, it can also happen due to specific system processing stresses under the hood, so to speak. PCs are complex systems so you can have unpredictable interactions that do interesting things. /tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />

By the way, Porscha's comment made me laugh. /biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> I just got this picture of a character running along staring intently at the ground thinking, "don't look up! don't look up or the world will come to an end!" /biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

Porscha's trick of staring at the ground while running quickly to the intended destination is an old trick I've been using since Morrowind - I suspect it's related to memory (textures and vram), and the game not loading the assets until in your field of view. In Morrowind my old graphics card seemed to have issues with particle effects, and the game would crash often when attacked with magic - rather than taking on a magical fight I would stare at my feet and run away fast /confused.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':confused:' />

I had CTDs at Riverwood (with RWS and ASIS), but I have found that I CTD when running, so I suppose it may be related to the engin trying to load lots and lots of things at once, as I think the CTD was just before another bunch of cells (and LOD objects) was to pop up. On my next try, I just stopped my walk for a moment at the right (guessed) moment and let the engine do its work and then continued walking (not running) for a bit - and what do you know, no CTD this time!

Maybe I was just lucky, but it worked.

That could be why when I save before that particular spot...it didn't CTD the few times I tried. But, I still haven't tested more thoroughly.

Well, as an update. It isn't the only spot. Seems to be every spot that has scripted wolf events. Like that area right near Windhelm, if going down the path from that small village with the mine...then reaching the fork in the road. There is that scripted wolf on the left road. Riverwood still has it the worst though.

To get around that scripted wolf crash, I had to stare at the ground as I made my way toward it. I was able to kill it...however...if I looted it or the corpse of an animal, my game would immediately crash. If anyone came into that small scripted area, if I tried talking to them (like an NPC introduced by SIMs), it would also crash. If I talked to the NPC before he got close to the scripted wolf area, that same NPC causes no crashes.

So, I at least narrowed it down to the scripted wolves.

I'm not so sure it's RWS alone, as I'm getting crashes at both ends of Riverwood and I'm not using RWS at all. On the side that this thread originally mentioned, and at the other end as well.

But I do think it might be spawning related. I AM running ASIS and I'm sure it alters the spawns at both locations. So I'd wager the crash is probably not ONLY caused by RWS, but by ANY mod that alters those precise spawn locations. At least it seems that way.

Interesting. So it may not be related to those precise locations, but more along the lines of any alteration of wolf spawning?

Yes, a mod or, maybe even any mod, that makes tweaks to the wolf spawn...could cause Skyrim to CTD on the scripted wolves. I'm not using RWS at all, but I do use SkyTEST (though I unchecked the .esp and it still happened, but I didn't fully remove it or start a new save)...and Sky Monster Mod. SIMS as well, but I don't think it tweaks any scripted wolves. Unless it is a side effect. And I use populated cities, but why the heck would that do it...that one only adds population to cities. That would be really really random. Those are the only ones I have that would possibly cause the wolf script to be bugged. I use bigger trees, but that mod doesn't change the region Windhelm is in. And I have a mod that adds lights along roads+cities, so it could be that. More than likely being SkyTEST or Monster Mod. Or an entirely random mod that wouldn't make any sense.

I am 85% sure it isn't locations (or entirely location)...but exactly because of the scripted wolves. But, anyone who entered the scripted wolf area near Windhelm...caused a CTD if I interacted with him/her. So, either it is the particular tiny area the wolves are in...or the wolves themselves are causing the problem. But two script wolf spawns causing the same exact CTD? I highly doubt that is a coincidence.

Well...

...I think this guy could be right.

After I've removed "Real Wildlife", my CTDs rate goes down...but It was hapening once in a while.

But...after I turned off SkyTest...nothing...none single CTD.

The weird part is...those CTDs was location specific CTDs...no random ones.

(I used to have only random CTDs when I had "Skyrim Live" installed....but none after this)

Right, so I narrowed it down to what is causing it. I went in a 4th (or maybe it is the 5th) time and deactivated all mods. Then activate them at a group at a time (like all the HBE .esps and .esm go together) and it isn't Skytest or anything obvious. I removed Skytest, Monster Mod and other mods that change exteriors or spawns, out of the list of mod(s) that may have caused CTDs. Deactivating skytest did nothing, before I decided to go in and activate a few/couple mods at a time.

However, if I have more than one companion active at a time...my game will CTD at the wolf spawns.

I can have two of the same companion mods active, which will cause a CTD...but either one if they are just active by themselves, will cause no CTD.

Which means I'll just have to live with it, because I'm not gonna play Skyrim without my companions.

The only other explanation is, I went in and added an AI package to the companions...so the companions would always follow me. So when I start the game, they "teleport" to my character and with the follower overhaul...I can have all 5 to be my companions. So, I may put back the original .esps and see if it isn't because I added the AI package to them.

If not, oh well..I would rather have my companions and CTDs, than no companions.

(update)

Yeah, it doesn't matter if there is an AI package to follow player character or not. If I activate companion_Ria, Ari, Sooji and a couple other custom companions...if even more than one...it causes the wolf ctd.

Not sure if that's it for everyone. Sadly, I get the CTD even with a single follower. I'll have to test the area with no followers to see if it helps.

Yeah, maybe it depends.

Keep in mind, it happens even if the followers are the only ones active on my mod list. Strange. Well, I'm not playing Skyrim without them...so guess I'll just live with it. Every ctd I've had goes away if I deactivate all but one follower...ah well.

Hey man...

I think it would be better to keep separated those locations specific CTDs, from those random ones.

Skytest author says his mod can bring rare CTDs for those who have a big mod list (my case).

I think this can be extrapolated for any other mod. In other words...you can just figure out mod issues under strong pressure (big list of mods and weak machines).

I'm keeping up with Skytest topic just for getting reasons for my location specific CTDs.

.

I have similar issues with CTD especially in the area south of Windhelm (the hot springs), especially near Darkwater Crossing. It was definitely related to spawns as when I reloaded there were no creatures spawning and the game went OK for a few minutes until it would crash again. There were wolf spawns, werewolves were OK (random encounters mod). These are new mods I introduced in the latest game, never had issues before. I also had multiple companions. So I will try without these mods and see.

What patch does the OP use? 1.5.26 or BETA? Did you updated your GPU drivers? Did you cleaned your computer from old driver files before doing the update? Did you tried the miriads of sound fixes to be found pretty much anywhere in the internets? Did you defraged your hard drive? Did you defraged teh game catch? Did you cleaned out your scripts folder, and reinstalled every single mod? Did you try a clean and complete reinstall of Skyrim?

Reasons against the Real Wildlife thoery. I'm using this mod since ages, and I've spend the last 100 game hours in an area around Riverwood, primarly in area around the stading stones. I've never had a single crash. I'm using MoMoMod too.

Either what Arthmoor said about bad drivers, or it's likely you've corrupted your savegame way before with another mod, or combination of mods. This is why you still get crashes even after completely reinstalling Skyrim. In certain cases, you can not clean your savegames. This is likely to be happening, when permanently switching through multiple mods. Not only Modding is a profession, but sometimes mod using too. Judging by your modlist, you have a lot of mods with overlapping content. Some of thoose mods even do exactly what some of the other mods do. Also judging by your list, the mod combination is not well choosen, and looks like just throwen together. You need to know that it's better to start low and then slightly build up on mods. If you really want to play a game, I assume you have to get rid of a lot of mods from your list.

Also, if you're using the BETA patch...with it for the first time ever I had serious performance problems in form of lag and low FPS yesterday and today, so this might also be related, if you're using the BETA patch. Try quiting the BETA and revert to 1.5.26, if this is true.

From my experience RWS and MOMO are safe to use...I recon there's a mod in your list which I would not count as safe to use, but since the creator is a sensitive soul, I'm likely to get bashed by his fanpeople when telling you which mod it is... /wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wink:' />