Well, I'm not, so there's no issue there. I just feel like I'm having to defend my desire to try something that doesn't include FCOM in my search for a more stable build.

I'm not attacking FCOM or suggesting there is anything wrong with it. Nor am I frustrated with anyone on the FCOM team. Further, I am not new to this... I know how complicated FCOM is and why it's installation directions have changed so much. On this forum alone one can be guided in several different directions to install the thing. I mean really... one of the first things you read is "FCOM is not for the feint of heart".

I am in search of a more stable build. I suggested that I might try OOO+MMM instead of FCOM. I did not say it's because there's anything wrong with FCOM, and I didn't accuse FCOM of causing my game to go into the sewer. Maybe I should have addressed that up front... but then, why does my desire to try something different imply that FCOM is or isn't anything at all, other than something I might not want to try this time around? I have re-read my posts multiple times and I don't see where I said anything more about FCOM than the fact that it is more complex and installed more mods/plugins than OOO+MMM.

So no, I'm not frustrated with FCOM or the FCOM team. I just want to try a build without it. I apologize if anything negative was implied... that was not my intention.

OK, so far so good. I've got OOO installed, and MMM for OOO. Open Cities Classic is in there, too (and of course, a day later our good friend Arthmoor decides to release OC Reborn! Just my luck!) I've also got DarNified UI, Loading Screens, a couple of DLCs, and the necessities in there (UOP, OMOBS, etc, etc). I just completed a test run where I basically ran from the sewers to Cheydinhal, to Bruma, to Chorrol, to Skingrad, by Kvatch, and then to Anvil. Then I fast-traveled to the stables outside Bravil, checked out Bravil, and then ran down to Leyawiin Reborn. I didn't do all of that in one session, but most of it was done in two sessions about an hour or so long each. In all of that I had one CTD just south of Chorrol... reloaded and covered the same path... No CTD, so apparently nothing to worry about. I also have a land tear right at one of the bridges south of Bravil. Actually, it's not as much a tear as a missing piece. Not sure how that happened, but I'm guessing it won't be too hard to fix.

So I'd say I'm pretty pleased so far. Oh yeah, and with just this baseline of mods installed, I stayed pegged at 30 FPS (that's my OSR cap) almost the entire time. Wilderness, Open Cities, it didn't matter. The only thing that seemed to make it dip into the 20s was AI, and even then I never saw it drop below 23 FPS.

I think it is safe to say I have achieved part one of my goal: I have a stable baseline that includes 4 of my must-haves: OOO, MMM, Open Cities, and DarNified UI. Now it's time to start adding things in a little at a time and see how they work out. But I would appreciate a little advice on what should be next. I'm thinking improving the look of things should be next, as in Bomrets/Vibrant/AWLS. But I also have some animations I want to install, magic overhauls (Supreme Magicka and maybe LAME), some gameplay changing mods, and most of theNiceOne's enhancements (EE, MMO, Display Stats, etc). Eventually I'll be adding Arthmoor's villages/farms, Bartholm, and of course some homes/castles, but I figure they should come later with some of the quest mods I want to install.

The idea is to install a group of similar mods, and then do a little play-testing to see how things are working out. So, any suggestions? I guess if I could add anything, it would be that I'd like to rule out problematic things sooner than later, so any suggestions to help with that would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
veg

I do not think you need to do anything special. None of the mods you've mentioned jump out as problem causes, and the same goes for the combination of mods you've mentioned. If that Chorrol crash occurred within two hours, I would keep an eye on it. Maybe you need to tweak an INI or two.


Happy gaming!
- Tomlong54210

Thanks very much for the advice... much appreciated as always! I did tweak OSR a little after that CTD (I thought the game was stuttering a bit more than it should, despite the high FPS). Since then I haven't gotten any more CTDs, and things have been generally smoother.

If I may, though, I would like to ask about the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22124 (by the way, RBP is a perfect example of what I was talking about the other day... it's forum links on TESNexus are long dead, and are thus rendered absolutely useless with no way to fix it other than human intervention).

But I digress (as usual.. sorry)... Last time around I used Cobl Cosmetics. It's what I have done in the past, and so I was pretty certain about the results I could expect. But I got to Cobl last night and stopped. I am thinking I's really like to try RBP this time, and for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it seems more complete and robust than Cobl Cosmetics. But for another thing, I have been wanting to try http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22320, but never did because it requires RBP and LAME. But now that I am rebuilding, this could be the perfect chance to give them a try. Of course, that will mean trying to get Supreme Magicka and LAME to work together (there's just no way I can give up Supreme Magicka!), but I have read that it is commonly done, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

Anyway, any advice/recommendations for RBP? I guess LAME and Integration can be tossed into the question as well, since the ultimate goal is to install them, too.

As always, I greatly appreciate any help I can get!
veg

Please pardon the double-post, but another question just popped up... anyone know if there is a BAIN-ready version of http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20022? I was working on doing it myself last night, but man, what a chore that turned out to be. It's no problem, if you know what options you want, to just make a BAIN-ready package for those options. But if you want something similar to the installer that allows you to pick from all the options... man, it gets huge fast.

Anyway, just wondering about that... and also the couple of questions in the last post.

Thanks,
veg

Heya Vegtabill,

I assume you followed the development in your SVVR thread. There'll be a new patch for OOO/MMM/FCOM for SVVR soon, CorePC is working on it. The former SVVR-OOO patch didn't take care of all the problems, as people still reported faction fights in places like Fort Redwater for example. Be sure to grab the new one once it's out, as it will integrate SVVR so much better in OOO.

On RBP/Lame: they are excellent mods and worth having in your load order.

Cheers,

StarX

I have inded been following it! The timing is excellent, by the way... this new build I'm putting together is shaping up nicely so far. I'm hoping that the new patch will be done right about the time I am ready for it (wishful thinking? Ha ha!) But seriously, yes, I am watching it very closely! Thanks!

And thanks for the input on RBP/LAME... The more I see of them, the more I like them. Should be getting to them later tonight.

Thanks again, man!
veg

Hi Vegtibill,
I wanted to give you a link to an interesting site!
The TweakGuide pages have a ton of info on specific games, but I wanted to point out his general PC maintenance and game-prep tips in particular.
Very good info on hardware and tuning your computer.
Often lags and stuttering, despite a seemingly generous FPS, will be CPU not GPU-related.
You need a CPU and memory bandwidth both 15 GB/s + which most modern rigs can do but most pre-2008 machines cannot.
I'm talking heavily modded Oblivion with 200+ mods, or even only 100 mods if they are complex.
Anyway, any dual-channel memory of the 1333MHz DDR3 type is usually sufficient.
Older rigs like my Core2 (Conroe) won't cut it, if you want stutter-free performance, no matter how much 667MHz memory you put in it...
My new i7 920 X58 setup is like night & day - smooth, buttery 150 FPS+
Oh, and here is the link to Koroush Ghazi's helpful site:
http://www.tweakguides.com/System.html
What is your rig - is it powerful?
Tune it up, or else time to upgrade...
Regards

Thanks Gryphon, I appreciate the thought. But I actually have a copy of the Tweak Guide for Oblivion and have been through it front to back several times. I am well aware of the "CPU, not GPU" issue as well.

But thanks anyway... it is good info for anyone not already aware of it!
veg

Not at all true. I run extremely modded (in every way) Oblivion, with a C2D and DDR2 RAM. Overclocked, yes, but it's still "old tech", I suppose.

Oblivion Stutter Remover, Streamline and a few other significant tweaks are vastly more important than a few measly FPS between 2008 and 2010 hardware, from everything I've seen and experienced.

Personally, I'll upgrade once there's something worthy to upgrade to. Nothing out there currently.

Thanks for your input, BP, but let's not turn this into a hardware thread, OK? My hardware is what it is, and it's not changing anytime soon.

Now, back to the topic at hand...

I am also running a Core2Duo with a heavily-modified setup. I would not even call the duos "old tech". What percentage of software people are using today is really optimized for additional cores? The price, reliability and performance combination of the Core2Duos is excellent. Not everyone has or is willing to spend the extra $1000 plus to stay at the front of all computer advancements. Seriously, if you spend $3000 to by the best parts available right now, in six months, half those items will no longer be the top of what is available. It is neither necessary nor affordable for most of us to try to keep up with all of the advance.

Anyway...


I love RBP. That problem with the Orc script is real though. I can give you the fix if you install it. It just requires one script to be snipped out, a quick fix with TES4Edit. RBP is already BAIN-Ready. However, COBL Races is more compatible than RBP because it is just RBP stripped of a number of changes.

Ah, excellent! Yes, I am definitely going to install it, so the fix for the Orc script would be most appreciated!

Thanks!

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102170-need-help-from-a-script-person/page__p__16119419&#entry16119419

The bOrcRageScript needs to be snipped from the Orc race's powers list.

Blessings of Akatosh upon ye, kind lady...

I still need to snip it out of my RBP plugin. Hopefully, I will not forget to do that. I meant to add a note about adding this to the CPS Library or something...

OK, things are coming along here. Yes, it is taking a long time, but that's mostly because I keep getting involved in converting packages to BAIN-ready archives! (That's a good thing, btw)

A couple of little items have come up, though... here's one:

Occasionally, my test guy will come across an archer that shoots air at me! Ha ha! Seriously, though, they go through the motions in the animation just as if they were shooting an arrow, but no arrow gets knocked, and thus no arrow is shot. It doesn't seem to be any particular arrow type, but it could be a lack of data that makes it seem that way.

So, anyone seen this before? How did you fix it?

tia,
veg

Really? No invisible, phantom arrows? Maybe a bump...

Check their AI packages, perhaps?

I can. Two of them were easy to remember: Skyrim Bandits. But they behaved normally, just no arrows were actually fired. They had them in their quivers, though. The others were just run-of-the-mill bandits. But then most are fine, and fire arrows like normal. It's weird.

Have tried unchecking random Bashed Patch config options?

I have not... wait a minute, before I do that, I really need to update to 287. How that keeps getting pushed down the list, I do not know!

It takes no time to install, really.

Yeah, just did it... waiting for the Installers tab... :whistling:

EDIT: OK, that was actually pretty fast!

I'm thinking I need to grab the latest BOSS masterlist (yesterday? the day before? I should know that). Anyway, BOSS my LO with 287, rebuild my patch, and see how things look. Perhaps I won't see these phantom arrows again.

I noticed you are using

6E  StarX Vanilla Vampires Revised.esp6F  StarX VVR_OOO Patch.esp

Use the latest version here:
http://www.invision.tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/files/file/533-starx-vanilla-vampires-revised/