modding HUGE Problem with Modding RDR2 That No One is Talking About

[Dagger323 34]

7 hours ago, kaozzz777 said:

OK, to fully understand train spawns more precise data is needed.
Do you need to have reached a certain story point for that to happen? For example, if you use a clean chapter 2 start save without progess, you haven't done the train mission yet. The game has flags called world states.
Where are you waiting, in the train station or simply near it is enough? Do you have a range for regularly? Is 2 enough, or 3 or 4?


If you test a modded version with RaildroadEngineer, you would need to know what RE is doing/causing. To many variables. The blips alone might or might not be correct. I still think it's not suited to validate results.

Have you actually tested train spawns in settlements and towns at all? Because my point still stands: you absolutely need to do this to determine if you are regularly seeing them. I'm not talking about "fully understanding" train spawns. These are very straightforward and simple tests that will immediately tell you if you have a generally working game with normally functioning trains or not. There are many variables in everything we've been testing. That's the nature of an open world game. It doesn't negate the need to test anyway. I've done enough test runs to know that what I said about the train spawning in towns/settlements is as consistent and reliable as what I said before about trains spawning near Flatneck Station and along the route past Bard's Crossing and past Riggs Station towards Wallace Station. You claimed before that my method was, and I quote, "detailed enough to check the claims and is foolproof." So I'm unsure of why you're now refusing to test my other suggestions, unless you're afraid that testing for trains in settlements will reveal that your game spawns are still not functioning as expected.

Edited May 19 by Dagger323

[Lonewulv13 4]

All spawning related issues occur from the very beginning of the game though most notably in Saint Denis as all trolleys are devoid of passengers. Trains rarely if ever spawn outside of missions. Few passengers in carriages. Rare animals don't seem to spawn ever.

[kaozzz777 18]

On 5/19/2024 at 10:16 PM, Dagger323 said:

Have you actually tested train spawns in settlements and towns at all? Because my point still stands: you absolutely need to do this to determine if you are regularly seeing them. I'm not talking about "fully understanding" train spawns. These are very straightforward and simple tests that will immediately tell you if you have a generally working game with normally functioning trains or not. There are many variables in everything we've been testing. That's the nature of an open world game. It doesn't negate the need to test anyway. I've done enough test runs to know that what I said about the train spawning in towns/settlements is as consistent and reliable as what I said before about trains spawning near Flatneck Station and along the route past Bard's Crossing and past Riggs Station towards Wallace Station. You claimed before that my method was, and I quote, "detailed enough to check the claims and is foolproof." So I'm unsure of why you're now refusing to test my other suggestions, unless you're afraid that testing for trains in settlements will reveal that your game spawns are still not functioning as expected.

I only asked for more details on that testing and at which chapter. otherwise we might compare apples to oranges. It's interesting you draw conclusions of deception out of that, as if there is something to be gained. I already posted I tried the mod, shared findings and explained why testing train spawns using a train script mod is ill advised.

I ran your tests and went further. The engine is very complex and there is lots to acount for. Just like for wildlife it isn't enough to see one or few more different species, but all of them in the area you test. Which you can look up on wikis.
All I post is simply in attempt to find the best possible way to benchmark with numbers, that allows anyone to test for themselves and not rely on what others say. Or can you spot 30+ scripts and 100+ peds just by eye? It was never about anyones mod list.

 

The only infos about trains in this game is that they are for fast traveling and robbing. Thats why you can spend ages waiting at train stations. They run purely on scripts and get spawned as needed. there are no train schedules because there can't be any with how the game works.
Wanna know how reliable trains are? Load up the clean chapter 2 save in Vanilla. ride straight to valentine station and wait by the tracks for a while. after couple minutes you hear a train headed to Oil Field. Curios, how thats possible? Ride there, check, you will see it. Head back and wait again. It will repeat itself. And again. Game just spawns a train that should have passed you several times in a row.


Anyhow, I'm out and done with this topic. Thank You Dagger for posting this much needed thread.

 

Edited May 22 by kaozzz777
cleanup

[Dagger323 34]

9 hours ago, kaozzz777 said:

I only asked for more details on that testing and at which chapter. otherwise we might compare apples to oranges. It's interesting you draw conclusions of deception out of that, as if there is something to be gained. I already posted I tried the mod, shared findings and explained why testing train spawns using a train script mod is ill advised.

I ran your tests and went further. The engine is very complex and there is lots to acount for. Just like for wildlife it isn't enough to see one or few more different species, but all of them in the area you test. Which you can look up on wikis.
All I post is simply in attempt to find the best possible way to benchmark with numbers, that allows anyone to test for themselves and not rely on what others say. Or can you spot 30+ scripts and 100+ peds just by eye? It was never about anyones mod list. No one gives a fuck if your or mine game is broken or not. The methods and infos stay valid regardless.

 

The only infos about trains in this game is that they are for fast traveling and robbing. Thats why you can spend ages waiting at train stations. They run purely on scripts and get spawned as needed. there are no train schedules because there can't be any with how the game works.
Wanna know how reliable trains are? Load up the clean chapter 2 save in Vanilla. ride straight to valentine station and wait by the tracks for a while. after couple minutes you hear a train headed to Oil Field. Curios, how thats possible? Ride there, check, you will see it. Head back and wait again. It will repeat itself. And again. Game just spawns a train that should have passed you several times in a row.


Anyhow, I'm out and done with this topic. Thank You Dagger for posting this much needed thread.

 

I am not challenging your info regarding the game's internal scripts and AB's Scripthook. I think much of what you've provided is most helpful and informative. I am strictly challenging your claim that you got your mod list working without evidently bothering to test for train spawns in towns and compare the results to vanilla, because that will invariably cause confusion and misinformation amongst others and make them think that strictly looking at scripts in the wilderness is all they need to test for. I'm further challenging your implications that train spawning in settlements can't be compared between vanilla and modded states of the game, because that is simply not true. You can absolutely recognize the spawning patterns in vanilla and compare the frequency of train spawns to the game with mods installed, and they should be generally consistent. If they're not, and if you consistently DON'T see trains spawn in at multiple different settlements when monitoring the icons on the map using the Railroad Engineer mod, then you absolutely have a problem. The same thing is true of the train spawns in the wilderness, which you did evidently troubleshoot. So once again I am confused as to why you're acting so resistant to testing for trains in settlements, which is equally important. It's also important to point out that train spawning will break in settlements before it breaks out in the wilderness, further necessitating the need for testing there.

 

There are rough train schedules, just not strict ones. The game will generally create and track train routes at certain places at a certain time and not at other times even if the player is present or not present. Emerald Station proves this. From roughly 7:30 or 8 to 11 in the morning, there will be three trains that should appear there, one right after the other, at Emerald Station. This happens like clockwork every morning. If you head there at noon or 1 in the afternoon, those trains will not show up until considerably later when a train from Flatneck makes its way back up to Valentine and then past the oil fields toward Emerald again. If you monitor the train icons on the map with the Railroad mod you will see these icons come through Emerald at roughly that same time even if you are elsewhere in the game (they just won't be spawned in because the player is too far out of the vicinity, but should turn white and a train will appear as soon as you ride in close enough).

 

The icons in the Railroad Engineer mod should consistently turn white and a train should be spawned in once it draws near to you (there are rare occurrences when they don't, but again those occurrences are rare, and they spawn in consistently enough that a pattern allowing direct comparisons between vanilla and modded game states should definitely be able to be determined). A good place to test for this is in Rhodes if you wait outside the station on the side facing the tracks and monitor the icons. If you're having issues, the train icon will move right past you on the tracks remaining grayed out and you won't see a train. In vanilla, you will consistently see a train once that icon is near enough to the station. Annesburg is the same deal. Icons will move through the settlement past the station but will remain gray and no train will be visible if mods are breaking your spawns. Uninstall your mods, go back there, and wait for the train icons to approach. Bingo. Trains appear again. This happens all throughout the world and can be confirmed at pretty much every major settlement.

 

I'm not interested with whether or not the Railroad Engineer mod is 100% totally identical to vanilla train spawns (even though from my troubleshooting I've found that it is). I'm only interested with using it to monitor what the train spawn behavior is like without ANY OTHER mod present, and what the spawning behavior does as soon as other mods are introduced. It is absolutely dependable for that, because it is a constant in each test. And using it that way, it will help to reveal which other mods are problematic. If you have doubts, you can always remove the Railroad mod and test and see if your results are the same (which I almost guarantee they will be).

 

You're right. I don't care about your or anyone else's specific mod list. And I fully recognize that that's not what this thread is about. What I do care about though is testing methodology, specifically thorough testing, and not posting results making claims that you've fixed your game by following a specific testing method that wasn't as thorough as it should be. Testing for trains in settlements should be a given and an absolute no-brainer, and I don't consider ANY testing method to be adequate unless that is performed. When I asked if you'd done that, I expected you to say, "yes I did, and here's what I found," or "no I didn't, but I'll get back to you once I do." Instead, you've skirted around it and came up with various reasons for why it's supposedly too inconsistent to compare between vanilla and modded (it's not, and that is either the result of being ill-informed or disingenuous). And that's despite the fact that you've literally already been testing for trains in unpopulated areas for days following me making you aware to do that. Lol.

 

I'm also not sure why you took any of this so personally. It was merely an expectation on my part for you to be meticulous and diligent when posting results and testing methods, without blatantly leaving something out that others might not know to look for. I appreciate all the information and data you've provided so far. I just see no reason for you not to follow through completely instead of dipping out of the thread as soon as you're asked to check something you've clearly missed.

Edited May 20 by Dagger323

[SerjRozov 0]

@Dagger323 can you make a video where 3 trains passing you by at Emerald? I cant repro it with both john and arthur with the vanilla game.

[HarrietOrtega 9]

Maybe it is prudent that you all come together and cement a test conditions as well as control conditions for people to follow. You can't get reliable test data when everyone is doing things differently and there is no control.

 

So stop the back and forth, come together and see if you can outline some form of test and control conditions that others as well as yourselves can follow, without that, nobodies data and results means anything...just my thoughts.

 

[Skadodong 0]

2 hours ago, HarrietOrtega said:

Maybe it is prudent that you all come together and cement a test conditions as well as control conditions for people to follow. You can't get reliable test data when everyone is doing things differently and there is no control.

 

So stop the back and forth, come together and see if you can outline some form of test and control conditions that others as well as yourselves can follow, without that, nobodies data and results means anything...just my thoughts.

 

Yes this is actually a better resolve. I vote to have a dedicated Discord server for the people who are actively lurking on this thread and help with the mega testing

[Dagger323 34]

7 hours ago, SerjRozov said:

@Dagger323 can you make a video where 3 trains passing you by at Emerald? I cant repro it with both john and arthur with the vanilla game.

I'll see what I can do later when I get the time but frankly it seems unnecessary. There's no reason you shouldn't be seeing them if you've cleaned your game folder of all mods and are visiting Emerald Station at the approximate times I mentioned before. Use the Railroad Engineer mod to help monitor when the train icons are approaching Emerald Station and wait for them by the station to pull into the stop. If those icons remain grayed out and pass by the station without a train showing up, then something is still inhibiting your spawns.

Edited May 22 by Dagger323

[Dagger323 34]

7 hours ago, HarrietOrtega said:

Maybe it is prudent that you all come together and cement a test conditions as well as control conditions for people to follow. You can't get reliable test data when everyone is doing things differently and there is no control.

 

So stop the back and forth, come together and see if you can outline some form of test and control conditions that others as well as yourselves can follow, without that, nobodies data and results means anything...just my thoughts.

 

That's exactly what I'm trying to do. If you read my previous comment, I explained to koazzz777 that his testing method was incomplete, because he left out a very important aspect of troubleshooting that is critical to perform in order to cover all bases. If he'd done that, then I'd say his testing method would have been the most thorough presented so far. Instead he dismissed it and made excuses for why there's "too many variables" to test for trains in settlements, despite apparently not thinking there were too many variables to check train spawns in the wilderness previously as per my suggestion, even going so far as to confirm that my method was "foolproof". The "back and forth" is me trying to ensure thoroughness and consistency in testing methodology; nothing more. I'm not going to just not say anything if I recognize a blatant aspect of troubleshooting that someone isn't doing. It's also a bit difficult to "come together" to solidify testing methods when the person you're responding to randomly decides to leave the thread as soon as you ask them to verify something they missed.

Edited May 22 by Dagger323

[Dagger323 34]

4 hours ago, Skadodong said:

Yes this is actually a better resolve. I vote to have a dedicated Discord server for the people who are actively lurking on this thread and help with the mega testing

The last thing we need is yet another discord server. This is the problem that numerous users replying here have already pointed out with this community: everything's hidden behind discord servers, not out in the open where people can find the information easily and accessibly. It's the very reason I made this forum thread the way that I did. If people have information to share, there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be sharing it here.

Edited May 22 by Dagger323

[Skadodong 0]

23 hours ago, Dagger323 said:

The last thing we need is yet another discord server. This is the problem that numerous users replying here have already pointed out with this community: everything's hidden behind discord servers, not out in the open where people can find the information easily and accessibly. It's the very reason I made this forum thread the way that I did. If people have information to share, there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be sharing it here.

 

The discord server is for the team testing to those who are willing to do it, so we could test a lot of variables at the same time while on a voice chat/ or general chat. We could do it on a certain schedule where the testers are available. You could lead the testing since you have some key ideas what the culprit may be. My idea is just to hasten our search of the conclusion to this problem. Anyways, this thread will always be here So we can always come here to post some updates, you can edit your post and attach the link to the discord server. So nothing really is ever behind the curtain because this issue is already widespread in the modding community of this game. 

Cheers

Edited May 22 by Skadodong

[Dagger323 34]

15 hours ago, Skadodong said:

 

The discord server is for the team testing to those who are willing to do it, so we could test a lot of variables at the same time while on a voice chat/ or general chat. We could do it on a certain schedule where the testers are available. You could lead the testing since you have some key ideas what the culprit may be. My idea is just to hasten our search of the conclusion to this problem. Anyways, this thread will always be here So we can always come here to post some updates, you can edit your post and attach the link to the discord server. So nothing really is ever behind the curtain because this issue is already widespread in the modding community of this game. 

Cheers

I don't see that being very beneficial. Neither I nor anyone else actively troubleshooting this issue is an advanced coder of any sort. We're merely modders who (mostly) know how to test for spawning issues and identify problematic mods, not how to fix them. Hastening to find a conclusion with the knowledge and tools we currently have available is futile. The most effective methods right now for troubleshooting and identifying spawning bugs have, in my opinion, already been presented. And the best place for presenting potential new info is still in this thread. This isn't going to get solved by a group in private voice chat going over the same things that are already being discussed in this thread. At the end of the day, people still have to test for themselves. I have no way to know what specific mod lists people are trying to use, and with the amount of variables involved, there is no quick easy method for troubleshooting. Nor will there be. The best option is simply to be thorough and cover all bases, making sure to test for train spawns as I mentioned before and combining that with the script monitoring that koazzz777 described. In addition, testing mods one by one is also crucial. The most you can hope for right now is simply to mitigate the spawning issues as much as possible by removing problematic mods you've identified and make compromises for what you're willing to deal with if you still want to use certain mods. I realize that you and many others want this problem resolved, as do I. But without more advanced technical coding knowledge and an extensive understanding of how the game's engine works, or without someone with that experience involved, this situation is not going to be concluded any time soon. Or ever. Which is a reality we may have to come to terms with. Though I hope not.

Edited May 23 by Dagger323

[Cratthorax 1]

On 4/27/2024 at 6:01 PM, JKL409 said:

You seem to think we're trying to create a witch hunt against mod creators, at least I think that's what your asserting, although to be honest I'm finding quite it hard to understand what your overall point actually is, "besides we're all just unknowledgable idiots!..". 

 

This threads purpose is simply to warn people of this issue, investigate it further and attempt to find an overarching solution. 

 

See, that's the problem. You don't "warn", you fuzz up people for the wrong reasons. And it's not an author witchhunt, but a "not" user witchhunt, which it is supposed to be. Is there a circus in town?

 

See, the general issue is the game itself and how mod authors need to utilize tick based injection, to forward their scripted changes/additions. Unfortunately the issue gets amplified by the fact that some script mods were never updated(addressing changes in the script variables introduced by game updates), or were updated falsely due to the incompetence of some "updaters". Some of them basically just took the Github source and recompiled under a new version sign, never addressing the issues caused by the old script vars and functions.

 

Then you are having the same issue with texture creating authors. Some create(d) unique content, some never update, some just took the old format, repacked and posted on the Nexus. Some textures were updated with game updates, some of the authors addressed the update, others did not, and authors simply repacking or porting to new game versions certainly in most cases did not do it correctly.

 

Then you are having authors messing with streamed or replaced table files. Some of them use the .ymt's and .meta files from the RDR2 Offline mod, some others were using outdated tables from mods developed before the "big crunch" 2022 update. Some authors just didn't care enough to create updated content and sometimes didn't even care to address the fact they were using Offline mod tables, or "sourced"(repacked *cough cough*) from other mods.

 

This game is not the mod authors/user's paradise we get for games with support of official tools, like virtually everything Bethesda, or Witcher, or Valve games etc. and it certainly doesn't get any better if you try to utilize online content introduced in a rather hacky way(because the game doesn't leave you no other option). One has to consider how sensible one is to bugs, crashes, and other things that one feels "are not right". And only if one is a really hardcore sadomasochist, he shall go on adding an uncountable quantity of mods. You've been warned after all!!!

 

So? Sounds like a crazy mess, doesn't it? Because in essence that is what RDR2 modding is. One "sane" way to do it right is to not make use of any mods pre 2022 update, unless you 100% for sure verified they are working fine and dandy. How do you do this? Well, the only way is to restart the game over and over again with a set of mods and trying to verifie issues. Some .asi based mods are save to install/deinstall mid game, but not all, so it's up to the user to maybe start with a core set of mods and then only adding mods one at a time. And by one at a time I literally mean that. Add one mod, play with it for a week, then move on adding the next one. Do not deinstall but up on experiencing bugs, keep playing the game until it breaks, then start a new.

 

The issue is also, the game does not only suffer from malfunctioning spawns due to most certainly wrong table files, preferably blaming the metapeds.ymt or any other table files, dealing with spawns for example. But it also has the issue to create the notorious FFFFFFFF error, on randomly adding and removing .asi based mods. Some of those .asi mods have table files packed inside, so you can't even say if one of the files you suspect causing issues is present, unless the author has open sourced their development on Github. Hence why you, as a mod user, will not get around the tedious job of verifiying every single mod in your list, against all the others by playing the game and starting over...and over...and over again. I did that by the way. Here's my mod list and aside from the usual "random encounter engine ruins immersion by fudging up menus, or other interaction"-vanilla bug, there isn't an awful lot of really serious problems. I mean, ok, there are Robin's...but that's a different story.

 

Spoiler

1. Basic Needs

2. Horse Needs

3. Humidity and Thermal Overhaul aka Frostfall for RDR2

4. Blood Bath aka Bloodlust

5. Disable Enemy Radar

6. Hardcore Mode

7. LAW

8. No Hitmarkers

9. Penetration

10. Realistic Reload

11. Timescale 1.4 <- only use the one by @WickedHorseMan, because all the other most certainly broke my test games at least twice

12. Calorie Descriptions

13. Fast Menus (by WickedHorseMan)

14. MessageTimerFix

15. Rename Outfits

16. Skip Intro

17. Auto Gold Medals

18. Herbalist

19. Auto Craft

20. Auto Looting

21. Auto Greet

22. Bucket Wash

23. Campfire Weapon Locker

24. Collectables in Range

25. Extra Difficulty Settings

26. High Stakes

27. Less Money Hardcore

28. Mission Control

29. More Presistent Weather

30. No Reload&Glow aka @Bohmin70's "Softcore"

31. No Sliding

32. No Speed Limits

33. Plant Finder

34. Smoking Complete

35. Stash Lantern

36. Vegetation Trick aka Stinging Cactus etc.

37. Hotkey Mod

 

You will notice some things:

 

1. no texture replacers whatsoever, unless part of a mod that had it

2. most mods are by one and the same author, and that's not a coincidence, but reason

3. I avoid mods adding new content either via Map Editor and/or .asi injection like the plague...again...for a reason based on trial and fail

4. I do not use any Online content enablers...also reason, not coincidence

 

The reasoning for 3(and maybe expandable to 4)? FFFFFFF, and FFFFFFF, and FFFFFFF. Random btw. Not controlable or fixable by rearranging mods in the list, removing mods, or use different versions from different authors. Exceptionally every mod that I was testing that added any new form, and it wasn't limited to random encounters, at one point started to mess up the game. Very often FFFFFFFF'ing near camps, often crashing for no reason and without log. Rather frequently creating menu or interaction based issues, less frequently but still annoying simply messing with spawn, like spawn appearing right in your face, randomly disappearing right out of your face, randomly disappearing if you had looked the opposite direction for 3-4 seconds. I mean, literally ghosted those peds out of my sight.

 

And it doesn't stop here, because, unfortunately, the game is in a "typically ported from console to PC" broken state of art. The menu, hotkey and "immersive" animation(I mean, why can I interrupt the initial Domino animation, but not the inbetween for a shortcut? <- one of many examples) shenanigans are often outrageous by design, and so is the way they implemented AMD/Nvidia based graphical enhancers(you best keep it turned off and use Tridingsbums). But the worst of all: that damn cracklig sound bug. Luckily I finally seem to have found a solution to the latter. Start the game and have it running for some minutes before loading a savegame. This fixed the crackling in virtually 100% of my testing since I've found that solution(workaround). 

 

So my recommendation:

 

1. understand that the game itself is a mess and extremely fragile and sensible to "content overload" vs "machine capacity"(aka your computer specs vs how many thousands of mods you use)

2. all .asi mods use tick injection...this means ALL code is executed on a time based update tick...and we are not talking about every minute, 10 seconds, or second etc...we are talking about thousands lines of code injected into the game virtually in real time, because the majority of native scripters for RDR2 chose a high tick rate...most probably because they DO NOT overload their games with thousands of mods, and so couldn't care less...you know, less is more...

3. high resolution textures will produce more workload and eat up virtually all memory regardless of GPU, CPU(cache), or RAM. It also doesn't care if you vary your buffering size or whatever comes to mind that can potentially increase performance, because it's literally David fighting Goliath, only Goliath has a bazillion of bits fired at your system in real time with a big ass Railgun as amplificator

4. "My system can run it and probably eat the game for breakfeast, even when using thousands of mods" is the wrong attitude, because it has to be more like "system can run it but still want to keep a decent buffer to counter the to be expected peaks and spikes in workload"

 

As I said before, I'm not posting a wall of shame, but there are two particular mod authors that you absolutely do not want to use mods from, because their content is producing memory leaks in virtually every mod they provided, I tested, and sometimes had the chance to review the source, due to an overlook on their side. Figure yourself.

 

So please excuse me now, I'm about to reform my hotkey setup. About time things get a bit more organized and efficient in that regard. Damn key combos tend to break my fingers.

Edited May 26 by Cratthorax

[Delesthor 1]

how do you use smoking complete without online content unlocker ? and why timescale 1.4 is better than longer days ? thank you

Edited May 27 by Delesthor

[Gunter Severloh 47]

5 hours ago, Delesthor said:

how do you use smoking complete without online content unlocker ?

With version.dll

[WildWestWeb 0]

I'm following this topic for a while now and started doing some testing of my own. Mostly I did some tests with only a few .asi mods, including one that I'm working on to see if any of them break the animals/ped spawns or trains. So far peds and animals seem fine. Today I added whyems dlc, and peds/animals trams (4~6 passengers) seem ok. I found this native here on the db _GET_NUM_FREE_SLOTS_IN_PED_POOL ()  //0x313778EDCA9158E2. So far the lowest value this has returned me was 8, never reaching 0. I don't know if this is of any use though, since I don't have previous exp modding R* games, and I'm not yet familiarized whith the game's engine.

 

One thing I have yet to test more in depth with my current game and mod list is the trains. I plan on doing that tomorrow if I get the time. Also I'll try to do some more research online to see if I find any info on how the game engine works with handling scripts, pools, memory etc.

 

I'm also going to take a look at Rampage trainer, to see if I can get any useful info about what the F is going on.

 

Oh, btw. I kept adding mods during my playthrough and never noticed any of these issues until I accidentally stumbled upon this thread. 

[Cratthorax 1]

On 5/27/2024 at 6:33 PM, Delesthor said:

how do you use smoking complete without online content unlocker ? and why timescale 1.4 is better than longer days ? thank you

 

I should, of course, have pointed that out, yes.

 

I'm using LML, ScriptHook and the version.dll from this website, not the Nexus. I did then replace the .dll inside script hook with an updated version.dll(not using the dx8.dll coming with ScriptHook), though I can not remember where I've gotten it from. One thing I do however remember, is that I did not use the "updated" version of ScriptHook labeled "2.0"(on the Nexus) or so, because it gave me issues right away.

 

I should also have been more specific about "mods adding new content". By that I primarily pointed at mods that are using the random encounter engine. Those were the major source for FFFFFFF's. Mods that just added probs or "static" peds(like in Harlots etc.) were ok so far, aside from the usual menu interferences. But that's messed up vanilla already, so it's not that of a major impact. I also had a lot of trouble with mods trying to port over specific "online jobs". A couple of them were failing most of the time, some were working ok, but none of them went free of bugs or other trouble that I couldn't cope with.

 

I just installed OpenIV the other day and slow but steadily start to build my own mods, primarily using NP++ to compare files against each other. And while doing so I figured there's a lot of mods that are using outdated table files, with entirely missing content introduced by either any of the game patches, or any of the DLC's&Special versions of the game. There were also mods that just blatantly ignorant used table files build with Offline Mod. They seem to have completely ignored the fact it has some major table edits/additions, that, of course, will mess up the game if Offline Mod isn't present. But they never mentioned that on the description page.

 

Description culture on the Nexus is already bad as it is, even for some of the most decent modders. Then you have comments disabled on a lot of those pages. But comments are vital to allow the community to help themselves. I have no idea who started it, but it is not a good idea at all, specially if some of the mod pages are missing bare bone essential instructions, like installing routine, or prerequsites.

 

Mods I've just added this week:

 

38. Companion System

39. Rampage

40. Injuries

 

And one mod I omitted from last post is "Predator Rework", which makes it so some Predators will flee if you shoot in the air.

Edited June 1 by Cratthorax

[PeterSteiner 0]

Does this break savefiles?

[PeterSteiner 0]

On 5/7/2024 at 11:34 PM, kaozzz777 said:

Sidenote:
I also strongly recommend that you purge your documents folder entirely and start fresh. Seriously, the game can get super finicky.
On Nexus recently someone uploaded a fresh save for the last game build. Use it.
If you have overlays, make sure nothing is running when you try to evaluate mods/spawns.


And to people still underestimating the issue, the stuff that is not spawning if the game brakes is absolutely ridicoules. Use the fresh savefile with a clean game and you'll see. Start of chapter 2 the amount of animals and NPCs in great variety spawning hits you right in the face even when you just leave the hideout. Game has an entire zoo and safari to experience,

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Stags fighting and clashing their antlers, flocks of cayotes, horses, deers and wolves roaming their terretories, hawks catching snakes and rabbits, ton of small animals hushing over the grounds. I even saw a crocodile dragging a boar into water and killing it. There really is a ton of stuff in the game, so I dunno how much NPC and random encounters can be missed aswell when the engine brakes.

 

What do you mean? Old saves are corrupted now?

[Dagger323 34]

3 hours ago, PeterSteiner said:

Does this break savefiles?

I have never once experienced lingering spawning issues that persist affecting saves themselves after problematic mods are removed, so I don't personally believe this is something to worry about. To be safe and thorough though, using a fresh save file as a baseline during troubleshooting might be a good idea.

[PeterSteiner 0]

Due to this, I was forced to remove all my mods and play vanilla. What a pity!

 

RDR2 modding is dead.

[Delesthor 1]

there is a mod on nexus that fixes several graphical issues https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/3728 

i see that it streams some .yft and .ydr files and increases the pedlodbias to 1.0 through the system settings , i was wondering if anyone has spawning issues with this one or problems with pools by increasing the Lod in general

[Dagger323 34]

12 hours ago, Delesthor said:

there is a mod on nexus that fixes several graphical issues https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/3728 

i see that it streams some .yft and .ydr files and increases the pedlodbias to 1.0 through the system settings , i was wondering if anyone has spawning issues with this one or problems with pools by increasing the Lod in general

The majority of the fixes in that mod don't seem to have any negative effects on spawns, including increases to pedLodBias, which I have personally also tested by manually editing that and even the vehicleLodBias values in the system.xml. However, the same cannot be said for the LOD scale (which if I remember right is not altered by that mod at all). I mentioned previously in this thread that any increase in the LOD scale will immediately have detrimental effects on spawns due to the fact that you are rendering many more high resolution textures further away from the camera, straining the game's resources. I recommend staying away from any changes to the LOD scale for this reason.

Edited June 3 by Dagger323

[Mr.White 0]

Hey guys,

I'm new to the game and as soon as I noticed some annoying stuff I started modding it ahah
Checking on google for a problem with the ASI loader (solved) I stumbled on this post, read everything and got worried...

Since I just roamed around valentine and did a couple quests I have not a big "experience" about the world and I'm worried I'm gonna ruin the experience without even noticing... Do you think these tools + mods are ok or will break the game?

 

Tools

• LML (obviously)
• ASI loader shipped with the scripthook ver 1.0.1491.17 at enbdev (all the others I tried worked the 1st time, but upon restart the rockstar launcher would hang)
• ScriptHookRDR2 V2 (instead of the 'enbdev' version I used kepmehz one from nexus, just because it's apparently newer and updated by him - the asi loader he provides tho was one of those that wouldn't work)
• Online Content Unlocker (the lml one from nexus by energidaan, without "version.dll" that I read causes issues to many, needed for smoking complete)

Mods

• Walking Control Complete
• Smoking Complete
• Custom First Person FOV
• Disable Horse Holstering 1.4
• Restored PED dialogues

I thought they were pretty safe (and very recent) QOL addons, but the Custom FOV one is .ymt and from 2021, so gets me double worried + I read here also the content unlocker can be troublesome

From your experience are those ok, or should I remove them and revert back to a vanilla save (which luckily I have)?

I wanted to install also the remade gun metals mod but now I refrain


PS: while we are at it, since I have a vanilla save and a modded one, I can test something if you need

Cheers!

[Dagger323 34]

6 hours ago, Mr.White said:

Hey guys,

I'm new to the game and as soon as I noticed some annoying stuff I started modding it ahah
Checking on google for a problem with the ASI loader (solved) I stumbled on this post, read everything and got worried...

Since I just roamed around valentine and did a couple quests I have not a big "experience" about the world and I'm worried I'm gonna ruin the experience without even noticing... Do you think these tools + mods are ok or will break the game?

 

Tools

• LML (obviously)
• ASI loader shipped with the scripthook ver 1.0.1491.17 at enbdev (all the others I tried worked the 1st time, but upon restart the rockstar launcher would hang)
• ScriptHookRDR2 V2 (instead of the 'enbdev' version I used kepmehz one from nexus, just because it's apparently newer and updated by him - the asi loader he provides tho was one of those that wouldn't work)
• Online Content Unlocker (the lml one from nexus by energidaan, without "version.dll" that I read causes issues to many, needed for smoking complete)

Mods

• Walking Control Complete
• Smoking Complete
• Custom First Person FOV
• Disable Horse Holstering 1.4
• Restored PED dialogues

I thought they were pretty safe (and very recent) QOL addons, but the Custom FOV one is .ymt and from 2021, so gets me double worried + I read here also the content unlocker can be troublesome

From your experience are those ok, or should I remove them and revert back to a vanilla save (which luckily I have)?

I wanted to install also the remade gun metals mod but now I refrain


PS: while we are at it, since I have a vanilla save and a modded one, I can test something if you need

Cheers!

I have only ever used Smoking Complete and Realistic Gun Metals out of those mods you listed. I haven't personally experienced spawning issues with them installed. But you need to test each and every mod you use for yourself, one by one. Only you can determine if they're causing you issues. Do not just rely on the testimonies of others. Certain combinations of mods might also be affecting things for you that without that specific mod list may not affect someone else's game. TEST EVERYTHING FOR YOURSELF.