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

[bobbymilwaukee 0]

On 10/30/2024 at 6:20 AM, werwolf969 said:

If the mod uses uncompressed textures, you should repack it with compressed ones. If the mod streams game textures, you need to modify the install.xml file to use the replacing method instead of streaming them. This approach won't work for newly added textures, so files with them can only be streamed.

You should also increase the resource pools for textures, drawables, fragments, and other parts of the game engine, including peds and weapon components. The exact amount you should increase depends on your computer's capabilities. To start, you can combine the gameconfig.xml and systemsettings.ymt files from different Nexus mods and set all the values to their maximum.

But overall, you will soon find limitations and have to choose between having dense cities and open spaces, trains, trams, or HiRes graphics everywhere.

How do I increase the resource pool? I don't use WhyEm or RDO, but I do use all of garbageman's Upscales which is the straw that breaks the camel's back in my game. I have 3tb on a 4070ti

[werwolf969 32]

1 hour ago, bobbymilwaukee said:

How do I increase the resource pool? I don't use WhyEm or RDO, but I do use all of garbageman's Upscales which is the straw that breaks the camel's back in my game. I have 3tb on a 4070ti

You need to edit the gameconfig.xml file and replace it with the LML. You can find some of these files on Nexus. I can provide you with mine, which has been edited for my specific specs. Also, you need to edit the systemsettings.ymt file and replace it with an LML, it's in this archive too. You can try it out. Finally, you must edit the system.xml file in "Documents\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2\Settings". Find and change the line for <maxTexUpgradesPerFrame value="25">, make the system.xml read-only after, since the game will overwrite this change when it starts. It is important that you set the texture quality to Ultra in the game settings, otherwise some resource pools will not be applied and you may experience many crashes, stuttering, and so on.

If your game starts crashing a lot after all these changes, then you should lower the values. You can use the gameconfig.xml_gameorg file inside my archive to check the default values as well as on Nexus, in different comment sections for similar game config mods.

Gameconfig.7z

Edited October 31 by werwolf969

[bobbymilwaukee 0]

1 hour ago, werwolf969 said:

You need to edit the gameconfig.xml file and replace it with the LML. You can find some of these files on Nexus. I can provide you with mine, which has been edited for my specific specs. Also, you need to edit the systemsettings.ymt file and replace it with an LML, it's in this archive too. You can try it out. Finally, you must edit the system.xml file in "Documents\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2\Settings". Find and change the line for <maxTexUpgradesPerFrame value="25">, make the system.xml read-only after, since the game will overwrite this change when it starts. It is important that you set the texture quality to Ultra in the game settings, otherwise some resource pools will not be applied and you may experience many crashes, stuttering, and so on.

If your game starts crashing a lot after all these changes, then you should lower the values. You can use the gameconfig.xml_gameorg file inside my archive to check the default values as well as on Nexus, in different comment sections for similar game config mods.

Gameconfig.7z 18.38 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks, I'm reinstalling RDR2 from scratch now to test exactly which mods give me problems.

What should I edit the UpgradesPerFrame value to?

 

What specs are you running / are you using texture mods + WhyEm? I really have everything I want except for the WickedHorseman suite and garbageman's Upscaled textures, but looking like those aren't an option due to just how many textures they remake. Since they aren't in the stream folder, are you saying I can compress them to make them work? Appreciate your time, aside from dropping files into the root or lml folder, I'm not very seasoned in this.

 

 

[werwolf969 32]

3 minutes ago, bobbymilwaukee said:

What should I edit the UpgradesPerFrame value to?

With systemsettings.yml editing, we can increase that to 25, as I mentioned in a previous post, but it looks like there is a hardcoded limit in the game engine, so increasing it further doesn't provide any benefits.

4 minutes ago, bobbymilwaukee said:

What specs are you running / are you using texture mods + WhyEm?

5950x/ 32Gb/ NVMe/ 4080. Game graphics settings combined from different optimized guides in YT, maxed out where needed. Mods with textures that I can run without any problems with spawning. Some of them have been repacked or changed from using the streaming method to the replacement method for their assets.:

Blackwater Terrain Textures Overhaul
CharactersOverhaul
Terrain Textures Overhaul
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Animals AIO
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Bottles
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Documents
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Fires
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled General Store Props
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Gravestones
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Jails
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Journal
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Objects
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Signs & Posters
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Vegetation
Complete Horse Overhaul
lodscale 1.75-2.0
WhyEm's DLC/ RDO merge

 

I cannot use any weapon packs like 1899 Firearms, Firearm Cosmetics — Carvings and Grips, or Munitions without problems with spawning. Even after repacking and downscaling the textures (and fixing any incorrect sizes, such as 64x63 or 1025x513), and running only one of these mods, the game still has spawning issues. This is a big disappointment.

Increasing the streaming pool size further does not help and can lead to game instability.

 

15 minutes ago, bobbymilwaukee said:

Since they aren't in the stream folder, are you saying I can compress them to make them work?

Short answer - No. As mentioned above, the problem lies not only in the texture format but also in how the game handles streaming textures. Since LML doesn't allow for adding new textures without streaming them, we are unable to create new graphical assets without this feature.

It's difficult to determine the exact cause of our problems because I am unaware of how the game engine handles streamed assets. However, we have raised the limits for the scripting pools enough to run any number of .asi mods. This is another issue, as there are currently not much properly updated or working script mods available for RDR2.

The size of the resource pools for graphics assets such as textures and models is not enough even after increasing them. You can increase the limits for peds, but you will still have issues with trains and pedestrians in trams, unfortunately.

 

17 minutes ago, bobbymilwaukee said:

dropping files into the root or lml folder

Just a heads up: my gameconfig folder needed to be placed inside the LML folder. So, you should now have a file called install.xml located in the LML\Gameconfig folder, along with other related files.

[bobbymilwaukee 0]

16 minutes ago, werwolf969 said:

With systemsettings.yml editing, we can increase that to 25, as I mentioned in a previous post, but it looks like there is a hardcoded limit in the game engine, so increasing it further doesn't provide any benefits.

5950x/ 32Gb/ NVMe/ 4080. Game graphics settings combined from different optimized guides in YT, maxed out where needed. Mods with textures that I can run without any problems with spawning. Some of them have been repacked or changed from using the streaming method to the replacement method for their assets.:

Blackwater Terrain Textures Overhaul
CharactersOverhaul
Terrain Textures Overhaul
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Animals AIO
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Bottles
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Documents
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Fires
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled General Store Props
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Gravestones
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Jails
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Journal
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Objects
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Signs & Posters
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Vegetation
Complete Horse Overhaul
lodscale 1.75-2.0
WhyEm's DLC/ RDO merge

 

I cannot use any weapon packs like 1899 Firearms, Firearm Cosmetics — Carvings and Grips, or Munitions without problems with spawning. Even after repacking and downscaling the textures (and fixing any incorrect sizes, such as 64x63 or 1025x513), and running only one of these mods, the game still has spawning issues. This is a big disappointment.

Increasing the streaming pool size further does not help and can lead to game instability.

 

Short answer - No. As mentioned above, the problem lies not only in the texture format but also in how the game handles streaming textures. Since LML doesn't allow for adding new textures without streaming them, we are unable to create new graphical assets without this feature.

It's difficult to determine the exact cause of our problems because I am unaware of how the game engine handles streamed assets. However, we have raised the limits for the scripting pools enough to run any number of .asi mods. This is another issue, as there are currently not much properly updated or working script mods available for RDR2.

The size of the resource pools for graphics assets such as textures and models is not enough even after increasing them. You can increase the limits for peds, but you will still have issues with trains and pedestrians in trams, unfortunately.

 

Just a heads up: my gameconfig folder needed to be placed inside the LML folder. So, you should now have a file called install.xml located in the LML\Gameconfig folder, along with other related files.

Damn, you’ve managed a lot of texture mods. Gonna give this a try when I get home

[werwolf969 32]

12 minutes ago, bobbymilwaukee said:

Damn, you’ve managed a lot of texture mods. Gonna give this a try when I get home

There are many factors that can affect this problem. Even the resolution you play the game in can make a difference. If you play at 1080p, you'll have a lower chance of experiencing the ped/train issue.

I play at 1440p. I think that if I added ten more texture mods that only replace existing textures and don't add any new textures or models, the game would work just fine. For example, I could use the mods from Upscaled Items Hub. These mods are safe to use in large quantities, although they might need some minor adjustments to the install.xml file.

Unfortunately, we still don't have a common standard for mods that are not recommended for use and need to be redesigned to be safe for use in a single pack. Also, we don't have any script-based addons that can extend the game engine's resources pool to allow full hardware usage based on PC specifications, not just the game engine's internal limits.

Edited October 31 by werwolf969

[RLTYProds 1]

Do you guys think that maybe cutting a lot of fat from WhyEm's DLC will help? There's some buggy items there (like the holsters that don't holster guns), and some items I can do without (like many of the saddles).

I'd say this is ideal, because surely WhyEm would allow this since it does not copy their work and we're only altering the files that get loaded, and if we know how to do it for ourselves we won't need to distribute/upload anything without their permission. The only problem is I do not know how to cut out the parts I do not want from WhyEm's DLC...

=======================================

UPDATE: This method definitely works. I only use a few choice items from WhyEm, so I started deleting .ytd files that *don't* sound like they could be the 5 clothes and 2 masks that I use. Testing it with Saint Denis trolleys, as it seems that they're the most easily affected by the spawning issue, so if there's no passengers, then you gotta step back on your mods/textures. After deleting over 700+ files, the passengers are instantly back after I load in and don't disappear after moving around.

With that said, there's *got* to be a better method than this. If we could remove the guesswork by figuring out which items are connected to which textures, it would be a godsend.

Edited November 1 by RLTYProds

[werwolf969 32]

5 hours ago, RLTYProds said:

If we could remove the guesswork by figuring out which items are connected to which textures

You can check which item is uses which ytd file by opening "Item_Strings\strings.gxt2" with any text editor and find there hex hash value from "Item_Database\shop_items.ymt" and there from "Item_Database\assets_albedo.ymt". The same method applies to material and normal map textures.

Edited November 1 by werwolf969

[deadwoodd 1]

On 10/31/2024 at 6:05 PM, werwolf969 said:

With systemsettings.yml editing, we can increase that to 25, as I mentioned in a previous post, but it looks like there is a hardcoded limit in the game engine, so increasing it further doesn't provide any benefits.

5950x/ 32Gb/ NVMe/ 4080. Game graphics settings combined from different optimized guides in YT, maxed out where needed. Mods with textures that I can run without any problems with spawning. Some of them have been repacked or changed from using the streaming method to the replacement method for their assets.:

Blackwater Terrain Textures Overhaul
CharactersOverhaul
Terrain Textures Overhaul
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Animals AIO
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Bottles
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Documents
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Fires
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled General Store Props
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Gravestones
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Jails
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Journal
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Objects
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Signs & Posters
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Vegetation
Complete Horse Overhaul
lodscale 1.75-2.0
WhyEm's DLC/ RDO merge

 

I cannot use any weapon packs like 1899 Firearms, Firearm Cosmetics — Carvings and Grips, or Munitions without problems with spawning. Even after repacking and downscaling the textures (and fixing any incorrect sizes, such as 64x63 or 1025x513), and running only one of these mods, the game still has spawning issues. This is a big disappointment.

Increasing the streaming pool size further does not help and can lead to game instability.

 

Short answer - No. As mentioned above, the problem lies not only in the texture format but also in how the game handles streaming textures. Since LML doesn't allow for adding new textures without streaming them, we are unable to create new graphical assets without this feature.

It's difficult to determine the exact cause of our problems because I am unaware of how the game engine handles streamed assets. However, we have raised the limits for the scripting pools enough to run any number of .asi mods. This is another issue, as there are currently not much properly updated or working script mods available for RDR2.

The size of the resource pools for graphics assets such as textures and models is not enough even after increasing them. You can increase the limits for peds, but you will still have issues with trains and pedestrians in trams, unfortunately.

 

Just a heads up: my gameconfig folder needed to be placed inside the LML folder. So, you should now have a file called install.xml located in the LML\Gameconfig folder, along with other related files.

 

How exactly are you creating the install.xml's? Are you actually going through each individual file and putting them each into the install.xml? There's no way, right? Because I can't imagine how long that would take to do each individual file. Are you using a script or something?

Edited November 1 by deadwoodd

[werwolf969 32]

7 hours ago, deadwoodd said:

Are you using a script or something?

I created my own script that matches the game path to the file and mounting points in LML and removes duplicates in process, because some mounting points in LML aggregates few game archives. I copy the full path into a text file, provide the folder with mod files and the path to this file to the script, and then it automatically generates an install.xml with the correct game path nodes. Here's script code if you want to tinker with it by yourself:

https://pastebin.com/HpZbq6Fe

You need to specify the source folder where the files that must be included in install.xml are placed as well as the source_paths.txt file with the full file path copied from OpenIV or CodeX. The output file will be named EasyInstall.xml, so you can check it before replacing the existing install.xml. Also, the node author is your nickname, so you can replace it.

Edited November 2 by werwolf969

[deadwoodd 1]

1 hour ago, werwolf969 said:

I created my own script that matches the game path to the file and mounting points in LML and removes duplicates in process, because some mounting points in LML aggregates few game archives. I copy the full path into a text file, provide the folder with mod files and the path to this file to the script, and then it automatically generates an install.xml with the correct game path nodes. Here's script code if you want to tinker with it by yourself:
https://pastebin.com/mL7qz3yx

You need to specify the source folder where the files that must be included in install.xml are placed as well as the source_paths.txt file with the full file path copied from OpenIV or CodeX. The output file will be named EasyInstall.xml, so you can check it before replacing the existing install.xml. Also, the node author is your nickname, so you can replace it.

 

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you very much!

[werwolf969 32]

Found a flaw in my previous install.xml generator script - for some reason, the LML will not use its extra:/ mount point, so all the MP/DLC content that the mods usually change (like, Complete Horse Overhaul or Firearms Grips and Carvings) will not be replaced, leading to undesired in-game behaviour. I fixed the script and updated the link in the previous post. Sorry for the oversight.

[s.ali 0]

hi

is there anyway you can share whyem compressed files ?

Edited November 2 by s.ali

[UncleISRED 2]

On 10/31/2024 at 10:05 PM, werwolf969 said:

With systemsettings.yml editing, we can increase that to 25, as I mentioned in a previous post, but it looks like there is a hardcoded limit in the game engine, so increasing it further doesn't provide any benefits.

5950x/ 32Gb/ NVMe/ 4080. Game graphics settings combined from different optimized guides in YT, maxed out where needed. Mods with textures that I can run without any problems with spawning. Some of them have been repacked or changed from using the streaming method to the replacement method for their assets.:

Blackwater Terrain Textures Overhaul
CharactersOverhaul
Terrain Textures Overhaul
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Animals AIO
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Bottles
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Documents
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Fires
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled General Store Props
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Gravestones
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Jails
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Journal
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Objects
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Signs & Posters
Upscaled Textures/Upscaled Vegetation
Complete Horse Overhaul
lodscale 1.75-2.0
WhyEm's DLC/ RDO merge

 

I cannot use any weapon packs like 1899 Firearms, Firearm Cosmetics — Carvings and Grips, or Munitions without problems with spawning. Even after repacking and downscaling the textures (and fixing any incorrect sizes, such as 64x63 or 1025x513), and running only one of these mods, the game still has spawning issues. This is a big disappointment.

Increasing the streaming pool size further does not help and can lead to game instability.

 

Short answer - No. As mentioned above, the problem lies not only in the texture format but also in how the game handles streaming textures. Since LML doesn't allow for adding new textures without streaming them, we are unable to create new graphical assets without this feature.

It's difficult to determine the exact cause of our problems because I am unaware of how the game engine handles streamed assets. However, we have raised the limits for the scripting pools enough to run any number of .asi mods. This is another issue, as there are currently not much properly updated or working script mods available for RDR2.

The size of the resource pools for graphics assets such as textures and models is not enough even after increasing them. You can increase the limits for peds, but you will still have issues with trains and pedestrians in trams, unfortunately.

 

Just a heads up: my gameconfig folder needed to be placed inside the LML folder. So, you should now have a file called install.xml located in the LML\Gameconfig folder, along with other related files.

 

"I cannot use any weapon packs like 1899 Firearms, Firearm Cosmetics — Carvings and Grips" Do you mean the skins that whyem provides like different colored engravings etc, or separate mods? I seem to have gotten the whyEm gun customization to not affect spawns along with wearing a modded outfit, I noticed the game runs at its MOST consistent without any gun customization though, I tried installing a "Bigger Horses" mod yesterday and tried different variations with all causing issues, seems any horse edits cause issues for me.

[werwolf969 32]

3 hours ago, UncleISRED said:

Do you mean the skins that whyem provides like different colored engravings etc, or separate mods?

I was referring to the Firearm Cosmetics - Carvings and Grips mod, which is necessary for the 1899 Firearm mod. It contains new engravings and improved weapon textures. When I only use this mod, there is a problem with spawning. If I remove the textures, the spawning is normalized. When I return all the other mods, everything works as it should. However, if I return the weapon textures, everything breaks again.

One of the new observations and theories I am currently working on is the replacement of several texture dictionaries files with the same content in different game rpf archives with a code structure in the form of:

<FileReplacement>

        <GamePath>platform:/packs/base/models/weapons/revolver_cattleman.ytd</GamePath>

        <FilePath>CSAA/revolver_cattleman.ytd</FilePath>

</FileReplacement>

<FileReplacement>

        <GamePath>dlc_patchPack004:/x64/packs/base/models/weapons/revolver_cattleman.ytd</GamePath>

        <FilePath>CSAA/revolver_cattleman.ytd</FilePath>

</FileReplacement>

The structure above doesn't work. New textures are not loaded into the game, despite LML writing about replacing a file in one of the archives. It doesn't matter which archive to change in - a new texture file won't be loaded until you change the replacement a node  to:

<FileReplacement allowDuplicate="true">

        <GamePath>platform:/packs/base/models/weapons/revolver_cattleman.ytd</GamePath>

        <GamePath>dlc_patchPack004:/x64/packs/base/models/weapons/revolver_cattleman.ytd</GamePath>

        <FilePath>CSAA/revolver_cattleman.ytd</FilePath>

</FileReplacement>

Then you will see in the VFS log that there was a substitution in all game archives, and despite the fact that the game only uses one texture dictionary file at a time, new textures appear in the game. I suspect this is true for all same texture dictionaries placed in different game archives, but I'm still testing this theory with other mods and have contacted Dominatorgt on Nexus to work on this theory together.

This doesn't solve the problem we're discussing here in any way, but in theory it could be one of the reasons why something breaks in the game when using VFS and/or a large number of texture files.

We can only hope for the early release of an updated version of LML that supports loading external RPF archives into the game, without having to replace existing files.

Edited November 3 by werwolf969

[RobChamp 0]

1899 Firearms is the only mod I care to run aswell. Really hope this issue gets sorted

[Edegon 11]

I think someone should make a clear guide on how to solve the problem yourself with the methods that have been found so far (texture compression, install.xml replacement method, etc...), or at least a summary of the findings, since a few days ago I read the whole thread but it's very long and a bit hard to digest mentally to understand what to do (besides being very time consuming). And since it's very long the important things are scattered and hard to find, even though I read it all.

I'd do the guide/summary myself but I don't know how to make the install.xml with the replacement method instead of the streaming one, but I understand why streaming the mod files causes the problems.
I also have problems turning some .dds files back to a .ytd using RDR2TextureTool. I know there's a solution but I can't find it explained clearly.

This is a fast and easy method I use for checking if the mods are causing spawning problems:

• I use this clean Ch. 2 save file that was referenced in this thread but not linked yet (I think), with Rampage and Railroad Engineer installed: https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/4015
  (For newcomers, it has been said that save files could get corrupted in some way by some mods, so it's better to use a clean save.) I recommend disabling autosave if you plan on doing many tests.
• After loading I open Rampage and go on "World" and activate the ESP in "Ped Manager" and "Vehicle Manager".
• Then I activate No Clip (in Miscellaneous), set max speed and go check if EVERY train shown on the map spawns and if ped spawns are normal too on trains and trams.
• Since you move very fast at max speed with No Clip the train might not spawn at first due to this. If that's the case then wait a few seconds for the game to load the area where you are, then fly away from where the train should spawn while looking at the railroad, after moving away the right distance you should see the train spawn.

This method works 100% of the time for me, and could be included in the guide on how to solve the problem if the experts here agree that it's good (because I'm no expert), since it's very quick and easy.

I also read that graphic settings could contribute to the problem, I play in 1440p with high-ultra settings.

 

 

 

Edited November 4 by Edegon
Typo and other corrections

[deadwoodd 1]

45 minutes ago, Edegon said:

I think someone should make a clear guide on how to solve the problem yourself with the methods that have been found so far (texture compression, install.xml replacement method, etc...), or at least a summary of the findings, since a few days ago I read the whole thread but it's very long and a bit hard to digest mentally to understand what to do (besides being very time consuming). And since it's very long the important things are scattered and hard to find, even though I read it all.

I'd do the guide/summary myself but I don't know how to make the install.xml with the replacement method instead of the streaming one, but I understand why streaming the mod files causes the problems.
I also have problems turning some .dds files back to a .ytd using RDR2TextureTool. I know there's a solution but I can't find it explained clearly.

This is a fast and easy method I use for checking if the mods are causing spawning problems:

• I use this clean Ch. 2 save file that was referenced in this thread but not linked yet (I think), with Rampage and Railroad Engineer installed: https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/4015
  (For newcomers, it has been said that save files could get corrupted in some way by some mods, so it's better to use a clean save.) I recommend disabling autosave if you plan on doing many tests.
• After loading I open Rampage and go on "World" and activate the ESP in "Ped Manager" and "Vehicle Manager".
• Then I activate No Clip (in Miscellaneous), set max speed and go check if EVERY train shown on the map spawns and if ped spawns are normal too on trains and trams.
• Since you move very fast at max speed with No Clip the train might not spawn at first due to this. If that's the case then fly a bit away from where the train should spawn while looking at the railroad, after a few seconds it should spawn.

This method works 100% of the time for me, and could be included in the guide on how to solve the problem if the experts here agree that it's good (because I'm no expert), since it's very quick and easy.

I also read that graphic settings could contribute to the problem, I play in 1440p with high-ultra settings.

 

 

 

The only thing I'd also like to mention here is that you may have working trains and animal spawns, but you might have empty trolley cars in town like Saint Denis for example. This was actually the main test for me. If I saw trolley cars spawning with passengers in the back, I knew that train/animal spawns would also be working.

[Edegon 11]

1 minute ago, deadwoodd said:

The only thing I'd also like to mention here is that you may have working trains and animal spawns, but you might have empty trolley cars in town like Saint Denis for example. This was actually the main test for me. If I saw trolley cars spawning with passengers in the back, I knew that train/animal spawns would also be working.

In fact I wrote "and if ped spawns are normal too on trains and trams". Anyway the last time I did that test was a few days ago, now I'm going to make sure it actually works 100% of the time and it's all right

[Edegon 11]

3 hours ago, Edegon said:

In fact I wrote "and if ped spawns are normal too on trains and trams". Anyway the last time I did that test was a few days ago, now I'm going to make sure it actually works 100% of the time and it's all right

I confirm that it works (for me at least). When I don't have mods all trains shown on map spawn, meanwhile if put stuff like WhyEm's DLC and upscaled Arthur textures trains don't spawn.

But there's a little thing (probably nothing): sometimes the number of total train blips goes from 12 to 7 or any number in between (with or without mods), but I don't know how it happens so I can't replicate it. My guess is that it's normal game behavior tied to a schedule.

Edit: It's probably tied to a schedule since changing the hour made the number of trains 12 again after it became 9

Edited November 4 by Edegon

[deadwoodd 1]

On 11/4/2024 at 4:54 PM, Edegon said:

I confirm that it works (for me at least). When I don't have mods all trains shown on map spawn, meanwhile if put stuff like WhyEm's DLC and upscaled Arthur textures trains don't spawn.

But there's a little thing (probably nothing): sometimes the number of total train blips goes from 12 to 7 or any number in between (with or without mods), but I don't know how it happens so I can't replicate it. My guess is that it's normal game behavior tied to a schedule.

Edit: It's probably tied to a schedule since changing the hour made the number of trains 12 again after it became 9

My fault, I missed the trams part of your comment.

 

Here's a general guide for the newcomers to the thread.

Since streaming textures seems to be the primary cause of the issue, we want to look for our texture mods that use streaming and see if we can make them use the replacement method instead. This takes place in the install.xml files of the mods.

 

Luckily for us, there is a powershell script you can run which will essentially turn the mod's streaming method into the replacement method. The script can be found here.

 

Let's take a look at the mod Characters Overhaul as an example.

 

When we look at the mod's install.xml, we can see this:

 

Now if we use the powershell script to change this into the replacement method, we now see this:

 

(cropped for the sake of the forums)

 

You can see that instead of streaming the entire folder, we are using each individual texture instead as a file replacement.

 

Obviously this can be done one by one, but given the amount of textures some of these mods have, that would be a painstaking process, which is where the powershell script comes into play.

 

We can also see that the script calls for a source_paths.txt file. This text file should include the exact directories of the files you wish to replace. This can be achieved by using OpenIV to find the directories. All of them must be included. Here's an example of a source_paths.txt file.

 

This works with any texture mod that uses the streaming method. Here are a list of mods that I am currently using with no problems.

 

1. Crime & Law Rebalance
2. Better Camera
3. No Kill Cam Filter
4. Flo
5. Characters Overhaul
6. Upscaled Vegetation
7. Terrain Textures Overhaul
8. Blackwater Terrain Textures Overhaul
9. Best TAA & Visual Effects (slightly modified and combined with the Darker Nights mod)

I am also using the gameconfig provided by werwolf969 which you can find on this post.

 

All in all, I have zero issues with any spawns whatsoever. Not sure if worth mentioning, but I am running at 1440p at 1.5x resolution scale with a 3080 Ti and a 12700k.

 

When it comes to WhyEm's, I've had no luck getting this to work properly using the replacement method (meaning regardless of the method used, trains do not spawn with WhyEm's). Werewolf might have addressed this in this post  but I have not had the time to test it (and quite frankly, I'm okay with not using WhyEm's mods at the moment).

Edited November 5 by deadwoodd

[Edegon 11]

I don't have much experience with Python, and I get a syntax error following these instructions.

 

# Specified variable values
$SourceFolder = "C:\Test\Maize Sack Fix"   # Folder with source files
$TextFilePath = "C:\Test\Maize Sack Fix\source_paths.txt"   # Path to the text file with paths

 

These are the first three lines in my file. What am I doing wrong?

[werwolf969 32]

6 hours ago, Edegon said:

What am I doing wrong?

Since this code not for Python but for , as I specified on Pastebin, best bet will be to save script code as .ps1 file.

 

Edited November 5 by werwolf969

[RLTYProds 1]

1 hour ago, werwolf969 said:

 

Question, since I can't seem to find the answer here: How do I form the source_paths.txt? Do I just literally paste the path (from OpenIV) of the files I intend to have replaced?

[werwolf969 32]

14 minutes ago, RLTYProds said:

How do I form the source_paths.txt?

Here's an example of this file. You can paste any path there, including the path to any file in the game archive, even if it is not in the source directory (making "source paths" a cheat sheet for the script). The script will only choose paths to files in the mod directory. However, for performance reasons, it's best to filter the data in this file to something similar to the source directory content.

source_paths.txt

Edited November 5 by werwolf969