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

[Sptz 2]

20 hours ago, BitTitan said:

also don't use wolf's source path lists and maybe that's part of my hiccups?

what do you mean by hiccups??

 

what list are you using then? I used wolfs source path list because I thought that was accurate

[PartisanX 0]

5 hours ago, Sptz said:

 

In theory, we shouldn't need to do anything and modders should update their install.xml for their own mods.

Instanity is doing it for CharactersOverhaul and for Chelonia Visuals for example.

 

But still, it hasn't still been absolutely proven that doing this magically resolves those issues. AFAIK.

Thanks for answer! And if i will delete all of my mods, my saves still corrupted like forever, right?

[BitTitan 2]

14 hours ago, Edegon said:

Isn't update.rpf being omitted instead of update_4.rpf as you say?

About that multiple files thing: how do I know which one is which? And when the files are streamed how does the game differentiate?

Thanks for the line to add to the script, I'll try it, but I'd like to know why it doesn't work properly by itself

 

So...are you running a cracked version?

 

Yes metaped.ymt is one of the ones that exists in multiple folders with the same name but different files.  I'm still researching on my own a better way to only replace the correct one.  Looking at developing an automate flow that scans vfs.log to see what path is being opened -- but I'm still working on that one for myself.

[BitTitan 2]

3 hours ago, Sptz said:

what do you mean by hiccups??

 

what list are you using then? I used wolfs source path list because I thought that was accurate

 

hiccups -- Extended Animations was crashing me for a long time until I found a gamepath doesn't wasn't right because the file was named the same but different.  Game crashes with weaponcomponent.meta for the same reason.  Newest one is Llama Police Overhaul doesn't seem to actually use any of the LML files because the install.xml seems to be way off.  So fixing it has resulted in loosing access to zoom, interaction buttons, or even having enemies just stand around scratching their asses while getting shot.  Llama's though I'm still working through my findings and verifying my theories and I want to fix it because it's the only recent bounty system overhaul on Nexus....

 

I actually don't know if his source path was accurate or not.  I scan for the paths in CodeX (same could be done in OpenIV).  I actually have a Power Automate Flow that takes an file I put in a designated folder and scans for the gamepaths, writes it to the mod specific source path, moves the file to the lml folder and generates an install.xml.

 

I'm still looking to improve the process like reading exisiting install.xml, but only a few mod authors do anything in their install.xml that's not simple replacements; so the need hasn't arrisen much.  

Edited November 24 by BitTitan

[Chunk the chump 16]

18 minutes ago, BitTitan said:

 

So...are you running a cracked version?

 

Yes metaped.ymt is one of the ones that exists in multiple folders with the same name but different files.  I'm still researching on my own a better way to only replace the correct one.  Looking at developing an automate flow that scans vfs.log to see what path is being opened -- but I'm still working on that one for myself.

Replacing the correct one is not that difficult, it should always be the highest numbered one, if its in update_1,2,3 etc then it will be update:/
If its in patchpack005 or something its gonna be dlc_patchpack005:/

 

just go for the highest numbered one

 

BTW i will have my video about this  and a full modding guide out early next week for anyone that is unsure of things. This part in particular is very detailed and I show the different ways you can do filereplacement

Edited November 24 by dundarrion

[BitTitan 2]

Just now, dundarrion said:

Replacing the correct one is not that difficult, it should always be the highest numbered one, if its in update_1,2,3 etc then it will be update:/
If its in patchpack005 or something its gonna be dlc_patchpack005:/

 

just go for the highest numbered one

 

In this thread -- it was speculated that replacing the old and new was required for some mods to work properly, still speculation and concept; which is werewolf wrote his script to use AllowDuplicates=True.

 

Looking through vfs.log I personally haven't found any replacements that are called for more than one replacement of the same file in multiple locations.

[Chunk the chump 16]

Just now, BitTitan said:

 

In this thread -- it was speculated that replacing the old and new was required for some mods to work properly, still speculation and concept; which is werewolf wrote his script to use AllowDuplicates=True.

 

Looking through vfs.log I personally haven't found any replacements that are called for more than one replacement of the same file in multiple locations.

I think that is pure speculation, as you just said there is no evidence of replacing the highest numbered update file not doing the job in fact I think replacing every file is probably gonna tax the game more memory wise so probably not advised.

 

[BitTitan 2]

11 minutes ago, dundarrion said:

I think that is pure speculation, as you just said there is no evidence of replacing the highest numbered update file not doing the job in fact I think replacing every file is probably gonna tax the game more memory wise so probably not advised.

 

 

I see an argument for both for and against -- my current theory/observation is it's not needed and it's moot because vfs.logs only show it being used as a replacement in a single location; which as my understanding grows, should indicate that it's only being called for in that one place -- though I'm still learning and I have been spoiled by years of Bethesda modding using MO2 and XEDIT.  (MO2 I have working well, but RDR2 lacks an XEDIT style utility) 

[PartisanX 0]

Deleting all mods will improve situation or my saves will be still corrupted?

[deadwoodd 3]

5 hours ago, PartisanX said:

Deleting all mods will improve situation or my saves will be still corrupted?

This still doesn't seem to be exactly confirmed. My save was certainly "bricked" with spawn issues after removing all of my mods, but some people have had different results. When I did further testing with replacing install.xml's, I started with a fresh unmodded save and I wound up not having any issues after fixing.

[Chunk the chump 16]

It's up ladies and gentlemen!

 

Largest part of the video tackles install.xml optimization.

 

Hope you'll enjoy.

 

 

 

Edited November 26 by dundarrion

[ydamao 2]

17 hours ago, dundarrion said:

女士们，先生们，一切就绪！

 

视频的最大部分是install.xml优化。

 

希望你会喜欢。

 

 

 

Is it possible to use the file replacement method to replace horse-related files like a_c_horse_ardennes_strawberryroan.ymt, or can it only be replaced through streaming? I am watching your video, and it’s very detailed. You demonstrated how to find and use the mount points for ytd files. However, when I used your method to find the mount point for the horse files, I couldn't find them.

Edited November 27 by ydamao

[Chunk the chump 16]

4 hours ago, ydamao said:

Is it possible to use the file replacement method to replace horse-related files like a_c_horse_ardennes_strawberryroan.ymt, or can it only be replaced through streaming? I am watching your video, and it’s very detailed. You demonstrated how to find and use the mount points for ytd files. However, when I used your method to find the mount point for the horse files, I couldn't find them.

Yes, of course its possible. All a_c_horse........ .ymt would go into

update_4.rpf\x64\packs\base\data\metapeds\metapeds.rpf\

which looks like this when mounted:

update:/x64/packs/base/data/metapeds/metapeds/

[ydamao 2]

20 hours ago, dundarrion said:

是的，当然有可能。全部 a_c_horse........ .YMT 将进入

update_4.rpf\x64\packs\base\data\metapeds\metapeds.rpf\

挂载后如下所示：

更新：/x64/packs/base/data/metapeds/metapeds/

Thank you very much for your help. I have now completely solved this problem.
 

[ydamao 2]

After more than a month of testing and learning, as I mentioned earlier when thanking Dundarrion, my electric cars, trains, carriages, and the passengers inside the vehicles can now be generated properly.

I didn't go to see the chickens; wild animals generated. I had already solved the issue before I discovered the problem, because my issue was that passengers in trams, carriages, and trains were not generating properly.

I couldn't be bothered to wait for the train in Saint-Denis. However, when I tested in Saint-Denis, I was able to see trains, trams, and passengers inside them all at the same time, and this happened while I was riding at high speed.

In the countryside, while I was at Emerald Ranch station, playing cards, trains came by every few minutes, and they had passengers inside.

The simplest way to test, as someone mentioned earlier, is to turn yourself and the horse into memory overloaders. I used the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" mod and the "WhyEm's DLC" combination saddle and horse mask.

I deleted all the clothes and weapons from WhyEm's DLC because I don't use them.

I don't use high-end material mods, and my monitor is 1080p, so I can't see any difference when using them. The only mod I noticed any difference with is the Blackwater Terrain Textures Overhaul.

I feel that only this mod truly improves the texture quality of objects; the others just increase their size without any real effect. In fact, on my monitor, they make the game look more artificial.

Now, let me explain my solution. I’m not a programming expert, I’m just an ordinary player who loves this game. Maybe it’s a dumb solution, but my trams, carriages, and trains with passengers, both in town and in the countryside, are now generating normally.

First, as mentioned earlier, the texture files like YTD are the main cause of generation issues. I don’t use many texture mods, just the two I mentioned, so I’m like a walking memory overload, haha.

To drastically reduce the texture size, I reduced the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture to 1024. For the WhyEm's DLC horse mask, I found and used the original YTD file from the game, which has a small file size but still decent quality.

The combination saddle from WhyEm's DLC isn’t found in the game, so it’s probably something custom-made. I could only find the layers, which had a resolution of 1024, but I reduced the combination saddle texture to 512.

I also added normal maps, lighting, roughness, etc., and the quality is still good. Even though I reduced the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture to 1024 and the WhyEm's DLC saddle to 512, there seems to be no visual difference in the game, though I’m not sure if someone with a 4K monitor would notice a difference.

The "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture was originally 4096, so I tested three versions: 512, 1024, and 2048. The 512 version was the most stable, with no generation issues at all. 1024 seemed to be on the edge.

If I replace the WhyEm's DLC combination saddle with a 1024 texture, passengers don’t generate, but sometimes they still do. It’s intermittent, sometimes passengers generate, sometimes they don’t. Overall, there’s a 60%-70% chance that passengers will appear. I still use the 512 version because there’s no noticeable difference in quality.

Next, let’s talk about file replacement vs. streaming methods. I tested file replacement and it seems to have some effect, but it's not very significant.

With the streaming method, I can only use the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture at 512 and the WhyEm's DLC combination saddle reduced to 256. However, using the file replacement method, I can now use the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture at 1024 and the WhyEm's DLC combination saddle at 512, and the generation works properly.

Increasing the resolution further causes generation problems.

As for the animal generation issue, I’m not sure if anyone experiencing this problem is using the "Improved Wildlife ALPHA" mod. This mod has a lot of errors.

It drastically changes the animal generation radius and the detection scan frequency settings. For example, I saw that the original animal spawn range was 200 meters, but it was changed to something like 5 meters — I can’t remember the exact number.

Some of the detection scan settings were also changed from scanning once every second to scanning once every 0.000001 seconds. The generation priority weights were also massively increased. I believe a maximum value of 1 should be 100%, and anything larger doesn’t make sense.

If you have this mod installed, or similar files, try uninstalling them to see if it helps.

I’d like to thank everyone who helped me, whether I’ve mentioned you or not, for helping me solve this issue. Thank you!

Edited November 28 by ydamao

[someguylarz21 0]

22 hours ago, ydamao said:

After more than a month of testing and learning, as I mentioned earlier when thanking Dundarrion, my electric cars, trains, carriages, and the passengers inside the vehicles can now be generated properly.

I didn't go to see the chickens; wild animals generated. I had already solved the issue before I discovered the problem, because my issue was that passengers in trams, carriages, and trains were not generating properly.

I couldn't be bothered to wait for the train in Saint-Denis. However, when I tested in Saint-Denis, I was able to see trains, trams, and passengers inside them all at the same time, and this happened while I was riding at high speed.

In the countryside, while I was at Emerald Ranch station, playing cards, trains came by every few minutes, and they had passengers inside.

The simplest way to test, as someone mentioned earlier, is to turn yourself and the horse into memory overloaders. I used the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" mod and the "WhyEm's DLC" combination saddle and horse mask.

I deleted all the clothes and weapons from WhyEm's DLC because I don't use them.

I don't use high-end material mods, and my monitor is 1080p, so I can't see any difference when using them. The only mod I noticed any difference with is the Blackwater Terrain Textures Overhaul.

I feel that only this mod truly improves the texture quality of objects; the others just increase their size without any real effect. In fact, on my monitor, they make the game look more artificial.

Now, let me explain my solution. I’m not a programming expert, I’m just an ordinary player who loves this game. Maybe it’s a dumb solution, but my trams, carriages, and trains with passengers, both in town and in the countryside, are now generating normally.

First, as mentioned earlier, the texture files like YTD are the main cause of generation issues. I don’t use many texture mods, just the two I mentioned, so I’m like a walking memory overload, haha.

To drastically reduce the texture size, I reduced the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture to 1024. For the WhyEm's DLC horse mask, I found and used the original YTD file from the game, which has a small file size but still decent quality.

The combination saddle from WhyEm's DLC isn’t found in the game, so it’s probably something custom-made. I could only find the layers, which had a resolution of 1024, but I reduced the combination saddle texture to 512.

I also added normal maps, lighting, roughness, etc., and the quality is still good. Even though I reduced the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture to 1024 and the WhyEm's DLC saddle to 512, there seems to be no visual difference in the game, though I’m not sure if someone with a 4K monitor would notice a difference.

The "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture was originally 4096, so I tested three versions: 512, 1024, and 2048. The 512 version was the most stable, with no generation issues at all. 1024 seemed to be on the edge.

If I replace the WhyEm's DLC combination saddle with a 1024 texture, passengers don’t generate, but sometimes they still do. It’s intermittent, sometimes passengers generate, sometimes they don’t. Overall, there’s a 60%-70% chance that passengers will appear. I still use the 512 version because there’s no noticeable difference in quality.

Next, let’s talk about file replacement vs. streaming methods. I tested file replacement and it seems to have some effect, but it's not very significant.

With the streaming method, I can only use the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture at 512 and the WhyEm's DLC combination saddle reduced to 256. However, using the file replacement method, I can now use the "John and Arthur Get Tattoos" texture at 1024 and the WhyEm's DLC combination saddle at 512, and the generation works properly.

Increasing the resolution further causes generation problems.

As for the animal generation issue, I’m not sure if anyone experiencing this problem is using the "Improved Wildlife ALPHA" mod. This mod has a lot of errors.

It drastically changes the animal generation radius and the detection scan frequency settings. For example, I saw that the original animal spawn range was 200 meters, but it was changed to something like 5 meters — I can’t remember the exact number.

Some of the detection scan settings were also changed from scanning once every second to scanning once every 0.000001 seconds. The generation priority weights were also massively increased. I believe a maximum value of 1 should be 100%, and anything larger doesn’t make sense.

If you have this mod installed, or similar files, try uninstalling them to see if it helps.

I’d like to thank everyone who helped me, whether I’ve mentioned you or not, for helping me solve this issue. Thank you!

Is there any way you could upload a google drive of ur mod setup? really great stuff! btw what exactly are the problems with the improved wildlife mod? i didnt have any issues i think

[Chunk the chump 16]

On 11/28/2024 at 4:49 PM, ydamao said:

I was able to see trains, trams, and passengers inside them all at the same time, and this happened while I was riding at high speed.

In the countryside, while I was at Emerald Ranch station, playing cards, trains came by every few minutes, and they had passengers inside.

 

Awesome! I'm glad it worked out in the end.

On another note if anyone wants to further optimize their game I released a light version of Online Content Unlocker

Check the description if it fits your mod needs. You wouldnt think at first that most MP dependant mods dont need much at all, so I cut down the things OCU enables and I also fixed some animation/sounds/dialogue issues that are present when using the og version of OCU.

 

Check the mod  on nexus and there's a video of the fixes. Currently does not support online weapons, so no RDO.

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/5304

 

and here is the video of the fixes:

 

 

Edited November 29 by dundarrion

[ydamao 2]

19 hours ago, someguylarz21 said:

有什么方法可以上传你的 Mod 设置的 google drive？真的很棒！顺便说一句，改进的野生动物模组到底有什么问题？我认为我没有遇到任何问题

I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can distribute anything publicly, especially John and Arthur Get Tattoos. There's no doubt that this is original content. I can only upload the install.xml settings, but not the texture files that are optimized for size reduction. I don't think this will solve your problem, though. It might depend on the configuration of each person's computer. However, I’ve only created the install.xml for John’s Gang Tattoo. The install.xml for WhyEm's DLC has been distributed by werwolf969. I’ve uploaded the entire file structure for John’s Gang Tattoo, and you just need to place the YTD files in the correct folders. I think that’s all I can do to help you. Sorry about that.

SAOSN 4K JOHN torso YAKUZA tattoos.zip

[SilentStealth71 0]

I have recently discovered that version.dll does not have the spawning issues that OCU has. Now, I realize that version.dll has its own issues, but it may be more beneficial to try and fix that instead of messing around and trying to fix OCU. That way weapon mods still work that utilize online content. I'd try it myself, but my programming skills = "I took two classes in Object Oriented Programming in college." I'm content with using version.dll and dealing with its issues (if it can't be fixed for whatever reason), but I'm not content with a broken OCU or a reduced features version that takes out weapons (though I am appreciative of the effort to fix it). I'm just passing on my discoveries to any that wish to take them and run with them.

Edited December 14 by SilentStealth71

[Chunk the chump 16]

13 hours ago, SilentStealth71 said:

I have recently discovered that version.dll does not have the spawning issues that OCU has. Now, I realize that version.dll has its own issues, but it may be more beneficial to try and fix that instead of messing around and trying to fix OCU. That way weapon mods still work that utilize online content. I'd try it myself, but my programming skills = "I took two classes in Object Oriented Programming in college." I'm content with using version.dll and dealing with its issues (if it can't be fixed for whatever reason), but I'm not content with a broken OCU (which I never liked, btw) or a reduced features version that takes out weapons (though I am appreciative of the effort to fix it). I'm just passing on my discoveries to any that wish to take them and run with them.

 

I understand your points and they are fair,  I will just react o the thing you wrote about  OCU LITE, it doesnt have online weapon support for 2 reasons:

A. I didn't want to just shit all over energidaan's original work by uploading  a mod that basically does the same as his (even if it's using vanilla assets).
B. Some of the fixes for ambient sounds/ animations/ dialogues required me to disable online weapon sounds. so I could technically set up a working version with fixes, navy revolver for example wouldnt have any sound and I just didnt want that. Maybe with some audio hex editing skills this could be solved but I am no good at that and we dont have proper audio tools for RDR2.

Ultimately its your choice of course and what is more important to you.

Edited December 3 by dundarrion

[SilentStealth71 0]

32 minutes ago, dundarrion said:

 

I understand your points and they are fair,  I will just react o the thing you wrote about  OCU LITE, it doesnt have online weapon support for 2 reasons:

A. I didn't want to just shit all over energidaan's original work by uploading  a mod that basically does the same as his (even if it's using vanilla assets).
B. Some of the fixes for ambient sounds/ animations/ dialogues required me to disable online weapon sounds. so I could technically set up a working version with fixes, navy revolver for example wouldnt have any sound and I just didnt want that. Maybe with some audio hex editing skills this could be solved but I am no good at that and we dont have proper audio tools for RDR2.

Ultimately its your choice of course and what is more important to you.

I've been following what you've been doing including your YouTube videos and have even implemented many of your suggestions. They work like a charm by the way. I also understand why you've done what you've done. I was just simply throwing out another idea that may work for those that do not want to give up the weapon sounds. The vanilla (and modded) Schofield sounds leave much to be desired. The Navy is what I usually use to replace it and without the Navy available, I can't do it. I didn't mean to throw shade at anyone, just voicing my opinion and observations. Anyone trying to solve this problem deserves all the kudos possible, including energidaan.

[thecrazyjoe 0]

Is there some kind of list for guaranteed safe mods? Or is there a method to detect unsafe mods? Ty

[Saber23454 3]

19 hours ago, thecrazyjoe said:

Is there some kind of list for guaranteed safe mods? Or is there a method to detect unsafe mods? Ty

Watch dundarrion/chunk's video

[Saber23454 3]

I feel that .asi mods and audio mods dont affect the spawning, but I havent tested any audio mods yet and I have only a couple .asi

[Chunk the chump 16]

20 hours ago, thecrazyjoe said:

Is there some kind of list for guaranteed safe mods? Or is there a method to detect unsafe mods? Ty

There are ways to test yes, but we cannot really give guarantees of what will or won't cause issues at this point. Some people think it's streaming, some think its strictly .ytd (texture) files, nothing is comfirmed.

I am not even sure if FileReplacement is really the answer that people are looking for as spawn issues can still happen with that. And we don't even know how Streaming differs from FileReplacement in a true sense....