Skyrim shadows still problematic

[pixartist]

I've packed all information into a rar: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/827 ... -11-29.rar
this was recorded with 2.0, but the bug is essentially the same now, but worse. With deferred shadows off it looks kinda like with deferred shadows on before.

[Neil]

Is this based on an expansion pack?

Regards,
Neil

[pixartist]

Not that I know of. It's a freshly installed vanilla skyrim.

[Neil]

Because I can't load the vanilla savegame. It's not seen by my Skyrim savegame list.

Did you get the ultimate Skyrim package from Steam? A bundle package?

I will try again.

Regards,
Neil

[Neil]

I'm sorry. The savegame just isn't loadable by me. Is anyone else able to load it?

Regards,
Neil

[vertinox]

Well the shadows are better, but in foyer of Dragon's reach is still problematic.

[edit]

My bad the save was in the wrong directory.

I can load the save just fine. I am using SKSE if that makes a difference though.

However, his game save does not show the shadow problem it shows in the game save picture for me.

His game save shows shadow problems outside the entrance to Dragonsreach. My shadow problems are just inside Dragonsreach. I will try to get a screenshot.

I'm not using any mods except player height and SkyUI. I'm also using SKSE if that makes a difference.

[edit2]

I seem to not be able to take screenshots either with steam or the print screen button.

I will try another way.

[Neil]

Please disable all modifications - SKSE, everything.

I use FRAPS for screenshots.

Regards,
Neil

[vertinox]

Ok. I uninstalled my mods, created fresh prefs files, and used Skyrim natively, but it still has the same problem.

Here is the screenshots of what it is doing.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g3audpsjagwhv ... ertino.rar

The shadows seem to be related to head tilt. I saw somewhere else where someone mentioned this so maybe you are aware of the tilting problem.

Its as if tilting the head to the left and right causing the shadows to move unaturally.

I attached the game save and the screenshots of my head tilted to the left and right.

I even started a new game and noticed right away that head tilting causes the same problem so I don't know if the game save matters or not.

[Neil]

Ok, so I have GOOD news, and BAD news.

Here is the GOOD news:

TESV 2013-12-13 21-08-44-10.jpg

So, it should definitely be working for your. The BAD news is...it isn't.

Can you attach your SkyrimPrefs.INI files?

I need your system specs - everything that could impact this.

Regards,
Neil

[vertinox]

Well here is everything. I included my msinfo and dxdiag txt files.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i4ffff2v4xq4h ... rtinox.rar

I also included two sets of prefs files. One set is fresh from my Skryim generating new ones after I deleted the files and another pair in which I turned shadows off. However the artifact is still visible in both.

Also, I doubt this makes a difference, but I put my Perception files in my Skyrim directory.

Also, I have the Nexus Mod Manager installed on my computer. I used it to uninstall the mods so I don't know how clean my Skyrim is. I made sure to not to use it or SKSE when running Skyrim though.

[Neil]

Completely uninstall that Nexus mod software. Uninstall it, delete remnants of it - everything! There should not be a single MOD or mod add-on utility or anything above and beyond what the Skyrim gods intended with your very first install.

Delete the perception files from the Skyrim directory. Make sure the Perception drivers are installed in their own directory separate from Skyrim. You should only copy the DLL files to the Skyrim EXE directory - but don't do that. It's not necessary for this game, and I'm wondering if something is being done incorrectly with this.

Regards,
Neil

[vertinox]

Completely uninstall that Nexus mod software. Uninstall it, delete remnants of it - everything! There should not be a single MOD or mod add-on utility or anything above and beyond what the Skyrim gods intended with your very first install.

Delete the perception files from the Skyrim directory. Make sure the Perception drivers are installed in their own directory separate from Skyrim. You should only copy the DLL files to the Skyrim EXE directory - but don't do that. It's not necessary for this game, and I'm wondering if something is being done incorrectly with this.

Regards,
Neil

I'm going on vacation so I won't be able to get around to this until sometime in January, but if I get some time I'll see about deleting everything and uninstalling and reinstalling Skyrim from scratch.

Truth be told this is really minor for me and only seems to be noticeable in a few places so I might just live with it considering. I mean if it because of the mods, I'd rather put up with this minor bug than live without the mods.

I suppose I just wanted you to know it exists for some people and if you can't recreate it, there isn't much we can do. If other people get the same issue I suppose you'll have more information about what is causing it such as mods and what not.

But then again, I sort of want to help you guys out so I'll most likely try all the steps anyways.

See you in January.

[pixartist]

That damn nexus loader was the problem. I didn't even know it was still installed. A few shadows bugs remain, but overall it's just awesome. Now I need an inventory mod and HD rift and I will never leave my room again.

[Neil]

Phew!

Regards,
Neil

[CylonSurfer]

@pixartist

As i'm suffering from the same issue I was hoping that you could provide a few more details on how you fixed your issue? Are you saying that launching Skyrim via the NexusModManager caused the issue with shadows rotating with headtracking roll or that simply having the application installed at all caused the issue?

Cheers

[Neil]

@pixartist

As i'm suffering from the same issue I was hoping that you could provide a few more details on how you fixed your issue? Are you saying that launching Skyrim via the NexusModManager caused the issue with shadows rotating with headtracking roll or that simply having the application installed at all caused the issue?

Cheers

Do you have NexusModManager installed? Try both options and let us know. I don't have that software installed here.

Regards,
Neil

[CylonSurfer]

Hopefully I'll have time to have a mess with is all tonight, if not It'll be tomorrow evening. Gonna do as you suggested and do a Skyrim clean install was just hoping that the mod manager doesn't cause the issue as a lot of us use it to install / manage mods.

I'll report back what I find.

[DrBeef]

I'm getting a very weird flickering shadow effect which is making skyrim unplayable with Perception 2.0.0.2 (it's way too distracting).

I deleted all the mods I had, and removed Nexus/SKSE and everything like that, so now it is a vanilla skyrim install and it still happens. I made sure I had bDeferredShadows = 0 in the SkyrimPrefs.ini files. So I have run out of ideas. It also seems to affect the menus.

In case you want to see what I am talking about, I used FRAPS to record a short video of what it looks like (apologies for the strange look of the video, FRAPS wouldn't centre the image!).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gl6oqjy9xcc2h ... 6-24-87.7z

Am I forgetting something?

Thanks!
Simon

[Neil]

That's a new one. Are you sure it's shadows? Do a verify cache within Steam.

Please remind me what your exact specs are.

Regards,
Neil

[Neil]

I'm getting a very weird flickering shadow effect which is making skyrim unplayable with Perception 2.0.0.2 (it's way too distracting).

I deleted all the mods I had, and removed Nexus/SKSE and everything like that, so now it is a vanilla skyrim install and it still happens. I made sure I had bDeferredShadows = 0 in the SkyrimPrefs.ini files. So I have run out of ideas. It also seems to affect the menus.

In case you want to see what I am talking about, I used FRAPS to record a short video of what it looks like (apologies for the strange look of the video, FRAPS wouldn't centre the image!).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gl6oqjy9xcc2h ... 6-24-87.7z

Am I forgetting something?

Thanks!
Simon

Hi Simon,

I read an earlier message from you that Skyrim was "working like a dream" before. Did it suddenly start behaving strangely, have you added settings you weren't dealing with before? I found your earlier hardware specs, and I don't see anything unusual.

This is sounding more and more like a software conflict of some kind.

Regards,
Neil

[DrBeef]

Hi Neil

You're quite right.. I am pretty sure it was working really well, I don't recall seeing these strange show artefacts. Unfortunately I don't play Skyrim that often, and I am not sure what has upset it.

I thought it might have been since I installed Bioshock, so I removed that, but that didn't give me any success. I'll keep playing around, as I appear to be the only person getting this issue, I suspect it is some kind of conflict as you suggest. I'll let you know if I manage to get anywhere with it.

Thanks
Simon

[vertinox]

I'm back from vacation.

Skyrim was having some FPS issues for me so I figure to try the whole uninstallation thing at this point. So I uninstalled the mods, Nexusmod manager, SKSE, deleted local content of Skyrim, manually deleted both folders in Steam and the one in documents\my games\ folder.

Then I installed the latest Perception drivers of 2.0.0.2 and ran it from the bin folder rather than putting the dlls in the Skyrim folder.

I can't really tell, but I believe the FPS was fixed somewhat, but the Shadows problems with head tilt are still there.

I deleted everything so I don't really think its the mods at this point.

Anymore suggestions?

[Neil]

Hi Vertinox,

Please stick to your guns and get rid of the Nexus mods, etc. Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla.

It shouldn't be necessary to copy the DLL files with Skyrim. That shouldn't make a difference, but don't copy them in this case. In fact, make sure they are deleted from the Skyrim directory.

There are some shadows that will fail to work, but not all of them. Is it all of them that are failing?

We need to rule out any start-up programs you may have. Anti-virus, security, utilities - anything above and beyond the Windows bootup.

Then there is a final option I hadn't considered. Am I correct that you are running...Windows Vista?

Perception may not be compatible with Windows Vista. We don't have the means to test for that.

Regards,
Neil

[baggyg]

Hi Neil

You're quite right.. I am pretty sure it was working really well, I don't recall seeing these strange show artefacts. Unfortunately I don't play Skyrim that often, and I am not sure what has upset it.

I thought it might have been since I installed Bioshock, so I removed that, but that didn't give me any success. I'll keep playing around, as I appear to be the only person getting this issue, I suspect it is some kind of conflict as you suggest. I'll let you know if I manage to get anywhere with it.

Thanks
Simon

What resolution are your running at? Generally I get strange flickering if I set it to 1280x800 in cloned mode. If I change this to 1280x768 or if you machine can handle it 1920x1080 the flickering goes away. Let me know how you get on.

[vertinox]

Hi Vertinox,

Please stick to your guns and get rid of the Nexus mods, etc. Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla.

It shouldn't be necessary to copy the DLL files with Skyrim. That shouldn't make a difference, but don't copy them in this case. In fact, make sure they are deleted from the Skyrim directory.

There are some shadows that will fail to work, but not all of them. Is it all of them that are failing?

We need to rule out any start-up programs you may have. Anti-virus, security, utilities - anything above and beyond the Windows bootup.

Then there is a final option I hadn't considered. Am I correct that you are running...Windows Vista?

Perception may not be compatible with Windows Vista. We don't have the means to test for that.

Regards,
Neil

Yeah I'm running Vista.

Well I got some ram for my birthday so I'm upgrading to Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit tomorrow because Vista won't see the 8gb of ram.

I suppose I'll be formatting everything so I will try Skyrim after the format and install without installing any mods first and let you know.

[vertinox]

Well I have good news and bad news.

The good news I finally got Skyrim and Perception running.

The bad news is that despite formatting and installing a fresh operating system... Windows 7 64bit home premium... And only installing Skyrim without any mods or the nexus manager (having even browsed to that website).

Shadows are still a problem when you tilt your head. They are still wonky.

Now I am running medium graphics settings if that makes a difference.

Would you like to see my dxdiag file or anything?

I'm running a GeForce GTX 660.

I mean its not going to bother me much because I am going to turn the shadows off like I did before, but least I know with 100% certainty its not the mods causing the issue.

[Neil]

Is bDeferredshadows=0?

Remember to change all skyrimprefs.ini files - there could be more than one.

Regards,
Neil