As requested. A more moderate version of hand placed enemies has been uploaded on a new mod page. It can be found here: Hand placed enemies - Light
Unlike the original, battles in the light version will be more consistent and capped at around 4 enemies per fight. No more bandit armies holding forts.
If you are switching from the original, please uninstall the original, install the light version and START A NEW GAME!!
Light version was released as a new mod for better version management. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Hello! I love your mod, makes for some awesome skirmishes throughout the game. Recently I just made a new modlist and as I was playing I found that with your mod (either the regular or Light version) on, there are consistent crashes in Shriekwind Bastion. Any way to stop this? My game/PC can handle every other area (crowded forts and other dungeons are fine) well, but for some reason Shriekwind is a problem.
EDIT: I may have found the culprit. I also had another mod, "High Level Enemies Redux" installed. I took it off, the CTDs stopped. Anyway, love your mod!
While it sounds like you have the issue fixed, I'm gonna post this reply just in case:
If you have the mod Draugr Upgrades and Improvements make sure you've also installed the "update" file under their mod page. DUI has a bug / faulty skeleton that can cause a CTD in areas with skeletons if you don't have the update file installed. (The update fixes the bug). Since my mod places more skeletons in those areas, the chances of the faulty DUI skeleton spawning will increase when my mod is enabled.
When I originally tried this mod on a play through, it didn't take long for me to get suspicious I was leveling far too quickly. I think I'd be with the majority in enjoying the early levels more and not wanting to progress too fast.
The "Experience" mod really goes a long way to fixing that problem, especially if you lower the killing xp per kill element. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17751 https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/65880
I'd actually be kind of curious to make a save, say before Entering Bleak falls barrow, thend comparing the level progress after completing it with Experience enabled or disabled (with this mod enabled either way). That is one good thing about Experience, you can disabled it in it's MCM, instead of uninstalling it and maybe making a mess on an existing play-though.
------- My only remaining problem: Anything outside of what this mod changes starts feeling too easy (a random road encounter for example), because you're so mentally overpowered from having to dig deeper and make it through a dungeon that have hand placed enemies.
Does Hand Placed Enemies spawn some undead (specifically skeletons) in the back of Embershard Mine? Everytime I enter it for the first time on a new character the dungeon gets cleared (the boss bandits at the back of the cave get killed by some skeletons) before I get anywhere near them.
I also use The Restless Dead so that might be causing it but I can't figure it out.
I've used this mod for quite some time and have absolutely loved it! I took a break, returned to the game, and noticed that I've consistently seen Dwarven automatons in bandit strongholds and forts. I'm unsure if it's due to this mod, but I wanted to ask if anyone else has encountered this recently.
Update: I uninstalled the mod and revisited the same bandit-occupied areas to find no more Dwarven enemies, confirming this mod was spawning them there. This never happened in the past with this mod, but it has been happening with every save lately with it installed. As a note, the Light version of the mod does not cause this issue.
I've had no reports of this issue before, and I have not changed the mod since september of 2023, so something else is going on besides just my mod. It sounds like you are using a mod that is adding dwemer enemies to the bandit leveled lists. Every enemy spawn point that I place is just a copy of existing spawn points that are already present in that location.
That said, what makes this really weird is that every spawn added by the light version is also in the regular (this mod) version. They even have the exact same form ids, the light version simply has some of the spawns from this version removed. If another mod was adding dwemer automations to the leveled lists, you should still be seeing them.
Truthfully, I'm not sure how to help you troubleshoot this, as it's behavior that nobody else has experienced and it's weird even for skyrim, knowing how my mod functions. Have you installed any new mods that change enemy types or add enemies to the leveled lists (Specifically, mods you haven't used in the past)?
I add more spawns to the outside of bandit forts, yes. Forts are now held by a large number of enemies. If the forts have too many enemies for you, I recommend trying the light version of the mod: Hand placed enemies - Light
Great mod! Thank you for sharing it! It's thoughtfulness and simple design make it a must have for anyone looking to increase the game difficulty without any bloat.
However I feel there is one aspect that needs clarification, you provided the following instruction: "Load near the TOP (EARLY) of your load order BEFORE any lighting or sound overhauls. Any mod that wants / needs to overwrite aspects of this one can do so but needs to be loaded AFTER mine."
Given that your mod distributes the enemies through cell and world edits, wouldn't that mean that any lighting or sound overhauls (and other mods) that also make changes to the cell and world files, if loaded after your mod will effectively override your changes? thus removing any NPCs you have placed?
Note: I'm just trying to be clear and concise, not insulting :)
So, Skyrim is somewhat weird with the way it applies mod changes. In order to place an NPC spawn point (Which is what I do), my mod also has to include the cells, including all of the lighting and sound information for those cells. (Which would be default settings in my mod). Otherwise, Skyrim wouldn't know in which cell the spawn has been placed.
However, the spawns are still separate information. Changing the data of the cells (such as sound and lighting) doesn't affect the actual spawns. It would only be an issue if you deleted the cells (Very bad idea).
It's like a person saying "This is my address, I'm in the living room. Here's what the room looks like." Magically changing the wallpaper after they say that, doesn't affect the person's location or existence.
I would never view providing information on a subject as an insult, quite the contrary :)
I thought that if two mods would edit the same cell, more exactly the location node, which is the parent of placed Object/NPC child nodes, it would result in the one loaded last overriding the other. If I understood you correctly, what actually happens is that placed objects and npcs from any number of mods altering the same cell are all loaded as long as they are different records. Is my understanding correct?
The data for the cells (the parent location node as you called it) is it's own thing. If two mods edit that same data, then the last one loaded overwrites the other, which is why sound and lighting mods need to load after mine. This is so that their changes overwrite the cell's default sound and/or lighting records that skyrim forces me to include. If my mod loaded after the sound mods then you would end up with default sounds. It's also why lighting and sound mods usually need patches to work with each other properly.
But you also understand the object and npc records correctly. You can have dozens of mods all adding objects / npcs to the same cell and each object they add will load correctly. "As long as they are different records" as you said. Issues with objects would only arise if two or more of those mods also move the same existing object around.
A general example of overwrites / compatibility issues would be an overhaul to a shop that rearranges the entire shop interior, combined with a mod that changes the placement of light sources in all buildings. If both of those mods move the lighting around, then the last mod to load will "win" on where the light gets placed. If the shop overhaul moves the existing fireplace and the existing light source to the new fireplace location, but the lighting mod moves the light source closer to the original fireplace location, you would have a conflict. The fireplace would move, but whether the light moves with it would depend on load order.
In the above situation, however, a NEW light source would be present and completely unaffected, no matter how you loaded your mods.
I always loved this mod and thought it (or some form of it) was necessary. One of the original problems I had with this mod is that it caused a character to level far too fast. The "Experience" mod helps with that, but even then there's still the issue of individual skills progressing too fast from all the extra combat.
Starting a new game, with the combat mods I have now, caused me to fail in Bleak Falls Barrow at the first ambush (even with a follower and at adapt level). I think that's 5 total mobs that get added to the one guy trying to open the gate, and two of those had great swords. Only option was to switch to "no ambushes" version of this mod. This worked for successfully switching to the normal version to the "no ambushes" version: I uninstalled this mod, started the game up and saved the game. Then I installed the "no ambushes" version. All is well. What I wish was there was a "ambush enemy count reduced by 50%" option.
I want ambushes, but not 5 guys being added to an original encounter that was 1 guy (a 600% increase) and I don't want to give up ambushes just because the ambush volumes are excessive, for the combat mods I have loaded. I also don't want my characters level, or individual skill levels, increasing far too fast. And, I don't want to give up this mod. I think the only solution for balance would be another mob that decreases the amount of experience from kills by 50%?
With regards to the experience gains, I personally use the mod Experience Multipliers (MCM sliders for each skill) . As the name suggests, you can modify the rate of experience gain for each individual skill. So you can keep smithing and such the same, while decreasing combat skill gains. (HPE increases total-world enemy count by roughly 50%, so reducing the exp gain for combat skills to 66% would leave the net gain about the same)
As for the numbers for the ambushes. It's impossible for me to balance around every combat mod combination, though I did try my best. For that particular ambush, you can lure the melee enemies onto the center platform and flip the poison dart switch without getting hit by the trap yourself. Melee guys will die, leaving only the two archers.
Typically, if an ambush has extra enemies like that, there is usually an environmental hazard you can use for your benefit.
By default, the non-ambush enemies will respawn when a location resets. Ambushes are set up not to respawn so that the ambush only triggers the first time. (This was done to ensure the ambushes work properly).
If using the mod Lawbringer, enemies I add to those locations will properly refrain from respawning once claimed by Lawbringer (I've used a vanilla bandit at each lawbringer-covered location as an enable-parent of my spawns). Lawbringer is compatible by default.
Skyrim realistic conquering has added a few locations since my last update and now has a patch on their page that does the same thing for SRC that I do for Lawbringer.
Sorry, I know nothing about the bandits in Helgen and I do not add any there myself. I always use the "Helgen reborn" quest mod which stops them on purpose. I'm not sure i've ever even encountered the bandits that take over helgen in any of my playthroughs.
Only advice I can give is the standard "make sure you avoid it for 30 in-game days" advice. Sorry.
For non-respawning locations you should check UESP first (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Helgen). Helgen never respawns so once you clear it it stays that way.
Reading through the crash logs, something is trying to access memory outside of what it's allowed to use. My guess is that one of your light plugins has an object out of range for a light plugin. I'd open your load order in XEDIT and check each light plugin for errors.
It may be related to something being applied by SPID (Not SPID itself, but something that uses it). It's hard to tell with logs that access beyond their allotted memory, however.
740 comments
Unlike the original, battles in the light version will be more consistent and capped at around 4 enemies per fight. No more bandit armies holding forts.
If you are switching from the original, please uninstall the original, install the light version and START A NEW GAME!!
Light version was released as a new mod for better version management. Sorry for any inconvenience.
EDIT: I may have found the culprit. I also had another mod, "High Level Enemies Redux" installed. I took it off, the CTDs stopped. Anyway, love your mod!
If you have the mod Draugr Upgrades and Improvements make sure you've also installed the "update" file under their mod page. DUI has a bug / faulty skeleton that can cause a CTD in areas with skeletons if you don't have the update file installed. (The update fixes the bug). Since my mod places more skeletons in those areas, the chances of the faulty DUI skeleton spawning will increase when my mod is enabled.
The "Experience" mod really goes a long way to fixing that problem, especially if you lower the killing xp per kill element.
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17751
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/65880
I'd actually be kind of curious to make a save, say before Entering Bleak falls barrow, thend comparing the level progress after completing it with Experience enabled or disabled (with this mod enabled either way). That is one good thing about Experience, you can disabled it in it's MCM, instead of uninstalling it and maybe making a mess on an existing play-though.
-------
My only remaining problem: Anything outside of what this mod changes starts feeling too easy (a random road encounter for example), because you're so mentally overpowered from having to dig deeper and make it through a dungeon that have hand placed enemies.
I also use The Restless Dead so that might be causing it but I can't figure it out.
That said, what makes this really weird is that every spawn added by the light version is also in the regular (this mod) version. They even have the exact same form ids, the light version simply has some of the spawns from this version removed. If another mod was adding dwemer automations to the leveled lists, you should still be seeing them.
Truthfully, I'm not sure how to help you troubleshoot this, as it's behavior that nobody else has experienced and it's weird even for skyrim, knowing how my mod functions. Have you installed any new mods that change enemy types or add enemies to the leveled lists (Specifically, mods you haven't used in the past)?
Great mod! Thank you for sharing it! It's thoughtfulness and simple design make it a must have for anyone looking to increase the game difficulty without any bloat.
However I feel there is one aspect that needs clarification, you provided the following instruction:
"Load near the TOP (EARLY) of your load order BEFORE any lighting or sound overhauls. Any mod that wants / needs to overwrite aspects of this one can do so but needs to be loaded AFTER mine."
Given that your mod distributes the enemies through cell and world edits, wouldn't that mean that any lighting or sound overhauls (and other mods) that also make changes to the cell and world files, if loaded after your mod will effectively override your changes? thus removing any NPCs you have placed?
So, Skyrim is somewhat weird with the way it applies mod changes. In order to place an NPC spawn point (Which is what I do), my mod also has to include the cells, including all of the lighting and sound information for those cells. (Which would be default settings in my mod). Otherwise, Skyrim wouldn't know in which cell the spawn has been placed.
However, the spawns are still separate information. Changing the data of the cells (such as sound and lighting) doesn't affect the actual spawns. It would only be an issue if you deleted the cells (Very bad idea).
It's like a person saying "This is my address, I'm in the living room. Here's what the room looks like." Magically changing the wallpaper after they say that, doesn't affect the person's location or existence.
I thought that if two mods would edit the same cell, more exactly the location node, which is the parent of placed Object/NPC child nodes, it would result in the one loaded last overriding the other. If I understood you correctly, what actually happens is that placed objects and npcs from any number of mods altering the same cell are all loaded as long as they are different records. Is my understanding correct?
The data for the cells (the parent location node as you called it) is it's own thing. If two mods edit that same data, then the last one loaded overwrites the other, which is why sound and lighting mods need to load after mine. This is so that their changes overwrite the cell's default sound and/or lighting records that skyrim forces me to include. If my mod loaded after the sound mods then you would end up with default sounds. It's also why lighting and sound mods usually need patches to work with each other properly.
But you also understand the object and npc records correctly. You can have dozens of mods all adding objects / npcs to the same cell and each object they add will load correctly. "As long as they are different records" as you said. Issues with objects would only arise if two or more of those mods also move the same existing object around.
A general example of overwrites / compatibility issues would be an overhaul to a shop that rearranges the entire shop interior, combined with a mod that changes the placement of light sources in all buildings. If both of those mods move the lighting around, then the last mod to load will "win" on where the light gets placed. If the shop overhaul moves the existing fireplace and the existing light source to the new fireplace location, but the lighting mod moves the light source closer to the original fireplace location, you would have a conflict. The fireplace would move, but whether the light moves with it would depend on load order.
In the above situation, however, a NEW light source would be present and completely unaffected, no matter how you loaded your mods.
Starting a new game, with the combat mods I have now, caused me to fail in Bleak Falls Barrow at the first ambush (even with a follower and at adapt level). I think that's 5 total mobs that get added to the one guy trying to open the gate, and two of those had great swords. Only option was to switch to "no ambushes" version of this mod. This worked for successfully switching to the normal version to the "no ambushes" version: I uninstalled this mod, started the game up and saved the game. Then I installed the "no ambushes" version. All is well. What I wish was there was a "ambush enemy count reduced by 50%" option.
I want ambushes, but not 5 guys being added to an original encounter that was 1 guy (a 600% increase) and I don't want to give up ambushes just because the ambush volumes are excessive, for the combat mods I have loaded. I also don't want my characters level, or individual skill levels, increasing far too fast. And, I don't want to give up this mod. I think the only solution for balance would be another mob that decreases the amount of experience from kills by 50%?
As for the numbers for the ambushes. It's impossible for me to balance around every combat mod combination, though I did try my best. For that particular ambush, you can lure the melee enemies onto the center platform and flip the poison dart switch without getting hit by the trap yourself. Melee guys will die, leaving only the two archers.
Typically, if an ambush has extra enemies like that, there is usually an environmental hazard you can use for your benefit.
If using the mod Lawbringer, enemies I add to those locations will properly refrain from respawning once claimed by Lawbringer (I've used a vanilla bandit at each lawbringer-covered location as an enable-parent of my spawns). Lawbringer is compatible by default.
Skyrim realistic conquering has added a few locations since my last update and now has a patch on their page that does the same thing for SRC that I do for Lawbringer.
This wonderful mod is not the cause of this problem.
Please help me.
Only advice I can give is the standard "make sure you avoid it for 30 in-game days" advice. Sorry.
i keep crashing after i die in the dungeon sometimes it happens some other times noCrash Log
Crash Log 2
It may be related to something being applied by SPID (Not SPID itself, but something that uses it). It's hard to tell with logs that access beyond their allotted memory, however.
thank you for the great mod