As I wrote in the Posts section, I figured out and solved the problem. At least in my Steam v1.32 copy. This mod requires Blood And Wine DLC. The access to which will be altered if you make certain changes to your game.
If you did anything to modify what Steam considers the base game version, (I.E. rolled it back from v1.32 to v1.31, like I did, to make it compatible with some older mods, or used the Unification Patch to unlock all Game Of The Year features, like I also did) Steam has essentially disabled your copies of paid DLC. I imagine it's as simple as this: You're playing a different version of the game with a different Product SKU, so anything you've purchased alongside the original download will no longer work. The GOG version probably works the same.
How to tell?
Go to your In-Game Main Menu and see if Blood And Wine and Hearts Of Stone are listed as "Installed," or "Available." If they're listed as"Installed," then this isn't the problem with your copy and the solution below won't work for you. If however, they're listed as "Available," then you've modified the game in a way Steam doesn't like, so it will act as if you haven't even downloaded the DLC. Any game-functions that draw assets or content from B&W or HOS, (like this Meadows Mod) will not load correctly into your game.
The solution: delete the changed files that altered your Steam copy, and run Game Verification in Steam. It will re-download the files you just deleted, in their default configs. From there you'll be able to use this Meadows Mod, but not any older mods that won't work with v1.32. That's the trade-off. & also, you'll have to restore your game to its original config to actually play B&W and HOS.
In my case, I went to the Unification Patch page https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2134 and clicked "Preview file contents" in the Files Tab. This gives you the names of every file you overwrote during install of the Patch, which you now need to delete from your game folders. Navigate through and delete them all, and don't worry. Running Game Verification in Steam will re-download everything you delete.
To do that, after deletion go into your Steam panel and click Library. Right click Witcher 3 in the games list, and in the dropdown click Properties. Click Local Files on the left, and then Verify integrity of game files. This will find and re-download anything that comes standard with your copy of TW3 that you've since deleted. I had to reinstall the Community Patch Base, cuz when re-launching I got the "Could not find function 'RefreshMainMenuAfterContentLoaded'" error code. But no biggie, here it is: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3652
She's up and running again, with 211 of my 217 mods.
It's not a perfect solution, since some older mods don't function or are glitchy AF with v1.32, but I've noticed a few others that only now seem "enabled," since TW3 once again has full access to all DLC. As mentioned in this mod's Posts section, the file structure of some mods can F with your game's access to DLC, by creating unnecessary/duplicative file-path layers. The file-path should always be: DLC/"Relevant DLC Folder"/Content. And NOT:DLC/DLC/"Relevant DLC Folder"/Content.
Always look inside mod folders before dropping them into your game folders. You need to drop all folders named simply "DLC" into your MAIN GAME FOLDER, and NOT into your existing DLC Folder INSIDEyour Main Game Folder, as that will produce the DLC/DLC/"Relevant DLC Folder"/Content file-path-error, which may lead the game to look for required content in that redundant (and/or empty) first DLC Folder. Or the second. Who the hell knows where it'll look?
In particular, if you've installed "Improved DLC2" https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4400, you should probably go back and double-check your file-paths.
Anyway, my grass rendering problem was solved by rolling the game back (or forward, actually) to it's original version, thereby giving the game access to DLC assets again. Now it's pretty grass and lush landscapes for as far as the eye can see. About 4.1 GrassDistanceScale, on my rig. Hope this helps.
Copypaste of an easier solution to this problem, originally written by Rev Snyder (https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?showtopic=8731918/#entry87539748) : "For those of you who are still having issues with the white grass textures or boxes as some have reported. I found a fix at least for me I'm not sure it will work for everyone but for me it had to do with the Hoods mod and its file structure. It was causing my dlc to vanish which this mod author has stated that his mod is based on the blood and wine dlc. I checked on how I had it installed and the content folder should be right after dlc so the correct path would be in the DLC folder and it should look like this DLC/"mod dlc name"/Content. It shouldnt be DLC/dlc/dlc/content. I think this is the reason that it failed at least for me and the block textures are now gone. I would check all your mods to make sure the paths are correct when you view the file structure. I have the GOTY version on GOG. Hope this helps and thanks for the great mod! Happy gaming!" Solution worked for me too on Steam, and I can access back the DLC while remaining wih 1.31
Please make sure your DLC1 through DLC16 have stuff in them. If not, you need to either fix your game through steam or manually if you have backups. Now, here is how I reproduced the problem. If you use the "New Hairstyles and Beards For Geralt (DLC2 Improved)" mod?, make sure you installed it correctly. This is the most common culprit since many people download this mod. If you just have DLC2Improved in your witcher/DLC folder, it will interfere with this mod. Make sure to read the install instructions! This will probably also occur if other mods that adjust the DLC folders are installed incorrectly. The best fix is to backup your DLC folders somewhere else and replace them if needed. 0therwise, verify game files through Steam.
Give Feedback
Squares instead of grass (6 comments)
I have squares instead of grass
Dont know what to do. Installed properly step by step like in descp.
Pls help to fix it.
https://ctrlv.cz/VruR
If you did anything to modify what Steam considers the base game version, (I.E. rolled it back from v1.32 to v1.31, like I did, to make it compatible with some older mods, or used the Unification Patch to unlock all Game Of The Year features, like I also did) Steam has essentially disabled your copies of paid DLC. I imagine it's as simple as this: You're playing a different version of the game with a different Product SKU, so anything you've purchased alongside the original download will no longer work. The GOG version probably works the same.
How to tell?
Go to your In-Game Main Menu and see if Blood And Wine and Hearts Of Stone are listed as "Installed," or "Available." If they're listed as "Installed," then this isn't the problem with your copy and the solution below won't work for you. If however, they're listed as "Available," then you've modified the game in a way Steam doesn't like, so it will act as if you haven't even downloaded the DLC. Any game-functions that draw assets or content from B&W or HOS, (like this Meadows Mod) will not load correctly into your game.
The solution: delete the changed files that altered your Steam copy, and run Game Verification in Steam. It will re-download the files you just deleted, in their default configs. From there you'll be able to use this Meadows Mod, but not any older mods that won't work with v1.32. That's the trade-off. & also, you'll have to restore your game to its original config to actually play B&W and HOS.
In my case, I went to the Unification Patch page https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2134 and clicked "Preview file contents" in the Files Tab. This gives you the names of every file you overwrote during install of the Patch, which you now need to delete from your game folders. Navigate through and delete them all, and don't worry. Running Game Verification in Steam will re-download everything you delete.
To do that, after deletion go into your Steam panel and click Library. Right click Witcher 3 in the games list, and in the dropdown click Properties. Click Local Files on the left, and then Verify integrity of game files. This will find and re-download anything that comes standard with your copy of TW3 that you've since deleted. I had to reinstall the Community Patch Base, cuz when re-launching I got the "Could not find function 'RefreshMainMenuAfterContentLoaded'" error code. But no biggie, here it is: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3652
She's up and running again, with 211 of my 217 mods.
It's not a perfect solution, since some older mods don't function or are glitchy AF with v1.32, but I've noticed a few others that only now seem "enabled," since TW3 once again has full access to all DLC. As mentioned in this mod's Posts section, the file structure of some mods can F with your game's access to DLC, by creating unnecessary/duplicative file-path layers. The file-path should always be: DLC/"Relevant DLC Folder"/Content. And NOT: DLC/DLC/"Relevant DLC Folder"/Content.
Always look inside mod folders before dropping them into your game folders. You need to drop all folders named simply "DLC" into your MAIN GAME FOLDER, and NOT into your existing DLC Folder INSIDE your Main Game Folder, as that will produce the DLC/DLC/"Relevant DLC Folder"/Content file-path-error, which may lead the game to look for required content in that redundant (and/or empty) first DLC Folder. Or the second. Who the hell knows where it'll look?
In particular, if you've installed "Improved DLC2" https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4400, you should probably go back and double-check your file-paths.
Anyway, my grass rendering problem was solved by rolling the game back (or forward, actually) to it's original version, thereby giving the game access to DLC assets again. Now it's pretty grass and lush landscapes for as far as the eye can see. About 4.1 GrassDistanceScale, on my rig. Hope this helps.
"For those of you who are still having issues with the white grass textures or boxes as some have reported. I found a fix at least for me
I'm not sure it will work for everyone but for me it had to do with the
Hoods mod and its file structure. It was causing my dlc to vanish which
this mod author has stated that his mod is based on the blood and wine
dlc. I checked on how I had it installed and the content folder should
be right after dlc so the correct path would be in the DLC folder and it
should look like this DLC/"mod dlc name"/Content. It shouldnt be
DLC/dlc/dlc/content. I think this is the reason that it failed at least
for me and the block textures are now gone. I would check all your
mods to make sure the paths are correct when you view the file
structure. I have the GOTY version on GOG. Hope this helps and thanks
for the great mod! Happy gaming!"
Solution worked for me too on Steam, and I can access back the DLC while remaining wih 1.31
Please make sure your DLC1 through DLC16 have stuff in them. If not, you need to either fix your game through steam or manually if you have backups. Now, here is how I reproduced the problem. If you use the "New Hairstyles and Beards For Geralt (DLC2 Improved)" mod?, make sure you installed it correctly. This is the most common culprit since many people download this mod. If you just have DLC2Improved in your witcher/DLC folder, it will interfere with this mod. Make sure to read the install instructions! This will probably also occur if other mods that adjust the DLC folders are installed incorrectly. The best fix is to backup your DLC folders somewhere else and replace them if needed. 0therwise, verify game files through Steam.