Actor Fixes in Unofficial Skyrim Patches

[jhhowell]

I've been playing Skyrim with just the Unofficial Patches, LOOT says that the load order is correct, but I just ran into a bug that is fixed by the Unofficial Skryim Patch. I was looking for Ahtar in Solitude during the day and eventually found him locked inside Jala's house - the first bug listed on http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Ahtar.  That bug is clearly noted as fixed in the version history, https://www.afkmods.com/Unofficial%20Skyrim%20Patch%20Version%20History.html bug #1456.

 

What am I doing wrong that I'm not seeing some of the effects of the Unofficial Patches? Was my error that I started the game shortly before downloading the patches and setting the appropriate load order? It's been a while but I think I did that shortly after first reaching Whiterun. *Way* too far back to even consider starting over, so maybe I'm just stuck with a game where the Unofficial Patches don't end up doing everything they're supposed to... Some of the effects are in place, just from browsing the Version History file - perhaps somehow just the "Actor Fixes" aren't working for me for some reason? Looking through the lists it's not clear that any Actor Fix is present in my game, but I clearly dodged some bullets in the Quest Fixes category. Very glad those are working as intended!

[Deathbydestiny]

If you started the game before adding the patches, that is a strong possibility. Also any NPC affecting mods that might touch him or related AI packages or scripts for him that could block USKP changes.

 

I'd suck it up and redo at this point, it would bug me far more than it should but that's just me.

[BlackPete]

That's weird, because the fix for bug #1456 should be taking effect on an existing game, as soon as you add the the USKP. Like mentioned in the post above, make sure you don't have any mods that make changes to his AI packages.

[jhhowell]

The only mods I have are Unofficial Skyrim Patch, Unofficial Dawnguard Patch, Unofficial Hearthfire Patch, Unofficial Dragonborn Patch, HighResTexturePacks 01-03, Unofficial High Resolution Patch, and SkyUI. Plus Better Dialogue Controls, which doesn't show up in the load order at all.

 

Load order is Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp, Dawnguard.esm, Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp, HearthFires.esm, Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp, Dragonborn.esm, Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp, HighResTexturePack01.esp, HighResTexturePack02.esp HighResTexturePack03.esp, Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp, SkyUI.esp.

 

No idea what could be messing with Ahtar's AI files.

 

A more detailed look at the version history indicates that I am seeing at least one actor fix working (bug 14492) - back when I did Wolfskull Cave, the draugr and cultists did not fight each other. Bug 12465 (guards at Sarethi Farm) also appeared to work. Bug 12470 (Red Eagle not being a dragon priest) might have worked - I think I was over level 50 when I did that, and he definitely wasn't a dragon priest. On the other hand I'm pretty sure bug 12579 isn't working for me, since I've often gone to Elgrim's Elixirs outside of the usual 8am-8pm hours for most shops. Not sure about bug 10690 - getting Honingbrew Meadery to open after Dampened Spirits took a ridiculous amount of waiting (all day, at 1 hour steps, in one experiment), so I don't know what the deal was with Mallus Maccius. I have managed to trade with him once so far. Bug 6904 is definitely fixed in my game, since I have traded with Vittoria Vici a few times.

 

So, I don't know, very strange. If there's a pattern, it seems to be that fixes involving when an NPC is accessible vs. having a locked home (even if he's not supposed to be at home, in Ahtar's case) aren't working for me, but as far as I can tell the other actor fixes are working.

 

Possibly related example I didn't see in the version history - Pavo Attius was locked inside the Miner's Barracks all day long at Left Hand Mine, which made turning in the misc. quest to clear Kolskeggr Mine somewhat annoying. As I recall the barracks finally unlocked around 6pm so I could finally get in and tell him I'd finished his quest (picking the lock just had him in trespasser-warning mode with no dialogue options, sadly).