Skyrim Mod - *IMPORTANT MUST HAVE* - SSME - Skyrim Startup Memory Editor (Fixes Most/All CTDs)

I usually post the author's description, but there isn't much of one at the moment, so I will go by experience. Recently, I had been using the Safety Load fix for less crashes and infinite loading screens (ILS). However, it has some incompatibilities with certain things and led me to turning one of it's options off. I didn't benefit much. Some of you who used or currently use Safety Load know the experience I'm talking about.

I recently ran into another fix that had just hit the Nexus and there were a couple posts about it. So, I decided to download and test for myself as I had a few mods that I know will cause CTD on my system if so much is going on at once. Looking for a location of a huge battle from the 'Populated Skyrim Civil War' mod, I head to the area of Frostmere Crypt (common for CTDs with this mod). As I head to the scene, 40 Imperials and 40 Stormcloaks are raining arrows on each side until they close in for melee combat. I watched them fight and put major fatalities on each other. I did have a couple of quick framerate drops to 25, but for the majority of the fight, it was smooth.

I went to some other places on the map that are pretty active with a combination of bandit mods and mods that boosts enemies powers and abilities, I see major fights, huge giants entering the fight, monsters and creatures, and I decided to take out my staff and conjure a couple of dragons. I looked on as the fight was going for a few minutes. I only noticed some short pauses that were less than a half second long and probably due to me walking close to a spawn area - only twice during my 2+ hour run with the fix and going from place to place all over the map with major war - no CTDs (crash to desktop).

I hadn't played that long in the out part of the world without any CTDs in a LONG time lol! I went to the page to share my findings and as I typed away, I decided to go to a few more spots in the game before giving confirmation. I found that I was very stable in the Skyrim world, but then I traveled to Solstheim (DB) and played for a bit with a bunch of Ash Spawn everywhere and in around 4 minutes or so, I got my first freeze. I restarted the game and went to the same area and was fine. Went to a dragon location and was there for a few minutes and eventually CTD. I decided to uninstall the mod Skyrim More Spawns, went back in and no CTDs so far. I will do some testing with that mod a bit more to see what is happening.

So, if you read this long, you should have a good idea about this fix. I don't believe it's 100% perfect, but all I can say is it's been a long time playing for hours without and CTDs or freezes. If you play lots of Skyrim with heavy modding, you should get this. Also, look into ENBoost for memory management.

Thanks to the author 'Queued' for this fix. He also has some work in Fallout New Vegas. A very special thanks goes to Sheson but I won't be 'giving my first born' haha. I'll try and get you someone elses. You will make lots of players very happy.

Video by Euther


You Can Get That Fix HERE
Do Not Forget To Endorse! Click The Green 'ENDORSE' Button At The Top Of His Page

Also check THIS PAGE for additional info.

Note: Some pics may be a bit dark due to clouds above (cloud shadowing feature in ENB)

If you all are having some issues, here's a good quote from Nexus user Bundy714

Bundy714 wrote:I'm going to point out the obvious for some of you guys. The reason you see SOME people getting spectacular results with SSME is because they are advanced modders that have used TESVedit to sort out all conflicts and problems between mods and just needed more memory for everything to work properly. With no conflicts in your load order, this is a God send and you can play for days without a CTD.

On the other hand, people with conflicting mods expecting SSME to somehow fix their issues are going to be disappointed. If you have issues with your load order, or conflicting mods, this is not going to fix that. You need to learn to use TESVedit, and ENBoost and work out any problems with your game, and then SSME will give you the ram and overhead to run properly modded Skyrim like never before.

I've got well over 200 mods with loads of new spawns but it took a lot of work to get everything clean and conflict free. I was still having CTD's every 15 to 30 minutes because the game was just overloaded. SSME has allowed me to play for 8 to 12 hours a day for a week now with only one CTD all week long. It's truly amazing, but it will not help you if your modded game has issues that only TESVedit can fix. YOU still have to do your part to get a stable game. The memory patch is just giving you more memory, it does not allow conflicting mods to somehow become magically stable.

This should be perfectly obvious, but some people seem to believe this is a fix for all their CTD's. This is a fix for memory related CTD's, not mod conflicts that cause CTD's. You want a guide to set up a stable game, go to the STEP site, set up a CORE STEP Skyrim in Mod Organizer, then add in your favorite STEP addon pack, or your own personal favorite mods. Check out Neovalen's Skyrim Revisited on STEP for how to make mods play well together and fix any conflicts. Modding Skyrim is still a skill you learn by doing, you just can't download each and every mod that looks cool and expect them all to play well together without any work on your part.

If you aren't using all the modders tools, like Mod Organizer, BOSS, TESVedit, WyreBash, ENBoost, B.U.M. (Boss userlist manager), etc......then you just aren't an advanced modder and this may or may not help you. Some people are afraid to read and learn, and don't want to put in the time , that's why they make consoles. I'm running 209 esms/esps and had to merge 57 esp's with the TESVedit merge script to get under the 255 esp limit. IF all that is Greek to you, then this may not help you. I just had to say this, because so many of these posts are by people with unreal expectations. IF you are still getting CTD's, then your problem is not with memory, it is conflicting mods. Learn to fix those conflicts, and this patch will make Skyrim the most stable game you've ever played.

I would also like to add that some of the screenshots and video represent tests, but most are actual gameplay. This is not to promote overloading your game with every heavy mod you can find, but it's about the stability of using mods that would crash or freeze the game. Even without such heavy modding, Skyrim is prone to CTDs and ILS (infinite load screens). I actually 'do' play my games with wars and encounters and was doing so before this mod. I just had to tone some things down for game stability and even then, I'd sometimes get CTD.

Thanks to SSME, I can now add those things back, but I'm just saying not to overload your game just for nothing or just because you think you can. Not all mods are clean mods.