Obsolete: see FSMPU
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This article is 99% based on jg1 work, endorse him, give him kudos :)
The probable errors are mine.
It seems there are several "the player becomes invisible" bugs.
This solution concerns only the most prevalent; you might be concerned by another one :/
In that case, please report a bug, or add some info to the bug report describing your problem.
This bug here isn't caused by FSMP, it's a native bug.
FSMP allows to check it through its logs.
Some say that they don't have the problem when FSMP is disabled, I have a current 1.6.640 save where this problem happens even wen FSMP is disabled.
The root of the problem
Hairstyles usually have "extra parts", which in SMP are often used to attach collision objects. In this case they are invisible and just used for logic. When you browse in the racemenu between hairstyles that use the same extra part, this part may become duplicated, which is a native game bug. For whatever reason, this duplication is what causes the invisibility.
So it's a save-file local problem: either you have such a duplicated head part on your character, or you do not. If you do, your save is bugged and you will disappear whenever you block the camera. If you don't, you'll never have this problem.
Curiously enough, the disappearing only seems to happen in outdoors locations in SE, it happens indooes too in AE; and the extra head parts stay on you wherever you go.
To test if your save is bugged
Go to any wilderness location. Save and reload your game. Zoom in close in 3rd person view and look straight up (should trigger fade-out). If you disappear, your save is bugged. Else, it's ok.
[DaydreamingDay: personnally I go into Farengar's room.]
Alternatively, you can look in hdtSMP64.log to see if there is a duplicated head part on your character. In this (bugged) example, "VirtualHead" is duplicated:
hdtSMP64 2.0
SkinAllGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - VirtualHead, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - FemaleHeadNord, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - FemaleEyesHumanHazel, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - KSSMP_Sky022, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - KSSMP_Sky022_HL, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - VirtualGround, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - VirtualHairCollision_2, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - VirtualHead, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - FemaleBrowsHuman16, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
To fix a bugged save
Open the racemenu by console. Switch to a vanilla hairstyle, then switch back to whatever you were using. Close the racemenu and your save is fixed forever.
You MUST NOT BROWSE between hairstyles when switching back. Go DIRECTLY to the one you want to use. The "undo" function of ECE makes this easy: Just select a vanilla hairstyle and hit undo, that's it.
You can save the preset with the desired SMP hair too, then choose the preset later instead of browsing hairs.
Here's the example log file from above, after the fix. The extra "VirtualHead" is gone:
hdtSMP64 2.0
SkinAllGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - FemaleMouthHumanoidDefault, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - FemaleHeadNord, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - FemaleEyesHumanHazel, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - KSSMP_Sky022, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - KSSMP_Sky022_HL, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - VirtualGround, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - VirtualHairCollision_2, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - VirtualHead, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
SkinSingleGeometry skeleton_female.nif 7 - FemaleBrowsHuman16, TestChar, (formid 00000014 base form 00000007 head template form 00000000)
Another similar way concerning a vampire
So I started having this problem and didn't realize it was after I became a Vampire. Found this, looked up in the wilderness, and what do you know... invisible. Looked at my hdtSMP64.log and found a copy of "00DZB_FemaleLens_Vampire01"
I fixed it by changing my Race back to the standard Breton race (I don't have a Undo button only sliders so I tried this method) then changed it back to Breton DZ, loaded my preset, and walla! Fixed.
[Breton DZ race is added by COtR]
Another similar way concerning a beard
I had the issue of randomly turning invisible and having dulled textures at random. I simply just chose a vanilla beard instead of the mod beard I was using and so far, so good
So, not only hair
This bug is not specific to SMP hair. SMP hair is a common trigger (by no error of their own), but anything that attaches "extra parts" to your head may trigger the bug. This includes beards, eyebrows and eye colour.
You don't even need any mod-added styles. There are a few vanilla beards that will trigger this bug, but you have to switch between very specific ones that are not adjacent in the list (the two "goatee-in-a-knot", e.g.).
If changing hair doesn't help, you could try the same procedure with those other parts as well.
Please thank these outstanding people for their comments to improve this article
- fgambler
- jamesparkins91
- jg1
- RedPhisher
128 comments
I use console commmand setrace breton and changing it back to setrace nord ( depends on what character race you used) and it fixed
Edit : it seems my issue triggered by going to first person then back to third person
edit: nvm, im dumb. the fix was changing to a different beard in race menu
Here's what I have experienced:
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For some reason, this plugin makes player character visibly disappear in a small area in dungeons(usually at the corner or near a light souce). ---when you save/load, your body appears. when you move out the area, your body appears.
It happens very randomly, you cannot make sure in which cell and at what area it will come to you.
I know this sounds crazy, but after long time of mod-filtering, I locked on this plugin. -------I noticed this problem will be fixed after you re-equip an item on your body, so this must have something to do with equip/re-equip system. i tried to uninstall this plugin and tried at one problematic area, then the problem has gone.
This means I have the vampire spells still linked to my character, and active effects seems to have "Vampire" in it, but the game itself does not allow me to feed or talk to the Volkihar vampires.
When I become a vampire again (Via Sanguinare Vampiris or Serana turning me into a Vampire Lord) the invisibility bug reappears.
Is there any *permanent* fix for this? Specifically for vampirism? It would be great if there was a patch for it or something.
Let me know of any fixes. Otherwise all I can suggest people to do is complete the Dawnguard questline (if playing as Vampire) with the bug active and then becoming a "fake vampire" using the "fix" listed in this post. It's not a preferable solution, however.
I installed "Smooth Cam" and "Modern Preset" for it. After switching over to Smooth Cam, the invisible character issue hasn't reoccurred on any characters.
There are a lot of presets available for Smooth Cam if you wish to have a more vanilla style camera. Hope this helps!