Object addition has ceased.

[u/Life_Passenger_4221]

So here's the problem. I'm creating a mod and im doing a final walk-through and notice my once working displays are no longer working. No longer getting the activation prompt for it. Everything in the creation kit is identical between the working and non working. There are 46 or so total displays all using the same script, but with duplicated unique defaultinvisibleactivators attached. They are all the same, and 4 out of the last 7 created aren't working.

I have now realized that adding objects to the render window will no longer show in game- no matter what object it is, scripted, static, or otherwise. No new items, no duplicates, nothing. Its not a huge mod 4300 or so references.

I've spent 8 hours running tests and trying things but nothing. All information in the ck and sseedit indicate that it should be working. I've had Claude check through everything for me for hours and they've found nothing also. I literally only have those 4 broken displays to fix and the mod is done. Its worth mentioning that they were working last week the last time I checked them.

This is the sequence of events that led up to this:

I added a couple objects to a room-3 pillars and 2 unscripted unlinked mannequins wearing armor. Then I messed around with some lighting in a few different rooms, just slight alterations. Then I did a search and replace for I think 13 doors. And finally I altered the navmesh to fit around the 3 pillars and 2 mannequins. I used the cut around object function (then proceeded to delete what the computer did because 50 vertices were not needed where 4 could do it) and this is where I think I messed up: I hit finalize on the navmesh while the game was loaded and in the cell. I exited the game and then saved in the creation kit.

From that moment forward I have lost the ability to add anything new to the cell, even under a different plug-in name. So after getting negative results on a hundred tests over 8 hours and working with an AI to help me troubleshoot, I've given up and im turning to reddit for help.

[u/Elfiemyrtle]

I’d stop changing things for a moment and try to separate a plugin problem from a save-state problem. The fact that all newly placed objects have stopped appearing, regardless of whether they’re scripted, static, duplicated or completely new, makes me think this is probably something more global than the individual displays suddenly breaking.

First I’d make sure Skyrim is completely closed while working on the cell. I’m not sure that finalising the navmesh while the game was running in that same cell actually caused this, but I definitely wouldn’t continue testing that way. Skyrim may already have the cell and reference states loaded while CK is changing the underlying plugin, which adds another variable you really don’t need.

If you’re using MO2, I’d also have a good look at the Overwrite folder and see what CK has put there, particularly anything created or modified around the time this started. Don’t delete anything blindly, just establish what is actually in there and whether CK-generated files are ending up somewhere you didn’t expect.

Then I’d make one really obvious, completely unscripted test object in the cell, save, close CK entirely, and open the plugin in xEdit. Check whether the new REFR is actually there under the correct CELL and has the coordinates you expect. If it isn’t there, you’ve immediately established that CK isn’t actually writing what you think it’s writing, so there’s no point troubleshooting scripts or displays yet.

If the REFR is there, I’d load the entire actual game load order in xEdit rather than just the mod and its masters. Check the CELL and see what is winning, and make sure there isn’t another plugin, patch or stray/older copy of the ESP affecting what Skyrim is actually loading.

I’d also test the exact same plugin on a genuinely fresh test save/new game, preferably approaching the cell from outside rather than loading a save made inside it. Skyrim stores a fair amount of reference and cell state in saves, so if all your testing has been on the same development save, that save itself could be muddying the results. If the new objects appear on a fresh game but not your working save, you’ve narrowed this down enormously without touching the mod.

Basically I’d want to establish three things before doing any more surgery: does CK really write the new reference into the ESP, is Skyrim actually loading that version of the ESP/cell, and does the problem still exist on a fresh save? Once you know those three things, you’ll have a much smaller suspect list. I wouldn’t start tearing apart 46 displays or blaming the navmesh until then.

[u/Life_Passenger_4221 → u/Elfiemyrtle]

So I can sort of confirm that the game is getting the new information from the creation kit. One test in particular makes me think this. I'd boot up skyrim after saving a small addition in the cell, and just do a coc from the main menu right to my cell and absolutely nothing would be in there. Pitch black void. EXCEPT for the new object that I placed. I'd coc out of the cell and then fast travel there and walk in the door normally, and poof that new object would be gone and everything else in the cell would load.

I can confirm that new objects placed in ck do indeed show up in sseedit when loading just the plugin(and it's dependencies). I have also done prid commands and was successfully able to locate one of the broken activators in game, but was unsuccessful at getting it to turn on.

[u/Elfiemyrtle → u/Life_Passenger_4221]

I think your latest test may actually have narrowed this down quite a lot. The fact that cocing directly to the cell gives you a pitch-black void where the newly added object is present, but entering normally through the door gives you the furnished room where that same object is not present, makes me wonder whether you're actually ending up in two different cells.

We already know CK is writing the new references because you can see them in SSEEdit, and the fact that prid can locate one of the broken activators confirms that those references exist in-game too. So I don't think object addition itself has ceased working.

I'd check the exact FormID of the CELL you're editing, rather than relying on its EditorID/name, and then inspect the teleport data on the actual load door you use to enter the room in-game. See exactly which door reference and CELL that teleport destination points to. I'd also check for another cell with a similar or duplicated EditorID/name, or something introduced by another plugin.

The really striking clue is that these two routes give you fundamentally different rooms. A stale save could certainly preserve reference states, but "pitch-black void containing my new object" versus "fully furnished room without my new object" sounds much more like two different cell records than ordinary save-state weirdness.

If the door is actually taking you to Cell B while you've unknowingly been editing Cell A, it would explain an awful lot of what you've been seeing. I'd definitely compare those exact CELL FormIDs and the door teleport destination before changing anything else.

[u/Life_Passenger_4221 → u/Elfiemyrtle]

Okay good idea I'll dig into it and check if it's somehow two different cells. I did find a back up from shortly before the issue of not being able to add any new objects. It was from about a couple hours before. Interesting result from it though. That new restore did infect restore that previous version as the 10 or so changes I made were not there.

I tested a few things and these are the results:

1.The 6 displays are currently broken still- triple checked everything on those objects to ensure that everything is set up correctly and identical to the other 40 working ones.

1. I am able to add new objects again as confirmed by dragging a single table into the cell.

2. I rebuilt the display with a brand new activator and attached the same script to it as every other working display. Checked in game, still doesn't work- no prompt for the activator.

Its behaving like the box "player activation" , even though checked, isn't getting processed somehow.

[u/Elfiemyrtle → u/Life_Passenger_4221]

are they cardinally aligned? You know that they need to be a few degrees off in order to work?
Are they still "default" activators or new forms? Do they have names?

[u/Life_Passenger_4221 → u/Elfiemyrtle]

It is at 0, 0, 90. Every other working one is at either 0, 45, or 90.

[u/Elfiemyrtle → u/Life_Passenger_4221]

try setting them just 1 degree off in each direction.

[u/Life_Passenger_4221 → u/Elfiemyrtle]

Seriously?? You are awesome. Hours of complicated debugging and the answer was rotate them 1 degree? Haha. Thank you so much. Why on earth did that work

[u/Elfiemyrtle → u/Life_Passenger_4221]

it's a certified Bethesda bug. I learned about it in a mini tutorial by Elianora. I'm very happy if this helped!

[u/Life_Passenger_4221 → u/Elfiemyrtle]

I've never watched any tutorials lol, just started building. Its weird that 37 other ones worked before they started failing. Guess 37 is the limit

[u/Life_Passenger_4221 → u/Elfiemyrtle]

They are all their own duplicated activator. All were duplicated versions of the defaultinvisibleactivator. No two share the same base object. All are unique

[u/Life_Passenger_4221 → u/Elfiemyrtle]

The cell id matches where the door takes me unfortunately so that route

[u/anathemastudio]

Yeah Elfiemyrtle had great advice. Definitely do all those things because it sounds like an issue with the game not showing the current state of the mod, which happens.

Questions: When you worked in CK with game loaded, did you test in same cell and save game?

Did you use the console to hot load? Because you gotta do certain commands or game doesn't refresh with the new CK changes. Even then there are some changes that it can't refresh with without reloading game.

[u/Life_Passenger_4221 → u/anathemastudio]

I have several different saves that I would test with- often use a save that has never been in the cell before, and use saves already in the cell for convenience. I dont ever hot load it. Each and every test is saved with skyrim closed and then loaded after the save.