No more npc headtracking with SAM...

[F_Aureus 1]

Hello everyone

I recently gave SAM a try and I noticed a very annoying problem which I did not encounter with SOS : NPCs no longer headtrack my character and even lose focus during conversations. They sometimes simply stare at the air while talking to me... Very annoying, as I said.
Everything else works fine except for this. Did I install something wrong ? Does anybody know a solution to this ?

[F_Aureus 1]

Sorry to up this but I cannot believe nobody else encountered this problem. I am back to Oldrim for a small playthrough and I'd really like to solve this.
I launched the game with a minimal mod list (I use MO btw : no additional .dll except for the ENB, no FNIS, no female body mod, ect...) and the problem remains : male characters (whether followers or not) stare at the void and only look at my character when engaged in conversation.
No record related to stare distance or condition is touched. No idea anyone ?

[Darnexx 1,962]

Never had that Problem, sorry. I would say SAM can't be the Problem, did you install, maybe, another Mod aswell?

[F_Aureus 1]

Thanks for answering.
As you can see below, my test plugins list is minimal :
 

Spoiler

Skyrim.esm
Update.esm
Dawnguard.esm
HearthFires.esm
Dragonborn.esm
Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp
SkyUI.esp
AmazingFollowerTweaks.esp
RaceMenu.esp
RaceMenuPlugin.esp
SAM - Shape Atlas for Men.esp

SAM - Dawnguard Patch.esp

dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp

Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp

The result is a little better with AFT (Amazing Follower Tweaks) than with EFF (Extensible Follower Framework) but male NPCs still loose focus.
The mod order is here :
 

Spoiler

Dawnguard
HearthFires
Dragonborn
USLEEP 3.0.1
SKSE ini
HDTpe
CrashFixes v12
SkyUI
AFT 1.66
Racemenu 3.4.5
SAM
Realistic Force 1.9
XPMSE 3.94 (skeleton meshes only)
Alternate Start 3.1.7

That's the very first time I post a mod list on a forum...
I usually manage to solve problems but this one is annoying.

[Tavman4 19]

Have you got your load order looking like the one on this thread?

I think you might be missing some other mods.

[F_Aureus 1]

8 hours ago, Tavman4 said:

Have you got your load order looking like the one on this thread?

I think you might be missing some other mods.

Hello Tavman4

Yes I have tried this exact load order and the problem persisted.
I really don't know what mod I could be missing. The only one I did not install was the skimpy vanilla armors conversions for SAM.
My SAM folder contains SAM Core, HD Textures and armors refits for SAM.

What is really unnerving is that I never encountered this "glitch" with SOS...

[Tavman4 19]

6 hours ago, F_Aureus said:

Hello Tavman4

Yes I have tried this exact load order and the problem persisted.
I really don't know what mod I could be missing. The only one I did not install was the skimpy vanilla armors conversions for SAM.
My SAM folder contains SAM Core, HD Textures and armors refits for SAM.

What is really unnerving is that I never encountered this "glitch" with SOS...

Did you install these mods in the list in the order top to bottom?

What are you using to modify your height when you are within the game?

[F_Aureus 1]

Wait...
I did not touch characters heights ingame with this SAM installation but... if I did, I would use Racemenu as it is a requirement for SAM anyway.
Is there a special Racemenu plugin required for SAM to work properly ?

[KouLeifoh 2,834]

Which NPC head tracking mod are you using?  They tend to implement head tracking slightly different.

[F_Aureus 1]

2 hours ago, KouLeifoh said:

Which NPC head tracking mod are you using?  They tend to implement head tracking slightly different.

Uh... What ?
I don't use any. NPC head tracking is a vanilla feature.

[Tavman4 19]

Have you tried updating the behaviour scripts? You will need to reinstall FNIS to do that though.

[Tavman4 19]

Also have you tried a complete reinstall of Skyrim then re-add the mods?

[KouLeifoh 2,834]

2 hours ago, F_Aureus said:

Uh... What ?
I don't use any. NPC head tracking is a vanilla feature.

My mistake for somehow overthinking that you're referring to a mod that does the opposite (player head tracking npc's).  From that mod list, the only thing that sticks out to me is XMPSE.  If you're using the behavior file skeleton.hkx for the skeleton, then FINIS is needed since it affects animations like head tracking.  You technically only need skeleton.nif and skeletonbeast.nif for SAM to work since SAM already includes a separate behavior file for genital animations.

[F_Aureus 1]

Well, guys, I made a few experiments based on your suggestions and nothing changed.
FNIS or no FNIS, with or without the XPMSE scripts and .esp; all this didn't solve the problem. I even re-installed Oldrim itself, even though it's remained untouched since I use MO...

I am at a loss. Even though SAM is nice and offers some great features, I think I'll simply capitulate and go back to SOS. The male NPCs looking like zombies are annoying as f***.
Warm thanks for stopping by and trying to help.

[F_Aureus 1]

Never mind.
I just wrote some silly theory.

[Naurdor 232]

Umm... have you tried testing it with SAM deactivated? Just to see if it is SAM or to rule it out.

[F_Aureus 1]

17 hours ago, Naurdor said:

Umm... have you tried testing it with SAM deactivated? Just to see if it is SAM or to rule it out.

With the same mod list but replacing SAM with SOS, everything works fine...