If repairing the game nor fast traveling fixes the loading Skyhold problem. Odds are , it is a corrupt save, possible several of them. Load the most recent good save - a save with everything working correctly then, delete all other saves. Now do a hard save and note the time of the save. Exit the game. Go to Document/Bioware/Dragon Age Inquisition/Saves. Delete all saves except the most recent one, that was made at the time you noted before exiting the game. Leave the two Profilexxxx files there as well.
Now run a registry cleaner such as CCleaner or Eunsing's both are free to use and, you can search for them to download one or the other if you don't have one. Once the registry cleaner is done and, you've allowed it to fix or clean the errors, reboot your computer.
Log in to Origin, Repair the game again, just to be sure. Now launch the game ans see if everything is okay.
I know that might mean loosing some progress but, perhaps not having to start over entirely.
@DarkAmaranth1966 Thank you for the response!
I did as you suggested, the save loaded fine and saved ok, and I could reload it afterwards too. But again, as soon as I entered Cullen's office, everything broke again.
Did the registry cleaner and rebooted and repaired, still nothing.
But I think I might've found the culprit. I believe it was caused by an outfit retexture for Dorian (the all-black one), it was the last mod installed (although it worked fine for a while). I removed that mod and everything seems back to normal, no missing/uniteractable characters, and all the furniture and architecture seems back to normal. I can talk to Cullen again, and it even triggered a cutscene, so I guess that's a good sign.
I was so sure it wasn't the mod, since it worked fine for a while ☹️
I'll continue to pay attention to any other changes, but hopefully there will be no more crashes. I'll update if anything more changes.
Mods can do that. I test new mods by themselves, in a saved game I keep just to do that. If I can use it there for one hour and do everything possible then I put it in my main game, if not, I've found a faulty mod and can tell the creator what problem it caused.
If it acts up in my main game, it's a conflict with another mod and, yes outfit retextures can conflict. Sounds like Dorian's and Cullen's outfit share a texture file but, the mod only altered Dorian's outfit, the texture file was then a bad file on Cullen, thus the glitch.
@shazzarya Is the Dorian mod you have called 'Dorian in Black'? That's the one I use, and I've never had issues. However, with your system specs, I might not recommend cosmetic mods, especially hairs, since they require you having your graphics settings turned up higher than your computer can probably handle (you probably need everything turned down to the lowest setting with your GPU, it is not designed to run games like this one). It also might not be that mod in particular causing an issue, it could just be that made it one more mod than the game can handle. Mods do slow the game down a bit, it seems cosmetic/texture ones do so more than any other type.
A cosmetic mod for Dorian should not cause an issue with Cullen or any other companion, they do not share textures or anything, in my experience. I have cosmetic mods (multiple, in some cases) for all the companions, I've never heard of them clashing nor experienced a clash myself.
Still, if removing that one mod seems to have fixed it, I guess none of that matters. 😛 Come back if you start experiencing issues again, otherwise, enjoy the game. 🙂
@DarkAmaranth1966 Long time no see 🙂 Good to see you back
Good to be back, I had a bucket load or twenty of crud to deal with regarding close friends. It meant a lot of traveling so, didn't have time to game for a while, until we got that mess sorted.
@Leora85 Yes, it's that mod. And it's exactly why I was confused, because it worked very well for a while, and then things suddenly got weird. And it only returned to normal after I removed it. I guess it's no extra mods for a while, or at least until I upgrade my system. I knew it would strain my GPU, but I couldn't resist the game 😞
But thank you, your explanations cleared up a lot of my confusions regarding textures and texture relations. I'll be more wary from now on.
I am so glad you mentioned the Dorian mod. I had the exact same problem and couldn't for the life of me figure out what was causing it. I'm about to try and see if the game will work without that particular mod. Fingers crossed!
DICE Team
