sheson

Vanilla, with test weather 15e. Time is noon, so the sun shining from top is probably the key.

Object LOD needs to generated again so the new LOD models are being used when generating the BTO files. Executing LODGen in expert mode will suffice if nothing else changed

The game does not ignore vertex colors. If something does not show up in the game, it was not installed/used when generating LOD or the generated LOD is not installed. This is what I get with your treepineforest05passthru_lod.nif

I assume the screenshot shows Solstheim? Paste the SSELODGen_log.txt to pastebin. Please post a https://modwat.ch/ of the load order. Don't worry about reporting. I just need to be able to reproduce the setup so I can test.

You know which LOD model to edit by checking the DynDOLOD_SSE_Tree_Report.txt, with vanilla trees it would meshes\dyndolod\lod\trees\treepineforest05passthru_lod.nif That's why I mentioned Blender/3DSMax. It might be necessary to only adjust specific triangle, vertices so not to disturb other parts of the tree. You might as well just try a different full model/LOD model from one of the many tree mods just for those couple trees to see if they fit your taste.

Yes, those first settings mean the billboards are only used in LOD 8 and 16. The distance of where LOD level 4 end and LOD level 8 starts is controlled by fBlockLevel0Distance. If you set Billboard1 for LOD level 4, then they will immediately start showing beyond the loaded cells. You can edit the ini (Billboard = Billboard1) if you like, but typically you would edit the rule in the advanced options and save the preset. There is currently no settings that can change LOD models. As such 3D tree LOD models are object LOD models. Atm the only way to change anything about them is to edit the LOD models. The 3D tree LOD models uses the full models leafs copied 1:1, so whatever you are seeing happens because the LOD shader is a limited subset of the full tree shader. With a lot of time and NifSkope and experimenting with a couple shader settings or maybe manually editing normal vectors with Blender/3DSMax it might be possible to make the tree LOD a bit less susceptible to low sun directions. One way to make a shape in a model darker is to use vertex colors.

If changing the brightness of textures seemingly does not have any effect in the game, you are either changing the wrong settings/billboard type or the updated billboards are not installed when generating LOD / updating the texture atlas. You can emulate with TexGen what happens to the lighting of the full model when the sun is low: set direct light to maximum and ambient to minimum. Change Front/Back to either full left or fully right. You get really distinct dark and lit up pieces. The way this information makes it into the HD billboard is via the normal map. Test if increasing the smoothness of the HD normal map texture of the HD billboads helps to lessen the effect in the game. If the mentioned NIF is the 3D tree LOD model (typically has _lod in the filename) and not the full mode (typically does not have _lod in the filename)l. It should be no surprise that billboards are different (manually screenshotted from NifSkope versus a high quality render of the current full model) or that billboards from mods do not contain any HD billboards e.g. front and side views and normal maps. The compression format of generated textures can be changed in TexGen at any time. Age is not a good indicator of supported formats. The Intel plugin can read/write BC7 for example. If you believe the mip mapping of textures affects things, you can could test if removing them from the generated atlas textures ..\Textures\DynDOLOD\LOD\DynDOLOD_Tamriel.dds and Tamriel_n.dds helps.

Provide necessary information, for example: Which mod options and LOD resources are installed. What xLODGen options were used. Where the screenshot was taken. When installing the generated xLODGen output, make sure to always overwrite all other files, so that the tree LOD texture atlas and the tree LOD meshes are from the same generation for the current load order.

Ultra tree LOD generation is explained in ..\DynDOLOD\docs\trees.ultra\DynDOLOD-Trees.html Depending on your preference, you either set Billboard1 or Level0 (Billboard or Static LOD4 in DynDOLOD 2.x) for LOD Level 4 on the tree mesh rule for billboards or 3D tree LOD models in the first LOD level. The default value depends on the low, medium or high preset. Do not use anything from DynDOLOD/TexGen 3 Alpha with DynDOLOD/TexGen 2.x I am under the impression you used ultra tree LOD with DynDOLOD 2.x before and you didn't notice anything like with it. You seem to believe this is due to tree LOD billboards generated by TexGen 3 alpha. I would like to compare to the 2.x LOD generation you had before. For DynDOLOD 3, open ..\DynDOLOD\Logs\DynDOLOD_SSE_Tree_Report.txt, search for 00051126 If should either say Level0: Billboard1 using internal or Level0: meshes\dyndolod\lod\trees\treepineforest05passthru_lod.nif using texture... For DynDOLDO 2.x the similar looking tree LOD report is printed to the normal message log. I need to know if the tree LOD is billboards or 3D LOD models so I know what to actually look at. I also need to know if this is a new issue or already existed before.

You should know if you set Level0 or Billboard1/2/3 etc. for LOD Level 4 for the tree mesh rule. To get information for a tree get close to it so that the full model is loaded, then open console and click it. More Informative Console will also display the used full model. Generate LOD with current version of DynDOLOD 2.x and teh same ultra tree LOD settings to see if it actually is different.

This does not answer the question if the screenshots show tree LOD billboards whatever their source or 3D tree LOD models. Textures are just images do not really have thresholds. Use console to check which base record and NIF the full model trees are using and also to set a specific weather regardless of location.

This is the error message: textures\dbm resources\new museum\stainedglass01.dds not found! The problem is that an expected texture has not been found in the load order. As can be deducted from the log messages and the path, this texture is expected to be included in the mod Legacy of the Dragonborn. The log message says to check if all required *.BSA are loaded. Have you checked the log if all of the LegacyoftheDragonborn BSA files are being loaded? Use the latest DyNDOLOD version 2.92 or newer. Use search https://stepmodifications.org/forum/search/?q=stainedglass01.dds&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=101

Are you sure you are using billboards or HD billboards for tree LOD and that the screenshots are not showing 3D tree LOD? What tree mod are you using? If the full model trees have this highlight, then why should LOD be any different? How do full models looks at the same distance? Use tfc and fly away from full models about the same distance. Are you saying that the trees around Lakeview Manor are the same full model/billboards as around Whiterun but somehow look different?

Brightness of tree LOD billboards can be adjusted on the DynDOLOD advanced options as usual or when generating tree LOD billboards with TexGen.

5x5 cells are loaded around the player as usual. The player character is simply crossing a cell border, a new row of cells attaches, LOD for those cells is disabled.

If LOD "vanishes" it is because active cells attached. LOD only shows outside loaded cells. Explained this many times before.

Change GrassDensity=100 to a lower value in ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_SSE.ini to thin out grass LOD for better performance. 0 to 100%; 0 = no grass - unlike Grass=0, the grass LOD billboards will still be added to the object LOD texture atlas If a cell has 200 grass placements for a grass type and the grass density is set to 50, then only 100 placements instead of the original 200 are added to the object LOD BTO for that cell. Make sure to actually look at LOD beyond the uLargeRefLODGridSize. You might also keep more frames by having grass LOD start right beyond the UGridsToLoad. If no full models/textures or grass base records changed in the meantime, there is no need redo the grass billboards with TexGen. It is also enough to just do the first pass generating object (and tree LOD) if you just want to update grass LOD. In fact, you could just edit the export file directly and set the GrassDensity= there and then jist Execute LODGen from DynDOLOD expert mode.

The export files shows that for both ships the full model is used for the first LOD level 4. The first nif is the full model and the next 3 files are what is used for LOD level 4/8/16 respectively. Make sure that the generated LOD files in the output folder are installed and not being overwritten by other mods. Load Meshes\Terrain\Tamriel\Objects\Tamriel.4.-16.28.bto into NifSkope. The ship should be the full model.

See ..\DynDOLOD\Docs\DynDOLOD-FAQ.txt "FAQ: Game: ILS or CTD" and ..\DynDOLOD\Docs\DynDOLOD-README.txt how to troubleshoot CTD.

"Didn't work" does provide any information. Do the checks as I suggested. I expect a copy/paste of the line in the export file. Settings flags in plugins is not required for DynDOLOD and counter productive at best.

Install More Informative Console. In the game go to the ship, open console and click it. Verify it says "Dungeons\Ship\ShipLargeDaintySload01.nif" for the model. Start DynDOLOD, go to advanced and right click insert a mesh rule near the top (for example just below "weatherstatics\": Mesh mask: ShipLargeDaintySload01.nif (case does not matter) LOD 4: Full Model LOD 8/16: Full Model/Static LOD4/8/16 (there is no point for full model for far away LOD) VWD: Checked Grid: Far Full/Far LOD Reference: Unchanged Remember, clicking low, medium, high resets all rules. Make sure Generate static LOD is checked. Click OK to generate LOD. You can check the export file if the setting took effect ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\Export\LODGen_SSE_Tamriel.txt Look for a line that looks like this: 0007B912 00008000 -66470.664062 94288.320313 -14284.390625 0.0000 0.0000 242.0000 1.0 ShipLargeDaintySload01 00008000 -LargeRef meshes\dungeons\ship\shiplargedaintysload01.nif meshes\dungeons\ship\shiplargedaintysload01.nif meshes\dungeons\ship\shiplargedaintysload01.nif meshes\dungeons\ship\shiplargedaintysload01.nif The first nif is the full model and the next 3 nif are what is used for LOD levl 4/8/16 respectively. Install output as a mod, make sure it overwrites everything.

The rule only applies when the path of the full model matches "dungeons\ship\ShipLargeDaintySload01.nif"

There is no undefined space between adjacent cells. LOD starts beyond the loaded cells. Load unloads once everything in the cell is loaded. If the object is a large reference, then the full model is loaded further away. and if no large reference bugs are trigger the LOD defined as large reference is also unloaded earlier. There should be no discrepancy between a full model being set as large reference and its LOD being marked accordingly. Disable large refs to test if that influences what you are seeing.

If you set LOD4/8/16 too Full Model, the full model will appear in those LOD levels. If for some reason you do not want dynamic LOD use the full model, set Grid to Far LOD. It says right above the box: Order matters! Whatever rules matches the model path first matches. A rule for "ship" above "ShipLargeDaintySload01.nif" will always win.

Follow the suggestion and search the forum for the error message: