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TechAngel85

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Everything posted by TechAngel85

  1. TechAngel85
    Good to know! We are, indeed, just trying to nail down xLODGen settings. EDIT: I added an additional two sets to my compares. First new one is with my custom setting but using the brightness setting in xLODGen rather than a noise texture. The now final compare is with Dy's posted INI settings and Z's larger tree distance.
  2. TechAngel85
    Actual visual quality/diff is what I'm looking at (performance data was just there to have it) and from my testing there is no reason for the higher settings as you can see in my compares. The difference between current Guide settings and my custom run is hardly noticeable and even better in some cases because it's blending out some of the tiling. As for the baked normals, feel free to test with and without them. You can generate a lot faster than I can. EDIT: This is the only image I could find of LOD points. I thought 32 was pretty much only map, else so far out you can't really ever see it (maybe from the throat of the world): Red = LOD4 Green = LOD8 Blue = LOD16
  3. TechAngel85
    This is why I explored the custom settings posted. 1024 seemed too much for LOD. Z has a shiny new rig...evident by the nearly maxed out settings he's got going on in the Guide right now. It took him 30 mins to generate...took me 70! Longest run I've ever done with xLODGen. STEP is just the modlist without LOD. Cathedral Landscape provides LOD and noise, meaning that how it would look like without running xLODGen...and how CL authors intended it to look. The settings you currently have on the Guide + HD Terrain LOD (light noise texture only) The settings you currently have on the Guide, but at quality 10 instead of 0 + HD Terrain LOD (light noise texture only) Custom settings posted + HD Terrain LOD (light noise texture only). LOD32 is the map and I don't really treat it as normal LOD that is constantly being looked at. Thus I handle it differently, which is why it's closer to LOD8 settings...so you get bit better clarity. As I already mention on the Discord message, HD Terrain LOD (light noise texture) still doesn't match CL, which is why it's darker. The only fix for this is using the brightness setting in xLODGen or creating our own texture. Without HD Terrain LOD's noise texture, the terrain is very, very dark. Therefore, you currently are having users of the Guide generating very, very dark LOD. Far darker than the previous settings I had with a brightness set to 8. None of the compares had TexGen nor DynDOLOD to keep the compares and data consistent. However, I'll say again... Dynamic Distant Objects LOD (DynDOLOD) has nothing to do with terrain. It handles objects only...statics and some moveable statics. Doesn't touch terrain. From TexGen Documentation: "If a texture replacer is used, the vanilla LOD textures for object LOD may not match the looks very well. With TexGen.exe most but not all object LOD source textures can be generated from the full textures in the current load order." It handles texture changes to objects for LOD generation...statics, but not pre-built LOD statics such as mountains, glaicers, towns, etc. ​...so not used for terrain, either. My Terrain Manger settings are whatever BethINI puts out by default for High. I can redo all my shots with higher settings, if need be, since I kept the generated data from each run.
  4. TechAngel85
    Are any of these setting going to affect the actual visuals beyond simple ranges? For example are they are to affect one the textures look when generated? ...or do they just set where the LOD levels begin/end? Edit: I'm currently not considering the Z-Fighting Patch. It's not polished enough to use in the Guide yet. Reports are still rolling in of things being blocked and clipped.
  5. TechAngel85
    I've done some testing using the new LOD settings in the Guide and a couple sets of altered settings. First the baseline was taken after Guide installation but before xLODGen was ran. This means Cathedral Landscapes is providing all landscape LOD besides the noise texture. HD Terrain LOD Mesh's light noise texture was used to lighten the LOD in all other compares. After baseline, I followed with three additional runs with xLODGEN. INI Settings [LOD] fLODFadeOutMultActors=20.0 fLODFadeOutMultItems=15 fLODFadeOutMultObjects=25.0 fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1 [TerrainManager] bShowLODInEditor=1 fBlockLevel0Distance=46443 fBlockLevel1Distance=69665 fBlockMaximumDistance=92887 fSplitDistanceMult=1.089 fTreeLoadDistance=46443 Custom Settings The custom settings were designed to lower file size without affecting quality much. The size and quality slowly lowers the further out the LOD goes. This helps to hide some of the tiling in the mid to long ranges, as can be seen in the compares below. Visual Compares Image 1: STEP (Cathedral Landscape's LOD) Image 2: STEP's current LOD settings Image 3: Same as Image 2, but with Quality=10 for all levels Image 4: Custom LOD settings (see above) Image 5: Same as Image 4, however, HD LOD is not used and Brightness=8 for all levels during generation Image 6: Same as Image 5, but will DY's posted Terrain Manager settings (see DY's post below) Performance Data Collected using Skyrim Performance Monitor 64. Image 1 RAM: 2203 MB VRAM: 3009 MB Disk IO: 34 MB/s CPU: 17% GPU: 35% FPS: 58 Image 2 Gen Time: 70:22 min/sec Size: 4.19 GB RAM: 2237 VRAM: 3306 Disk IO: 53 CPU: 19% GPU: 33% FPS: 58 Image 3 Gen Time: 62:49 Size: 3.09 RAM: 2193 VRAM: 3025 Disk IO: 53 CPU: 17% GPU: 29% FPS: 58 Image 4&5 Gen Time: 39:41 Size: 2.94 RAM: 2266 VRAM: 3126 Disk IO: 58 (artificially inflated by other application I accidentally left running) CPU: 18% GPU: 31% FPS: 58 Image 6 Gen Time: 39:22 Size: 2.94 RAM: 2385 VRAM: 3662 Disk IO: 47 CPU: 18% GPU: 35% FPS: 58 Review Visually, I prefer the custom settings. As I mentioned, they gradually lower in quality and size. This both helps to hide some of the tiling seen in some compares while also mimicking real life where the terrain gradually loses detail the further away you look. However as seen in the compares, the shoreline and general terrain mesh shape is still preserved from Quality 0. These setting also took half the time to run and have a smaller imprint vs current settings. The main difference with the larger INI settings is the distant objects are visible (and/or a bit more clear). Most noticeable the trees. Though my average FPS stayed at max, I did notice FPS dipping more with these settings.
  6. TechAngel85
    Changelog yes. Guide, in a moment...lol Edit: Done.
  7. TechAngel85
    Sounds right. The AIO patch will likely be incorporated into the STEP CR Patch (unless it's an ESL).
  8. TechAngel85
    Mod dropped. See OP.
  9. TechAngel85
    Yes, Rustic Children would be dropped as this mod provides the textures needed. Gamwich has recently said he needs to redo that mod so I'm assuming he's not completely happy with it.
  10. TechAngel85
    This mod simply removes "forced quests" that aren't essential to the main story. One such example is the thieves guild questline. Normally it would be forced upon the player whenever they're around an NPC in Riften. However, The Choice is Yours makes it so this quest isn't forced upon the player. It can now be obtained through dialogue with the same NPC. The mod has an MCM menu so everything is configurable to your liking.
  11. TechAngel85
    Rustic Children is just textures. This goes well beyond that. I've also never liked the look of RS Children (most popular children overhaul) because they always looked like they didn't quite fit the game. RS Children really only look okay if you make large changes to the adult NPCs too. It's not a vanilla-friendly mod. Simple Children seems to fill the gap nicely.
  12. TechAngel85
    Discussion topic: Simple Children by Tetchystar Wiki Link Review: This is the mod I was using for my personal Guide. I think it's close enough to vanilla that it can be considered for STEP and is a large improvement to the children. It actually makes the children look like the fit into the game and could grow up to be the adults we're used to seeing. It will use whatever clothing, eye, and hair textures are installed, meaning they are the same as you'd see on the adult NPCs. Rustic Clothing is included in the Guide for their outfits. Finally, the most obvious thing is that this makes children more unique. No more potato-head copies of children running around! Obviously that comes with some necessary artistic deviation, however, this is the only mod that really feels like it got it "right". There is a bug in the mod at the moment. It is simply an error that needs to be removed from the mod due to an USSEP update. Instructions for fixing it are not any more complicated that cleaning the master files...less so, actually. Else there is a mod available that patches it until the author returns to update the mod.
  13. TechAngel85
    I'll let Z handle the Guide since he's been doing things and I haven't been keeping up (think he's learning as he goes ... ). SSEEditQuickAutoClean doesn't need the argument because of how it's named. The "SSE" at the beginning will tell it to run it for SE. However, if you have another name (e.g. xEditQuickAutoClean), then you will then need to add the argument.
  14. TechAngel85
    Yes, it's required as a master. If you don't have it you'll crash at launch. You can remove the edits from the patch, if desired, but doing so is a more advanced topic that most users don't want to jump into.
  15. TechAngel85
    Yeah, 2K for the Quarry is vanilla SSE size so I didn't provide a 1K. I'll update that mod page.
  16. TechAngel85
    I've recommended to the author they use both ESL/ESM flags for the next release. That should solve most sorting issues. Beyond that, LOOT team will need to add new rules.
  17. TechAngel85
    The author is hoping to have an update out today. They are also incorporating USSEP, so it can be loaded directed after it and still have all the fixes.
  18. TechAngel85
    The author of Cathedral Asset Optimizer has confirmed there is a 2GB limit. So, yes, the multiple BSAs and plugins are going to be necessary. @DoubleYou What are you using to archive? I used BSArch, which results in a 7GB archive. If there is a limit, you'd think it'd split it up. CAO does this splitting and plugin names automatically.
  19. TechAngel85
    I messaged the author on Discord. They'll have it fixed for the next update. No ETA. We can just wait for the update, imo. The other option is to use BethINI to add the texture archives to the INI and ignore the plugin. That will ensure they are always loaded were they should be; directly after the game files.
  20. TechAngel85
    Okay, so the clear map addon for this mod is meshes and textures, not just plugin edits. We can include it just for that addon, but it needs to be tested to see if it works okay without the plugin edits.
  21. TechAngel85
    I'll get it into the next patch. Saw this too late for the one I added today.
  22. TechAngel85
    Patch will be up soon.
  23. TechAngel85
    There are no conflicts with RaceMenu assets nor within its plugin so I has to be something besides RaceMenu.
  24. TechAngel85
    I'll have the patch up in a bit.
  25. TechAngel85
    Yeah, this is probably an issue. The CK should have packed the mod correctly for use. It will split large BSAs, I think, automatically.
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