Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - DynDOLOD 2.18

[sheson]

DynDOLOD 2.18 condensed update post

 

What’s New?

 

This is a simple maintenance update to address a bug and add updates for a couple mods.

See Full update post for 2.xx update instructions

 

---

 

Some Assembly Required

 

Caranthir Tower Reborn - DynDOLOD Resources contains an optimized full model of the tower for a little bit more performance friendly Neverfade LOD. Mesh rules also add LOD for the stone dragon and the portal building.

Optional: to sync concealing/revealing the tower from far distances install and overwrite the two original scripts with the ones from DynDOLOD Patches.

 

Verified working out of the box - included rules

Trollstigen

 

Verified working out of the box - added/updated meshes and/or textures

Killian Castle

Lyngwi - A Nordic Village

 

Fixes include

Fixed sometimes not falling back to billboard when generating ultra trees by Monobloc

 

[spoiler=Changelog DynDOLOD 2.18]DynDOLOD.exe - fixed sometimes not falling back to billboard when generating ultra trees

DynDOLOD.exe - add the worldspace Master as activate parent for Never Fade LOD/Full LOD objects

DynDOLOD.exe - set VWD on original base records used for dynamic LOD only as well

TexGen.exe - sync updates with DynDOLOD.exe

TexGen.exe - fixed generation of dlc01castlefortlod.dds

TexGen.exe - generation for impwood01lod.dds

Papyrus Scripts - activate worldspace Master in case the activate all function is called

DynDOLOD_Manual.html - updated compatibility information for several mods

DynDOLOD Resources - updated/added meshes/textures for better compatibility with mods

DynDOLOD Patches - added script patches for Caranthir Tower Reborn

 

 

See Full update post for full changelog, fully detailed update instructions and updated compatibility information for Skryim mods.

 

DynDOLOD 2.17

[Iron529]

Decided to swap Warburgs map to A Quality world map in hopes of fixing atleast the map issue, running DynDOLOD again, will post back in like an hour once it's finished. Output is almost 5gigs in size, guess i went bit overboard with mods again

[Iron529]

Some progress, map now works without crashing but tcl still causes CTD with the same error as before, this time size / alignment was 5592560/16. Any advice or am i just asking for more than the engine can handle?

 

Edit. Oh and RAM usage when crashing was 2.5GB and VRAM 3.4GB.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Iron529

[sheson]

So, i'm back to post my findings. Installed Enhanced Landscaped, Skyrim High Quality LODs and used the BillBoards Generator you linked, ran DynDOLOD on high. Well that was a no go, insta CTD outside of Whiterun with TESV.exe using 2.5GB RAM and around 3.5-4Gb VRAM, engine kinda chocked i would assume since neither of those should be high enough to induce CTD, on my last installation i got a stable game at TESV.exe using 3GB RAM and around 4GB VRAM constant. Did some tweaking in ENBoost and Crash Fixes but could not get a stable game.

 

After this i scrapped scrapped Enhanced Landscapes and tried again with DynDOLOD set on medium, everything else is same as before, previously mentioned HQ LODs and tree BillBoards installed. This time Whiterun outskirts are stable for running and exploration, and cell loads fine coming out of the city or the other various interiors outside of Whiterun. The issue now is that i crash if i use tcl and get even slightly off the ground, rise above player height and i crash. The other crash that occurs and is repeatable is opening world map, instantly crash. Disabling DynDOLOD Output fixes these crashes.

 

Now i'm quite sure the issue is not with DynDOLOD itself but with the engine chocking because of the additional data it has to process, but eitherway i was hoping if you had some magic that could be tried here, didn't get to use DynDOLOD for anything else but testing so far, but my eyes bled after disabling it

 

Crash Fixes gives me the following when using tcl or opening world map: https://gyazo.com/406e8219828d6345e1104015df5501f2

Additional size /alignment codes i get are: 2356488/16, 1166256/16. TESV.exe RAM usage was 2-2.5GB and VRAM usage was constant 4GB during crashes. Map is Warburgs 3D Paper Map, if it matters.

The magic would be to setup a stable game by following a guide like STEP and not overload the game with too many mods or 4k textures. If you are looking for pointers regarding DynDOLOD, check the manuals "Performance" section.

Edited October 5, 2016 by sheson

[sheson]

yeah, theoretically its all good.. so i tried doing the ultra trees thing and it actually worked! also it pretty much made the game run at 12 fps and crash after a minute of walking... so not a valid option.

 

redid everything and checked the window on the right, everything checked out ok, the textures were from the output mod. still didn't match! and its not even a color thing.. the size of the tree as well:

 

before:

 

 

after:

 

 

I have no clue what the nightly screenshots are supposed to show.

 

Tree LOD is done by TES5LODGen for trees and requires to install the correct billboards for the load order. It is a very straight affair: each full model tree requires the correct billboard dds/txt file installed for it.

If the tree LOD for a full model tree doesn't match, then the wrong billboard dds/txt is installed for that tree.

Edited October 5, 2016 by sheson

[Iron529]

Well that's the thing, i have no 4k textures, everything is either 2/1k or 2k. The mod list i'm running now is basically the same one i ran stable for over 100h before, with some additional texture mods added in the current load. I'll try to fiddle and tweak some more and see if i can manage to make it stable. All the LODs seem to appear as intended when following those tips you gave earlier. Thank you for the help, appreciate it.

[lichy123]

I have no clue what the nightly screenshots are supposed to show.

 

Tree LOD is done by TES5LODGen for trees and requires to install the correct billboards for the load order. It is a very straight affair: each full model tree requires the correct billboard dds/txt file installed for it.

If the tree LOD for a full model tree doesn't match, then the wrong billboard dds/txt is installed for that tree.

yeah the pictures are kinda dark but basically it shows the changes between the LOD and the tree itself. 

im not sure what to do, really.. with vurts theres only one billboard file to download for the version im using so i dont know how i can mess it up :S and the enhanced tree LOD generator is pretty simple, i just pick the same options i picked when i installed the mod so why is it still different X_X

Edited October 5, 2016 by lichy123

[sheson]

yeah the pictures are kinda dark but basically it shows the changes between the LOD and the tree itself. 

im not sure what to do, really.. with vurts theres only one billboard file to download for the version im using so i dont know how i can mess it up :S and the enhanced tree LOD generator is pretty simple, i just pick the same options i picked when i installed the mod so why is it still different X_X

If the LOD tree does not match the full model tree the wrong billboard dds/txt file for that full model is installed.

Check the log for lines like this

TreePineForest01 [TREE:0001306D] using LOD Textures\Terrain\LODGen\Skyrim.esm\TreePineForest01_0001306D.dds

 

To find the full model tree, type the form id 0001306D into xEdit top left FormID field and hit enter which will bring up the base record for that tree in the right window. Take note of the row MODL - Model Filename defining the model like "Landscape\Trees\TreePineForest01.nif" for example. This is the full model.

If you click  CTRL+F3 to open xEdit asset browser you can load this tree with nifskope if it is installed or look it up in MO right data tab (if you can not find it it is in a BSA and most likely the vanilla tree).

 

At them same time open the billboard Textures\Terrain\LODGen\Skyrim.esm\TreePineForest01_0001306D.dds in a suitable image viewer program.

If they do not match, you haven't installed the correct billboard. If they look the same, but tree LOD is just different size, make sure to install the correct billboard for whatever mod it is that changes the tree size - if there are any available. Or manually adjust scale of the billboard in its accompanying txt file.

 

If all else fails, or above brief instructions seem confusing have a look at this video which explains billboards in detail.

Edited October 5, 2016 by sheson

[kojak747]

Hi Sheson, 

 

I've run into a problem with the mod Solitude Reborn. Basically, I can see through the bottom of the city from below. I'm not sure what's the best solution is but I thought of removing the Solitude Reborn plugin during DynDOLOD generation so I only see vanilla Solitude LOD whilst in the Tamriel worldspace.  Would that work or should I try and fix it buy adding extra rocks/checking LOD flags etc for Solitude Reborn?   

 

Thanks

 

Bill

Edited October 5, 2016 by kojak747

[sheson]

Hi Sheson, 

 

I've run into a problem with the mod Solitude Reborn. Basically, I can see through the bottom of the city from below. I'm not sure what's the best solution is but I thought of removing the Solitude Reborn plugin during DynDOLOD generation so I only see vanilla Solitude LOD whilst in the Tamriel worldspace.  Would that work or should I try and fix it buy adding extra rocks/checking LOD flags etc for Solitude Reborn?   

 

Thanks

 

Bill

I would remove the mod for generation, that is the easiest solution. I don't think the author intended to have the additions look nice from outside the city. tfc from inside Solitude and check how things look past the outside walls. It would require quite some amount of work to complete that.

Edited October 5, 2016 by sheson

[Mebantiza]

Found a dodgy piece of landscape 547c3 

MFG says Last base change is Dyndolod, but a search didn't show up as a Dyndolod piece exactly in xedit.

X 158646.703125 

Y -2200.467041

Z -5509.439453

 

Just above cragswallow slope. Ive seen this piece generated before. 

 

[sheson]

Found a dodgy piece of landscape 547c3 

MFG says Last base change is Dyndolod, but a search didn't show up as a Dyndolod piece exactly in xedit.

X 158646.703125 

Y -2200.467041

Z -5509.439453

 

Just above cragswallow slope. Ive seen this piece generated before. 

 

This object is added by Skyrim.esm. DynDOLOD does not add or change this object as you already found out.

The base record is updated by DynDOLOD to let the engine know that these objects have LOD now.

 

I suggest to submit the object and screenshot as bug report to USLEEP.

Edited October 6, 2016 by sheson

[kojak747]

Thanks for the tip on simply disabling the Solitude Reborn plugin, worked a treat. Now that's solved, I've another query I'm hoping you can help me with.  Basically, I need to make ultra tree lod for some SFO trees which include the tall scots pines, the giant bent tundra pines and the large juniper trees.

 

I know how to paste the leaves in nifskope, optimize the texture, adjust alpha etc and thus create the ultra tree lod but am lost when it comes to creating the 2d x mesh for the trunks.  Searching through your posts it looks as though you did the work in 3dsmax.  This is a new program to me so I'm currently gathering info and reading up on what to do.  I realise this is a fairly complicated process so if you have any links or advice that would be really helpful.

 

Cheers

[sheson]

Thanks for the tip on simply disabling the Solitude Reborn plugin, worked a treat. Now that's solved, I've another query I'm hoping you can help me with.  Basically, I need to make ultra tree lod for some SFO trees which include the tall scots pines, the giant bent tundra pines and the large juniper trees.

 

I know how to paste the leaves in nifskope, optimize the texture, adjust alpha etc and thus create the ultra tree lod but am lost when it comes to creating the 2d x mesh for the trunks.  Searching through your posts it looks as though you did the work in 3dsmax.  This is a new program to me so I'm currently gathering info and reading up on what to do.  I realise this is a fairly complicated process so if you have any links or advice that would be really helpful.

 

Cheers

 

You can just copy a 2D nitrishape from one of the other trees. All you have to do then is adjust the x, y, z of 8 vertices by directly editing the values in nifskope. Create the texture for it by using the billboard creation tool from Zilav talking a screenshot from the tree trunk in nifskope.

 

The 2D trunk only works well for straight trees. If it is really bendy and the tree not used a 1000 times, I would keep the 3D trunk but try to optimize it in 3dMax by using the built-in tools (Pro-Optimizer) and manual work. That is trial and error and experience of what can be deleted. An optional step is it try to make the texture not tile so it can be atlassed, which can be done with LODGen.exe which is not well documented, but you might be able to figure it out looking at the files DynDOLOD\Docs\trees.ultra\tools\re-uv\re-uv* Just run the bat and then compare UV of tiled.nif with the new nif created in the output folder. Yes, it will have more vertices, but the texture can now be atlassed and thus the trunk can be part of one of the large supermeshes in the BTO.

Edited October 6, 2016 by sheson

[elxdark]

Heey guys, noob question here.

 

If I want to add a new mod that add lods, I know I need to re-run dyndolod but do I run it through the update thing? I mean loading a save removing dyndolod from mcm removing scripts/textures etc, or can I simply run dyndolod again without doing that?

 

Thanks.

[sheson]

Heey guys, noob question here.

 

If I want to add a new mod that add lods, I know I need to re-run dyndolod but do I run it through the update thing? I mean loading a save removing dyndolod from mcm removing scripts/textures etc, or can I simply run dyndolod again without doing that?

 

Thanks.

noob question = search is your friend :)

 

You don't have to do the clean save procedure if you update the existing DynDOLOD.esp. See the manual "Updating" section for details.

Edited October 8, 2016 by sheson