Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - DynDOLOD for Skyrim and Enderal 2.98

[sheson]

Installed DynDOLOD, DynDOLOD Resources, EVT (custom large), EVT billboards (custom large) from scratch. Medium preset selected while generating LODs. Perfect Whiterun's pine tree LODs still don't match the rest of the pine tree LODs generated using EVT's billboards. 

 

DynDOLOD log - https://pastebin.com/LQStCgze

 

LOGGen_TES5_Tamriel.text - https://mega.nz/#!km5gXA6I!mebUHXsW11pSUHRRXJ__3u_IkGqanc7UN5g-X365SwA

Sorry, had to upload it to Mega.nz because the text file was too big for pastebin and other text uploading sites.

This test version should fix the height problem. Let me know how that works out.

 

The brightness difference is probably because those trees are using object LOD while the other trees are traditional tree LOD - in conjunction with ENB or weather mods. In vanilla setting the it seems fine, but a small difference might be amplified in other circumstances.

See if setting FlatLODLightingEffect=2.0 or higher in ..DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_TES5.ini helps with that.

 

You could also try to manually adjust the brightness of the LOD texture used by the object LOD trees ..Textures\DynDOLOD\LOD\DynDOLOD_Flat_Atlas_Tamriel.dds but not modify the tree LOD texture ..Textures\Terrain\Tamriel\Trees\TamrielTreeLod.dds

The brightness drop down changes both equally.

 

Another option to have all tree LOD be done as object LOD, just like ultra tee LOD, but just leave the tree rules set as Billboard for all LOD levels.

[XenolithicYardZone]

This test version should fix the height problem. Let me know how that works out.

 

The brightness difference is probably because those trees are using object LOD while the other trees are traditional tree LOD - in conjunction with ENB or weather mods. In vanilla setting the it seems fine, but a small difference might be amplified in other circumstances.

See if setting FlatLODLightingEffect=2.0 or higher in ..DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_TES5.ini helps with that.

 

You could also try to manually adjust the brightness of the LOD texture used by the object LOD trees ..Textures\DynDOLOD\LOD\DynDOLOD_Flat_Atlas_Tamriel.dds but not modify the tree LOD texture ..Textures\Terrain\Tamriel\Trees\TamrielTreeLod.dds

The brightness drop down changes both equally.

 

Another option to have all tree LOD be done as object LOD, just like ultra tee LOD, but just leave the tree rules set as Billboard for all LOD levels.

Brilliant. That fixed the height problem. And setting FlatLODLightingEffect=2.0 seems to have lightened the LOD color a bit as well. I can now kind of make out EVT's custom tree LODs from one another. Any harm in going higher that 2.0? Does it affect other LODs too? I'll try the other two methods if need be but the first one looks like it might do the job.

 

Didn't know LODs for those two mods were object LODs. Yeah, I am using NLVA with its ENB which is fantastic for the most part but during rainy weather types, it makes the grass and distant tree LODs all bright and fluorescent green even with ENB disabled while the rest of the landscape is dull and gloomy.

 

Btw, I came across a Reddit thread today where a few users (one even stating you recommended this) suggested the following load order for LOD generation:

DynDOLOD Resources

Vanilla billboards (Indistinguishable) (4 files conflict with DynDOLOD Resources)

EVT/SSBT

EVT/SSBT billboards

Any other tree mod

Any other tree mod's billboards

TexGen Output

DynDOLOD Output

 

Whereas in the Gamer Poets tutorial, Micheal places the DynDOLOD Resources folder right at the bottom in MO's left pane only above the TexGen & DynDOLOD output folders. Which is the recommended order? Also, do I have to keep billboards enabled in MO after LOD generation? After LOD generation, I removed them and ran the game and it seemed to run fine.  

Edited October 2, 2017 by XenolithicYardZone

[sheson]

Brilliant. That fixed the height problem. And setting FlatLODLightingEffect=2.0 seems to have lightened the LOD color a bit as well. I can now kind of make out EVT's custom tree billboards from one another. Any harm in going higher that 2.0? Does it affect other LODs too? I'll try the other two methods too if need be but the first one looks like it might do the

job.

Great that we finally fixed all that!

 

FlatLODLightingEffect only affects billboards that are done in object LOD. You can set any number you like, but negative numbers should have no effect, and the increase in brightness is less and less the higher the value. I don't think anything beyond 10.0 makes a visible difference anymore.

 

Didn't know LODs for those two mods were object LODs. The difference in color makes sense now.

Doing those trees in object LOD is the way to work around the engine limitation the normal tree LOD has with showing LOD trees in cities.

 

I came across a Reddit thread today where a few users (one even stating you recommended this) suggested the following load order for LOD generation:

DynDOLOD Resources

Vanilla billboards (Indistinguishable) (4 files conflict with DynDOLOD Resources)

EVT/SSBT

EVT/SSBT billboards

Any other tree mod

Any other tree mod's billboards

TexGen Output

DynDOLOD Output

 

Whereas in the Gamer Poets tutorial, Micheal places the DynDOLOD Resources folder right at the bottom in MO's left pane only above the TexGen & DynDOLOD output folders. Which is the recommended order? Also, do I have to keep billboards enabled in MO after LOD generation? I removed them and ran the game and it didn't seem to make a difference.

The manual sections Installation Skyrim and Overwrite Orders explain it already:

 

Install the Core Files from DynDOLOD Resources [...]

Install Vanilla Skyrim LOD Billboards from TES5LODGen or Indistinguishable Vanilla Tree Billboards and let them overwrite any DynDOLOD Resources files.

Then overwrite with any LOD Billboards for mods in the load order.

 

Billboards for mods need to have the same overwrite order as their mods - which is rather obvious, since the last mod to overwrite a full model tree requires its matching billboard.

Since some mods contain their billboards within their main download and not always in a separate install, separate billboards should always be right after their mod.

 

Mod A

Mod A billboards

Mod B which includes billboards

MOD C

MOD C billboards

 

That should ensure the correct billboard is used for each full model.

 

I generally make no recommendations about the order of individual mods. The order of different tree mods is up to the user.

Edited October 2, 2017 by sheson

[XenolithicYardZone]

Great that we finally fixed all that!

 

FlatLODLightingEffect only affects billboards that are done in object LOD. You can set any number you like, but negative numbers should have no effect, and the increase in brightness is less and less the higher the value. I don't think anything beyond 10.0 makes a visible difference anymore.

 

Doing those trees in object LOD is the way to work around the engine limitation the normal tree LOD has with showing LOD trees in cities.

 

The manual sections Installation Skyrim and Overwrite Orders explain it already:

 

Install the Core Files from DynDOLOD Resources [...]

Install Vanilla Skyrim LOD Billboards from TES5LODGen or Indistinguishable Vanilla Tree Billboards and let them overwrite any DynDOLOD Resources files.

Then overwrite with any LOD Billboards for mods in the load order.

 

Billboards for mods need to have the same overwrite order as their mods - which is rather obvious, since the last mod to overwrite a full model tree requires its matching billboard.

Since some mods contain their billboards within their main download and not always in a separate install, separate billboards should always be right after their mod.

 

Mod A

Mod A billboards

Mod B which includes billboards

MOD C

MOD C billboards

 

That should ensure the correct billboard is used for each full model.

 

I generally make no recommendations about the order of individual mods. The order of different tree mods is up to the user.

Haha yeah! I can finally go ahead and actually play the damn game. :P Many thanks for your hard work and patience. Plus you cleared a few of my doubts and gave me a lot of new info. 

 

My bad, didn't see that in the manual. Just followed GP's tutorial and dropped the Resources folder at the bottom. Yeah my billboards order is fine, just wasn't sure about the Resources folder's location. Btw ELFX overwrites a bunch of files from it. OK to let it? Couldn't find anything about it in the manual. 

 

Couple of questions before I go:

1 - I haven't started my playthrough yet but my load order is far larger than the mods I am running DynDOLOD for. I have only selected mods in MO that have anything to do with LODs and ones mentioned on your mod page. I think that's how I ran DynDOLOD on my last playthrough and I had no problems at all. Is there any reason to run DynDOLOD for weapon, armor, UI, animation, interior mods? Stuff that has nothing to do with LODs. Wouldn't it be much easier to install/remove mods that way w/o having to update the esp? 

 

2 - I also plan on creating a merged/bashed patch before I start my playthrough. Is it alright to create DynDOLOD.esp and the merged/bashed patch independent from each other? 

[sheson]

Haha yeah! I can finally go ahead and actually play the damn game. :P Many thanks for your hard work and patience. Plus you cleared a few of my doubts and gave me a lot of new info. 

 

My bad, didn't see that in the manual. Just followed GP's tutorial and dropped the Resources folder at the bottom. Yeah my billboards order is fine, just wasn't sure about the Resources folder's location. Btw ELFX overwrites a bunch of files from it. OK to let it? Couldn't find anything about it in the manual. 

 

Couple of questions before I go:

1 - I haven't started my playthrough yet but my load order is far larger than the mods I am running DynDOLOD for. I have only selected mods in MO that have anything to do with LODs and ones mentioned on your mod page. I think that's how I ran DynDOLOD on my last playthrough and I had no problems at all. Is there any reason to run DynDOLOD for weapon, armor, UI, animation, interior mods? Stuff that has nothing to do with LODs. Wouldn't it be much easier to install/remove mods that way w/o having to update the esp? 

 

2 - I also plan on creating a merged/bashed patch before I start my playthrough. Is it alright to create DynDOLOD.esp and the merged/bashed patch independent from each other? 

"bunch" :) I would suggest to look at the files that are overwritten to better understand. Most likely it will be architecture in Riften. DynDOLOD Resource contains updated versions of ENB particle patch version the Riften buildings. This is merely to ensure better continuity for glow LOD windows when the full model loads. If you use ELFX you probably want to use those version instead, since I believe they work around so the 4 light limit and you rather won't have that close up with all the additional lights from ELFX.

 

I suggest to only load mods that are known to affect LOD when generating LOD. That is to minimize unrelated mods being added as a master, just because they also might add/change references in the worldspaces but unrelated to LOD.

 

The general rule is not to have a merge patch in the load order when generating LOD - because there was a version that sometimes generated plugins with errors. Typically it should not matter if its created before or after DynDOLOD.

 

You should clean all mods before generating LOD. I am just saying this because of the deleted references in Perfect Whiterun that the log showed.

 

Also thanks for helping finding a couple bugs.

Edited October 2, 2017 by sheson

[XenolithicYardZone]

"bunch" :) I would suggest to look at the files that are overwritten to better understand. Most likely it will be architecture in Riften. DynDOLOD Resource contains updated versions of ENB particle patch version the Riften buildings. This is merely to ensure better continuity for glow LOD windows when the full model loads. If you use ELFX you probably want to use those version instead, since I believe they work around so the 4 light limit and you rather won't have that close up with all the additional lights from ELFX.

 

I suggest to only load mods that are known to affect LOD when generating LOD. That is to minimize unrelated mods being added as a master, just because they also might add/change references in the worldspaces but unrelated to LOD.

 

The general rule is not to have a merge patch in the load order when generating LOD - because there was a version that sometimes generated plugins with errors. Typically it should not matter if its created before or after DynDOLOD.

 

You should clean all mods before generating LOD. I am just saying this because of the deleted references in Perfect Whiterun that the log showed.

 

Also thanks for helping finding a couple bugs.

NP man. Happy to help such an essential mod in any way. 

 

Lol by bunch I didn't mean a lot. There are about 16 conflicting files. Yep all Riften architecture files. When you say 'you probably want to use those version instead', you mean let ELFX overwrite DynDOLOD Resources, yes?

 

Glad to know I am doing it right. Yeah I never saw the point in adding unrelated mods are masters. I just select mods that LODs can be generated for and ones mentioned on your list that are also present in my load order. That's what led to this whole Pines of Whiterun/Perfect Whiterun extra work for you. :P And this way it takes me all of 5-6 mins to generate LODs. Hence I was able to test it multiple times with different mods/options. 

 

Yes I'd read somewhere about one of the versions causing errors. Will generate merged/bashed patch and DynDOLOD.esp separately. 

 

I have cleaned all my main files along with anything else LOOT said was dirty. Never gave me a warning message about Perfect Whiterun though. Will clean it. 

 

Thanks again. 

Edited October 3, 2017 by XenolithicYardZone

[sheson]

When you say 'you probably want to use those version instead', you mean let ELFX overwrite DynDOLOD Resources, yes?

Yes

[XenolithicYardZone]

Yes

Awesome. Thanks. 

[Crimson13]

I'm getting an error "Fatal: Could not find ini" when running the textgen.exe. I did move my Steam and MO folders to a different hard drive a few weeks ago and am just now updating my Skyrim mod list. I'm having trouble finding out how to fix this, does anyone have ideas?

[sheson]

I'm getting an error "Fatal: Could not find ini" when running the textgen.exe. I did move my Steam and MO folders to a different hard drive a few weeks ago and am just now updating my Skyrim mod list.

I'm having trouble finding out how to fix this, does anyone have ideas?

My hunch is that you have Skyrim SE and didn't set the -sse command line parameter and so instead of Skyrim SE Skryim.ini it is looking for the ini of Skryim which you do not have.

Edited October 7, 2017 by sheson

[Crimson13]

It's regular Skyrim actually. I ain't touching SE until I can get about nearly all my mods working with it.

[sheson]

It's regular Skyrim actually. I ain't touching SE until I can get about nearly all my mods working with it.

There should be a line right above the fatal message that says "Using ini: c:\Users\[user name]\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Skyrim.ini" - that is where it should be.

 

Start the game through the launcher once to update all settings.

If the ini is there, then something might preventing read access or some windows function is returning a wrong result. You could also test with xEdit.exe

 

You can use a command line parameter to define where the ini is

-i:"c:\Users\[user name]\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Skyrim.ini"

Edited October 8, 2017 by sheson

[Crimson13]

That did it. Thanks man.

[XenolithicYardZone]

Hey sheshon,

version 2.35 is working great except for one slight issue. While generating LODs for Whiterun Forest, I have LODs stuck in a handful of the trees added by the mod. 

https://imgur.com/a/mwrtO

Majority of the mod's trees and its LODs are fine - only a problem with a few of them.

 

Using EVT custom large trees and its billboards. Load order setup like you suggested last time. Manual mentions of this issue in child worlds but not sure why its happening in a parent world. Mod's clean as well. 

 

Thanks. 

Edited October 9, 2017 by XenolithicYardZone

[sheson]

Hey sheshon,

version 2.35 is working great except for one slight issue. While generating LODs for Whiterun Forest, I have LODs stuck in a handful of the trees added by the mod. 

https://imgur.com/a/mwrtO

Majority of the mod's trees and its LODs are fine - only a problem with a few of them.

 

Using EVT custom large trees and its billboards. Load order setup like you suggested last time. Manual mentions of this issue in child worlds but not sure why its happening in a parent world. Mod's clean as well. 

 

Thanks. 

If this is true tree LOD (goes away when typing tll in console) and this is in a parent world space (not inside a walled city), then this happens because the load order of plugins adding tree references changed after generating tree LOD. Simply generate tree LOD for the load order.

 

If this is dynamic LOD object (has a form id in console, can be disabled, does not happen when starting new game), then this is because the clean save routine was not properly followed when updating. This only applies to Skryim atm.

 

 

FAQ: Tree LOD: LOD trees show in loaded cells

 

A: Make sure all plugins with ITM or deleted references are cleaned. See https://ck.uesp.net/wiki/TES5Edit_Cleaning_Guide_-_TES5Edit

 

A: If the load order / priority of mods adding or changing tree references was changed, generate tree LOD again so it matches the new load order.

 

 

FAQ: Skyrim: Out of place objects / flickering full models

 

A: Test with new game, if successful the updating of existing save game with old DynDOLOD.esp went wrong. Follow instructions how to update save game with a new DynDOLOD.esp. RTFM, watch the video or check DynDOLOD SkyUI MCM.

Edited October 9, 2017 by sheson