xLODGen - Terrain LOD beta 129 for FNV, FO3, FO4, FO4VR, TES5, SSE, TES5VR, ENDERAL, ENDERALSE

[recreation]

Yes I noticed that mistake yesterday, it's been a while since I used the chunk option^^"

I tried again with the correct coordinates (I have a map with all the coordinates) but the result was the same. Then I tried again with both, ck64 and ck32 and the chunk option but nothing.

 

But I solved the problem.

 

I checked the esp in SSEEdit (again and again) and noticed that exactly the cells I was trying to generate with the chunk option were missing  under worldspace/Tamriel... Then I loaded cell/s in the ck again to check if i had done something stupid, but everything was there like in the screenshot ô_O

So I started to move some of the mountains a bit and added some smaller new ones too to get the ck to save them again and viola, generation works! Not only the cells I edited are back, but all the others too.

 

I dont know how that could happen, but well, I'm happy that it works again.

Thanks for all the help.

 

Btw is it okay if I use your terrain .esm for my mod?

[sheson]

Btw is it okay if I use your terrain .esm for my mod?

You can use/import that data in your mod. However, note that I did not properly connect the new landscape height recovered from LOD with the existing one, so there can be small gaps with the existing terrain. And you probably need to smooth it here and there to undo the optimization that was done for LOD.

[recreation]

I already made some kind of natural borders at the most points I use where originally only LOD was left. So thats okay, i'll smooth where its needed.

Your esm comes in handy for some nice distant color maps :)

Thanks again!

[godescalcus]

Until now, even with the highest DynDOLOD settings I dared cast upon my machine, really high vantage points always gave me the impression of looking at a model rather than a landscape. This fiddling with LODGen changed that. Using both programs, landscape now does look continuous. 2 hours every time I regenerate, wow - that's almost what professional, static 3D rendering takes. Thank you Sheson, Zilav and everybody who's testing this and sharing their impressions.

[sheson]

Until now, even with the highest DynDOLOD settings I dared cast upon my machine, really high vantage points always gave me the impression of looking at a model rather than a landscape. This fiddling with LODGen changed that. Using both programs, landscape now does look continuous. 2 hours every time I regenerate, wow - that's almost what professional, static 3D rendering takes. Thank you Sheson, Zilav and everybody who's testing this and sharing their impressions.

Looks great.

[memnochs]

Yes, but it is a really bad idea to remove all occlusion data from all cells. That will destroy FPS looking in specific directions easily. If anything just remove it from the cells from which those holes are really obvious.

 

Also, changing the LOD distances can sometimes help in case other LOD Levels at the exact same location are not flagged for removal.

 

I know how the data works, but I have yet to find the time and motivation to work on it and see if I can generate it. Maybe some day.

If you want I've got a stripped version of this plugin which modifies only needed place to get rid of this glitch. It was for LE but it contains only few records to forward.

[Decopauge123]

Until now, even with the highest DynDOLOD settings I dared cast upon my machine, really high vantage points always gave me the impression of looking at a model rather than a landscape. This fiddling with LODGen changed that. Using both programs, landscape now does look continuous. 2 hours every time I regenerate, wow - that's almost what professional, static 3D rendering takes. Thank you Sheson, Zilav and everybody who's testing this and sharing their impressions.

godescalus is correct: using xLODGen for terrain LOD and TexGen/DynDOLOD for object/tree LOD, I almost feel like I can reach out and touch the trees.  I want to thank Sheson, Zilav and everyone else who been testing and sharing their thoughts about zLODGen.

 

Recently DarkladyLexy told me that Apprently Sheson recommands when Running DynDOLOD the max tile size should be at least 1k or higher so that as many LOD textures as possible make it onto the atlas texture for best performance.  This is the results from my 25 minutes long 1K TexGen/DynDOLOD SkyrimSE run:

 

Screen Shots

 

My SkyrimSE run log has 1, 521 data points.

 

        GPU Usage   Min - 0%         Max - 99%(1008 times)

        GPU Temp    Min - 50 C        Max - 81 C (15 times)

   GPU Fan Level    Min - 33%       Max - 51% (270 times)

GPU Mem Usage    Min - 281MB    max - 4062MB (1 time)/33 times above 4000MB

 

SSELODGen run   1 hour 4 mins

- Generate only terrain LOD (trees and objects are generated by DynDOLOD)

- LOD4 quality 5; Diffuse 512, Normals 256, Protect Borders

- LOD8 quality 10; Diffuse 256, Normals 256, Optimize Unseen On

- LOD16 quality 10; Diffuse 256, Normals 128, Optimize Unseen On

- LOD32 quality 15; Diffuse 128, Normals 128, Optimise Unseen 550

- Bake normals (checked);

 

TexGen run :   7 min  21 sec

DynDOLOD run:    1 hour 31 mins   17 sec

Lexy's: Legacy of The Dragonborn Special Edition Build settings, except texture sizes set to 1K

 

There were times when I thought DynDOLOD had locked up, but I didn't kill it. 

 

FPS was usually around 45 (you see in screen shots)   sometimes dropping to 35.   Entire run was acceptable.  No fighting during run.     I normally run at or near 60FPS.

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2018 by Decopauge123

[sheson]

Recently DarkladyLexy told me that Apprently Sheson recommands when Running DynDOLOD the max tile size should be at least 1k or higher so that as many LOD textures as possible make it onto the atlas texture for best performance

Please, do not make up recommendations for DynDOLOD out of context. Refer to the included manual. The default settings exist for a reason. The max tile settings is a filter. It does not change texture resolution. (Full) textures that have higher resolution (and are used by full models that have UV that typically exceed 0, 1 limits) will not be added to the atlas, which is generally the desired effect.

 

The "recommendation" for the max tile setting is to at least match the typical LOD texture resolution. The LOD texture resolution is typically 256x256, some are 512x256. The default 512 is sufficient to ensure all LOD textures make it onto the atlas.

 

A user was asking what settings to use when a 3rd party mod with 1k HD LOD textures is used. In order for the higher resolution LOD textures to make it onto the atlas textures, the max tiles size should at least match the LOD texture resolution, obviously, which is also mentioned in the instructions for the mod.

 

Consequently, the text under the texture size drop down in TexGen / manual also mentions to adjust the max tile size in case the default TexGen LOD texture size is changed.

Edited May 2, 2018 by sheson

[Decopauge123]

Please, do not make up recommendations for DynDOLOD out of context. Refer to the included manual. The default settings exist for a reason. The max tile settings is a filter. It does not change texture resolution. (Full) textures that have higher resolution (and are used by full models that have UV that typically exceed 0, 1 limits) will not be added to the atlas, which is generally the desired effect.

 

The "recommendation" for the max tile setting is to at least match the typical LOD texture resolution. The LOD texture resolution is typically 256x256, some are 512x256. The default 512 is sufficient to ensure all LOD textures make it onto the atlas.

 

A user was asking what settings to use when a 3rd party mod with 1k HD LOD textures is used. In order for the higher resolution LOD textures to make it onto the atlas textures, the max tiles size should at least match the LOD texture resolution, obviously, which is also mentioned in the instructions for the mod.

 

Consequently, the text under the texture size drop down in TexGen / manual also mentions to adjust the max tile size in case the default TexGen LOD texture size is changed.

Understood.

[wellden]

Hey sheson...just wanted to ask you. When running DynDOLOD on medium and xLodgen terrain LOD32 optimize unseen at 600,  I noticed pretty heavy flicker when panning the world map around the waters of Solitude. Backing 600 to 550 seemed to correct that. Now re-running DynDOLOD on high (with LOD32 optimize unseen at 550) the flicker is back with a vengence. Is this the correct setting for this? I saw alt3rn1ty mention this earlier...but no resolution. I know you said xLodgen and DynDOLOD were independent of each other..so my question is..what do you recommend to control this? Not a big deal at all..just curious...Thanks!

[godescalcus]

Is there a way to make distant terrain textures reflect the grass cover being used, so as to make the big seam less apparent?

[sheson]

Hey sheson...just wanted to ask you. When running DynDOLOD on medium and xLodgen terrain LOD32 optimize unseen at 600,  I noticed pretty heavy flicker when panning the world map around the waters of Solitude. Backing 600 to 550 seemed to correct that. Now re-running DynDOLOD on high (with LOD32 optimize unseen at 550) the flicker is back with a vengence. Is this the correct setting for this? I saw alt3rn1ty mention this earlier...but no resolution. I know you said xLodgen and DynDOLOD were independent of each other..so my question is..what do you recommend to control this? Not a big deal at all..just curious...Thanks!

This is not making sense. What is flickering on the world map if not water/terrain LOD in BTR meshes - which DynDOLOD does not generate or change.

 

Is there a way to make distant terrain textures reflect the grass cover being used, so as to make the big seam less apparent?

I am testing different baking techniques of grass. It is complicated.

Edited May 4, 2018 by sheson

[wellden]

This is not making sense. What is flickering on the world map if not water/terrain LOD in BTR meshes - which DynDOLOD does not generate or change.

 

 

 

Sorry for any confusion. I was referring to terrain lod generation with xLodgen and world map flicker. I will test the settings more to see what what lessens this. I was asking (albeit in a bad way) which settings could be adjusted to control this flicker. Thanks for your time

[sheson]

Sorry for any confusion. I was referring to terrain lod generation with xLodgen and world map flicker. I will test the settings more to see what what lessens this. I was asking (albeit in a bad way) which settings could be adjusted to control this flicker. Thanks for your time

The higher the number, the more the distance of terrain under water, the less z-fighting, the more detailed the coastline, the larger the file.

 

If something flickers it might be a single odd large triangle as a result from the combining. You should look at the BTR mesh in nifskope and compare with other numbers. It is tamriel.32.-32.0.btr

 

Since the vanilla LOD 32 meshes that are used for the map are hand edited, you might also consider using them instead, as they are much smaller in file size.

Edited May 5, 2018 by sheson

[wellden]

The higher the number, the more the distance of terrain under water, the less z-fighting, the more detailed the coastline, the larger the file.

 

If something flickers it might be a single odd large triangle as a result from the combining. You should look at the BTR mesh in nifskope and compare with other numbers. It is tamriel.32.-32.0.btr

 

Since the vanilla LOD 32 meshes that are used for the map are hand edited, you might also consider using them instead, as they are much smaller in file size.

Thanks for everything! Got it going now :) Great work as always...you had 16 endorsements for DynDOLOD when I first downloaded it (17 counting mine) and changed Skyrim forever