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

[alt3rn1ty]

will do :)

[alt3rn1ty]

Yes, that was a good recommendation :

 

I'm now using Bake normals,

 

LOD4 Diffuse 512, Normals 256, Protect Borders

 

LOD8 Diffuse 256, Normals 256, Optimize Unseen On

 

LOD16 Diffuse 256, Normals 128, Optimize Unseen On

 

LOD32 Diffuse 128, Normals 128, Optimise Unseen 500

 

I dont think you need diffuse and normals above 128 for LOD32, and for what little detail you may gain I would rather compensate a little for raising LOD4 to 512 or 1024 (still not decided on that yet)

 

But anyway with the above settings things are looking good, and I think nicely balanced

 

 

 

[sheson]

Yes, that was a good recommendation :

 

I'm now using Bake normals,

 

LOD4 Diffuse 512, Normals 256, Protect Borders

 

LOD8 Diffuse 256, Normals 256, Optimize Unseen On

 

LOD16 Diffuse 256, Normals 128, Optimize Unseen On

 

LOD32 Diffuse 128, Normals 128, Optimise Unseen 500

 

I dont think you need diffuse and normals above 128 for LOD32, and for what little detail you may gain I would rather compensate a little for raising LOD4 to 512 or 1024 (still not decided on that yet)

 

But anyway with the above settings things are looking good, and I think nicely balanced

 

 

You using 565 compression? I would think that it would be better looking than any DXT but nearly as good as 888. You might not be able to see the difference on the map though, since there are the additional map normal overlays by default.

[alt3rn1ty]

O_o I had not considered changing texture formats aswell, but that sounds like a good idea, will try it later today when I get home.

 

But : isn't 565 on the list of bad options for textures for SSE still ?

 

https://www.afkmods.com/index.php?/topic/4633-skyrim-se-things-to-know-when-converting-standard-mods-to-sse/&page=1

 

"Textures

 

.tga files are no longer supported. If you have assets using these, they need to be converted into proper DDS files.

 

Textures originally saved in either the A1R5G5B5 format or the B5G6R5 format must be resaved in A8R8G8B8, R8G8B8, or an equivalent compressed format like DXT5 or DXT1. If this is not done, some installations of DirectX 11 will not be able to process it and SSE will crash. This seems to be most common for folks using Windows 7. NifScan will detect this when run.

 

Some landscape textures will need to be fixed manually. If your landscape texture loads into SSE and looks like it's wet when it's not supposed to be, you found one that needs to be fixed."

 

(I think that was Zilav originally gave that information)

Edited February 28, 2018 by alt3rn1ty

[zilav]

565 format crashes SSE in Windows 7, that's why mod authors should not be using it because they never know what system their mod is going to run. However if you are on Windows 10 and generate LODs for yourself only, it is the best format for normals.

[sheson]

In any case, I plan to add additional formats utilizing texconv.exe some time soon.

[alt3rn1ty]

Excellent, both good posts to hear.

[alt3rn1ty]

Having some marvelous results using this, enough to make me think for anyone not using SKSE64 they have just about all of their LOD issues solved.

 

Question if using just xLODGen on its own, and generating all Object / Tree / Terrain LOD - What would people be missing from DynDOLOD besides obviously the Dynamic realtime extras that are calculated to be shown when needed being missing, and TexGen files, is there anything else that they would not be benefitting from ?

 

I wonder because it seems to me to be not quite as full a solution to LOD issues as DynDOLOD is, but does give pretty good coverage on its own which is marvellous for anyone who cant quite get their heads around DynDOLOD.

[sheson]

Vanilla or xLODGen object LOD / Terrain from xLODGen / DynDOLOD 3D tree and object LOD

 

 

The object and tree LOD generation of xLODGen is a vanilla / CK replacement. DynDOLOD is an extension of xLODGen that expands static object LOD (not all of these features require dynamic LOD, SKSE and PapyrusUtil):

 

Over 4500 new and updated LOD models for objects that otherwise will have no LOD.

 

Generate LOD textures to match the load order.

 

Support for texture replacements.

 

Better LOD assignments of vanilla LOD models (for example some are unused, or low res LOD models are used for LOD4 and the hi res LOD models are unused)

 

LOD for animated or quest enabled objects.

 

Glow LOD.

 

LOD for trees that can not have traditional tree LOD, working around engine limitations.

 

3D tree LODs.

 

Rules for mods to generate cohesive and performance friendly LODs for mods, especially if using vanilla or 3rd party assets that have no LOD models.

 

Rules and options to adjust every aspect of the LOD generation process to make a perfect (visual/performance) LOD mod for the current load order.

 

Workaround for Skyrim SE large reference bugs.

 

Honestly, if people can use xLODGen, they also can use DynDOLOD. The correct installation of billboards seems to be the hardest part, but works the exact same obviously.

Edited March 5, 2018 by sheson

[alt3rn1ty]

Thanks Sheson, I knew a fair bit of that but my knowledge was not quite complete, so it will help the next time I come round to updating the Wrye Bash Guide for DynDOLOD users, I will now also include maybe a paragraph to include if they wish to use xLODGen aswell, not to select Tree and Object generation if also using DynDOLOD .. Will wait until SSE DynDOLOD goes live first though. 

[Guest]

Random question sheson: I know this supports objects with keyframe animation, but does it support skinned and flutter object animation? 

 

Thanks!

[sheson]

Random question sheson: I know this supports objects with keyframe animation, but does it support skinned and flutter object animation? 

 

Thanks!

You mean DynDOLOD. It indiscriminately uses any reference which base record is of the type in a list defined in the DynDOLOD INI. Any reference can have the is Full LOD (neverfade) flag set. If the nif works with the flag set, then yes it will also work as LOD in DynDOLOD. We know that trees work.

 

What DynDOLOD typically does, create a copy of the reference and base record, then set the flag and then in game enable/disable based on distance. In a few cases such a simple copy does not work (with the existing quest scripting) and the original reference is flagged as neverfade and enabled/disabled. seruinswaygate01.nif for example.

Edited March 1, 2018 by sheson

[Guest]

My bad, I just clicked the thread and then you were talking about both above and I thought it would be okay to ask here. I was just wondering if there would be a limitation or something for skinned meshes, but now I have just remembered that dragons have a distant model swap in Skyrim. So I ask: Have you thought about creating a process that adds a faraway model to creatures?

[sheson]

My bad, I just clicked the thread and then you were talking about both above and I thought it would be okay to ask here. I was just wondering if there would be a limitation or something for skinned meshes, but now I have just remembered that dragons have a distant model swap in Skyrim. So I ask: Have you thought about creating a process that adds a faraway model to creatures?

No.

[Guest]

No.