xLODGen - Terrain LOD beta 128 for FNV, FO3, FO4, FO4VR, TES5, SSE, TES5VR, ENDERAL, ENDERALSE

[sheson]

9 hours ago, Nebulous112 said:

Hey Sheson,

I had a couple errors when running xLODGen. Please see attached logs.

The first is: [00:05] Background Loader: <Note: [REFR:0190001B] (places [050B1985] < Error: Could not be resolved > in GRUP Cell Temporary Children of WhiterunTempleofKynareth "Temple of Kynareth" [CELL:000165A7]) was injected into Update.esm>

 

This is an error in a plugin linking to a record which does not exist.
xLODGen is a renamed xEdit. As such it reports all the same errors in plugins. These errors should all be fixed.

[sheson]

1 hour ago, Miniminq said:

Hey, so not too long ago I got a little carried away with changing the look of Skyrim SE, and I decided to use this for 3D tree LODs. I followed the instructions to the best of my ability, ran the program, which seemed to work fine, and launched SSE. Shortly afterwards I noticed an unfavorable impact on my framerate (in both Skyrim LE and SSE), and so I've since gotten rid of it and reinstalled my games, but the fps impact still lingers. The LODs are back to normal and using tll doesn't make a difference, so that doesn't seem to be the problem. What else can I do to fix it? Also, please forgive me if the fix is obvious, I'm not that skilled when it comes to modding tools like these.

LOD is meshes and textures.  If the output generated by xLODGen is removed from the load order, then it can not affect anything anymore, obviously.
As you already found out, the problem is caused by something else.

There is no need to reinstalling the game. I suggest to learn proper modding practice using MO2 by following a modern modding guide.

[Nebulous112]

20 hours ago, sheson said:

This is an error in a plugin linking to a record which does not exist.
xLODGen is a renamed xEdit. As such it reports all the same errors in plugins. These errors should all be fixed.

Thanks, Sheson. I spoke with Arthmoor and he confirmed the error in the background loader is a quirk in how xEdit reports things while it is loading. "Wait for it to complete and you'll see that the reference is valid and the error is actually bogus." I checked USSEP in xEdit, and indeed right-clicking the plugin and checking for errors doesn't show anything.

Thanks, and sorry for the wild goose chase!

Edited April 23, 2021 by Nebulous112

[sheson]

2 hours ago, Nebulous112 said:

Thanks, Sheson. I spoke with Arthmoor and he confirmed the error in the background loader is a quirk in how xEdit reports things while it is loading. "Wait for it to complete and you'll see that the reference is valid and the error is actually bogus." I checked USSEP in xEdit, and indeed right-clicking the plugin and checking for errors doesn't show anything.

Thanks, and sorry for the wild goose chase!

Correct if the message only appears while loading. Once loading is completed and the error check does not report it anymore, it is indeed fine.

[Katarsi]

On 4/16/2021 at 7:01 PM, sheson said:

The map just uses the highest object LOD level 16 and highest terrain LOD level 32

If you want to keep the map texture with the roads, delete the terrain LOD level 32 textures (..\textures\terrain\tamriel\tamriel.32.*.*.dds) after generation so they are not part of the installed output or overwrite them with the terrain LOD level 32 textures files from map mod.

The map mod does not make changes regarding object LOD or any of other things DynDOLOD does.

I would like to add more to A Quality World Map compatibility with generated xLODGen Terrain. Not applicable to Paper Map (I wouldn't know because I don't use it).

If this compatibility guide isn't followed, the map will look utterly distorted. I learned this the hard way.

First off, QWM textures are packed into a BSA, so loose files will always overwrite it. Generated Terrain contains loose files that will overwrite QWM, no matter where it is in the load order. Also, generated Terrain contains meshes for the map, which will mess it up because QWM is tailored for default map meshes.

Instructions:

• After generating Terrain and activating it, open up its folder (for me it's SSELODGenOutput).
• Go to textures/terrain/dlc2solstheimworld and remove every file that starts with dlc2solstheimworld.32. They are normally the last files in that folder if they are sorted by name.
• Go to textures/terrain/tamriel and remove every file that starts with tamriel.32. The same application as above.

I could mention that xLODGen is efficient to the point that it creates even normal maps of textures (_n.dds), while QWM doesn't have them. It's no biggie though, the map of this mod still looks awesome. I'm not sure about keeping these normal maps in generated Terrain, given they can differ in size from QWM textures, depending on the chosen quality when generating Terrain. The size of QWM textures is 1024x1024. If someone has an input on this, you're welcome to pitch in.

• Go to meshes/terrain/DLC2SolstheimWorld and remove every file that starts with DLC2SolstheimWorld.32. No exceptions.
• Go to meshes/terrain/Tamriel and remove every file that starts with Tamriel.32. No exceptions, as above.

These two steps are very important, because THIS is what primarily distorts the map! xLODGen generates meshes (.btr) that don't fit with QWM map textures.

Also, this whole removal shebang can be done even after all the LOD was generated (xLODGen, DynDOLOD, Occlusion), so don't worry about messing something up.

That's it, enjoy your beautiful terrain and A Quality World Map combo.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Katarsi

[sheson]

1 hour ago, Katarsi said:

I would like to add more to A Quality World Map compatibility with generated xLODGen Terrain. Not applicable to Paper Map (I wouldn't know because I don't use it).

If this compatibility guide isn't followed, the map will look utterly distorted. I learned this the hard way.

First off, QWM textures are packed into a BSA, so loose files will always overwrite it. Generated Terrain contains loose files that will overwrite QWM, no matter where it is in the load order. Also, generated Terrain contains meshes for the map, which will mess it up because QWM is tailored for default map meshes.

Instructions:

• After generating Terrain and activating it, open up its folder (for me it's SSELODGenOutput).
• Go to textures/terrain/dlc2solstheimworld and remove every file that starts with dlc2solstheimworld.32. They are normally the last files in that folder if they are sorted by name.
• Go to textures/terrain/tamriel and remove every file that starts with tamriel.32. The same application as above.

I could mention that xLODGen is efficient to the point that it creates even normal maps of textures (_n.dds), while QWM doesn't have them. It's no biggie though, the map of this mod still looks awesome. I'm not sure about keeping these normal maps in generated Terrain, given they can differ in size from QWM textures, depending on the chosen quality when generating Terrain. The size of QWM textures is 1024x1024. If someone has an input on this, you're welcome to pitch in.

• Go to meshes/terrain/DLC2SolstheimWorld and remove every file that starts with DLC2SolstheimWorld.32. No exceptions.
• Go to meshes/terrain/Tamriel and remove every file that starts with Tamriel.32. No exceptions, as above.

These two steps are very important, because THIS is what primarily distorts the map! xLODGen generates meshes (.btr) that don't fit with QWM map textures.

Also, this whole removal shebang can be done even after all the LOD was generated (xLODGen, DynDOLOD, Occlusion), so don't worry about messing something up.

That's it, enjoy your beautiful terrain and A Quality World Map combo.

That the map uses terrain LOD level 32 has already been explained several times and the advice to simply not generate these files or delete them afterwards has also been already explained before. These instructions apply to a specific mod and are not specific to whatever tool that was used to generate terrain LOD.

Textures are not being distorted by terrain LOD meshes. The xy spacing of vertices/UV coordinates are always the same regardless of mesh quality or texture resolution. What that means is that looking at a terrain LOD mesh straight from above in Nifskope in orthographic view shows the texture 1:1 like looking at the terrain LOD texture in an image viewer. That means terrain LOD meshes and terrain LOD textures always work with each other regardless their source and quality.

[ikonomov]

8 hours ago, sheson said:

That the map uses terrain LOD level 32 has already been explained several times and the advice to simply not generate these files or delete them afterwards has also been already explained before.

It would be nice if there was a checkbox to enable/disable generation for LOD32/map terrain textures and meshes specifically.  It seems a common issue that lots of people might find useful.

[Pawelekdabek]

Maybe this is dumb question but is it possible to somehow generate terrain lod that will use full model of water mesh? Would it be too performance heavy? I want to get rid off this ugly water seam in the distance.

[z929669]

2 hours ago, Pawelekdabek said:

Maybe this is dumb question but is it possible to somehow generate terrain lod that will use full model of water mesh? Would it be too performance heavy? I want to get rid off this ugly water seam in the distance.

Somewhere previously, sheson mentioned that water LOD is not created by DynDOLOD. I think he mentioned that terrain gen only needs to know what is and is not water. The seams are a game-engine limitation that can be dealt with by other trickery, like ENB. I see them as well with/wo ENB, but only when flying around at 1000 meters.

[Pawelekdabek]

Understood, thanks. 

I have another question. I followed S.T.E.P for SSE guide for xlodgen terrain generation and lost few fps. Is it normal?

Edited April 25, 2021 by Pawelekdabek

[z929669]

On 4/24/2021 at 5:19 PM, Pawelekdabek said:

Maybe this is dumb question but is it possible to somehow generate terrain lod that will use full model of water mesh? Would it be too performance heavy? I want to get rid off this ugly water seam in the distance.

I never quantified the 'cost' of terrain LOD, but we should probably stop recommending 512 resolution at LOD4 and LOD8 and use 256 instead. sheson mentioned that there is no perceptible difference unless you have a 4k-8k monitor. Doing this may help you get back some frames. LOD32 still benefits slightly from 512, depending on a number of factors.

You can also raise the quality of LOD4 and LOD8. I believe the default is 5. And 10 for LOD16, IIRC.

[Pawelekdabek]

1 hour ago, z929669 said:

You can also raise the quality of LOD4 and LOD8. I believe the default is 5. And 10 for LOD16, IIRC.

It is 0,2,4,4 for LOD4->8->16->32. Maybe it is too much? I tested it on almost clean vanilla setup and performance hit was something around 12 FPS. But again, it was from 124 to 112 FPS. I think it would be tad bit lower with more mods installed.

[sheson]

On 4/25/2021 at 12:19 AM, Pawelekdabek said:

Maybe this is dumb question but is it possible to somehow generate terrain lod that will use full model of water mesh? Would it be too performance heavy? I want to get rid off this ugly water seam in the distance.

That is not how water LOD works in the terrain LOD meshes works. There is only a general Water Shader hat can be defined. The world space record then defines which water record is actually used for all water LOD of the worldspace.

8 hours ago, Pawelekdabek said:

Understood, thanks. 

I have another question. I followed S.T.E.P for SSE guide for xlodgen terrain generation and lost few fps. Is it normal?

Higher settings/resolutions require more resources, obviously.

[sheson]

2 hours ago, z929669 said:

I never quantified the 'cost' of terrain LOD, but we should probably stop recommending 512 resolution at LOD4 and LOD8 and use 256 instead. sheson mentioned that there is no perceptible difference unless you have a 4k-8k monitor. Doing this may help you get back some frames. LOD32 still benefits slightly from 512, depending on a number of factors.

You can also raise the quality of LOD4 and LOD8. I believe the default is 5. And 10 for LOD16, IIRC.

The settings, instructions and recommendations for TexGen, which generates object LOD textures and billboards, obviously have no correlation to terrain LOD whatsoever. What resolutions are useful for terrain LOD in what scenarios are completely different. 

[Pawelekdabek]

1 hour ago, sheson said:

The world space record then defines which water record is actually used for all water LOD of the worldspace.

So not possible to eliminate this water lod seam?