xLODGen - Terrain LOD beta 132 for FNV, FO3, FO4, FO4VR, TES5, SSE, TES5VR, ENDERAL, ENDERALSE

[gg77]

I have a problem with the LE 8.5 version of my mod « Star Wars Worlds in Skyrim » (Very curious because the port to SE works satisfactorily! See the ENDOR videos made with SSE): bad display distance in ENDOR only (despite the fact i work on the Lods with the same software « xLODGen - Terrain LOD beta 84 »); ... I need your help : If an expert in LODS (which I am not!) Could download my mod (it's heavy!), Test it and maybe find a solution, that would be great!   ... Thanks in advance!

« Star Wars Worlds in Skyrim » (LE)

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/108345

[sheson]

47 minutes ago, gg77 said:

I have a problem with the LE 8.5 version of my mod « Star Wars Worlds in Skyrim » (Very curious because the port to SE works satisfactorily! See the ENDOR videos made with SSE): bad display distance in ENDOR only (despite the fact i work on the Lods with the same software « xLODGen - Terrain LOD beta 84 »); ... I need your help : If an expert in LODS (which I am not!) Could download my mod (it's heavy!), Test it and maybe find a solution, that would be great!   ... Thanks in advance!

« Star Wars Worlds in Skyrim » (LE)

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/108345

If I generate terrain, object, tree LOD for both Skyrim and Skyrim Special Edition and compare the problems will be obvious or is there anything specific I need to look for?

[gg77]

"the problems will be obvious": On LE the display distance is extremely small ... on SE "acceptable" (but not exceptional) display distance

LE

Star Wars Worlds in Skyrim at Skyrim Nexus - Mods and Community (nexusmods.com)

SE

Star Wars Worlds in Skyrim SE at Skyrim Special Edition Nexus - Mods and Community (nexusmods.com)

 

For the "Tataooine desert" with your program, I get the same rather satisfactory result !

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by gg77

[sheson]

2 hours ago, gg77 said:

"the problems will be obvious": On LE the display distance is extremely small ... on SE "acceptable" (but not exceptional) display distance

LE

Star Wars Worlds in Skyrim at Skyrim Nexus - Mods and Community (nexusmods.com)

SE

Star Wars Worlds in Skyrim SE at Skyrim Special Edition Nexus - Mods and Community (nexusmods.com)

 

For the "Tataooine desert" with your program, I get the same rather satisfactory result !

 

This is all about the *.lod files in  the lodsettings folder. 

The game will use the *.lod file it finds in the BSA over a loose file. It is the one case where a loose file does not win - in the game.

However, xEdit/xLODGen still uses the loose file always wins method.

So, if the BSA contains one version and the loose files another, xLODGen will generate LOD files based on the loose file *.lod file but the game tries to  load LOD based on the *.lod file in the BSA. If they do not match with  south east coordinates etc. it can not properly determine the LOD file names and thus no LOD is shown.

Just in case, I suggest to use https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/10896 to create them and to use a south/east corner at -32,-32 or -64-,64.

Then make sure only one file version exists in the entire load order when generating LOD and that this *.lod file is the one you pack into the BSA when shipping the mod.

[gg77]

Thank you so much! I was very far from imagining all of this! I will try these changes when I have time to do so .. and I will come back here to keep you posted on the outcome ...

[gg77]

I finally get the same result for LE and for SE ! As "LodFileGenerator" doesn't work, I generated a new "lod settings" (without changing my previous settings though) with the CK; then generated lods with your program, made up a .bsa with all these files (by deleting after the loose files in Data), TO KEEP ONLY ONE COPY IN THE .BSA, with settings in the .esp corresponding to the lods thus constituted. Thank you again for all your advice!

[sheson]

1 hour ago, gg77 said:

I finally get the same result for LE and for SE ! As "LodFileGenerator" doesn't work, I generated a new "lod settings" (without changing my previous settings though) with the CK; then generated lods with your program, made up a .bsa with all these files (by deleting after the loose files in Data), TO KEEP ONLY ONE COPY IN THE .BSA, with settings in the .esp corresponding to the lods thus constituted. Thank you again for all your advice!

Great!

The LodFileGenerator tool  creates *.lod files with the values you enter. You have to makes sure those values make sense, though.

[AlbertH69]

Quick question, I understand that when choosing mesh LOD quality, the lower the number, the higher the quality. Thus far, I've chosen 0 when I thought I wanted the highest quality possible, but I only just noticed that there's actually a negative value? -1

Is it supposed to represent an even higher quality than 0? Or is it a setting that represent something else (like disabling the mesh generation process for specific distances) ?

[sheson]

47 minutes ago, AlbertH69 said:

Quick question, I understand that when choosing mesh LOD quality, the lower the number, the higher the quality. Thus far, I've chosen 0 when I thought I wanted the highest quality possible, but I only just noticed that there's actually a negative value? -1

Is it supposed to represent an even higher quality than 0? Or is it a setting that represent something else (like disabling the mesh generation process for specific distances) ?

See the included Terrain-LOD-Readme.txt for a brief explanation of the settings for terrain LOD generation. Read the hints that are shown when the mouse pointer rests on a setting.

-1 = no optimization

https://stepmodifications.org/forum/topic/13451-xlodgen-terrain-lod-beta-84-for-fnv-fo3-fo4-fo4vr-tes5-sse-tes5vr-enderal-enderalse/?do=findComment&comment=244093
https://stepmodifications.org/forum/topic/13451-xlodgen-terrain-lod-beta-84-for-fnv-fo3-fo4-fo4vr-tes5-sse-tes5vr-enderal-enderalse/?do=findComment&comment=234737

[AlbertH69]

If it has no optimization, does it mean that xLodgen leaves the mesh alone? Would it result in faster xLodgen process?

Is it worth using -1 for any reason at all?

Edited September 9, 2021 by AlbertH69

[z929669]

16 minutes ago, AlbertH69 said:

If it has no optimization, does it mean that xLodgen leaves the mesh alone? Would it result in faster xLodgen process?

Is it worth using -1 for any reason at all?

If you use -1 for all LOD levels, then there is no point in generating terrain LOD ... it's effectively an 'off' switch. You should use default settings if you are uncertain, as they are set that way for general, evidence-based compatibility. You only need to generate terrain LOD when you make changes to fundamental mods affecting landscapes, which don't often get changed once decided (unless you are testing a bunch of them).

[sheson]

36 minutes ago, AlbertH69 said:

If it has no optimization, does it mean that xLodgen leaves the mesh alone? Would it result in faster xLodgen process?

Is it worth using -1 for any reason at all?

From the linked posts:

"... which means the terrain LOD mesh is equal to the loaded cell"
"The loaded cells do not really use files. The terrain mesh is built on the fly."

Terrain LOD meshes are always generated by LODGen, just with the different select quality.
Generating terrain LOD meshes takes seconds, minutes. If you want to know if an option is faster or slower, just compare the run time written to the log for different settings.

The option exists for mod authors requiring full resolution terrain meshes for whatever nefarious reasons.

27 minutes ago, z929669 said:

If you use -1 for all LOD levels, then there is no point in generating terrain LOD ... it's effectively an 'off' switch. You should use default settings if you are uncertain, as they are set that way for general, evidence-based compatibility. You only need to generate terrain LOD when you make changes to fundamental mods affecting landscapes, which don't often get changed once decided (unless you are testing a bunch of them).

A quality of -1 means the terrain LOD meshes have the same number of triangle as the full terrain without any optimization.

A quality of 0 is visually the same. A quality of 0 means triangles that have an elevation difference of 0 are combined.

It is based on this http://mgarland.org/software/terra.html, the successor of "Scape"

[z929669]

Thanks for clarifying my faulty assumptions

[bob124]

Hello, thank you for these amazing tools sheson! I am having a problem with some weird gray snow LOD textures after running the current versions of LODGen and DynDOLOD (though I think it's LODGen that actually generates the terrain LOD right so DynDOLOD wouldn't affect this?) that I can't figure out. I've linked a couple screenshots below that show the problem. I'm using HD Snow LODs, Majestic Mountains, Better Dynamic Snow 3.3, Dave's UFHD Mountains SE, and Nordic Snow (in that load order) but cannot for the life of me figure out what's causing the problem as enabling/disabling mods has not helped. I've also re-run LODGen and DynDOLOD 3 alpha 39 several times after changing mods out and still the issue persists. The snow in loaded cells around me as I move around is fine, it's just the LOD that's having the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated, this is driving me nuts.

https://imgur.com/a/AvkfptO

[sheson]

5 hours ago, bob124 said:

Hello, thank you for these amazing tools sheson! I am having a problem with some weird gray snow LOD textures after running the current versions of LODGen and DynDOLOD (though I think it's LODGen that actually generates the terrain LOD right so DynDOLOD wouldn't affect this?) that I can't figure out. I've linked a couple screenshots below that show the problem. I'm using HD Snow LODs, Majestic Mountains, Better Dynamic Snow 3.3, Dave's UFHD Mountains SE, and Nordic Snow (in that load order) but cannot for the life of me figure out what's causing the problem as enabling/disabling mods has not helped. I've also re-run LODGen and DynDOLOD 3 alpha 39 several times after changing mods out and still the issue persists. The snow in loaded cells around me as I move around is fine, it's just the LOD that's having the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated, this is driving me nuts.

https://imgur.com/a/AvkfptO

The ground between objects is terrain LOD.

If terrain LOD textures are generally too bright or too dark compared to the load terrain textures in the loaded cells, it is because of the noise.dds as explained in the first post.

If non snowy areas match, but snowy areas do not match, it is because of the "improved" snow shader and other shader settings related to snow which make snow in the loaded cells be different depending in lighting conditions. Since none of that is applied by the engine to terrain LOD it is best to turn all that off as explained in the first post.

What mod is "HD Snow LODs"?