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

[z929669]

1 hour ago, sheson said:

This is it.

So it just works for almost 3 minutes and then just kind of stops adding new lines to the log and sits there and waits forever  > 5 minutes?
You see any Texconvx64.exe in the task manager?

I can't say that I remember seeing Textconv process running when this has happened to me, but I cannot say for sure. I always suspected that it was some LODGenx64.exe or Texconvx64.exe issue rather than xLODGenx64.exe, given the lack of logs or bugreport.txt. My issue was always a general kernel DLL fail reported via xLODGenx64.exe as the app.

Glad I am no longer the only person with this issue. I am on an AMD system if that matters.

[sheson]

22 minutes ago, DodoEgg said:

Basically yeah. I do see Texconvx64 in the task manager. Usually it shows up like in the attached image, but sometimes it won't show up under apps, instead under background processes. Occasionally there's also a command prompt window under xEdit (in task manager, I never physically see the other command prompt window).

Yesterday the timing varied pretty massively, first run it went for about 17 mins, other times only a minute. Today's attempts all seem to stop at around 2:50-3:00, though once again, never at the same specific cell.

I guess the next step would be to troubleshoot why Texconv gets suspended by the OS or why it seems to wait for something (files access maybe)... not sure myself right now how to do that or why. Hunch is always anti vir, but mught also have to with access to use the GPU.

Let see what happens if Texconv is not used to convert the output. Change the terrain LOD texture format for diffuse and normal map for all LOD levels to 888.

See what happens then.

Texconv may still be used to convert full landscape textures for reading. So still check task manager for it. Maybe it stalls reading a texture.

[DodoEgg]

1 hour ago, sheson said:

I guess the next step would be to troubleshoot why Texconv gets suspended by the OS or why it seems to wait for something (files access maybe)... not sure myself right now how to do that or why. Hunch is always anti vir, but mught also have to with access to use the GPU.

Let see what happens if Texconv is not used to convert the output. Change the terrain LOD texture format for diffuse and normal map for all LOD levels to 888.

See what happens then.

Texconv may still be used to convert full landscape textures for reading. So still check task manager for it. Maybe it stalls reading a texture.

That seemed to complete succesfully, though texconv still opened. xEdit was very strange in task manager, appearing and disappearing randomly throughout the process. It also still suspended, seen in the log where it jumps from 05:57 to 07:32. At 05:57 it stopped, though I couldn't see it in task manager at all, just before that CPU usage was at 90-100% for a few seconds, then dropping to single digits when it stopped. Unsuspending xLODGen got it running again at 07:32, though when I tried to unsuspend Texconv, its status went to "terminated", despite xLODGen continuing the textures just fine, so I don't know if it those textures actually completed succesfully.

log 2.txt

[sheson]

11 hours ago, DodoEgg said:

That seemed to complete succesfully, though texconv still opened. xEdit was very strange in task manager, appearing and disappearing randomly throughout the process. It also still suspended, seen in the log where it jumps from 05:57 to 07:32. At 05:57 it stopped, though I couldn't see it in task manager at all, just before that CPU usage was at 90-100% for a few seconds, then dropping to single digits when it stopped. Unsuspending xLODGen got it running again at 07:32, though when I tried to unsuspend Texconv, its status went to "terminated", despite xLODGen continuing the textures just fine, so I don't know if it those textures actually completed succesfully.

log 2.txt 1007.82 kB · 0 downloads

The OS multi threading control or task manager seems to be problematic.

See what happen when you set the process priority of xLODGen to normal or higher once it starts generating textures.

You are using beta 84?

[TommyH]

On 10/5/2021 at 3:32 PM, z929669 said:

Those settings are out of date, and we have learned much more from our continued use of the tools and from sheson's feedback.

Can you point to the forum post so that I can modify for posterity?

In the meantime, these settings are much more up to date...

Hello Z, I think the OP referred to this link and settings which link to the v1 of the xLODGen Guide, as I understand:

https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/SkyrimSE:1.0.0#xLODGen

Me too I was struggling to find the STEP 2.0 recommended settings which you link in your above response. I did find and read the 5 pages long testing thread but thereafter was wondering if v2.0 settings were agreed upon. Apparently they were. Maybe I did something unsmart in searching for your linked page, in this case Sorry. And thank you for the new link! :-)

Edited October 24, 2021 by TommyH

[z929669]

7 hours ago, TommyH said:

Hello Z, I think the OP referred to this link and settings which link to the v1 of the xLODGen Guide, as I understand:

https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/SkyrimSE:1.0.0#xLODGen

Me too I was struggling to find the STEP 2.0 recommended settings which you link in your above response. I did find and read the 5 pages long testing thread but thereafter was wondering if v2.0 settings were agreed upon. Apparently they were. Maybe I did something unsmart in searching for your linked page, in this case Sorry. And thank you for the new link! :-)

The 2.0.0 guide is still in development and so is the LODGen stuff, but terrain LODGen is probably pretty much 'done' for our build at least.

[z929669]

I can confirm that xLODGenx64 process continues to close reliably for me during the texture-creation process of any given worldspace, and this happens randomly.

In other words, I can rarely gen for all worldspaces without issue, but it happens. More often, it fails during Tamriel worldspace texture creation (usually at the very beginning). It also often quits during DLC2SolstheimWorld, but it can happen during gen of any worldspace for me.

I do think it's texconv process as mentioned. I have a fairly high-end system, so I am wondering if it's possible to add a 100 ms pause between invocations of texconv or some such sorcery. I think this process might be stepping on itself or something like that. Grasping at straws though.

Again, the program just quits without bugreport or any log indicators. I simply look at the log to see what hasn't finished and run the remaining worldspaces from that point (glad they are processed in order of list in the program!). Texconv doesn't seem to run if the textures exist, so it works.

[mattski123]

I followed the main posts instructions with this one.

Few queries:

1. How do I get the terrain lods to look exactly like the loaded cell lods? https://imgur.com/a/fbtAeq8

2. Is there a way to eliminate the brightness of the rock in the first picture to better fit its surroundings?

I also made sure to turn off Tamriel Terrain. Here's logs if that helps: https://easyupload.io/m/pefxye

Edited November 7, 2021 by mattski123

[sheson]

12 hours ago, mattski123 said:

I followed the main posts instructions with this one.

Few queries:

1. How do I get the terrain lods to look exactly like the loaded cell lods? https://imgur.com/a/fbtAeq8

2. Is there a way to eliminate the brightness of the rock in the first picture to better fit its surroundings?

I also made sure to turn off Tamriel Terrain. Here's logs if that helps: https://easyupload.io/m/pefxye

1. Terrain is the ground. To see it, turn all grass off with tg in console. The terrain LOD generated by xLODGen matches full terrain automatically. Terrain LOD meshes quality of 0 match the full terrain heightmap with zero height differences. Terrain LOD textures are generated exactly the same as in the loaded cells from the full terrain textures without changing them as long as brightness/contrast/gamma are left default. Check Bake normal maps so the the normal map terrain LOD textures match the normal map of the full terrain textures. Increase texture resolution if desired. Since the "improved" snow shader is not available for LOD and the noise.dds is only overlayed in the LOD area, those two typically account for differences in brightness between full and LOD terrain. Disable improved snow and use a better balanced noise dds as explained in the first post and subsequent discussions. Read the included documentation and also pay attention to log messages. The log you uploaded shows that no terrain LOD textures were generated and why.

2. Use DynDOLOD for tree and object LOD.

[mattski123]

22 hours ago, sheson said:

1. Terrain is the ground. To see it, turn all grass off with tg in console. The terrain LOD generated by xLODGen matches full terrain automatically. Terrain LOD meshes quality of 0 match the full terrain heightmap with zero height differences. Terrain LOD textures are generated exactly the same as in the loaded cells from the full terrain textures without changing them as long as brightness/contrast/gamma are left default. Check Bake normal maps so the the normal map terrain LOD textures match the normal map of the full terrain textures. Increase texture resolution if desired. Since the "improved" snow shader is not available for LOD and the noise.dds is only overlayed in the LOD area, those two typically account for differences in brightness between full and LOD terrain. Disable improved snow and use a better balanced noise dds as explained in the first post and subsequent discussions. Read the included documentation and also pay attention to log messages. The log you uploaded shows that no terrain LOD textures were generated and why.

2. Use DynDOLOD for tree and object LOD.

Thank you! I read both logs, and couldn't find the lines you said mentioned what was not allowing the terrain LODs to generate. Also, the noise.dds from Rigmor of Cyrodiil - Reboot should be enough in terms of the noise, right? Or do I need to use one of the 3 mentioned noise files? Because, it seems the HD  Terrain Noise overwrites the Rigmor one. Or vice versa.

[sheson]

2 hours ago, mattski123 said:

Thank you! I read both logs, and couldn't find the lines you said mentioned what was not allowing the terrain LODs to generate. Also, the noise.dds from Rigmor of Cyrodiil - Reboot should be enough in terms of the noise, right? Or do I need to use one of the 3 mentioned noise files? Because, it seems the HD  Terrain Noise overwrites the Rigmor one. Or vice versa.

<Notice: Skipping chunk 32 [-64,-64] because file already exists: d:\mods\mod packs\xlodgen\terrain_output\textures\terrain\tamriel\tamriel.32.-64.-64.dds>

From Terrain-LOD-Readme.txt:
If terrain LOD textures already exist in the output folder, their generation will be skipped.

Use a noise.dds from whatever source that doesn't darken or brighten the terrain LOD artificially so that brightness/contrast/gamma do not need adjusting and that fits your taste.

[mattski123]

My bad >.> left it on. Also, how do I remove these nasty shadows? Also, I highly recommend using Perfect Terrain LODs noise as one of the main options, as the other noise files for me made my terrain a bit "wonky" for lack of a better term.

Edited November 9, 2021 by mattski123

[sheson]

48 minutes ago, mattski123 said:

My bad >.> left it on. Also, how do I remove these nasty shadows?  

LOD does not cast or receive shadow. LOD generation does not change the shadow system.

It is unclear what has been circled and if it is in the loaded cells or the LOD area.

[alphaniner]

There was an issue with the guide in that it inadvertently indicated both SSE-Terrain-Tamriel.esm and SSE-Terrain-Tamriel-Extend.esm should be present and active when doing LOD generation. The guide has been revised and now indicates only SSE-Terrain-Tamriel-Extend.esm should be used.

I used SSE-Terrain-Tamriel.esm when I did my LOD generation and haven't started playing yet. Should I redo the LOD generation with SSE-Terrain-Tamriel-Extend.esm?

[sheson]

1 hour ago, alphaniner said:

There was an issue with the guide in that it inadvertently indicated both SSE-Terrain-Tamriel.esm and SSE-Terrain-Tamriel-Extend.esm should be present and active when doing LOD generation. The guide has been revised and now indicates only SSE-Terrain-Tamriel-Extend.esm should be used.

I used SSE-Terrain-Tamriel.esm when I did my LOD generation and haven't started playing yet. Should I redo the LOD generation with SSE-Terrain-Tamriel-Extend.esm?

This is the support thread for the tool itself, not any modding guides.

Which plugin to use is up to user preference. You can just generate terrain meshes for Tamriel  with SSE-Terrain-Tamriel-Extend.esm pretty quick to get the extended ocean. It's not going to change any terrain textures compared to one generated with  SSE-Terrain-Tamriel.esm.