DROPPED High Quality LODs (by Ethatron)

[TechAngel85]

I've contacted the mod author to see if he'd be able and/or willing to point us in the right direction.

[TechAngel85]

Now I'm no texture guru, but something seems off here. The below image has the texture and associated normal for the "tamriel.16.-64.-48_n.dds" file. The first is vanilla, the second is EDT2, the third is the normal from vanilla and the fourth is the HQLODs normal:

 

 

The first two are blank or with added noise; however, the normals appear to be adding depth or something to these blank textures. But something tells me that the HQLOD normal shouldn't have a hard 90 degree angle in it. These issues are scattered throughout the HQLOD normals (if they are issues).

 

EDIT:

These are all from the 256x256 matching files.

[Nearox]

Hmm I;m no texture guru either, really don't know much about it but my first thought is: wouldn't that explain the seams we see? The seams are afterall not just one big patch of black but are broken up with parts that do look like they have a proper normal. I also can't explain well what I mean when I talk about this stuff :(

[TechAngel85]

My only thought is maybe the HQLOD normal matches the associated mesh; however, I can't view .btr files on my system with the tools I have. Even if that is true the vanilla normal looks much more detailed.

[z929669]

Now I'm no texture guru, but something seems off here. The below image has the texture and associated normal for the "tamriel.16.-64.-48_n.dds" file. The first is vanilla, the second is EDT2, the third is the normal from vanilla and the fourth is the HQLODs normal:

 

 

The first two are blank or with added noise; however, the normals appear to be adding depth or something to these blank textures. But something tells me that the HQLOD normal shouldn't have a hard 90 degree angle in it. These issues are scattered throughout the HQLOD normals (if they are issues).

 

EDIT:

These are all from the 256x256 matching files.

My guess is that the normals are parsed out differently in HQ LOD due to the mesh changes (imagine shrinking that partial ... smaller, it may have the same res as the vanilla). Terain texture creation and mapping are different than other textures.

 

BTW, ask Sparrow about this and the snowy terrain. He has some relevant experience with both..

[TechAngel85]

Okay, I'll ask Sparrow to pop in and contribute if he can. I've contact 3 authors in the past week and haven't gotten a response from any of them.

[Octopuss]

Could someone explain what those "normals" are?

In fact, I don't understand the description at all.

A complete set of LOD-files consists of

- 1x mesh package

- 1x normal-map package

- 1x color-map package

 

What in the bloody hell is all that?

[torminater]

Every object has a shape = mesh

It has a colour= DDS

And it has a layer that makes it look a lot more diversified than the actual mesh = normal or _n.dds

[Octopuss]

Uh, oh. So if I use SRO, what do I download? Hi-res meshes, the only normal available, and SRO textures?

 

Colour maps=textures? The inconsistency in terminology is killing me.

[Nearox]

Depends. If you follow STEP, then the recommendation is to only install the Hi_Res Meshes (due to the normals causing seams on some people's systems). If you are using SRLE, then then recommendation is to use the meshes + normals. Neither recommends a texture pack, probably ebcause they don't fit in well. I've tried them long ago, can't remember why I stopped using them, but there was something about the textures that wasn't good.

[Octopuss]

It would be great if someone could elaborate on this further.

[Nearox]

It's all in this thread if you don't believe me.

[Octopuss]

Oh I do believe you, don't get me wrong. It's just that I am confused by the normals and textures and whether I should bother and all.

[Nearox]

Well there've been long discussions on HQLOD before, just check page 2 and onward in this thread alone...

 

You can try them out ingame and see how any combination looks for you. I'd personally not bother to be honest. A mod like SDO for example will make a much bigger visual impact than HQLOD. If you want to play ti safe and quick, just download the hi-res meshes - it is very likely that you won't be missing the normals at all.