DynDOLOD doesn't seem to work

[Vaneglorious]

Hello.

 

I've spent hours trying to figure this out, but to no avail. Read all manuals, guides and watched all relevant videos. Game actually looks worse now than without DynDOLOD, since now the Lavender billboards stand out obnoxiously. That is fixable. However, the main issue persists.

 

Here are some screenshots to demonstrate how it looks for me:

https://ibb.co/tYFbtST
https://ibb.co/54HmNdc
https://ibb.co/x1CLfFR
https://ibb.co/8mn6yT4

 

Not sure what I did wrong. I followed GamerPoets' guide on YT to the letter. I have the Indistinguishable Vanilla billboards, SFO + its billboards and Enhanced Vanilla Trees + its billboards. In the MCM menu it says DynDOLOD is active. Tried deactivating and reactivating, restarting game, nothing has changed anything.

 

Any ideas or pieces of advice are welcome and appreciated.

[sheson]

Billboards are a simple 2D texture representation of trees and an optional text file defining width, height and other parameters used for tree LOD.

Object LOD use 3D LOD models with LOD textures. They are simplified versions of the full 3D models and full textures.

DynDOLOD does not change terrain LOD.

 

So, the first two pictures seem to show that improved static tree and object LOD seems to be working.

 

If you do not want the lavendar to have billboard tree LOD, then do not install the billboard for them. They are not included in DynDOLOD. They were installed with a mod.

 

That water coast looks like this in vanilla. To generate and improve terrain LOD use xLODGen.  

 

It seems something is wrong with the dynamic LOD installation. When starting a new game (for tests "coc whiterun" from main menu works) or adding DynDOLOD to a new save made in an interior and then stepping outside should show messages top left about the problem.

Edited January 17, 2019 by sheson

[Vaneglorious]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Doesn't the DynDOLOD installer have LODGen built into it? Isn't that what it's working on for a while during the long install period? Proper, high quality 3D models should be showing up in the distance, not those horrible 2D billboards.

 

I installed every billboard right below their respective mods that add or modify objects (SFO, SMIM, EVT, for example), then I ran TextureGenerator, then following the GP video guide I ran the DynDOLOD installation. Resources, Patches, Textures and Output at the end of my install order in MO, just like the guide instructed. According to the guide it should 100% work, but as mentioned above, I get the bad 2D textures.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Vaneglorious

[Vaneglorious]

Update:

 

There's something wrong and I've no idea what. It seems there are parts of SFO (and other mods that add/modify objects) that didn't have LOD generated. Do I have to do that with xLODGen separately before installing DynDOLOD? I thought it had that implemented in it.

 

https://ibb.co/TtgygP5
https://ibb.co/ZLmNdJy

[sheson]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Doesn't the DynDOLOD installer have LODGen built into it? Isn't that what it's working on for a while during the long install period? Proper, high quality 3D models should be showing up in the distance, not those horrible 2D billboards.

 

I installed every billboard right below their respective mods that add or modify objects (SFO, SMIM, EVT, for example), then I ran TextureGenerator, then following the GP video guide I ran the DynDOLOD installation. Resources, Patches, Textures and Output at the end of my install order in MO, just like the guide instructed. According to the guide it should 100% work, but as mentioned above, I get the bad 2D textures.

Didn't you say you read the included documentation and what not?

 

DynDOLOD is a modified xEdit (= xLODGen) to generate drastically improved object and tree LOD and a new optional dynamic LOD. Installing the DynDOLOD Standalone and installing DynDOLOD Resources takes less than a minute, so I have no idea what "long install period" is supposed to mean.

 

Quoting the manual again: Billboards are a simple 2D texture representation of trees and an optional text file defining width, height and other parameters used for tree LOD.

 

By default DynDOLOD generates 2D tree LOD (which is the xEdit tree LOD generation, which is a CK replacement) by using the LOD tree billboards that you installed. So there should be no surprise that DynDOLOD used the installed LOD tree billboards to generate 2D tree LOD.

 

If you do not like the LOD tree billboards, install or create better ones for the vanilla trees and mods you are using. Then generate tree LOD again.

 

Read DynDOLOD\Docs\trees.ultra\DynDOLOD-Trees.html to learn how to generate 3D tree LOD in object LOD and its requirements.

 

Update:

 

There's something wrong and I've no idea what. It seems there are parts of SFO (and other mods that add/modify objects) that didn't have LOD generated. Do I have to do that with xLODGen separately before installing DynDOLOD? I thought it had that implemented in it.

 

https://ibb.co/TtgygP5

https://ibb.co/ZLmNdJy

If there is tree LOD for trees that do not exist anymore or if tree LOD does not exist for trees, the load order changed after tree LOD generation. Generate tree LOD for the current load order.

 

If all types of a tree do not have LOD, then there is no LOD tree billboard installed for that tree.

 

Make sure none of the output files are overwritten.

Edited January 17, 2019 by sheson

[Vaneglorious]

I see. I'll get to work then.

 

What's weird is that the mod SFO does have pre-generated billboards, and I'm using that one. Also, I'm not sure how the double trees became one when I got closer. My main issue is having the distant grass look acceptable instead of the 2-3 odd 2D models of ugly shrubs. Then there are the buildings with higher res textures and parallax that are replaced by ugly version in the LOD.

 

I haven't touched my load order of static object mesh and texture mods, it's been the same for months.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Vaneglorious

[sheson]

I see. I'll get to work then.

 

What's weird is that the mod SFO does have pre-generated billboards, and I'm using that one. Also, I'm not sure how the double trees became one when I got closer. My main issue is having the distant grass look acceptable instead of the 2-3 odd 2D models of ugly shrubs. Then there are the buildings with higher res textures and parallax that are replaced by ugly version in the LOD.

 

I haven't touched my load order of static object mesh and texture mods, it's been the same for months.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

If you do not like certain billboards SFO adds and prefer to rather not have LOD for them at all, just remove the billboard(s) before generating LOD.

 

Past the loaded cell is the LOD area. LOD works by replacing full models with LOD models, which are simplified models with low res textures. They need to be simplified for the game to be able to handle it.

[Vaneglorious]

 

Past the loaded cell is the LOD area. LOD works by replacing full models with LOD models, which are simplified models with low res textures. They need to be simplified for the game to be able to handle it.

Yes, that is clear as crystal. I'm just trying to make them look decent is all. Your manual says using full models is not advised for LE, should I avoid doing that completely? I'm experimenting with the settings atm. Does the '\' general rule apply the settings to everything with no settings? For example:  water1024.nif  has no LOD4, 8, 16 and Grid settings, it's empty. Do the settings from '\' apply to those in that case? Or do I need to do them one by one?

 

Also, the plants (shrubs, lavender, etc) are identified as type: objectTREE(TREE) in the console. Is that normal? Lavender and Blue Mountain Flower are both named in the console correctly, but those little shrubs (around Whiterun, to be specific) have no names  (only '' in the console where the name should be, and there's also a new line 'lastRefrChange: Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp' ). Sorry, don't want to bother you with this possibly unrelated phenomenon, I'm just kinda confused.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Vaneglorious

[Vaneglorious]

I found the bothersome mesh. It's TreeThicket01 , a vanilla shrub. It looks like it's not included in the DynDOLOD by default. Do I go now and make a custom LOD for it?

[Vaneglorious]

Btw should I be concerned about this?

 

https://imgur.com/a/fU4LRLv

[sheson]

Yes, that is clear as crystal. I'm just trying to make them look decent is all. Your manual says using full models is not advised for LE, should I avoid doing that completely? I'm experimenting with the settings atm. Does the '\' general rule apply the settings to everything with no settings? For example:  water1024.nif  has no LOD4, 8, 16 and Grid settings, it's empty. Do the settings from '\' apply to those in that case? Or do I need to do them one by one?

 

Also, the plants (shrubs, lavender, etc) are identified as type: objectTREE(TREE) in the console. Is that normal? Lavender and Blue Mountain Flower are both named in the console correctly, but those little shrubs (around Whiterun, to be specific) have no names  (only '' in the console where the name should be, and there's also a new line 'lastRefrChange: Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp' ). Sorry, don't want to bother you with this possibly unrelated phenomenon, I'm just kinda confused.

The "\" mesh rules applies to all meshes that did not match an earlier rule. Water1024.nif will be done as dynamic LOD (Grid) since it can not be done as object LOD (LOD4/8/16)

 

Using full models for LOD should be reserved to the animated dynamic LOD and a few select static object LOD in case a LOD models does not exist. Using full model for objects that are large or used very often will quickly result in many GB of LOD files and the game not loading because it runs out of memory.

 

TREE is a type of base record (with support for animation and stuff). What the actual 3D model depicts is not important.

 

If you want LOD for something it requires a LOD model or a LOD billboard (or you can try to use the full model in LOD4 or make it dynamic LOD). Shrubs and thickets are used plenty of times. The best option for performance is billboard LOD or a very optimized 3D LOD model. Creating either requires time, trial and error (or experience). It will be quicker/easier to just remove the LOD billboard and not have (bad) LOD for such small things.

 

FAQ: DynDOLOD.exe:  

 

A: Ignore. A handful of trees can not have traditional tree LOD for technical reasons and will be done as static object LOD. Static object LOD uses the normal _n.dds textures, but LOD tree billboards do not have one so the flat replacement is used, just as traditional tree LOD does. 

[Vaneglorious]

Everything is clear to me now, I believe.

 

Thanks for your time and patience.