TESTING Blended Roads (by T4gtr34um3r)

[Mousetick]

On 12/13/2021 at 6:45 PM, z929669 said:

Nevertheless, we try to keep the Foundation ModGroup limited to larger overhauls with many assets that should generally be overridden by other mods. This way, this ModGroup remains limited in size and relatively consistent.

I agree. For this very reason I created a modgroup in MO dedicated to mesh fixes and improvements (if you look at the list I posted above, it starts at ELFX) that sits between Foundation and Models and Textures. There is no such Nexus category as "Mesh Fixes & Improvements", but so what.

On 12/13/2021 at 6:45 PM, z929669 said:

Hiding files only takes a few seconds and is now standardized in Mod Recommendations.

Yes indeed, but it takes some effort and is error-prone. The point I was trying to make is that hiding files/folders should be a last resort, and that re-arranging mods in sort order in MO is a lot easier, and somewhat more logical/intuitive, in order to resolve overwriting conflicts. The STEP team can determine the correct grouping and order; guide users simply need to follow it, no additional effort required from them.

There are several instances in the STEP guide where hiding is made necessary simply because the mods are put in different modgroups strictly based on Nexus categorization and for seemingly no rational reason. Nexus categorization can be helpful for browsing or searching the catalog of mods, but not so much for organizing mods in MO, especially because this categorization can sometimes be arbitrary or haphazard.

Anyway... I'm not saying this is the best way or this should be "the way". I'm just providing a different perspective - thinking "out of the box", so to speak.

[z929669]

We actually don't use nexus Cats but our own. Any overlap is coincidence.

[DoubleYou]

Honestly, I hate moving mod priority. I have over 500 mods installed, so I end up filtering and trying to get it close and then I end up losing where it went. I'd much rather hide files. Unless there is a large number of files to hide, I think it makes the most sense to just hide the file. For Blended Roads, I think there is only 1 file to hide, so it's really simple.

We don't use Nexus categories. We follow the Mod Group Flowchart to appropriately categorize mods within our guide framework.

[Mousetick]

1 hour ago, DoubleYou said:

We don't use Nexus categories. We follow the Mod Group Flowchart to appropriately categorize mods within our guide framework.

Got it. It's a coincidence in these cases, as Z noted, and I was mistaken. I've since looked at the flowchart.

 

You probably already know this, but a mod can be quickly moved "over a large distance" without fumbling by using MO's "Send to Separator" or "Send to First Conflict" feature. Then MO shows where the mod went by highlighting it and expanding the containing modgroup if necessary.

The problem I have with hidden files/folders is that they are, well, hidden, and they are "frozen" in that state. There is no easy way in MO to keep track of them, so I have to write them down in the mod's Notes tab, along with the reason why they're hidden. Contrast this with the Conflicts tab which shows very clearly what is overwriting what, dynamically as the mods moves relative to the others, or as mods are added/removed. The Conflicts tab is self-documenting: it's obvious what's going on at any time, and it's straightforward to try different combinations of mods in different orders. Hidden files? Not at all.

Let's take an example:

• Can you tell which files and folders are hidden in Ruins Clutter Improved, and precisely why they are hidden, just by looking at the information available in MO? And if you managed to find out, how easy was it?
• Now let's say that a mod that is conflicting with RCI is removed from the guide, for whatever reason, and has no replacement. How would you know that you need to, or you can, unhide the corresponding files and folders from RCI?

[DoubleYou]

I didn't know about the commands actually. I'll have to look at those.

Your points about hidden files not showing up in Conflicts is valid, and probably would be a nice feature if Mod Organizer could add them to it's Conflicts tab. It's a valid point, but we don't want to just start dumping everything into Foundation that conflicts with other mods. Vortex is better on the conflict resolution front for this reason.

[gamingsrc]

Finally I accepted this mod in my game after years of hesitations.

But I'm using the textures from the Redone version.

I discovered that the author removed the "ground" of Dragon Bridge.

Is this intended? or it is because he dont have alternative meshes for that bridge?

Edited December 29, 2021 by gamingsrc

[DoubleYou]

Pretty sure mine has ground on Dragon Bridge. Might be Blended Roads Redone doing it.

[gamingsrc]

Dragon Bridge is controlled by the mesh:

02 REALly Blended ROADS\meshes\dungeons\nordic\exterior\dragonbridge01.nif

and in Nifscope it give me the following path

I'm using Blended Roads Redone 4K (even previewed the 8K version) and it dont contains the file 

\landscape\dirt02.dds

 

Update:

Here is the Vanilla Dragon Bridge Mesh and where it point in Nifscope:

There two explanations we can get here:

1. It was an intentional mesh edit from the mod author.

2. It was an overlooked error of path edits in the mod.

Edited December 29, 2021 by gamingsrc

[DoubleYou]

Ok. You had said he removed the "ground" not the road stones. You are correct in that the road stones on the bridge no longer are present.

[Jakolanten]

Blended Roads v1.7 has some bugs with Enhanced Blood Textures if using only the Blended Roads meshes. Blood spatters don't appear on the rocks. Using Really Blended Road solves the issue. 

https://imgur.com/a/3LNTXBf

[z929669]

On 12/15/2021 at 1:05 PM, DoubleYou said:

I didn't know about the commands actually. I'll have to look at those.

Your points about hidden files not showing up in Conflicts is valid, and probably would be a nice feature if Mod Organizer could add them to it's Conflicts tab. It's a valid point, but we don't want to just start dumping everything into Foundation that conflicts with other mods. Vortex is better on the conflict resolution front for this reason.

Hidden files for a mod DO show up in the bottom pane of the Conflicts tab (since they have no conflicts once hidden ... unless another mod is hiding the same file I suppose. Then they should be in the corresponding pane, I assume).

You should be able to filter using "mohidden"

7 hours ago, Jakolanten said:

Blended Roads v1.7 has some bugs with Enhanced Blood Textures if using only the Blended Roads meshes. Blood spatters don't appear on the rocks. Using Really Blended Road solves the issue. 

https://imgur.com/a/3LNTXBf

Good to know. Need to find the fix then and report it to the MA. I assume it's a shader flag.

[Mousetick]

As stated in the OP:

Quote

The plugin is redundant with Cathedral Landscapes.esp, so move Blended Roads.esp to Optional ESPs.

The current wiki instructions omit the "move to optional" step. This is harmless, but as Blended Roads.esp is a fat plugin, it wastes a full plugin slot without providing any benefit whatsoever.

The wiki instructions should be corrected. Alternatively, the mod Cathedral Landscapes - Fixed Bridge Meshes produces the desired installation results in fewer steps.

(Wasn't sure whether to post here or in Feedback and Bug Reports. Feel free to move to a better place if needed.)

[DoubleYou]

Cathedral Landscapes included an older version of Blended Roads, and I thought I had checked the plugin as not redundant, but I suppose we could look again. 

3 hours ago, Mousetick said:

As stated in the OP:

The current wiki instructions omit the "move to optional" step. This is harmless, but as Blended Roads.esp is a fat plugin, it wastes a full plugin slot without providing any benefit whatsoever.

The wiki instructions should be corrected. Alternatively, the mod Cathedral Landscapes - Fixed Bridge Meshes produces the desired installation results in fewer steps.

(Wasn't sure whether to post here or in Feedback and Bug Reports. Feel free to move to a better place if needed.)

 

[Mousetick]

23 minutes ago, DoubleYou said:

Cathedral Landscapes included an older version of Blended Roads, and I thought I had checked the plugin as not redundant, but I suppose we could look again. 

Yes, it includes an older version of the meshes. The Blended Roads plugin is the same and is definitely redundant. That was the point of my post.

[DoubleYou]

3 hours ago, Mousetick said:

Yes, it includes an older version of the meshes. The Blended Roads plugin is the same and is definitely redundant. That was the point of my post.

This definitely doesn't look that way to me. Blended Roads is reverting Cathedral Landscapes back to the correct mesh path on all the snow roads and setting a different DNAM - Material versus Cathedral Landscapes. This is perhaps dependent on if you use Really Blended version or not.

Edit: So you only need the plugin if you use the Really Blended option. Normal version is redundant.