Texture change within a single LOD

[benjapo]

Hi everyone!

Long time lurker here, I've been using Dyndolod for a couple of years with awesome results.

I've discovered a new bug that I'm having trouble ironing out and could use some guidance.

 

In Eastmarch, the Hot Springs (or Volcanic Water, I'm unsure about the official name of these) I'm getting a different water texture in the pools within the same LOD.

 

Here's a screenshot of the LOD mesh in Nifskope: https://www.dropbox.com/s/14c49cg1htfnbar/lod.png?dl=0

 

The middle pools look great, but the smaller surrounding pools have white water. It's all within the same LOD/mesh file, and it's all using the same texture atlas.

 

I haven't seen any other texture issues in any other LODs, just these.

 

My usual workflow has been:

-Generate Terrain meshes and textures with xLodGen

-Create Textures with TexGen

-Run Dyndolod

-Final step is generating the Occlusion with xLodGen

 

I'm using Dyndolod 2.82 for SSE/VR

 

Any advice? Thanks!!

 

[sheson]

Replace DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\LODGenx64.exe with https://mega.nz/file/FIYSnSAQ#Ik4ILEsqOblf3Wp07KeCf9q-b2r69Y5JdCCNd-hqALI

 

Start DynDOLOD in with Expert=1 in DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_SSE.ini

 

Change world to Tamriel and click Execute LODGenx64.exe button.

 

Then install new meshes from output overwriting the existing meshes from older output.

 

Let me know if the "water" is fixed / greenish and everything else still looks fine as well.

Edited July 3, 2020 by sheson

[benjapo]

Yes! Success!
The hot springs look so much better now. Nice and consistent :)

 

I did a quick cursory glance from High Hrothgar and other high places and I didn't notice any new issues.

Thank you so much!

Cheers, my friend :)

[sheson]

Thanks for testing. Update will be included in next version.

[benjapo]

Hi Sheson,

I hope you're doing well.

 

I spotted another instance of this issue (or at least it seems like a similar issue).

White textures around some rock LODs in The Reach. I'm unsure if they occur in other areas, but I'm noticing them most in The Reach.

 

Here's a screenshot of the LOD in Nifskope around Karthspire Camp, as one example:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4fcht0r8uiec4k/LodReachRocks.png?dl=0

(this particular file is "Tamriel.4.-32.0.bto")

 

Thanks again for everything! :)

Edited July 22, 2020 by benjapo

[sheson]

Looks like a texture has no alpha. It is probably textures\lod\MountainTrimAlphaLOD.dds

 

Find out which mod changes it and check if the texture has an alpha channel.

[benjapo]

Thanks for the quick response. :)

I do have a mod changing that file. It's HD LODs Textures SE (performance version)

There's both MountainTrimAlphaLOD.dds and MountainTrimAlphaLOD_n.dds

MountainTrimAlphaLOD.dds seems to have an alpha channel, screenshot here

But MountainTrimAlphaLOD_n.dds doesn't seem to have an alpha, screenshot here

Is the Normals file sometimes responsible for the alpha? If so, then that might be the culprit.
But I'm really unsure how alpha's work in this game.

I really appreciate your time and any further insight you may have.

[sheson]

If MountainTrimAlphaLOD.dds has an alpha channel, it may be a different texture. 

 

You need to go close to the object in the game to get its reference form id with open console and clicking on the object.

 

Lookup the reference form id in DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\Export\LODGen_SSE_Tamriel.txt.

 

The last 3 NIF files mentioned for the line are the used LOD models.

 

Open the LOD model in NifSkope to find out the texture used for the shapes with the problem.

 

Let me know what you find out.

[benjapo]

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to use the good console-click way like you suggested. I only have the VR version and clicking items with the console is almost useless. It returns random values and the cursor isn’t accurate. It’s pretty irritating.

 

But I was able to brute-force it by re-running Dyndolod and disabling mods each time. It was slow but it worked.

 

The culprit is the exact file you originally recommended (from the HD LOD textures mod)

 

If I run Dyndolod with that file included, I get the alpha bug. 

If I remove that texture and rerun Dyndolod, then the bug disappears. (the white areas of the texture turn into grey)

 

It’s really strange because I can see the alpha channel in both Gimp and Paint.net, but for some reason the alpha isn’t working when generating LODs.

 

So worst case scenario is I just remove that texture (the alpha shape won’t be correct in the generated LOD but at least it’ll be grey instead of white!)

 

But is there something else I should try?

[sheson]

How does it look in the game? BTO meshes do not define a Alpha node. Object LOD automatically uses transparency of textures with a threshold of 128.

 

Check if the alpha made it onto the texture atlas DynDOLOD_Output\Textures\DynDOLOD\LOD\DynDOLOD_Tamriel.dds.

 

Try the 512 or vice versa the 1k version of that texture.

[benjapo]

Yeah, looking in the game is a good idea :) 

I got way too obsessed with Nifskope. Ha!

And after looking in game, it's much more subtle than I thought it would be.

 

If you're curious, here's screenshots for how it turned out in game. And 1k does look better
(looking north from near Valthume):

With 512 texture

With 1k texture

 

 

So yeah, in-game it's so much more subtle than I was seeing in Nifskope. I should've checked again in-game before posting. So I apologize for jumping the gun and bothering you before seeing how it actually looks.

 

At this point, I doubt this is a Dyndolod bug. There must be something strange with my particular setup in Nifskope.

But again, it's much more subtle than I thought in-game.

 

By the way, while using the texture, the alpha does appear on the Dyndolod texture atlas.

 

 

 

While I've got you, I've always wondered:

If a New Lands mod comes with their own pre-made LODs. What does Dyndolod do with those?

Are they over-written/ignored/etc?

Just curious :)

[sheson]

Already existing object or tree LOD does not affect LOD generation. Already existing terrain LOD does not affect terrain LOD generation.

 

Terrain LOD meshes are used to optimize object LOD meshes.

[benjapo]

Cool. Good to know :)

Thanks again for everything!

Edited July 25, 2020 by benjapo