ACCEPTED Worldspace Transition Tweaks (by AndrealphusVIII)

[DoubleYou]

Discussion topic:
Worldspace Transition Tweaks by AndrealphusVIII
Wiki Link

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This is a very interesting mod, yet relatively unknown mod. While the main thing it advertises is the ability to swim from Skyrim to Solstheim, it is a lot more than that on the LOD front. It has overhauled a huge amount of the landscape, mostly the landscape beyond the playable regions. It also expands the size of Tamriel and Solstheim worldspaces. I am unsure that there aren't problems due to the size increase, as I had thought that there was a certain limit on the bounds that can be used for worldspaces without bugs.

There are multiple incompatibilities that can be found and resolved in xEdit, mostly involving weather records added to certain cells. There are landscape conflicts between this and Smooth Shores that possibly might require a Creation Kit patch.

One idea I had, however, was to not use this mod in its entirety, but only for xLODGen generation, like xLODGen Resource - SSE Terrain Tamriel (which is merged with this mod, btw). I'm not sure if this is a viable idea or not, but seems possible. This will not work.

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Testing notes:

• Look for problems with LOD. Author has stated it doesn't work for DynDOLOD 3, but I rather doubt that is truly the case.
• Look for landscape conflicts.
• Install ACMOS patch.

[DoubleYou]

I will be testing this in my current build. The improvement it makes to the undefined landscape at the edges of the map are extremely beneficial.

Marked for Testing.

[DoubleYou]

This mod is awesome.

 

[DoubleYou]

Transition from Solstheim to Tamriel and back again is seamless.

Additional shots:

You can really see Red Mountain from very far away. I almost wish it were smaller now. I might try without Better Dyndolod Red Mountain Plume next generation to see if it lessens it. You can see it from Whiterun.

[z929669]

I love the idea (and look) of this one. it seems like a disruptor with lots of potential conflicts for Step though. maybe for 2.1.0 though? I changed the tag likewise, as I think this constitutes a big enough change that it wouldn't fit for hotfix versioning.

[z929669]

Looking more at this mod, I still like the idea, but I don't think it's ready for testing with Step at this time. There are xLODGen cautions, and the MA claims that DynDOLOD 3 should not be used to generate object LOD.

I was all ready to test and generate LOD, but I don't want to mess with it until it is matured to the point that it is supported fully by DynDOLOD and xLODGen. Looks to me like it has a ways to go yet ion this and other respects.

Definitely something I will be watching though.

[DoubleYou]

There is zero issue with xLODGen and DynDOLOD 3 that I can see. The author wrote that a long time ago, and I don't feel it is any longer valid. 

Only issue that I feel is left looking into are possible landscape conflicts with Smooth Shores. 

[z929669]

Hmmm. MA seems to have left this mod since July last year though. No update on the description about LOD compatibility, so I wonder if he even knows his mod works with LODGen?

If you look at his Nexus profile, he is only interested in updating his SKSE mods for AE ... and by the look of it, he seems disillusioned by the AE update.

[DoubleYou]

19 minutes ago, z929669 said:

Hmmm. MA seems to have left this mod since July last year though. No update on the description about LOD compatibility, so I wonder if he even knows his mod works with LODGen?

If you look at his Nexus profile, he is only interested in updating his SKSE mods for AE ... and by the look of it, he seems disillusioned by the AE update.

Which is exactly why I don't think the author is correct about DynDOLOD 3 incompatiblility, besides the fact that I see no issue testing it right now. He doesn't have any SKSE Plugin mods, so there is nothing for him to update for AE. He linked to the wrong SSELODGen at first too, so in all likelihood he tried it once, had an issue, and decided to say it was incompatible. 

[TechAngel85]

14 hours ago, z929669 said:

Hmmm. MA seems to have left this mod since July last year though. No update on the description about LOD compatibility, so I wonder if he even knows his mod works with LODGen?

If you look at his Nexus profile, he is only interested in updating his SKSE mods for AE ... and by the look of it, he seems disillusioned by the AE update.

That's a bit harsh. What activity of theirs are you looking at?

They've commented/replied to users this month on the mod page so the mod hasn't just been sat and been forgotten about. They may simply be interested in working on other things or they may not see any issues with the mod and are just letting it ride (DY confirmed no issues besides expected conflicts with other mods). Some of the information may be outdated, and if so lets inform the author rather than just talking about it/him? That's something we used to do regularly for authors but for some reason have gotten away from it. If it would benefit all in the community, why not take the 5-10 mins to write a PM?  I still do this all the time and as an author myself, I appreciate users sharing real issues with me (emphasis on 'real'). They've already credited someone on their description for pointing out some bad information so I think they'd be receptive.

I haven't tried the mod out, yet, but it looks great from the shots. Red Mountain looks connected to the land from the shots, but it's probably just the angle. The Smooth Shores conflicts can be handled via our Smooth Shores Patches mod, if need be. Kinda of surprised there would be landscape conflicts, though, as I thought this only effected LOD.

[DoubleYou]

This mod significantly modifies the landscape especially around Winterhold for the Solstheim area. It also adds missing LOD in the unseen regions of the map, which you can more easily see if you generate xLODGen with and without this mod and open the map view. This is especially important since hiding the clouds on the map makes these regions more stark with the missing landscape data.

[TechAngel85]

44 minutes ago, DoubleYou said:

This mod significantly modifies the landscape especially around Winterhold for the Solstheim area. It also adds missing LOD in the unseen regions of the map, which you can more easily see if you generate xLODGen with and without this mod and open the map view. This is especially important since hiding the clouds on the map makes these regions more stark with the missing landscape data.

Guess I'm going to have to look at it. I still don't understand why they'd have to make landscape edits anywhere near where Smooth Shores would be editing to accomplish what the mod does. Solstheim is an island off the coast so why are there landscape edits anywhere near the coastline from this mod? Cell conflicts, maybe, but landscape... I suppose I'll just have to look at it to understand.

[TechAngel85]

Okay, so I was rather curious about the Landscape edits and from what I can tell it's all bloat/scope creep. They're repainting landscape, changing vertex colors, and possibly smoothing some landscape. These are areas edited that aren't mentioned in the description and the mod shouldn't even be affecting, imo. There should have been no need to repaint landscape along the coast and mini-islands scattered along the coast. The only reason they would have had to make these edits would be if they copied far too much of the ocean floor around Solstheim to paste into Skyrim when developing, which would have forced them to make the edits. Else, it's just another example of a mod doing more than it says it does. I've asked the author about the edits.

[z929669]

I don't think I was harsh, was I? Just saw that the mod hasn't been updated in nearly a year and it was cautioned as beta testing back then, so it seemed like the MA was leaving it alone indefinitely due to the AE update affecting his SKSE mods. Look at his forum profile bio. Just saying that I think the mod needs to mature a bit before it's ready for testing for Step is all.

[TechAngel85]

2 hours ago, z929669 said:

Just saying that I think the mod needs to mature a bit before it's ready for testing for Step is all.

I think the mod is basically where it's supposed to be. What about it needs to mature?

The author has marked out the DynDOLOD 3 comment upon someone and my posting that it works. The only thing left is to ask about the questionable edits to the coastline of Skyrim. I've already asked and they've replied asking for the locations. The reason is either going to be for something with the mod or just "author's discretion". Either way the edits may or may not need to be patched. We'll see the reason and the type of edits made.