DynDOLOD 3.00 Alpha 169

[luci66]

Hello,
I have been using dyndolod successfully for a while. 
However I recently noticed that the generated dyndolod output file is only half the size of what it used to be. I remember it being around 10 gb but with alpha 60 and some recent versions, it is only around 4 gb with the same settings, if not higher settings. 
3 part question-

1. Are the newer versions so well optimized that it saves that much space?
2. Does the load order of mods such as "dyndolod resources se", "texgen output", "majestic mountains dyndolod 3 pack", "Skyrim Remastered- Glaciers and Ice LODS for dyndolod" etc matter before running dyndolod to produce output?
3. Even after downloading Inigo bloodchill manor patch and majestic mountain bloodchill manor patch, and rerunning dyndolod, the respective areas are still covered in rocks and almost unplayable.
Thank you  

[sheson]

28 minutes ago, luci66 said:

Hello,
I have been using dyndolod successfully for a while. 
However I recently noticed that the generated dyndolod output file is only half the size of what it used to be. I remember it being around 10 gb but with alpha 60 and some recent versions, it is only around 4 gb with the same settings, if not higher settings. 
3 part question-

1. Are the newer versions so well optimized that it saves that much space?
2. Does the load order of mods such as "dyndolod resources se", "texgen output", "majestic mountains dyndolod 3 pack", "Skyrim Remastered- Glaciers and Ice LODS for dyndolod" etc matter before running dyndolod to produce output?
3. Even after downloading Inigo bloodchill manor patch and majestic mountain bloodchill manor patch, and rerunning dyndolod, the respective areas are still covered in rocks and almost unplayable.
Thank you  

1. Maybe.
2. See https://dyndolod.info/Help/Load-Overwrite-Orders, https://dyndolod.info/Mods/Majestic-Mountains. For third party mods typically refer to its install instructions. too.
3. What does this have to with DynDOLOD? DynDOLOD generates LOD for objects that are added by the vanilla plugins and mods. DynDOLOD typically does not add new objects. Open console, click the object to get its load order form id.

[luci66]

11 minutes ago, sheson said:

1. Maybe.
2. See https://dyndolod.info/Help/Load-Overwrite-Orders, https://dyndolod.info/Mods/Majestic-Mountains. For third party mods typically refer to its install instructions. too.
3. What does this have to with DynDOLOD? DynDOLOD generates LOD for objects that are added by the vanilla plugins and mods. DynDOLOD typically does not add new objects. Open console, click the object to get its load order form id.

Thank you so much for quick and good answer. I understand what to do now.
Good day

[Soulmancer]

Dyndolod seems to get pickier with each update in the alpha 3.0.  Getting anxious about updating because when I do it seems to find a new error that halts the process that wasn't posing any issue in the prior build.  Most recently I am seeing this.  http://icecream.me/uploads/82cd0f6a605a1bac8b6c9f56e3cb5144.png 

edit: running it again, it appears to have skipped over it without the halting error; not sure what was going on the first time or what the naming contention warnings mean. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Soulmancer

[sheson]

2 hours ago, Soulmancer said:

Dyndolod seems to get pickier with each update in the alpha 3.0.  Getting anxious about updating because when I do it seems to find a new error that halts the process that wasn't posing any issue in the prior build.  Most recently I am seeing this.  http://icecream.me/uploads/82cd0f6a605a1bac8b6c9f56e3cb5144.png 

edit: running it again, it appears to have skipped over it without the halting error; not sure what was going on the first time or what the naming contention warnings mean. 

Read the first post which explains that this is an ALPHA to test things and iron out bugs.

Read the first post what log files and bugreport.txt to upload when making posts.

Rad the first post which explains how to use the "Copy message to clipboard" instead of making screenshots.

Click on the link "Click on this link for additional explanations and help for this message." It should open https://dyndolod.info/Messages/Exceptions

Item not found
This is a bug with the tools encountering unexpected situations. Make a report on the official DynDOLOD support forum.

That  explanation links to https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum which also explains which log files and bugreport.txt to upload when making posts.

No reason to be  anxious about a tool reporting  problems in the load order. It makes it easier to fix/troubleshoot problems and errors. 

[ntluan_vn]

Can I ask you a question?
I noticed that some of the textures of leaves and stems are recorded in the file "dyndolodXXX.dds" but some are not, they are taken directly from the path "textures/***/***".
I've noticed with trees where they get their textures from the path from "textures/***/***" they will be a lot more sparse than the textures recorded at "dyndolodXXX.dds".
So is there any rule for DynDOLOD to write those textures to the "dyndolodXXX.dds" file? I see in version 2.98 all those textures are listed at "dyndolodXXX.dds" but not in 3.x.
Thanks for reading, sorry about my English, it's really bad.

Edited January 7, 2022 by ntluan_vn

[sheson]

27 minutes ago, ntluan_vn said:

Can I ask you a question?
I noticed that some of the textures of leaves and stems are recorded in the file "dyndolodXXX.dds" but some are not, they are taken directly from the path "textures/***/***".
I've noticed with trees where they get their textures from the path from "textures/***/***" they will be a lot more sparse than the textures recorded at "dyndolodXXX.dds".
So is there any rule for DynDOLOD to write those textures to the "dyndolodXXX.dds" file? I see in version 2.98 all those textures are listed at "dyndolodXXX.dds" but not in 3.x.
Thanks for reading, sorry about my English, it's really bad.

https://dyndolod.info/Help/Object-LOD
Object LOD uses the single texture in case the UV coordinates of a 3D shape do not allow the use of the object LOD texture atlas.

For a shape in the object LOD *.BTO to be able to use a texture on the object LOD texture atlas requires its UV coordinates to be inside 0.0 and 1.0.
If any of the UV coordinates are outside, the single source texture will be kept instead.

DynDOLOD may try to update the UV on the fly. If that is attempted and succeeds or has acceptable results depends on each case.

[Phlunder]

While reading through your new info page, I stumbled upon your suggestion to try Billboard4 for HD Tree LOD in object LOD. I have to say, I am blown away. I never saw such good blending and reaction to lighting from billboards. No need to change anything about lighting settings in TexGen either. Perfect blending with every setting on default - with or without ENB - no matter which weather mod. This is great, I just wanted to leave a big thank you - again! 

I just have one question: Why isn't this setting used by default? 

[sheson]

30 minutes ago, Phlunder said:

While reading through your new info page, I stumbled upon your suggestion to try Billboard4 for HD Tree LOD in object LOD. I have to say, I am blown away. I never saw such good blending and reaction to lighting from billboards. No need to change anything about lighting settings in TexGen either. Perfect blending with every setting on default - with or without ENB - no matter which weather mod. This is great, I just wanted to leave a big thank you - again! 

I just have one question: Why isn't this setting used by default? 

Compared to standard tree LOD it requires 4 textures instead of one. It requires 8 triangles instead of 4.
That's a significant change compared to standard tree LOD.

The defaults are somewhat supposed to have consistent results visually and resource wise across the versions. So new features and options are optional.

[Phlunder]

10 minutes ago, sheson said:

Compared to standard tree LOD it requires 4 textures instead of one. It requires 8 triangles instead of 4.
That's a significant change compared to standard tree LOD.

The defaults are somewhat supposed to have consistent results visually and resource wise across the versions. So new features and options are optional.

That makes sense. It just took me a while to figure out it was even an option. Its a drastic improvement, and its performance friendly too. Great alternative to 3D tree LOD indeed, as stated on the info page.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Phlunder

[z929669]

10 minutes ago, Phlunder said:

That makes sense. It just took me a while to figure out it was even an option. Its a drastic improvement, and its performance friendly too. Great alternative to 3D tree LOD!

Step has been suggesting Billboard4 (and Billboard1) for a while now for all LOD levels as a 'performance' option for trees in object LOD (versus Level[0|1|2]). Both react well with lighting. It can give back a lot of FPS with some mod LOD (e.g., Aspens Ablaze).

My XP is that Billboard# is always a bit flatter and darker (and fuller) in game than the 3D models, but they never seem to suffer from some of the alpha threshold issues you get with really branchy trees in LOD.

The Alpha version of DynDOLOD also has some really nice improvements for creating tree LOD as well.

[Phlunder]

4 minutes ago, z929669 said:

Step has been suggesting Billboard4 (and Billboard1) for a while now for all LOD levels as a 'performance' option for trees in object LOD (versus Level[0|1|2]). Both react well with lighting. It can give back a lot of FPS with some mod LOD (e.g., Aspens Ablaze).

My XP is that Billboard# is always a bit flatter and darker (and fuller) in game than the 3D models, but they never seem to suffer from some of the alpha threshold issues you get with really branchy trees in LOD.

I used Billboard1 with HD Tree LOD in object LOD for quite a long time now, and while it does react better to light than regular billboards, Billboard4 is really perfect now. I'll try not to miss your suggestions the next time, the whole site has always been a great resource for me!

[z929669]

1 hour ago, Phlunder said:

I used Billboard1 with HD Tree LOD in object LOD for quite a long time now, and while it does react better to light than regular billboards, Billboard4 is really perfect now. I'll try not to miss your suggestions the next time, the whole site has always been a great resource for me!

Great tho hear it. We're looking closely at your glacier mod for next guide iteration. I saw you troubleshooting some LOD steps here in recent days. It looks very good.

I'm off topic for sure now, so sheson please forgive.

[shadownightfury5]

I've generated the TexGen output and put it into MO2 but it just doesnt seem to detect it. I open DynDOLOD and TexGen in MO2 So I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

DynDOLOD logs: https://pastebin.com/BQw6rXsX

[z929669]

Using Alpha 60.

TexGen isn't creating HD trunk billboard texturess (or the _[1|2].dds is being stripped from [or not added to] the texture names), and DynDOLOD is complaining:

example TexGen billboard from log:

[00:10]     Creating billboard C:\Modding\Tools\DynDOLOD\TexGen_Output\Textures\dyndolod\lod\trees\dlc1treewinteraspensnow01_4eaf2dff_trunk with dyndolod\render\billboards\dyndolod\lod\trees\dlc1treewinteraspensnow01_4eaf2dff_trunk.nif

DynDOLOD error for this tree:

Warning: File not found textures\dyndolod\lod\trees\dlc1treewinteraspensnow01_4eaf2dff_trunk_1.dds. Used by meshes\dyndolod\lod\trees\dlc1treewinteraspensnow01_4eaf2dffpassthru_lod.nif DynDOLOD.esm DLC1TreeWinterAspenSnow01 [STAT:0200CE13]

The DynDOLOD log entry was shared with me by @DoubleYou. I didn't bother running DynDOLOD when I saw this TexGen log, since I knew what would happen. I didn't see anything about fundamental changes to how DynDOLOD is doing HD tree billboards, so I think this may just be a glitch in a recent Alpha update (I haven't tested since Alpha 54, I think):

TexGen_SSE_Debug_log.txt