DynDOLOD 3.00 Alpha 173

[audawarduz]

See second post or ..\DynDOLOD\docs\help\GrassLOD.html (same content, but with internal links to other help files) "Updating"

 

Start DynDOLOD in expert mode ..(\DynDOLOD\docs\help\Expert.html). Use Specific chunk option. Click Execute LODGen button.

How do I get the coordinates of the cell to generate?  I tried opening the DynDOLOD MCM in-game, but which coordinates do I need in order to select the appropriate BTO?  The MCM does not use the words "west" or "south" anywhere, so I'm not sure how to relate it to the settings in DynDOLOD.

 

Also, after I click Execute LODGen and it indicates it is finished, do I then click OK, or Cancel?

 

[sheson]

How do I get the coordinates of the cell to generate?  I tried opening the DynDOLOD MCM in-game, but which coordinates do I need in order to select the appropriate BTO?  The MCM does not use the words "west" or "south" anywhere, so I'm not sure how to relate it to the settings in DynDOLOD.

 

Also, after I click Execute LODGen and it indicates it is finished, do I then click OK, or Cancel?

 

A BTO filename contains 3 numbers. The first is the LOD Level. The second is the X and the third is the Y coordinate. They are called West (X) and South (Y), because they are the coordinates of the left lower cell of the LOD quad.

Edited February 4, 2021 by sheson

[Wolfpack49]

For attempting to match the colors, I would suggest turning off the extended grass draw distance in GrassControl.config.txt, and choosing the setting in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini to draw grass LOD closer.  Then it will be easier for you to see your transition line between normal grass and grass LOD.

 

I suspect the direct/ambient settings in TexGen will produce "better" results for color matching, which is why I'm expending some effort on it.  I think the RGB multipliers in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini are intended for final adjustments after you've gotten the colors fairly close.

 

Once you do have the colors fairly close, you can then obtain good DynDOLOD_SSE.ini settings for the RGB multipliers by running DynDOLOD twice.  First you need to run it with whatever settings are in your file (if you've tweaked them a lot, then maybe pick something close to 0.400 to get a good starting point).  Then, go somewhere where you can see the grass/LOD transition, pick a time of day and a weather condition, and take a screenshot.

 

Open the screenshot in GIMP, and use the color picker to measure the color of both the normal grass and the LOD grass (use the color picker settings to take an average over some area of your screenshot large enough to contain several grass instances).  For each of the RGB values, take the ratio (real/LOD).  Then go into DynDOLOD_SSE.ini and change the RGB multipliers like this:

 

new_RGB_value = old_RGB_value * (measured_real_RGB / measured_LOD_RGB)

 

where the measured values come from your screenshot.  Provided your starting guesses (the old_RGB_value's) were close enough, this procedure will get you a pretty good match in color, after you run DynDOLOD again.  But, only at the time of day and weather that you chose for the screenshot.

Thanks audawarduz -- that's very helpful.  I'm new to the extended grass, so going to try it for a bit in game and in some different weathers to see how how I feel about it. My guess is it could appear differently in different light.  Plus regenerating the grass cache is a pretty big operation in itself (unless that is unncecessary when changing GrassControl.config.txt).  Will continue to test -- thanks!

Edited February 4, 2021 by Wolfpack49

[Wolfpack49]

The RGB top and bottom brightness settings in the INI are added to the header part of export file for LODGen. They are applied when LODGen generates the BTO meshes. As explained in the second post, it is quickest to change the in the export file and generate a specific BTO using the expert mode.

Ah thanks Sheson. I see this, and will test - sorry I missed:

 

To test different GrassBrightnessTop or GrassBrightnessBottom settings, change GrassLargeReference in ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\Export\LODGen_SSE_Export_[WORLDSPACE].txt, start DynDOLOD in expert mode, select the desired worldpace and click the Execute LODGen button. Then merge the new output with the existing output, overwriting all older files.

 

[Soulmancer]

Just curious, with either the underside plugin or underside feature "that prevents VL from shining through mountains" would this also help with ENB sunlight water reflections or completely unrelated?  like when you can see sunlight shining off the water from the direction of the sun, even when the sun is behind an object/mountain.

[sheson]

Just curious, with either the underside plugin or underside feature "that prevents VL from shining through mountains" would this also help with ENB sunlight water reflections or completely unrelated?  like when you can see sunlight shining off the water from the direction of the sun, even when the sun is behind an object/mountain.

Is there something preventing you from starting the game to test it?

[Wolfpack49]

So halving the direct and ambient brightness for LOD grass in TexGen (80/12) definitely gets the distant grass to a better place -- it's moving into more of a green palette (for the tundra grass at least in clear weather), but I think better than where it was.  Will continue to test RGB settings:

 

[Wolfpack49]

And here's the look after adjusting RGB in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini -- looks great. Thanks audawarduz, and sheson!

 

   Real / LOD

R 64 / 62 * .4 = .413

G 50 / 72 * .445 = .309

B 24 / 63 * .45 = .171

 

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Wolfpack49

[Soulmancer]

I've been encountering some weird overlap / stacking of objects after running Dyndolod 3.0; latest alpha build.  This is something I've never experienced before.

 

I used Generate Dynamic LOD setting and tested this with the latest dyndolod DLL + 2.82 scripts overwriting the dyndolod resources script.

 

Shortly after starting via alternate start camping.  one fire pit became two fire pits. the vanilla stacked on top of that of embers xd.  You can see the tent in behind it is also pretty messed up with snow textures inconsistently on it.  What should I look for in the log? I will try generating again without Dynamic settings checked.    disabling the dyndolod plugin fixed the issue. 

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

I regenerated again without the dynamic setting and the issue disappeared.  whether or not it's dynamic itself or the DLL + scripts I am not sure.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Soulmancer

[jdsmith2816]

Any plans to update the latest DDL 3.0 with Enderal SE support in the near future?

Edited February 12, 2021 by jdsmith2816

[sheson]

I've been encountering some weird overlap / stacking of objects after running Dyndolod 3.0; latest alpha build.  This is something I've never experienced before.

 

I used Generate Dynamic LOD setting and tested this with the latest dyndolod DLL + 2.82 scripts overwriting the dyndolod resources script.

 

Shortly after starting via alternate start camping.  one fire pit became two fire pits. the vanilla stacked on top of that of embers xd.  You can see the tent in behind it is also pretty messed up with snow textures inconsistently on it.  What should I look for in the log? I will try generating again without Dynamic settings checked.    disabling the dyndolod plugin fixed the issue. 

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

I regenerated again without the dynamic setting and the issue disappeared.  whether or not it's dynamic itself or the DLL + scripts I am not sure.

No idea what the screenshot is supposed to be showing. I see a campfire.

 

Q: Game: Out of place objects / floating objects / flickering full models 

 

A: If LOD was generated for a different load order generate LOD for the current load order.

 

A: Test with new game, wait in the exterior for the DynDOLOD initialized message before moving. If problem goes away, the updating of an existing save game with old DynDOLOD.esp went wrong. Follow instructions how to update save game with a new DynDOLOD.esp. RTFM, watch the video or check DynDOLOD SkyUI MCM. The clean save routine can also be redone with the same plugin to reset everything. 

 

A: If the load order had script lag and deactivating/activating from the DynDOLOD SkyUI MCM main page does not reset out of place objects, do the clean save routine where "old" and "new" plugin are the same. Consider generating less demanding dynamic LOD, see 'Performance' section in ..DynDOLOD\Docs\DynDOLOD_Manual.html 

 

A: Wild edit added by a plugin. Check the DynDOLOD log for messages about wild edits. Use console in the game and click on object to retrieve the form id. Look up the form id in xEdit and remove the reference, clean plugin afterwards. Notify mod author. If object is added by DynDOLOD.esp, follow the "pluginname_formid" information found in the Editor ID of the reference to find the plugin from which this object originates. 

 

A: Deleted record by a dirty plugin. Check the log for messages about deleted references by dirty plugins. Clean all UDRs and ITMs from dirty plugins.

 

A: Sometimes LOD objects are placed on top of other objects without LOD and thus appear to float in the distance. Use mesh rules so that the object has no LOD or that the other object also has LOD. 

 

A: Game engine limitation. If the game enables objects that have static object LOD, the entire static object LOD for a cell may briefly show with the full models at the same time. Since now more objects have LOD this might be more obvious than before, especially while playing the intro. Consider installing the generated LOD mod after completing the intro. 

 

A: If the problems is stuck object LOD in Whiterun after fast travel, change Distant Object Detail on the View Distance tab of the Advanced options of the games launcher from Ultra to High. Alternatively try just slightly changing the value fBlockLevel0Distance=60000 in SkyrimPrefs.ini to 57000. 

 

A: Some mods are made with disregard to generating LOD or require updated rules and configs for best compatibility. This is especially true with mods modifying the walled cities. Users are asked and welcome to provide feedback to https://forum.step-project.com/forum/101-shesons-dyndolod-support in order to get everything working with as much compatibility as possible. Include a link to the mod and screenshots (with console / form id) about issues if possible. 

 

A: Flickering textures (full and LOD model showing at the same time) in the LOD area outside the active cells in Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim VR are caused by plugins triggering the large reference bugs as explained in ..DynDOLOD\Docs\DynDOLOD_Manual_SSE.html. Verify if the problem goes away by setting uLargeRefLODGridSize=5 in SkyrimPrefs.ini.

 

A: If the problem is stuck object LOD in loaded cells, it can be caused by uLockedObjectMapLOD=32 in Skyrim.ini.

 

 

The obvious first test is check with a new game and then either with Papyrus Util or DynDOLOD DLL to see if it makes a difference.

 

 

Any plans to update the latest DDL 3.0 with Enderal SE support in the near future?

The next version will support it.

Edited February 12, 2021 by sheson

[apoapse]

Loving DynDOLOD 3.00 so far. I'm having an issue with the latest alpha, though, in conjunction with Legacy of the Dragonborn and Open Cities. I followed the OCS directions to the letter (which is why I'm not having more issues), but using Arthmoor's latest LotD-OCS patch and DynDOLOD 3a27, Erikur's house in Solitude is completely missing. I would attach a screen, but I'm not quite sure how.

 

Now, this issue only appears when using DynDOLOD.esp, which I have generated using default medium settings (I changed some tree settings, but they shouldn't have any issues, I imagine). In xEdit, it looks like the house mesh was replaced with a DynDOLOD_WorshipperActivator and hidden underground -- this is the case with several buildings, though, so I can't imagine this is an error.

 

I can make my own hotfix, just forwarding OCS' info past DynDOLOD.esp in xEdit, but I'd like to figure out what the issue is.

 

I did not have this issue with version 2.89 (the latest LTS release I used), and no issues appear when LOTD isn't enabled. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

[Soulmancer]

The issue is a vanilla campfire is stacking on top of an embers xd fire. There are two distinct stone rings, two sets of wood and two flames; different objects. The vanilla set spawned a few seconds after starting the game on top of the embers set. The snow on the tent is also completely messed up. This is on a New game, and dyndolod was generated for this load order. I have not encountered this on dyndolod 2.90 with generate dynamic objects enabled. It is only happening on 3.00 with generate dynamic objects enabled.. but I need to test to see if it still happens if I dont use the DLL and use papyrus instead.

 

At any rate generating with 3.0 no dynamic object enabled, or generate 2.90 with dynamic object enabled fixes both issues under the same scenario/conditions.

 

Will report back after further testing

Edited February 12, 2021 by Soulmancer

[sheson]

Loving DynDOLOD 3.00 so far. I'm having an issue with the latest alpha, though, in conjunction with Legacy of the Dragonborn and Open Cities. I followed the OCS directions to the letter (which is why I'm not having more issues), but using Arthmoor's latest LotD-OCS patch and DynDOLOD 3a27, Erikur's house in Solitude is completely missing. I would attach a screen, but I'm not quite sure how.

 

Now, this issue only appears when using DynDOLOD.esp, which I have generated using default medium settings (I changed some tree settings, but they shouldn't have any issues, I imagine). In xEdit, it looks like the house mesh was replaced with a DynDOLOD_WorshipperActivator and hidden underground -- this is the case with several buildings, though, so I can't imagine this is an error.

 

I can make my own hotfix, just forwarding OCS' info past DynDOLOD.esp in xEdit, but I'd like to figure out what the issue is.

 

I did not have this issue with version 2.89 (the latest LTS release I used), and no issues appear when LOTD isn't enabled. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

 

The rule to "delete" the reference for the Erikur house LOD representation in the Tamriel worldspace in case Legacy of Dragonborn v5 is installed exists since 2.72 when support for v5 of the mod was added. Open Cities uses those references to replace the LOD representations with their full models. The reason this doesn't manifest with DynDOLOD 2.x is because the "deletion" is wrongly added to DynDOLOD.esm and thus gets reverted by Open Cities.esp. A happy little accident.

 

DynDOLOD 3.x doesn't have this bug, so the Open Cities + Legacy of Dragonborn v5 patch needs a new rule that replaces the old rule. Place the attached rule file into ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\Rules\. Then redo the second pass. Make sure to click low, medium or high so the new rule gets loaded.

DynDOLOD_SSE_ocslotd5patchesp.ini

[Stefan]

I need a bit of help please if possible. I am trying to generate everything but the terrain with Dyndolod alpha, and I keep getting these errors in the log:

[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000ef59c.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForestSnowL05Dead [TREE:000EF59C]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000ef5a5.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForestSnow01Dead [TREE:000EF5A5]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000ef5a0.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForestSnowL01Dead [TREE:000EF5A0]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000ef59e.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForestSnowL03Dead [TREE:000EF59E]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000b927b.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForest02Dead [TREE:000B927B]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000ef59d.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForestSnowL04Dead [TREE:000EF59D]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000ef5a1.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForestSnow05Dead [TREE:000EF5A1]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000b927d.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForest04Dead [TREE:000B927D]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000ef5a3.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForestSnow03Dead [TREE:000EF5A3]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000ef59f.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForestSnowL02Dead [TREE:000EF59F]>
[00:06] <Warning: LOD billboard not found textures\terrain\lodgen\skyrim.esm\_000b927a.txt Skyrim.esm TreePineForest01Dead [TREE:000B927A]>

This is my lod specific setup when starting Dyndolod: https://prnt.sc/z84hcw and this is my mod list: https://modwat.ch/u/Stefan and these are my TexGen settings: https://prnt.sc/z7aidk

 

Any tips for what I should look for? Thank you

Edited February 12, 2021 by Stefan