DynDOLOD 3.00 Alpha 180

[saintNoojiez]

Hi sheson, I have been searching for info on grass color  (I have read the instructions for grass top and bottom shadow)
I searched on Folkvangr nexus for thread for settings for dyndolod 3, they use rudy enb with cathedraal weathers and folkvangr and reported 
 

Quote

; grass LOD brightness multipliersGrassBrightnessTopR=0.600GrassBrightnessTopG=0.645GrassBrightnessTopB=0.650; make bottom darker to fake shadowingGrassBrightnessBottomR=0.300GrassBrightnessBottomG=0.323GrassBrightnessBottomB=0.325

These were the settings posted in folkvangr forum by a user for DynDOLOD_SSE.ini but I rerun dyndolod (and texgen again first just for good measure) but my grass is still a shade of white as pictured:
https://imgur.com/a/3LzGLZn

Sorry if the answer is obvious, i have been searching this forum and google/reddit for answers and rerun dyndolod 3x times so far with different settings and can't see any change on the ini settings provided, the grass is always white like the screenshots so I must be missing something exceedingly obvious or something is wrong 

[sheson]

1 hour ago, saintNoojiez said:

Hi sheson, I have been searching for info on grass color  (I have read the instructions for grass top and bottom shadow)
I searched on Folkvangr nexus for thread for settings for dyndolod 3, they use rudy enb with cathedraal weathers and folkvangr and reported 
 

These were the settings posted in folkvangr forum by a user for DynDOLOD_SSE.ini but I rerun dyndolod (and texgen again first just for good measure) but my grass is still a shade of white as pictured:
https://imgur.com/a/3LzGLZn

Sorry if the answer is obvious, i have been searching this forum and google/reddit for answers and rerun dyndolod 3x times so far with different settings and can't see any change on the ini settings provided, the grass is always white like the screenshots so I must be missing something exceedingly obvious or something is wrong 

Are you saying changing these settings had no effect or that these values someone else posted do not work for your load order?

If it is the first, then make sure the newly generated BTO meshes with the new values are overwriting everything.
If you just execute LODGen in expert mode, you need to change the values in the export file first as explained in the second post. Then once you have fond good values, update the INI for the next normal LOD generation.

If it is the latter, then you will need to find values that work for your load order, through testing probably.

[saintNoojiez]

7 minutes ago, sheson said:

Are you saying changing these settings had no effect or that these values someone else posted do not work for your load order?

If it is the first, then make sure the newly generated BTO meshes with the new values are overwriting everything.
If you just execute LODGen in export mode, you need to change the values in the export file first as explained in the second post. Then once you have fond good values, update the INI for the next normal LOD generation.

If it is the latter, then you will need to find values that work for your load order, through testing probably.

I used those values as a example because that person has the same grass, weather and enb that I use (sorry for lack of clarification on that)
I have tried multiple different values for the grass brightness over 3 different rebuilds so far and regenerated dyndolod output from scratch (both texgen and dyndolod after deleting previous outputs, just so I know it is all 100% fresh after dyndolod/edits scripts/dyndolod/dyndolod_sse.ini edits have been applied)
It's just that if there is any noteable difference between the default settings and around 0.600~ for the rgb values I am not seeing them, even with each rebuild the grass in the tundra looks white

[sheson]

2 hours ago, saintNoojiez said:

I used those values as a example because that person has the same grass, weather and enb that I use (sorry for lack of clarification on that)
I have tried multiple different values for the grass brightness over 3 different rebuilds so far and regenerated dyndolod output from scratch (both texgen and dyndolod after deleting previous outputs, just so I know it is all 100% fresh after dyndolod/edits scripts/dyndolod/dyndolod_sse.ini edits have been applied)
It's just that if there is any noteable difference between the default settings and around 0.600~ for the rgb values I am not seeing them, even with each rebuild the grass in the tundra looks white

Use a save game to take screenshots in the exact same conditions to compare. If the changes do not show, then either  you are not editing the correct INI or values (check the generated export file contains the desired values) or the newly generated output files are not being used.

[saintNoojiez]

 

3 hours ago, sheson said:

Use a save game to take screenshots in the exact same conditions to compare. If the changes do not show, then either  you are not editing the correct INI or values (check the generated export file contains the desired values) or the newly generated output files are not being used.

Which exported file contains the information on the desired values? My grass lods are still white, I have regenerated several times and I am certain that I am not missing any steps. TexGen and DynDOLOD don't give any errors, I am editing the dyndolod/edits scripts/dyndolod/dyndolod_sse.ini with the rgb values (it is the only installation of dyndolod on my PC, but I double checked the paths in MO2 to make sure I am using the correct install)
I am clearing dyndolod and texgen output folders inside the dyndolod install folder before regenerating, and have gone to the extremes of setting each r and g and b value to 1 instead of 0.x but still the grass lod is white in game, I can provide more screens but they're all the same (coc whiterun from main menu, tfc to view northern transition from loaded grid to lod)

[sheson]

8 minutes ago, saintNoojiez said:

 

Which exported file contains the information on the desired values? My grass lods are still white, I have regenerated several times and I am certain that I am not missing any steps. TexGen and DynDOLOD don't give any errors, I am editing the dyndolod/edits scripts/dyndolod/dyndolod_sse.ini with the rgb values (it is the only installation of dyndolod on my PC, but I double checked the paths in MO2 to make sure I am using the correct install)
I am clearing dyndolod and texgen output folders inside the dyndolod install folder before regenerating, and have gone to the extremes of setting each r and g and b value to 1 instead of 0.x but still the grass lod is white in game, I can provide more screens but they're all the same (coc whiterun from main menu, tfc to view northern transition from loaded grid to lod)

From the second post:

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.

When generating LOD normally, the values from the INI are used when adding these lines to the export file when it is created from scratch.

[saintNoojiez]

I follow the steps exactly, grass r g b value in lodgen_SSE_Export_Tamriel.txt reflected the last build (changed again for the sake of testing, turned back down to 0.8 and grasslargereference=true), open dyndolod in expert mode and click execute lodgen button. when it was set to false grass was loading at the edge of loaded grids as intended, after the change grasslargereference there was a gap between the loaded cells and a bit further off which is the intended effect and shows me it is working and I am editing the correct files, but the grass colour won't change. Maybe beginning to think that it's an issue with my load order, but there are no loose files are overwriting the grass mod, I am not sure what is going on

[Zanderat]

6 hours ago, sheson said:

Setting Grass=1 enables grass LOD to be generated for the nearest object LOD level 4, not in the higher LOD levels.

Does this imply that you can set grass to be generated for the higher LOD levels, as well?

[sheson]

6 minutes ago, Zanderat said:

Does this imply that you can set grass to be generated for the higher LOD levels, as well?

It clearly implies the opposite.

[DelightedPenguin]

I cannot seem to figure out where exactly I went wrong or what exactly is missing still. I have tried reinstalling trees (EVT, Alternate snowy pines and aspen) as well as indistinguishable billboards, tried different combinations before generating the LODs. The texgen works perfectly and creates the billboards without any warnings, but as soon as I launch DYNLODx64 it works up to the configuration menu, after selecting my options, as soon as it starts searching for textures, warnings of items not being found start right away. Then as soon as it starts creating LOD trees, it gives an error.

Edited April 5, 2021 by DelightedPenguin
Additional Info

[sheson]

4 hours ago, DelightedPenguin said:

I cannot seem to figure out where exactly I went wrong or what exactly is missing still. I have tried reinstalling trees (EVT, Alternate snowy pines and aspen) as well as indistinguishable billboards, tried different combinations before generating the LODs. The texgen works perfectly and creates the billboards without any warnings, but as soon as I launch DYNLODx64 it works up to the configuration menu, after selecting my options, as soon as it starts searching for textures, warnings of items not being found start right away. Then as soon as it starts creating LOD trees, it gives an error.

Read the log messages. Follow their suggestions.

Common sense would be to reproduce the error messages if help is required understanding them.

[Valour549]

I have an issue where once my character moves a certain distance away, these ugly red patches will start appearing in the ground. When using a scope to snipe from afar (or when free-caming around), you can see them.

It's because a specific ground texture is not loading. Funny enough, the grass and trees textures still all load just fine.

In the video I go from the Sanctuary bridge to the Red Rocket, and by then the ground of the cell in Sanctuary already has the red patches. I turn back and walk to the bridge, but it's not until I go onto the bridge itself that the red patches disappear. (In the video I purposely don't go onto the bridge).

I'm trying to fix this issue using FO4LODGenx64. But the amount of settings is confusing me, because there are settings for LOD4, 8, 16, 32 and each has their own options for quality of meshes, textures, diffuse etc. I've read the Terrain-LOD-Readme file, but it's still unclear to me:

1) Can FO4LODGen fix my issue? As in can it force the ground textures in further cells to load even if I don't enter that cell?

2) If so, what settings do I most likely need to use to get rid of those red patches?

3) Why do the textures for grass and trees load fine as long as they are within my uGrids, but not the ground?

Update: I've tried using Quality=0 and Size=256 for LOD4 through to LOD32, and ticked Protected Borders for LOD4. Seems to have no effect at all w/ regards to my issue.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Valour549

[sheson]

49 minutes ago, Valour549 said:

I have an issue where once my character moves a certain distance away, these ugly red patches will start appearing in the ground. When using a scope to snipe from afar (or when free-caming around), you can see them.

It's because a specific ground texture is not loading. Funny enough, the grass and trees textures still all load just fine.

In the video I go from the Sanctuary bridge to the Red Rocket, and by then the ground of the cell in Sanctuary already has the red patches. I turn back and walk to the bridge, but it's not until I go onto the bridge itself that the red patches disappear. (In the video I purposely don't go onto the bridge).

I'm trying to fix this issue using FO4LODGenx64. But the amount of settings is confusing me, because there are settings for LOD4, 8, 16, 32 and each has their own options for quality of meshes, textures, diffuse etc. I've read the Terrain-LOD-Readme file, but it's still unclear to me:

1) Can FO4LODGen fix my issue? As in can it force the ground textures in further cells to load even if I don't enter that cell?

2) If so, what settings do I most likely need to use to get rid of those red patches?

3) Why do the textures for grass and trees load fine as long as they are within my uGrids, but not the ground?

Update: I've tried using Quality=0 and Size=256 for LOD4 through to LOD32, and ticked Protected Borders for LOD4. Seems to have no effect at all w/ regards to my issue.

1a) Depends if the red splotches are part of the current terrain LOD textures and if the full textures - which xLODGen uses to generate updated terrain LOD textures - do not have them.
It might be possible they are artifacts added onto terrain LOD textures in the game, for example the game applies an overlay textures/terrain/noise.dds. In older games it used to be monochrome, but maybe FO4 uses/supports RGB.
To know if artifacts are part of the old terrain LOD texture,  open one in an image viewer and take a look. Second, try changing the mentioned noise texture.

1b) FO4LODGen is a LOD generator. It generates LOD meshes and textures. It does not change how the engine works or any INI settings.

2) see 1a) no special settings are needed. Do not change brightness, contrast, gamma and the output textures will simply be "exactly" like the input textures. (obviously smaller and splatted accordingly)

3) You will have to ask the programmers at Bethesda for the reasons why the engine works the way it does

 If this problem is not part of the generated LOD meshes/textures I suggest to ask this type of question on generic modding forum/discord for FO4.

[Valour549]

Well if they disappear when I move into the cell, doesn't that mean the red patches are not part of the full textures?

I also don't understand which files I should open with an image view to check; I don't see any files with the name noise.dds

After generating Terrain LOD using Quality=0 and Size=256 for LOD4 through to LOD32, and ticked Protected Borders for LOD4, it seems to make no difference to my issue. So what does this suggest?

Edited April 5, 2021 by Valour549

[Zanderat]

23 hours ago, sheson said:

It clearly implies the opposite.

Thanks.  I misinterpreted what you said.  So basically, 0=off, 1=on.  No other settings possible.