DynDOLOD 3.00 Alpha 182

[z929669]

57 minutes ago, sheson said:

From ..\DynDOLOD\docs\help\Advanced.html

Once the OK button is clicked, the current settings are saved as a preset to ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\Presets\DynDOLOD_[GAMEMODE]_Default.ini for the next time DynDOLOD is started.

Low, Medium or High Preset Buttons
Clicking any of the presets buttons will load mesh and reference rules.
Any custom rules will be replaced.

This is how it works since the beginning.

Read the first sentence of the section "How to add rules for your own mod" you are quoting that from:
Rules are applied when clicking the low, medium or high buttons. The message window will print a line for each rule file it loaded.

What changed in DynDOLOD 3 is that, that such notices are only printed to the debug log.

 

Depends on how you define lower/higher priority for mesh masks.

A more specific mesh mask needs to listed before/higher in the list than a simpler mesh mask. 

The most simplest mesh mask that matches everything is "/". That is why it is last.

As usual all good info, so thanks for that. Still want to know if these rules will be read (not necessarily applied if superseded) regardless of whether or not I load a preset or click low/medium/high (or ONLY if I also use a preset, or not at all because this method is wrong):

Create DynDOLOD_SSE_{whateverWeLike}.ini with following content and place it anywhere in my mod list (or must it be tied to a specific plugin name?):

[Skyrim LODGen]
LODGen1=mountains,Level0,Level0,Level1,None,FarLOD,Unchanged,1,
LODGen2=\rocks0,None,None,None,None,None,Unchanged,1,
LODGen3=treeaspen,Billboard4,Billboard4,Billboard1,None,FarLOD,Unchanged,1,

 

[sheson]

15 minutes ago, z929669 said:

As usual all good info, so thanks for that. Still want to know if these rules will be read (not necessarily applied if superseded) regardless of whether or not I load a preset or click low/medium/high (or ONLY if I also use a preset):

Create DynDOLOD_SSE_{whateverWeLike}.ini with following content and place it anywhere in my mod list (or must it be tied to a specific plugin name?):

[Skyrim LODGen]
LODGen1=mountains,Level0,Level0,Level1,None,FarLOD,Unchanged,1,
LODGen2=\rocks0,None,None,None,None,None,Unchanged,1,
LODGen3=treeaspen,Billboard4,Billboard4,Billboard1,None,FarLOD,Unchanged,1,

You can only do that by matching plugin names in the load order.

[DoubleYou]

1 hour ago, z929669 said:

As usual all good info, so thanks for that. Still want to know if these rules will be read (not necessarily applied if superseded) regardless of whether or not I load a preset or click low/medium/high (or ONLY if I also use a preset, or not at all because this method is wrong):

Create DynDOLOD_SSE_{whateverWeLike}.ini with following content and place it anywhere in my mod list (or must it be tied to a specific plugin name?):

[Skyrim LODGen]
LODGen1=mountains,Level0,Level0,Level1,None,FarLOD,Unchanged,1,
LODGen2=\rocks0,None,None,None,None,None,Unchanged,1,
LODGen3=treeaspen,Billboard4,Billboard4,Billboard1,None,FarLOD,Unchanged,1,

 

Mod added rules will not be applied if you load a preset. You MUST click the low/medium/high buttons to load any changed rules. Presets only apply the rules in the preset. Nothing more, nothing less. This is why I advocate against supplying presets, as any mod added rules, or updated rules in subsequent DynDOLOD updates, will not be applied. Otherwise we would need to check that the preset is still correct after any update to mod added rules or DynDOLOD rules. 

DynDOLOD_SSE_{whateverWeLike}.ini is incorrect. It must be DynDOLOD_SSE_pluginnamestrippedofallcharactersthatarenotalphanumericesp.ini. Use the rules I provided in the Discord channel. 

[z929669]

35 minutes ago, DoubleYou said:

Mod added rules will not be applied if you load a preset. You MUST click the low/medium/high buttons to load any changed rules. Presets only apply the rules in the preset. Nothing more, nothing less. This is why I advocate against supplying presets, as any mod added rules, or updated rules in subsequent DynDOLOD updates, will not be applied. Otherwise we would need to check that the preset is still correct after any update to mod added rules or DynDOLOD rules. 

DynDOLOD_SSE_{whateverWeLike}.ini is incorrect. It must be DynDOLOD_SSE_pluginnamestrippedofallcharactersthatarenotalphanumericesp.ini. Use the rules I provided in the Discord channel. 

I didn't see those words in the doc. I think the doc is more/less saying that the GUI rules will replace any custom rules applied via the GUI window. From my understanding, plugin-loaded rules will apply regardless.

Perhaps it was posted explicitly here, or I missed those words in the doc?

Quote

Low, Medium or High Preset Buttons
Clicking any of the presets buttons will load mesh and reference rules.
Any custom rules (added to the rules editor in the GUI) will be replaced.

I added this

EDIT: But totally agree that we shouldn't be supplying preset files that user loads via the GUI

[DoubleYou]

38 minutes ago, z929669 said:

I didn't see those words in the doc. I think the doc is more/less saying that the GUI rules will replace any custom rules applied via the GUI window. From my understanding, plugin-loaded rules will apply regardless.

Perhaps it was posted explicitly here, or I missed those words in the doc?

I added this

EDIT: But totally agree that we shouldn't be supplying preset files that user loads via the GUI

You need to check the Mod Authors doc. It specifically states that they are applied with the low/medium/high buttons. 

[z929669]

27 minutes ago, DoubleYou said:

You need to check the Mod Authors doc. It specifically states that they are applied with the low/medium/high buttons. 

I did, but again, it's not necessarily stating this:

Quote

 

How to add rules for your own mod

Rules are applied (to the GUI window) when clicking the low, medium or high buttons. The message window will print a line for each rule file it loaded.

Rules shipping with DynDOLOD are in 'DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\rules\'. In addition DynDOLOD.exe first searches for matching rule files in the game folder 'Data\DynDOLOD'. This way a mod author can package rule files directly with a mod. Rules found in 'Data\DynDOLOD' supersede rules found in 'DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\rules\' with the same filename.

DynDOLOD.exe reads mesh rule from ini files that adhere to a simple file naming convention. Any non alpha numeric character is stripped from the mods filename and then changed to DynDOLOD_[modfilenameesp].ini. To supply different rules for low, medium or high presets use DynDOLOD_[modfilenameesp]_low.ini, DynDOLOD_[modfilenameesp]_medium.ini or DynDOLOD_[modfilenameesp]_high.ini.

 

I added this

Maybe no rules are read from anywhere, including mods without clicking low/medium/high in the GUI, but that would be a faulty implementation I believe. It's not foolproof. Loading a preset does not require clicking one of those buttons, so plugin-loaded rules would still need to be loaded.

Maybe I'm being dense ... wouldn't be the first time

[sheson]

50 minutes ago, z929669 said:

I did, but again, it's not necessarily stating this:

I added this

Maybe no rules are read from anywhere, including mods without clicking low/medium/high in the GUI, but that would be a faulty implementation I believe. It's not foolproof. Loading a preset does not require clicking one of those buttons, so plugin-loaded rules would still need to be loaded.

Maybe I'm being dense ... wouldn't be the first time

The way rules are loaded with the low, medium and high buttons is the same since 7 years.

Clicking those buttons will remove any manually entered rules.

Clicking those buttons loads rules for the plugins which are currently in the load order. Logic implies there won't be any rules loaded for plugins that are currently not in the load order. This also means rules for a removed plugin won't be loaded anymore when clicking those buttons. Because it won't load rules for plugins that are currently not in the load order.

Not clicking those button does not load any rules.

Saving a preset saves the current state of all options, including the rules.

Loading a preset loads the saved state of all options, including the saved rules.

[z929669]

1 hour ago, sheson said:

The way rules are loaded with the low, medium and high buttons is the same since 7 years.

Clicking those buttons will remove any manually entered rules.

Clicking those buttons loads rules for the plugins which are currently in the load order. Logic implies there won't be any rules loaded for plugins that are currently not in the load order. This also means rules for a removed plugin won't be loaded anymore when clicking those buttons. Because it won't load rules for plugins that are currently not in the load order.

Not clicking those button does not load any rules (including plugin-loaded rules?).

Saving a preset saves the current state of all options, including the rules.

Loading a preset loads the saved state of all options, including the saved rules (including plugin-loaded rules?).

This still doesn't answer my question explicitly ... I must assume/infer from your responses. I understand about plugin-loaded files (including INI definitions). I want to know: if I have a plugin with associated rules as described in the documentation, will my pligin-loaded rules be read and applied by DynDOLOD if the plugin is enabled in my load order, and ...

1. I do not click a low/medium/high preset In DynDOLOD GUI and hit 'OK'?
2. I load my own previously-saved preset In DynDOLOD GUI and hit 'OK'? (saved before I began using the plugin that is loading my NEW rules)

I completely understand that rules added into the rules grid in the GUI will be wiped out if I click on a preset or load a saved preset. That is intuitive and apparent. It is the rules conveyed by INI in the background I want to understand.

Follow-up question: Are plugin-loaded rules added to the preset and saved between runs just as those I add via the GUI rules grid?

 

[sheson]

1 hour ago, z929669 said:

This still doesn't answer my question explicitly ... I must assume/infer from your responses. I understand about plugin-loaded files (including INI definitions). I want to know: if I have a plugin with associated rules as described in the documentation, will my pligin-loaded rules be read and applied by DynDOLOD if the plugin is enabled in my load order, and ...

1. I do not click a low/medium/high preset In DynDOLOD GUI and hit 'OK'?
2. I load my own previously-saved preset In DynDOLOD GUI and hit 'OK'? (saved before I began using the plugin that is loading my NEW rules)

I completely understand that rules added into the rules grid in the GUI will be wiped out if I click on a preset or load a saved preset. That is intuitive and apparent. It is the rules conveyed by INI in the background I want to understand.

Follow-up question: Are plugin-loaded rules added to the preset and saved between runs just as those I add via the GUI rules grid?

 

Rule config files are only loaded loaded when clicking low, medium, high. It will replace all rules with the ones for the current load order from the rule config files. Checking the notices printed to log shows which rule config files are being loaded.

Loading a preset loads a preset. Loading a preset does not do anything else. Loading a preset does not load any rule config files. Loading a preset restores the settings and rule listing from the time it was saved. It will replace all rules with the rules from the preset.

1. Not clicking low, medium or high does not change or load any rule config files. Clicking OK does not change or load any rules. Clicking OK does not change any options. Clicking OK starts the process with the current options and rules shown in the options.
2. Loading a preset restores the rules in the options and all other options saved in the preset. It does not do anything else. From here number 1. applies.

Clicking OK saves the current options, including the currently listed rules, to the default preset file. This default preset is loaded next time DynDOLOD is started to restore the settings, including the listed rules.

[z929669]

28 minutes ago, sheson said:

Rule config files are only loaded loaded when clicking low, medium, high. It will replace all rules with ones for the currently load order from the rule config files. Checking the notices printed to log which which rule config files are loaded.

Loading a preset loads a preset. Loading a preset does not do anything else. Loading a preset does not load any rule config files. Loading a preset restores the settings and rule listing from the time it was saved. It will replace all rules with the rules from the preset.

1. Not clicking low, medium or high and then OK does not change or load any rules.
2. Loading a preset restores the rules and all other options saved in the preset. It does not do anything else. From here number 1. applies.

Saving the preset saves the current options, including the current listed rules.

Thanks, I'm getting there ...

So if I have a saved preset with a bunch of custom rules I have painstakingly configured and ordered AND I have a new plugin from a mod that I created with a rules config file that I want added to my mesh processing rules, then the ONLY way to get everything from BOTH is to:

1. Click low/medium/high - this loads all predefined rules that ship with DynDOLOD and also loads my new plugin rules (I finally understand this ... unless I don't )
2. Load my saved preset - this loads all of the custom rules I created previously but wipes out all of the rules applied via #1? (and my new plugin rules will still be there OR will be processed from my plugin-loaded INI?)

Is it impossible to get both?

Trying to find a foolproof method that will include all of the shipped rules AND all of my own 'global' rules AND all of my plugin rules

I do understand that if I somehow can get all rules I want into the GUI grid, I can save that and get it back whenever I load them in the future (and loaded rules will also be saved as 'default' for next run if I take none of these actions next run)

[DoubleYou]

18 minutes ago, z929669 said:

Thanks, I'm getting there ...

So if I have a saved preset with a bunch of custom rules I have painstakingly configured and ordered AND I have a new plugin from a mod that I created with a rules config file that I want added to my mesh processing rules, then the ONLY way to get everything from BOTH is to:

1. Click low/medium/high - this loads all predefined rules that ship with DynDOLOD and also loads my new plugin rules (I finally understand this ... unless I don't )
2. Load my saved preset - this loads all of the custom rules I created previously but wipes out all of the rules applied via #1? (and my new plugin rules will still be there OR will be processed from my plugin-loaded INI?)

Is it impossible to get both?

Trying to find a foolproof method that will include all of the shipped rules AND all of my own 'global' rules AND all of my plugin rules

Only way you can do that is use WinMerge or similar to add back in your custom rules. You cannot use a saved preset and apply mod added rules on top of it. 

[sheson]

20 minutes ago, z929669 said:

Thanks, I'm getting there ...

So if I have a saved preset with a bunch of custom rules I have painstakingly configured and ordered AND I have a new plugin from a mod that I created with a rules config file that I want added to my mesh processing rules, then the ONLY way to get everything from BOTH is to:

1. Click low/medium/high - this loads all predefined rules that ship with DynDOLOD and also loads my new plugin rules
2. Load my saved preset - this loads all of the custom rules I created previously but wipes out all of the rules applied via #1? (and my new plugin rules will still be there OR will be processed from my plugin-loaded INI?)

Is it impossible to get both?

Trying to find a foolproof method that will include all of the shipped rules AND all of my own 'global' rules AND all of my plugin rules

The way to add custom rules for the load order is to create rule config files for plugins in the data\DynDOLOD folder.
They are DynDOLOD version independent and are automatically applied when clicking low, medium, high.

In case you have no plugin to target, target skyrim.esm, update.esm

[z929669]

57 minutes ago, DoubleYou said:

Only way you can do that is use WinMerge or similar to add back in your custom rules. You cannot use a saved preset and apply mod added rules on top of it. 

 

57 minutes ago, sheson said:

The way to add custom rules for the load order is to create rule config files for plugins in the data\DynDOLOD folder.
They are DynDOLOD version independent and are automatically applied when clicking low, medium, high.

In case you have no plugin to target, target skyrim.esm, update.esm

Thanks both. This is now fully comprehended by yours truly.

Though both of these methods are plausible, I think it intuitively seems best (if practical programmatically) to implement what I call the 'layered' approach by which all rules are consolidated according to governing global/local/load-order prioritization and processed into a final rule set. This seems like a more foolproof way to effectively preserve user-created rules unbound to any plugin in the same manner as shipped rules are preserved.

[EazyH]

9 hours ago, sheson said:

Read the first post, which explains to post any question or feedback in this DynDOLDO 3 alpha thread.

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

If asking questions about mods, it would be nice to link to the mods.

If asking questions about a specific LOD asset file, it would be nice to actually provide the path/filename to that exact file in question. Or a screenshot of stuff in game, one for the LOD, one with the full model  and console open to show its form id.

Sorry about that, home now. Using Ft Dawnguard HD which comes w/ DawnguardDoors.esp which changes the door's texture path from College of WH doors to the doors used by FT Dawnguard HD. The doors in the texture are def from my WH retexture though (Chantry's Winterhold) .Perhaps Dyndolod fixes this itself?

From TexGEN I get: https://imgur.com/9sweX0o

Edited October 1, 2021 by EazyH

[DoubleYou]

Logs: https://mega.nz/file/wAZVFKQJ#zVFg24z5BYjqWxY1myLBm89LruZDh1IuMhZ9nVlo6jg

I generated DynDOLOD and zipped the output successfully. I then left the zip file in the folder, but renamed it from DynDOLOD_Output.zip to DynDOLOD_Output_Low.zip (I was going to install this later to test and compare the two). After generating successfully and zipping the new output, DynDOLOD_Output_Low.zip was deleted. I had expected that it would only remove the file DynDOLOD_Output.zip if it existed, and that it wouldn't delete the older file since I had renamed it.