DynDOLOD 3.00 Alpha 196

[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.

[sheson]

7 hours ago, EazyH said:

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

If a mod changes the vanilla textures of vanilla objects that is exactly what is supposed to happen to the rendered LOD texture.

If a mod places new (door) meshes and LOD for them is desired, a LOD mesh or a mesh mask rule should be added for the door to have LOD. So that in the game the LOD for it will cover the part of the LOD model for the building.

With the vanilla game the player is never going to see LOD for that part of the castle, though.

If you want the pre-generated texture to use different non vanilla textures, a custom of the special NIF should be placed in the data\dyndolod\render... folder. See ..\DynDOLOD\docs\help\TexGenConfiguration.html

[sheson]

4 hours ago, DoubleYou said:

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.

Yes, that is how it is supposed to work. The zip function packs the relevant files from the DynDOLOD output into the archive, then cleans the output folder and moves the generated zip file into it.

[EazyH]

8 hours ago, sheson said:

If a mod changes the vanilla textures of vanilla objects that is exactly what is supposed to happen to the rendered LOD texture.

If a mod places new (door) meshes and LOD for them is desired, a LOD mesh or a mesh mask rule should be added for the door to have LOD. So that in the game the LOD for it will cover the part of the LOD model for the building.

With the vanilla game the player is never going to see LOD for that part of the castle, though.

If you want the pre-generated texture to use different non vanilla textures, a custom of the special NIF should be placed in the data\dyndolod\render... folder. See ..\DynDOLOD\docs\help\TexGenConfiguration.html

Thank you, I will keep this in mind! Talking to a few folks we came to the conclusion I would likely never see LOD for the door anyway, but good to know in the future.

[DoubleYou]

8 hours ago, sheson said:

Yes, that is how it is supposed to work. The zip function packs the relevant files from the DynDOLOD output into the archive, then cleans the output folder and moves the generated zip file into it.

OK. I just thought this must be a bug and that only specific files/folders would be removed.

[mostwanted11]

Hello, I'm having an issue with the grass on the latest dyndolod release, the grass lod does not match the grass plugin I have. I'm using Folkvangr mod. I created a texgen, chcked grass, created the grass cache then finally used dyndolod. https://ibb.co/8m6DGjR Here's a demonstration of the issue. Also, I'm using jedi trees but the lods don't look good imo. Is there something I can tweak to improve how it looks? thanks.

[LittleGuy]

3 hours ago, mostwanted11 said:

I created a texgen, chcked grass, created the grass cache then finally used dyndolod.

"Grass LOD uses grass LOD billboards in object LOD, similar to ultra tree LOD. TexGen can be used to automatically generate the grass LOD billboards.

Grass LOD generation requires a warmed precache from No Grass In Objects for the current load order. It uses the *.CGID files found in the ..\Data\Grass\ folder."

Grass cache needs to be made Before running texgen, maybe you should read the first page.

No idea about the trees though

[LittleGuy]

Never mind, I read that mod page and the comments, that mod was made with enb in mind, so a lot of tweaking would probably be needed in texgen to get a good look.

[sheson]

5 hours ago, mostwanted11 said:

Hello, I'm having an issue with the grass on the latest dyndolod release, the grass lod does not match the grass plugin I have. I'm using Folkvangr mod. I created a texgen, chcked grass, created the grass cache then finally used dyndolod. https://ibb.co/8m6DGjR Here's a demonstration of the issue. Also, I'm using jedi trees but the lods don't look good imo. Is there something I can tweak to improve how it looks? thanks.

Read the second post or ..\DynDOLOD\docs\help\GrassLOD.html how to adjust grass brightness and color tone.  Weather mods and especially ENB image base lighting have a big influence on grass LOD brightness and color. Consider change those.

Read the answers for FAQ: Game: Tree LOD: LOD trees do not match close-up full model trees.

If you want better billboard tree LOD,  use ultra tree LOD and generate HD Billboards with TexGen and set Billboard4 for the tree mesh mask rule. Other wise install or create 3D tree LOD assets for the tree mod you are using.

 

[RulerOfWorlds]

Hello Sheson, I am trying to setup Grass LOD for my current game and have run into a problem with the visuals. 

After Setting object bounds in creation kit, doing the math and setting the object bounds in the dydolod.ini, generating grass cache, creating the Texgen, and then running dyndolod, I COCed whiterun to see the results were poor. https://imgur.com/a/PFbZwe8

I completely updated my DynDOLOD before generating. The files in Texgen's preview button looks fine and the files that TexGen created look fine, all three grasses this mod adds looks like the one in the pictures. The only abnormal thing I did was only create grass with TexGen by unmarking everything else and export it into a seperate empty mod so I could enable and disable to switch between no grass and grass incase fps was a struggle or something wasn't right. What's the problem and how do I fix it? Any questions or more information I can supply you need please ask, I want to get the bottom of this.

 

 

TexGen preview: https://imgur.com/a/DIy9vA5

TexGen created: https://imgur.com/a/3XgoDNG

I will generate another grass cache using a different grass mod tonight and see if the results are the same. 

The current grass mod I'm using is Realistic Grass Field by ArtByMari (1k version) and this is what the texture file from the mod looks like: https://imgur.com/a/WBFr0cn and the mesh: https://imgur.com/a/TH1Luwl Second image is with it selected.

TexGen Log: https://easyupload.io/pl29l6

Dyndolod Log: https://easyupload.io/nayp3y

[sheson]

34 minutes ago, RulerOfWorlds said:

Hello Sheson, I am trying to setup Grass LOD for my current game and have run into a problem with the visuals. 

After Setting object bounds in creation kit, doing the math and setting the object bounds in the dydolod.ini, generating grass cache, creating the Texgen, and then running dyndolod, I COCed whiterun to see the results were poor. https://imgur.com/a/PFbZwe8

I completely updated my DynDOLOD before generating. The files in Texgen's preview button looks fine and the files that TexGen created look fine, all three grasses this mod adds looks like the one in the pictures. The only abnormal thing I did was only create grass with TexGen by unmarking everything else and export it into a seperate empty mod so I could enable and disable to switch between no grass and grass incase fps was a struggle or something wasn't right. What's the problem and how do I fix it? Any questions or more information I can supply you need please ask, I want to get the bottom of this.

 

 

TexGen preview: https://imgur.com/a/DIy9vA5

TexGen created: https://imgur.com/a/3XgoDNG

I will generate another grass cache using a different grass mod tonight and see if the results are the same. 

The current grass mod I'm using is Realistic Grass Field by ArtByMari (1k version) and this is what the texture file from the mod looks like: https://imgur.com/a/WBFr0cn and the mesh: https://imgur.com/a/TH1Luwl Second image is with it selected.

TexGen Log: https://easyupload.io/pl29l6

Dyndolod Log: https://easyupload.io/nayp3y

The player character is never closer to LOD than about 2 1/2 cells or ~ 10,000 units. What is the point of checking LOD up close?
What is the problem of grass LOD when looked at it from a normal distance?

The DynDOLOD INI does not contain any settings related to object bounds? It is unclear what math you were doing and why. It is unclear what settings were changed to what.

The posted images of the grass billboards look fine. The grass cache has no effect on how the grass billboards are rendered.

Grass LOD is part of object LOD. Billboards are assets used for LOD generation with DynDOLOD. Disabling or changing billboards does not change anything in the game until the object LOD atlas is updated as explained in the chapter "Updating" ..\DynDOLOD\docs\help\GrassLOD.html

If you believe something is off with the textures used by grass LOD, then the next step is to check how the grass LOD billboards look on the object LOD atlas.

Note that games use mipmaps, lower texture resolutions the further away something is from the camera. Read ..\DynDOLOD\docs\help\TextureResolution.html

The TexGen log does not contain the last meaningful generation.
No debug logs were uploaded as explained on the first post.

[RulerOfWorlds]

  

15 minutes ago, sheson said:

The player character is never closer to LOD than about 2 1/2 cells or ~ 10,000 units. What is the point of checking LOD close up?
What is the problem of grass LOD when looked at from a normal distance?

The zoom in is just to highlight the change and see a side by side comparison, Although now that you mention it i wouldn't make much sense if it was a side by side duplicate like I thought it would be. After reading the post above mine, I turned off my ENB and noticed a lot better visuals, so thats prob the problem.

 

20 minutes ago, sheson said:

The DynDOLOD INI does not contain any settings related to object bounds? It is unclear what math you were doing and why. It is unclear what settings were changed to what.

My bad, I meant TexGen_SSE.ini and am refering to the "automatic tree/grass discovery - base record object bounds Sqrt((X2-X1)^2 + (Y2-Y1)^2 + (Z2-Z1)^2) >= Min[Tree|Grass]ModelVolume"

reading in "DynDOLOD/docs/help/GrassLOD.html" underneath "Not all grass types have LOD / grass LOD billboards" led me there.