DynDOLOD 3.00 Alpha 198

[sheson]

7 hours ago, MrPrideHyde said:

Is it normal that 140MB of text became just 10MB after Zipping it (with normal level of compression)? The link: https://disk.yandex.com/d/NtOsZ6j_Q5x7Fw

Thanks. Logs which have a lot of similar lines can be compressed well.

[KRZ]

Hey sheson,
I have been wondering whether it'd be possible for the Preview feature in TexGen to make use of certain configurations set in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini (BacklightMask, GrassBrightness*, etc). I get they're two different tools but figured it'd be of great assistance if Direct/Ambient Light changes would already resemble what would be shown in the game. Am I mistaken?

Also I checked the Updating Grass LOD section on dyndolod.info and couldn't find a word on how to update the BacklightMask, is it simply part of the Atlas texture?

Thank you for your response!

[DDCrusader]

On 3/3/2025 at 12:50 AM, sheson said:

Thanks for those logs.

Delete old logs. Restore default INI or change to ExportLANDBinary=1
Run this test version https://mega.nz/file/MMwCTTwA#7KeWZNiBGTMXlu24VP6yg91JAcFc-ItDQRx6K0psgmk
Upload new logs.

Log: https://ufile.io/n0niy2g6

1. I replaced the .exe, cleared logs folder;

2. I changed the ExportLANDBinary to 1. Run finished successfully, results are in DynDOLOD_SSE_log.zip.

I did original run on 3rd of March and it did not generate 'debug' log, so I thought something is wrong.
Just in case I tried to regenerate LOD again today, but the result is the same, there was no 'debug' log file.

Edited March 8, 2025 by DDCrusader

[sheson]

9 hours ago, KRZ said:

Hey sheson,
I have been wondering whether it'd be possible for the Preview feature in TexGen to make use of certain configurations set in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini (BacklightMask, GrassBrightness*, etc). I get they're two different tools but figured it'd be of great assistance if Direct/Ambient Light changes would already resemble what would be shown in the game. Am I mistaken?

Also I checked the Updating Grass LOD section on dyndolod.info and couldn't find a word on how to update the BacklightMask, is it simply part of the Atlas texture?

Thank you for your response!

TexGen generates LOD billboard textures from full models. The preview shows full models. The preview is simple lighting as you see in NifSkope. One direct light and one ambient light, both are white. That is not related to the how lighting works in the game.

The GrassBrightness* settings are multipliers that are applied to the vertex colors of the billboard NIF that is used when generating LOD for grass into the object LOD meshes with LODGen together with the brightness of the current grass placement from the grass cache file. The billboard textures generated by TexGen is used as is without any brightness changes.

https://dyndolod.info/Help/Grass-LOD#Settings
When using complex grass and the side facing away from the light direction is too dark it can be brightened with the backlightmask. In the ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_SSE.ini set ComplexGrassBillboard=5 and set ComplexGrassBacklightMask to a value like 25, which means 25% of the light is applied to the side facing away from the light source. If the result is too dark, raise the value. If the result is too bright, lower the value.

Also see the text above the setting in the DynDOLOD_SSE.ini

The texture is used directly.

[KRZ]

Quote

 

TexGen generates LOD billboard textures from full models. The preview shows full models. The preview is simple lighting as you see in NifSkope. One direct light and one ambient light, both are white. That is not related to the how lighting works in the game.

The GrassBrightness* settings are multipliers that are applied to the vertex colors of the billboard NIF that is used when generating LOD for grass into the object LOD meshes with LODGen together with the brightness of the current grass placement from the grass cache file. The billboard textures generated by TexGen is used as is without any brightness changes.

 

Guess I got it backwards somehow, thank you for clarifying!
 

52 minutes ago, sheson said:

Also see the text above the setting in the DynDOLOD_SSE.ini

The texture is used directly.

That makes it slightly more confusing. If I got that right, it's supposed to be a regular texture that does or doesn't come with grass mods? I've just checked some of the meshes used in the grass mod and it doesn't seem to have a backlight/glowmap texture nor flag set. Yet I'm still seeing an effect applied when changing backlightmask values, did I misunderstand something? It's gotta be scaling something, when the grass seems to changing when using backlightmask (even though no texture seems to be set).
 

Edited March 8, 2025 by KRZ

[SiSaSyco]

Hi!

I'm trying to get my grass LOD to match the complex grass but after days of experimenting with different values I wonder if it is even possible?

The main problem is, that I can't get the distant lod grass color match at 12 noon.

I provide example images ...

As you can see, in the morning and afternoon the grass lod matches quite well. But regardless of the settings I try at 12 o'clock noon (sure before and after 12 o'clock, too) the grass gets dark. It seems to me that the lod meshes do not get light if the sun is straight above?

You can see some different TexGen outputs I already did while searching for the correct settings ...

 

I read all the documentation regarding Complex grass lod, set ComplexGrassBillboard=5 and tried different ComplexGrassBrightness*** 

Before I put any more time into it, I thought I'd ask for some advice here. I've already done a lot of research and suspect it's due to the ENB preset I'm using (Silent Horizon 2 Universal Core) which uses high values for direct lighting at day. Lowering the DirectLightingIntensity in ENB seem to reduce the color mismatch. But then the whole ENB Preset does not look any good which is obvious i guess. I already had to reduce the FakeLight*** values under COMPLEXGRASS in the ENB Preset to 0.00 (0.01) because the grass was way too bright compared to the lod grass otherwise.

My question now is whether it should actually work, or whether there is already someone who has had a similar problem.

Edited March 8, 2025 by SiSaSyco

[sheson]

3 hours ago, KRZ said:

Guess I got it backwards somehow, thank you for clarifying!
 

That makes it slightly more confusing. If I got that right, it's supposed to be a regular texture that does or doesn't come with grass mods? I've just checked some of the meshes used in the grass mod and it doesn't seem to have a backlight/glowmap texture nor flag set. Yet I'm still seeing an effect applied when changing backlightmask values, did I misunderstand something? It's gotta be scaling something, when the grass seems to changing when using backlightmask (even though no texture seems to be set).

Grass LOD in object LOD uses a billboard NIF to display the billboard textures. Certain billboard NIFs define a backlight texture. It can be kept or overwritten with the GrassBacklightMask or ComplexGrassBacklightMask setting.

See https://dyndolod.info/Help/Grass-LOD#Internal-Billboards-and-External-Billboards

The shader settings in full grass NIFs are typically irrelevant and not used by the full grass shader AFAIK. It will just get the diffuse texture and then do its thing.

[sheson]

4 hours ago, DDCrusader said:

Log: https://ufile.io/n0niy2g6

1. I replaced the .exe, cleared logs folder;

2. I changed the ExportLANDBinary to 1. Run finished successfully, results are in DynDOLOD_SSE_log.zip.

I did original run on 3rd of March and it did not generate 'debug' log, so I thought something is wrong.
Just in case I tried to regenerate LOD again today, but the result is the same, there was no 'debug' log file.

Great. Thanks for reporting back that it works as intended now.
The debug log is saved right after the normal log if you let the tool shutdown normally. Since it is working OK now, don't worry about it.

[sheson]

44 minutes ago, SiSaSyco said:

Hi!

I'm trying to get my grass LOD to match the complex grass but after days of experimenting with different values I wonder if it is even possible?

The main problem is, that I can't get the distant lod grass color match at 12 noon.

I provide example images ...

As you can see, in the morning and afternoon the grass lod matches quite well. But regardless of the settings I try at 12 o'clock noon (sure before and after 12 o'clock, too) the grass gets dark. It seems to me that the lod meshes do not get light if the sun is straight above?

I read all the documentation regarding Complex grass lod, set ComplexGrassBillboard=5 and tried different ComplexGrassBrightness***

Before I put any more time into it, I thought I'd ask for some advice here. I've already done a lot of research and suspect it's due to the ENB preset I'm using (Silent Horizon 2 Universal Core) which uses high values for direct lighting at day. Lowering the DirectLightingIntensity in ENB seem to reduce the color mismatch. But then the whole ENB Preset does not look any good which is obvious i guess. I already had to reduce the FakeLight*** values under COMPLEXGRASS in the ENB Preset to 0.00 (0.01) because the grass was way too bright compared to the lod grass otherwise.

My question now is whether it should actually work, or whether there is already someone who has had a similar problem.

Moved to the DynDOLOD 3 Alpha thread. See the first post and/or https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum#Post-Logs wich TexGen and DynDOLOD log and debug log to upload.

Search finds: https://stepmodifications.org/forum/topic/20141-dyndolod-300-alpha-190/page/680/#findComment-283928 which ended up being something with ELVAS.
I still suggest to test modifying the used billboard NIF. If it is set to 4 = DynDOLOD_flat_4x2alt1_lod.nif, edit that file in NifSkope and add "SphereNormals" to the "PassThru" string in the header, so it is "PassThru Spherenormals" for a test.

[KRZ]

On 3/8/2025 at 11:14 AM, sheson said:

Grass LOD in object LOD uses a billboard NIF to display the billboard textures. Certain billboard NIFs define a backlight texture. It can be kept or overwritten with the GrassBacklightMask or ComplexGrassBacklightMask setting.

See https://dyndolod.info/Help/Grass-LOD#Internal-Billboards-and-External-Billboards

Apologies, then I must have misunderstood something.
I've been using ComplexGrassBillboard=5, so it is no surprise that it happens. I just fail to understand what gets modified. DynDOLOD_SSE.ini states a 4x4 pixel grayscale texture is generated for values other than 0 or 100. But where is stored? Cause that makes it sound like it could be part of the Atlas texture. But changes I made weren't reflected when 'Rebuilding Atlas'.
From your explanations I now understand such data can also be stored in the mesh. Am I correct to assume grass object LOD billboard NIFs (what a word, holy hell) of type alt2 just dim a white.dds depending on the ComplexGrassBacklightMask value chosen and I should be 'Executing LODGen' instead for an quick and easy update?

In case anyone ever comes across this searching for the same answer, the texture is textures\DynDOLOD\maps\gray_*.dds.
* is equal to whatever has been set in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini for ComplexGrassBacklightMask/GrassBacklightMask and probably works similiarly for GrassGlowMap/ComplexGrassGlowMap.

Example: ComplexGrassBacklightMask=25 -> textures\DynDOLOD\maps\gray_25.dds

The texture can be edited (don't rename) and doesn't require re-running DynDOLOD. In case a suitable value has been found, update the value in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini for future runs.

Edited March 10, 2025 by KRZ

[SiSaSyco]

2 hours ago, sheson said:

Moved to the DynDOLOD 3 Alpha thread. See the first post and/or https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum#Post-Logs wich TexGen and DynDOLOD log and debug log to upload.

Search finds: https://stepmodifications.org/forum/topic/20141-dyndolod-300-alpha-190/page/680/#findComment-283928 which ended up being something with ELVAS.
I still suggest to test modifying the used billboard NIF. If it is set to 4 = DynDOLOD_flat_4x2alt1_lod.nif, edit that file in NifSkope and add "SphereNormals" to the "PassThru" string in the header, so it is "PassThru Spherenormals" for a test.

Thank you for your suggestions.

I tried with/without EVLAS but it does not make any difference for me.

I changed PassThru to PassThru Spherenormals and this changes quite a bit. But it does not really help either because with PassThru Spherenormals the grass is now much much too bright at 12 o'clock

I'll keep trying out some things. I also posted on discord channel of the author of silent horizon enb (who is also the author of EVLAS) perhaps I get some infos there too.

[sheson]

47 minutes ago, SiSaSyco said:

Thank you for your suggestions.

I tried with/without EVLAS but it does not make any difference for me.

I changed PassThru to PassThru Spherenormals and this changes quite a bit. But it does not really help either because with PassThru Spherenormals the grass is now much much too bright at 12 o'clock

I'll keep trying out some things. I also posted on discord channel of the author of silent horizon enb (who is also the author of EVLAS) perhaps I get some infos there too.

You could also try "PassThru FixedNormals", though it will probably be similar to the SphereNormals, probably even brighter.
Or put it back to the default and experiment with setting the normal vectors in the NIF manually to certain angles.

[SiSaSyco]

3 minutes ago, sheson said:

You could also try "PassThru FixedNormals", though it will probably be similar to the SphereNormals, probably even brighter.
Or put it back to the default and experiment with setting the normal vectors in the NIF manually to certain angles.

Yeah! I'm already experimenting and maybe I get some good results with SphereNormals. Just had to reduce ambient a lot and use ComplexGrassBrightness**=0.5

... still not sure, but maybe it will get better now.

[SiSaSyco]

Hey Sheson! Thank you so much for your suggestion to set "PassThru SphereNormals"! I could get my settings quite perfect now!

It can be summarised as follows

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TexGen / DynDOLOD Complex Grass
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wildlands Renewal
ENB Preset Silent Horizon 2 Universal Core
EVLAS (Need to disable EVLAS sadly)

Change the name of the NiTriShapes to "PassThru SphereNormals" in DynDOLOD_flat_4x2alt2_lod.nif in DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD

Use following settings in TexGen

GrassHDBillboardsDirect=45
GrassHDBillboardsAmbient=95

Use following settings in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini

ComplexGrassBillboard=5
ComplexGrassBrightnessTopR=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessTopG=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessTopB=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessBottomR=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessBottomG=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessBottomB=0.5
GrassBacklightMask=25 (Not sure if this is crucial, used 100 but do not see any difference)

Edited March 9, 2025 by SiSaSyco
Clarify to not use EVLAS

[sheson]

29 minutes ago, SiSaSyco said:

Hey Sheson! Thank you so much for your suggestion to set "PassThru SphereNormals"! I could get my settings quite perfect now!

It can be summarised as follows

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TexGen / DynDOLOD Complex Grass
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wildlands Renewal
ENB Preset Silent Horizon 2 Universal Core
EVLAS

Change the name of the NiTriShapes to "PassThru SphereNormals" in DynDOLOD_flat_4x2alt2_lod.nif in DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD

Use following settings in TexGen

GrassHDBillboardsDirect=45
GrassHDBillboardsAmbient=95

Use following settings in DynDOLOD_SSE.ini

ComplexGrassBillboard=5
ComplexGrassBrightnessTopR=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessTopG=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessTopB=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessBottomR=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessBottomG=0.5
ComplexGrassBrightnessBottomB=0.5
GrassBacklightMask=25 (Not sure if this is crucial)

That are great results. Thanks for letting us know.