DynDOLOD 3.00 Alpha 190

[sheson]

  On 11/13/2023 at 2:18 PM, User77111 said:

Removed the old tree billboards and will try again. Thanks!

Btw, should we still be using HD LOD Textures SE? https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/3333

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The billboards probably won't affect the 3D LOD. Upload those useful screenshots with more informative console so I know which records and models to look for in the logs.

https://dyndolod.info/Mods/Useful-3rd-Party-Mods
HD LODs Textures SE - install the DynDOLOD version. Overwrite any textures from DynDOLOD Resources SE but not the textures generated by TexGen. Adjust Max tile size on advanced options to match the downloaded resolution or use it to shrink higher resolution back down to lower resolution automatically while the atlas is created. Do not install / remove any tree LOD billboards. Use TexGen to generate all desired billboards.

[sheson]

  On 11/13/2023 at 2:43 PM, User77111 said:

And as for Large Reference Bugs Workarounds, the requirement is to have the plugins cleaned. Unfortunately this wont be possible for others downloading the nexus collections due to permissions issues. If I were to clean the plugins and generate DynDOLOD using Large Reference Bugs Workarounds, but the reinstall the uncleaned plugins afterwards, would I run into issues? 
 

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How do collections ensure that the user has the correct version of the runtime or the vanilla plugin files, 1.5 or 1.6?
Users following proper modding practice should already have cleaned vanilla files, regardless of collections or not.

Why would you need to reinstall "broken" plugins afterwards?
It *should* work in the sense there should be no CTD in regards to DynDOLOD or the Workarounds.

[Mousetick]

DynDOLOD 3a155 SSE - Combine Worldspaces for LOD

About a month ago, I used Combine Worldspaces for LOD to put Skyrim LODs into Solstheim. When I initially set up and incrementally tweaked the DLC2SolstheimWorld_Combine.ini configuration, I used minimal DynDOLOD options to speed up generation for testing. Everything looked as expected in-game.

Then once I was finally happy with the Combine.ini configuration and results, I re-generated all LODs for all worldspaces with DynDOLOD, using a larger set of options - including Underside.

The final results in-game were unexpected and disappointing, to say the least. I didn't understand what could be causing the visual defects. But I had spent so much time making the Combine.ini "just right" for my taste, I didn't feel like troubleshooting and just postponed it until later...

Then I saw your recent comment:

  On 11/13/2023 at 1:22 PM, sheson said:

Regarding the terrain in Solstheim, lower the underside or increase its quality in the advanced options https://dyndolod.info/Help/Advanced-Mode#Terrain-Underside or increase terrain LOD distance https://dyndolod.info/Help/Mod-Configuration-Menu#Settings

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Which gave me an idea. What if the underside was the culprit? So I did a quick test:

Without | With /meshes/terrain/dlc2solstheimworld/dlc2solstheimworld_underside.nif

In the picture on the right, you can see parts shaped like the original/vanilla DLC2SolstheimWorld terrain from Dragonborn.esm.

Does the underside mesh generation take into account Combined Worldspaces for LOD? It looks like it does not.

• Underside log: LODGen_SSE_DLC2SolstheimWorld_TerrainUnderside_log.txt
• DynDOLOD log and debug log: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ssrM9OwD-gSECDe9VrwLA5Szcdawq535/view
• Combine.ini: DLC2SolstheimWorld_Combine.ini

Note: If the issue is caused by either a bug in DynDOLOD or a fault on my side, I'm not available for testing/troubleshooting at this time. But I'd appreciate getting your input on the issue.

Thanks.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Mousetick

[User77111]

  On 11/13/2023 at 4:52 PM, sheson said:

The billboards probably won't affect the 3D LOD. Upload those useful screenshots with more informative console so I know which records and models to look for in the logs.

https://dyndolod.info/Mods/Useful-3rd-Party-Mods
HD LODs Textures SE - install the DynDOLOD version. Overwrite any textures from DynDOLOD Resources SE but not the textures generated by TexGen. Adjust Max tile size on advanced options to match the downloaded resolution or use it to shrink higher resolution back down to lower resolution automatically while the atlas is created. Do not install / remove any tree LOD billboards. Use TexGen to generate all desired billboards.

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This was the tree with the black squares.

 

I re-ran DynDOLOD without the skyrim 3d trees LOD assets and it fixes the issue but I get 2D LODs instead. Or 2D LODs on a 3D object i'm not sure. 

  On 11/13/2023 at 5:08 PM, sheson said:

How do collections ensure that the user has the correct version of the runtime or the vanilla plugin files, 1.5 or 1.6?
Users following proper modding practice should already have cleaned vanilla files, regardless of collections or not.

Why would you need to reinstall "broken" plugins afterwards?
It *should* work in the sense there should be no CTD in regards to DynDOLOD or the Workarounds.

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The modding guide I will be positing is just instruction on how to install a collection. I will not be including instructions on cleaning the plugins as the guide will be centered around automation. That is good news that Large Reference Bugs Workarounds should still work with dirty plugins. 

[User77111]

  On 11/13/2023 at 1:22 PM, sheson said:

Read https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum#In-Game-Screenshots how to make useful screenshots of the tree full model(s) for the affect trees shown in the screenshots with more informative console.

https://dyndolod.info/Messages/Wrong-Billboard-Path Remove the wrong billboards. Do not install any 3rd party billboards. It probably won't affect anything regarding the 3D tree LODs.

Regarding the terrain in Solstheim, lower the underside or increase its quality in the advanced options https://dyndolod.info/Help/Advanced-Mode#Terrain-Underside or increase terrain LOD distance https://dyndolod.info/Help/Mod-Configuration-Menu#Settings

Regarding snow on the map, see https://dyndolod.info/Help/Snow-Ash-LOD-Shader#Map

https://dyndolod.info/Messages/Textures-Do-Not-Match Remove the outdated LOD models for DynDOLOD 2.x. For example rockcliff01rocks_lod_1.nif , rockpilel04cobble_lod_0.nif, tundrastreamend01yellow_lod_0.nif etc.
https://dyndolod.info/Messages/Deleted-Reference Clean all plugins that have deleted references.
Consider using https://dyndolod.info/Help/Large-Reference-Bugs-Workarounds if using plugins that are visually incompatible with the large reference feature of Skyrim Special Edition.

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Also I changed the map a bit to match the snow LOD shader I had customized. 

The places I circled before now match with the textures as I had both SnowLODMaterial and SnowLODMaterialHD at 255, 255, 255

But now the mountain tops and anything with the majestic mountain texture has a darker snow on top. Not sure how to fix that.

[sheson]

  On 11/14/2023 at 11:45 AM, User77111 said:

This was the tree with the black squares.

 

I re-ran DynDOLOD without the skyrim 3d trees LOD assets and it fixes the issue but I get 2D LODs instead. Or 2D LODs on a 3D object i'm not sure. 

The modding guide I will be positing is just instruction on how to install a collection. I will not be including instructions on cleaning the plugins as the guide will be centered around automation. That is good news that Large Reference Bugs Workarounds should still work with dirty plugins. 

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Also Provide a screenshot of a full model that has different looking 3D LOD between xLODGen and DynDOLOD.

The message https://dyndolod.info/Messages/Wrong-Billboard-Path is about 3rd party tree LOD billboards used for billboard tree LOD. Do not install any 3rd party tree LOD billboards. TexGen generates them at the proper location.

A modding guide should explain required important rudimentary information about the runtime version, game plugins versions and how to properly setup a base game.
How do you ensure users have the correct version of the runtime and game plugins the collection was made for?

  On 11/14/2023 at 12:30 PM, User77111 said:

Also I changed the map a bit to match the snow LOD shader I had customized. 

The places I circled before now match with the textures as I had both SnowLODMaterial and SnowLODMaterialHD at 255, 255, 255

But now the mountain tops and anything with the majestic mountain texture has a darker snow on top. Not sure how to fix that.

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Read https://dyndolod.info/Help/Snow-Ash-LOD-Shader#Maps and flag the map to use one of the snow LOD shaders instead of changing the snow LOD shaders themselves.

[User77111]

  On 11/14/2023 at 12:34 PM, sheson said:

Also Provide a screenshot of a full model that has different looking 3D LOD between xLODGen and DynDOLOD.

The message https://dyndolod.info/Messages/Wrong-Billboard-Path is about 3rd party tree LOD billboards used for billboard tree LOD. Do not install any 3rd party tree LOD billboards. TexGen generates them at the proper location.

A modding guide should explain required important rudimentary information about the runtime version, game plugins versions and how to properly setup a base game.
How do you ensure users have the correct version of the runtime and game plugins the collection was made for?

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I think all trees using the 3d trees LOD assets have that effect though. 

 

The modding guide will provide a link to skyrim anniversary edition on steam. It will also say it needs the latest skyrim steam version. I should have a link on more details on how to check the runtime version of users are not sure. 

[User77111]

Also changing the flags to use HD snow shaders on the map worked! Thanks

 

  On 11/14/2023 at 12:59 PM, User77111 said:

Also changing the flags to use HD snow shaders on the map worked! Thanks

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Uhh, I changed it to not use HD snow shaders and now it looks like this:

[sheson]

  On 11/14/2023 at 12:59 PM, User77111 said:

Also changing the flags to use HD snow shaders on the map worked! Thanks

Uhh, I changed it to not use HD snow shaders and now it looks like this:

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If you have a question or want to report a problem, then read the first post and/or https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum#Post-Logs which DynDOLOD log and debug log to upload when making posts.

[User77111]

  On 11/14/2023 at 1:40 PM, sheson said:

If you have a question or want to report a problem, then read the first post and/or https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum#Post-Logs which DynDOLOD log and debug log to upload when making posts.

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cZTr6s83idVRMZpVZBhxrwDsHHYtmjy_/view?usp=sharing

All log files

[sheson]

  On 11/14/2023 at 1:40 PM, sheson said:

If you have a question or want to report a problem, then read the first post and/or https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum#Post-Logs which DynDOLOD log and debug log to upload when making posts.

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Check ..\Meshes\Terrain\Tamriel\Objects\Tamriel.32.0.-32.bto that the mountain rocks have BSSubIndexTripShape names like objSnow. If so, then check what plugin changes the snow LOD shader.

[User77111]

  On 11/14/2023 at 3:14 PM, sheson said:

Check ..\Meshes\Terrain\Tamriel\Objects\Tamriel.32.0.-32.bto that the mountain rocks have BSSubIndexTripShape names like objSnow. If so, then check what plugin changes the snow LOD shader.

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The mountains have objSnow, but so do the objects like dungeons that display with snow on the map. The only difference between the mountain rocks and the dungeons is the mountain rocks have vertex colors.

[sheson]

  On 11/13/2023 at 7:25 PM, Mousetick said:

DynDOLOD 3a155 SSE - Combine Worldspaces for LOD

About a month ago, I used Combine Worldspaces for LOD to put Skyrim LODs into Solstheim. When I initially set up and incrementally tweaked the DLC2SolstheimWorld_Combine.ini configuration, I used minimal DynDOLOD options to speed up generation for testing. Everything looked as expected in-game.

Then once I was finally happy with the Combine.ini configuration and results, I re-generated all LODs for all worldspaces with DynDOLOD, using a larger set of options - including Underside.

The final results in-game were unexpected and disappointing, to say the least. I didn't understand what could be causing the visual defects. But I had spent so much time making the Combine.ini "just right" for my taste, I didn't feel like troubleshooting and just postponed it until later...

Then I saw your recent comment:

Which gave me an idea. What if the underside was the culprit? So I did a quick test:

Without | With /meshes/terrain/dlc2solstheimworld/dlc2solstheimworld_underside.nif

In the picture on the right, you can see parts shaped like the original/vanilla DLC2SolstheimWorld terrain from Dragonborn.esm.

Does the underside mesh generation take into account Combined Worldspaces for LOD? It looks like it does not.

• Underside log: LODGen_SSE_DLC2SolstheimWorld_TerrainUnderside_log.txt
• DynDOLOD log and debug log: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ssrM9OwD-gSECDe9VrwLA5Szcdawq535/view
• Combine.ini: DLC2SolstheimWorld_Combine.ini

Note: If the issue is caused by either a bug in DynDOLOD or a fault on my side, I'm not available for testing/troubleshooting at this time. But I'd appreciate getting your input on the issue.

Thanks.

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This should be fixed next Alpha version.

[User77111]

  On 11/14/2023 at 3:23 PM, User77111 said:

The mountains have objSnow, but so do the objects like dungeons that display with snow on the map. The only difference between the mountain rocks and the dungeons is the mountain rocks have vertex colors.

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When setting both SnowLODMaterial and  SnowLODMaterialHD to 255, 255, 255, the SnowLODMaterialHD is noticably darker on the map when applied to the mountain meshes. 

[sheson]

  On 11/14/2023 at 3:23 PM, User77111 said:

The mountains have objSnow, but so do the objects like dungeons that display with snow on the map. The only difference between the mountain rocks and the dungeons is the mountain rocks have vertex colors.

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You are setting Level0 LOD models to be used on the map. Then you force the non HD snow shader on them. This seems to be the result.
Typically set AllHD32=1 to force the HD shader.

You could test creating an options file in (virtual) ..\Data\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_SSE_LODGen_Options_Tamriel.txt and add a line
GenerateVertexColorsLOD32=False
so that nothing has any vertex colors in LOD Level 32 and then generate as usual and see if that helps.

Other than that, look into the INI settings that are used for the map.