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Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - pre 2.xx

sheson

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sheson Akatosh

sheson

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Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - DynDOLOD

 

Finally I can see my house from here

 

You know the price for my mods: blood, sweat and tears. Oh, and your first born.

If you want to help other authors of quality mods then donate to them directly.

For latest information and instructions see the DynDOLOD 2.18 UPDATE POST

What is this?

DynDOLOD is a set of tools based on TES5Edit and TES5LODGen to automatically create a Skyrim mod based on the load order which adds distant LOD for objects to Skyrim. By combining DynDOLOD with TES5LODGen users can create drastically enhanced traditional static LOD plus tree LOD and the new, optional dynamic distant object LOD in a few 'simple' steps.

DynDOLOD is meant for enthusiast modders who are familiar with using TES5Edit. Enthusiast modders have a general knowledge of computers, folders and files, especially Skyrims 'Data' folders and how to install mods safely with a manager or manually.

To fully expand the visual experience and use the additional features offered by TES5LODGen the DynDOLOD package comes with over 1000 new or updated LOD models for objects that were badly missing from the original game like the Skyhaven Temple or landscape features like roads, smaller rocks and dirt cliffs that simply make the distant landscape look much more natural and alive.

What does it do?

It makes Skyrim look like this

59721-1-1427159829.jpg59721-2-1427159829.jpg59721-1-1427289504.jpg59721-4-1427159830.jpg

59721-1-1427419467.jpg59721-2-1427419467.jpg59721-3-1427419468.jpg59721-4-1427419468.jpg

59721-1-1427465578.jpg59721-2-1427465579.jpg59721-3-1427465579.jpg59721-4-1427465579.jpg

59721-1-1427470182.jpg59721-2-1427470183.jpg59721-3-1427470183.jpg59721-4-1427470183.jpg

59721-1-1427470235.jpg59721-2-1427470235.jpg59721-3-1427470235.jpg59721-4-1427470236.jpg

 

Requirements

SKSE

PapyrusUtil 2.8 or higher

DynDOLOD Resources - Make sure to use DynDOLOD Resources version only with matching or higher DynDOLOD Standalone versions but never with older versions.

Vanilla Skyrim LOD Billboards from TES5LODGen or Indistinguishable Vanilla Tree Billboards. If using tree mods that do not include billboards, check TES5LODGen for ready-to-use tree LOD billboards for some tree mods. For STEP users all billboards are included in STEP Texture Compilation.

Download

Download standalone and resources from Nexus or use Mega links from the update post

There are quickstart instruction in the main folder. Also check the folder called 'docs' for additional information. See the update post for latest installation information and guides.

CC BY-NC-SA

=======================================================================

Updating DynDOLOD

=======================================================================

Read the update posts for each new version for version specific information and update instructions.

Also read the manual how to update an existing save game, watch the video or check DynDOLOD SkyUI MCM.

[spoiler=DynDOLOD-Changelog.txt]

=======================================================================

DynDOLOD - Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - Sheson

=======================================================================

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Credits

 

TES5Edit Team in general

 

Ehamloptiran and Zilav for TES5LODGen and LODGen for trees

 

Bethesda for the game, models and textures

 

NifTools

 

DynDOLOD includes LOD assets based on models and/or textures from:

 

Holy Cow I fixed Skyrim - Sheson

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sheson
sheson

Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - DynDOLOD   Finally I can see my house from here   You know the price for my mods: blood, sweat and tears. Oh, and your first born. If you want to

sheson
sheson

fBlockLevel0Distance - the distance when LOD8 starts, so everything before that is LOD4 fBlockLevel1Distance - the distance when LOD16 starts everything before that is LOD8 fBlockMaximumDistance - the

MontyMM
MontyMM

Yes, I think you probably did.   I just wanted to say thanks for the great work on the memory patch, and this mod also looks like another major improvment.   I shall make a blood sacrifice of a troll

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sheson Akatosh

sheson

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Posted (edited)
  On 4/20/2015 at 8:25 PM, hishutup said:

How reliant are you on plugin names?

 

I know newer versions of the merge script will actually make a formID list. 

Maybe you can use that to look for matching plugin names.

Here is a small merge that make be of use.

I can provide the file if you feel that it would be beneficial.

 

How difficult would it be to generate my own lod textures?

 

Are the default LOD used for the objects?

Such as Textures\tamriel\Objects

That directory may be incorrect because its from memory.

mod files names are everything because they are usually the only way to uniquely determine the source of records.

It only matters for the few cases when having to address knowns things directly. That includes NOT doing certain things sometimes.

Merge lists usually do not interfere with potential LOD objects in the world. It most likely only happens when having to copy world cell records that hold said objects.

The normal operations just looks at mesh names and typical settings.

 

All _lod*.nif that are found anywhere in the loaded resources *.bsa and meshes directory are used, including the default ones that I haven't updated.

Edited by sheson
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Ilkob Noble

Ilkob

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Posted
  On 4/20/2015 at 6:22 PM, sheson said:

DynDOLOD does not support SMIM small sails Solitude option. I never said it would :)

Nobody installs the small sails option, right?

 

All your other troubles sound like updating a save game went wrong. Did you test with new game? Please only report problems regarding latest version.

 

Well, wouldn't surprise me I did something wrong. Anyway, I got it perfectly working now, no issue whatsoever. I saw the added line in DynDOlOD_mesh_replace.txt and the solituderotor.nif. So I've put the relevant meshes of both SMIM and SkyMills and the corresponding textures in an archive for use as a standalone package. No need for SkyMills, no need for choosing an windmill option in SMIM anymore. Solitude mill now has big red sails, and no strange things happen in any circumstance.

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sheson Akatosh

sheson

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  On 4/20/2015 at 11:09 PM, Ilkob said:

Well, wouldn't surprise me I did something wrong. Anyway, I got it perfectly working now, no issue whatsoever. I saw the added line in DynDOlOD_mesh_replace.txt and the solituderotor.nif. So I've put the relevant meshes of both SMIM and SkyMills and the corresponding textures in an archive for use as a standalone package. No need for SkyMills, no need for choosing an windmill option in SMIM anymore. Solitude mill now has big red sails, and no strange things happen in any circumstance.

Yeah the hands on approach still works best of course :)

 

Doing the red sail for the non SkyMills SMIM is not as simple. By default the rotor is part of the whole building. And SMIM vanilla keeps the 2 together as well.

No idea why Bethesda did it this way, while all other windmill fans use separate meshes for the building and fans.

 

SkyMills splits the Solitude rotor into its own that mesh, so it is easier to tie into the SMIM update for SkyMills and keep the red version.

 

The way I see it, almost everyone uses the larger SkyMills fans anyways.

 

 

I think there is a sentence in the manual that mentions that, but is most likely not very specific about the correct path and filenames. If you remember what you did maybe you can write couple sentence update for me to include :)

Edited by sheson
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Ilkob Noble

Ilkob

Posted
Posted (edited)

Don't no, maybe this makes the manual a bit more clear? Under SkyFalls and SkyMills:

 

DynDOLOD Worlds.pas will automatically discover the larger windmill model 'meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\smfarmhousewindmillfan.nif' from SkyMills and 'meshes\architecture\solitude\swindmillrotor.nif' from Static Mesh Improvement Mod. For conjunction between SkyMills and SMIM, choose in Custom SMIM installer either option SkyMills Compatibility or SkyMills Compatibility Sails.

 

Edit: sentence altered ('From etc') because SMIM has no larger windmill model.

Edit: actually it is farmhousewindmillfan.nif with the larger model, so changed smfarmhousewindmillfan.nif into farmhousewindmillfan.nif

Edited by Ilkob
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Spiffyman Guard

Spiffyman

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Posted
  On 4/21/2015 at 1:01 AM, Neovalen said:

My understanding was that Skyfalls / Skymills was no longer required when using DynDOLOD... what is the benefit of using them together?

If Skyfalls isn't needed, why is it still in the dev 2.2.9.1 guide along with DynDOLOD? Wouldn't Skyfalls (and probably Skyrim Distance overhaul) be removed now that Dyn was added?

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hazelwolf Guard

hazelwolf

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Posted (edited)

Like a twit I forgot to disable DynDOLOD in the MCM as per the instructions before reinstalling the update. As a result I cannot re-enable it there. Luckily my previous save was in an interior cell but I'm not sure if that makes any difference in terms of getting it to run.

 

Is there a way I can make good on this mistake or will I have to start a fresh save?

Edited by TechAngel85
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sheson Akatosh

sheson

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Posted (edited)
  On 4/21/2015 at 1:01 AM, Neovalen said:

My understanding was that Skyfalls / Skymills was no longer required when using DynDOLOD... what is the benefit of using them together?

If SkyFalls esp is still active its distant waterfalls will be used. Which have z problems.

If SkyMills windmill fan meshes are in the load order, DynDOLOD Worlds.pas will find them and use them. Regardless of SkyFalls esp still active or not.

 

 

  On 4/21/2015 at 1:08 AM, EssArrBee said:

So for the custom lod textures I have to copy everything to the temp directory first? I was unsure how it would go about doing this either manually or automatically.

It will do it all automatically. The only manual thing to do is copy results from output folder.

If using MO then the temp in overwrite folder needs to be deleted manually.

 

  On 4/21/2015 at 7:28 AM, hazelwolf said:

Like a twit I forgot to disable DynDOLOD in the MCM as per the instructions before reinstalling the update. As a result I cannot re-enable it there. Luckily my previous save was in an interior cell but I'm not sure if that makes any difference in terms of getting it to run.

 

Is there a way I can make good on this mistake or will I have to start a fresh save?

Use the interior save. Load it without any DynDOLOD esp. Wait a bit. Then save it.

Then load this second new save with new DynDOLOD.esp active.

 

If that doesn't work, clean all DynDOLOD scripts from the second interior save with a save game cleaner before using it with new DynDOLOD.esp

  On 4/21/2015 at 12:49 AM, Ilkob said:

Don't no, maybe this makes the manual a bit more clear? Under SkyFalls and SkyMills:

 

DynDOLOD Worlds.pas will automatically discover the larger windmill model 'meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\smfarmhousewindmillfan.nif' from SkyMills and 'meshes\architecture\solitude\swindmillrotor.nif' from Static Mesh Improvement Mod. For conjunction between SkyMills and SMIM, choose in Custom SMIM installer either option SkyMills Compatibility or SkyMills Compatibility Sails.

 

Edit: sentence altered ('From etc') because SMIM has no larger windmill model.

Edit: actually it is farmhousewindmillfan.nif with the larger model, so changed smfarmhousewindmillfan.nif into farmhousewindmillfan.nif

Thanks, will update manual

Edited by sheson
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Ilkob Noble

Ilkob

Posted
Posted
  On 4/21/2015 at 9:41 AM, sheson said:

 

Thanks, will update manual

Hope it's adequate, got a little confused because SMIM installs another .nif: 'meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\farmhousewindmillfan.nif' when choosing the Compatibility options in SMIM Custom installer, that .nif is not present in the SkyMill Compatibility folders in SMIM's installer-tree.

 

I guess in the second line, were ist says "from SkyMills and 'meshes\"etc,  'and' should be 'or', because SMIM overwrites both SkyMills smfarmhousewindmillfan.nif and swindmillrotor.nif.

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Ilkob Noble

Ilkob

Posted
Posted (edited)

BTW, the standalone package I made yesterday looks like this:

 

meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\farmhousewindmillfan.nif (from SMIM)
meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\farmhousewindmillfan02.nif (from SMIM)
meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\smfarmhousewindmillfan.nif (from SMIM)
meshes\architecture\solitude\swindmill.nif (from SMIM)
meshes\architecture\solitude\swindmillSM.nif (from SkyMills)
meshes\architecture\solitude\swindmillrotor.nif (from SMIM)

textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_fan.dds
textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_fan_n.dds
textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_sail.dds
textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_sail_n.dds
textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_sail_solitude.dds

 

I first installed SkyMills, then chose in SMIM a SkyMill Compatiblity option (Sails), let it overwrite, copied and packaged the installed files for use with DynDOLOD without having SkyMills installed.

And it worked! (Yeah well, I was just doing things without having much knowledge.)

In the end there is only one file from SkyMills.

Edited by Ilkob
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Shadriss High King

Shadriss

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Posted

I'm facinated by this program - and utterly mystified by it. I think I was fine going through the manual until I read the Tree LOD thing - and now I am so freakin' lost even Garmin can't fine me.

 

As I understand it, SKYFalls/Mills won't require any special action from me apart from disabling the original mod when it's all over. Check, easy.

 

With SFO 1.87 Basic installed... I have to split the heck out of some LOD atlas thing... and the directions for doing so are pretty unclear to me. In fact, if I understand right, I actually have to do this three times - one for Skyrim.esm, Dragonborn.esm, and the SFO esp. Is that more or less correct, and if correct, how does that process actually work? I tried to read the manual on this, and, as mentioned, can't make head or tail of what I'm actually supposed to do.

 

Also, is all this supposed to happen BEFORE running the scripts through TES5Edit (I imagine so, but the way the manual is written, the bits and pieces required are spread out all over the place, and I can't get a clear picture).

 

The idea of the manual is great - please don't get me wrong - but as an instruction set, I can't make head or tail of it at the moment. And that's coming from a US Navy Sailor who has to follow non-sensical proceedures all the frickin' time. I get lots of practice in interpreting oddity. Any chance of getting a condenced, less tech-termed set of instrcutions on implementing this?

  • 0
Ilkob Noble

Ilkob

Posted
Posted (edited)
  On 4/21/2015 at 3:06 PM, Ilkob said:

BTW, the standalone package I made yesterday looks like this:

 

meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\farmhousewindmillfan.nif (from SMIM)

meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\farmhousewindmillfan02.nif (from SMIM)

meshes\architecture\farmhouse\farmhousewindmill\smfarmhousewindmillfan.nif (from SMIM)

meshes\architecture\solitude\swindmill.nif (from SMIM)

meshes\architecture\solitude\swindmillSM.nif (from SkyMills)

meshes\architecture\solitude\swindmillrotor.nif (from SMIM)

 

textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_fan.dds

textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_fan_n.dds

textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_sail.dds

textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_sail_n.dds

textures\smim\architecture\farmhouse\smim_windmill_sail_solitude.dds

 

I first installed SkyMills, then chose in SMIM a SkyMill Compatiblity option (Sails), let it overwrite, copied and packaged the installed files for use with DynDOLOD without having SkyMills installed.

And it worked! (Yeah well, I was just doing things without having much knowledge.)

In the end there is only one file from SkyMills.

Now I feel stupid. Ran another DynDOLOD. Wanted to see what happens when one only ticks an SkyMills Compatibility option in SMIM's installer, without SkyMills installed, so no swindmillSM.nif (from SkyMills) in meshes\architecture\solitude\.

 

To me it wasn't clear one could just choose a SkyMills Compatibility option in SMIM's installer.

 

So for having SMIM's meshes (sails or the better fans) for your windmills, one only has to choose one of the SkyMills Compatibility options in SMIM's installer (Custom).

 

Edit: maybe it should be added and emphasized in the manual. Something like: The SkyMills Compatibility options in the SMIM-installer can be used standalone, without having SkyMills installed.

Edited by Ilkob
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sheson Akatosh

sheson

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Posted (edited)
  On 4/21/2015 at 3:41 PM, Shadriss said:

I'm facinated by this program - and utterly mystified by it. I think I was fine going through the manual until I read the Tree LOD thing - and now I am so freakin' lost even Garmin can't fine me.

 

As I understand it, SKYFalls/Mills won't require any special action from me apart from disabling the original mod when it's all over. Check, easy.

 

With SFO 1.87 Basic installed... I have to split the heck out of some LOD atlas thing... and the directions for doing so are pretty unclear to me. In fact, if I understand right, I actually have to do this three times - one for Skyrim.esm, Dragonborn.esm, and the SFO esp. Is that more or less correct, and if correct, how does that process actually work? I tried to read the manual on this, and, as mentioned, can't make head or tail of what I'm actually supposed to do.

 

Also, is all this supposed to happen BEFORE running the scripts through TES5Edit (I imagine so, but the way the manual is written, the bits and pieces required are spread out all over the place, and I can't get a clear picture).

 

The idea of the manual is great - please don't get me wrong - but as an instruction set, I can't make head or tail of it at the moment. And that's coming from a US Navy Sailor who has to follow non-sensical proceedures all the frickin' time. I get lots of practice in interpreting oddity. Any chance of getting a condenced, less tech-termed set of instrcutions on implementing this?

To get your head around it more easily consider that this whole thing is a combined process of 3 different tools for 3 different LODs now.

Tree LOD, static LOD, dynamic LOD

 

The good news is, that you do not need to split tree LOD atlas into billboards if there exist billboard downloads for your setup at https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/62698/

Which is the case for SFO 1.87.

 

I suggest to start with the quickstart.html and wizard mode video to get the gist of it.

 

If you do not intend to use SkyFalls/Mills anymore remove it from load order before starting TES5Edit and generating any LOD.

Edited by sheson
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sheson Akatosh

sheson

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Posted (edited)
  On 4/21/2015 at 5:22 PM, Ilkob said:

Now I feel stupid. Ran another DynDOLOD. Wanted to see what happens when one only ticks an SkyMills Compatibility option in SMIM's installer, without SkyMills installed, so no swindmillSM.nif (from SkyMills) in meshes\architecture\solitude\.

 

To me it wasn't clear one could just choose a SkyMills Compatibility option in SMIM's installer.

 

So for having SMIM's meshes (sails or the better fans) for your windmills, one only has to choose one of the SkyMills Compatibility options in SMIM's installer (Custom).

 

Edit: maybe it should be added and emphasized in the manual. Something like: The SkyMills Compatibility options in the SMIM-installer can be used standalone, without having SkyMills installed.

I will update the note next to SMIM

Edited by sheson
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