DROPPED Skyrim Flora Overhaul (by vurt)

[z929669]

Assuming z will come along and update things accordingly before long. :)

 

... tell me about it ....

 

Looks like 1.86 makes non-snowy pines browner and more dead-ish looking. And Vurt is playing around with the LOD as well ;)

[vurt]

Yes, the dead parts on the trees (and the fully dead trees) are now more orange/brown, like how dead pine branches usually look. Bethesda did them more yellow'ish, most of the time you couldnt see this "effect". I think the marshes look pretty cool with the dead pines :)

[DoYouEvenModBro]

If we are using Regular Edition v186, which 2048 LOD file do we download if we want 2k LODs instead of 4k? The only 2k LOD file is for Regular v179e. Is this going to be updated?

[z929669]

If we are using Regular Edition v186' date=' which 2048 LOD file do we download if we want 2k LODs instead of 4k? The only 2k LOD file is for Regular v179e. Is this going to be updated?[/quote']

The 4k LOD actually only uses just over 1/4 of the texture, so the number of pixels rendered is the same as with the standard 2k LOD.

 

The reason that Regular version uses 4k LOD is because Vurt needed room to add his extra custom tree LOD. Effectively, the Regular 4k LOD should equal the performance and quality of the Baskic 2k LOD ... if you reduce that to 2k, then you are effectively using 1k vanilla resolution LOD (Which is just fine IMO).

[DoYouEvenModBro]

If we are using Regular Edition v186' date=' which 2048 LOD file do we download if we want 2k LODs instead of 4k? The only 2k LOD file is for Regular v179e. Is this going to be updated?[/quote']

The 4k LOD actually only uses just over 1/4 of the texture' date=' so the number of pixels rendered is the same as with the standard 2k LOD.

 

The reason that Regular version uses 4k LOD is because Vurt needed room to add his extra custom tree LOD. Effectively, the Regular 4k LOD should equal the performance and quality of the Baskic 2k LOD ... if you reduce that to 2k, then you are effectively using 1k vanilla resolution LOD (Which is just fine IMO).[/quote']

If that is the case, what was the point of the optional 2k LoD for Regular file?

 

EDIT: Sorry if missed this before. So the 2k LoD Optional File actually reduces it further to 1k? That is the Basic Version LoD resolution I believe. That brings me back to my original question then. The 2k Optional is only for 179e.

[vurt]

Uploaded a new LOD for latest Basic Ed.

 

I used ugridstoload=3 to get close so i could really see the LOD's, made it a bit easier to tweak the colors and shadows.

 

https://piclair.com/data/2j6lo.jpg

https://piclair.com/data/b14r2.jpg

https://piclair.com/data/xa3tr.jpg

https://piclair.com/data/jj2wg.jpg

 

The snowy trees can't be too white i've noticed, because the transistion to the 3D mesh then doesnt look accurate at all.. they look nicer when a bit more white in the distance, but imo it's also important that it looks as smooth as possible when they change into the full 3D model.

[TechAngel85]

Lookin good!

[Neovalen]

Yep looks good. Hope to see a regular version update soon :)

[z929669]

Uploaded a new LOD for latest Basic Ed.

 

I used ugridstoload=3 to get close so i could really see the LOD's, made it a bit easier to tweak the colors and shadows.

 

https://piclair.com/data/2j6lo.jpg

https://piclair.com/data/b14r2.jpg

https://piclair.com/data/xa3tr.jpg

https://piclair.com/data/jj2wg.jpg

 

The snowy trees can't be too white i've noticed, because the transistion to the 3D mesh then doesnt look accurate at all.. they look nicer when a bit more white in the distance, but imo it's also important that it looks as smooth as possible when they change into the full 3D model.

Hmmm. I don't see the new uploads on your site. These look good, but I can't see the transition at all since it does not seem like there are any non-LOD trees in these shots (which could be a fantastic achievement if there actually ARE non-LOD trees here).

 

I spent last evening creating a whole now approach to the LOD alpha mask using noise in the alpha channel and by thinning the mask a bit (mostly for the aspens):

 

left is Vanilla, right is my modification.

[Aiyen]

Looking forward to some screens Z... idea is interesting! :)

 

 

As for your LOD´s vurt then they are pretty much spot on for vanilla lighting (Always amazes me how bad that lighting is)...

Only thing I could think of is to add a bit more darkness to the parts of the winter pines that are close to the middle... since the ones in front are always going to be darker like that.

 

And yeah... in general I have also found that going above 200/210 for any individual color is asking for trouble! :)

Will most likely just cause stuff to almost glow at night.

[z929669]

OK, I am convinced now that my noise idea is viable as far as reducing contrast between the tree LOD and the background terrain (or sky or water ... that is part of the problem). The principle is the same as camouflage: break up the edges of an object to hide it.

 

Thinning the alpha also works nicely to break up the edges, but I have gone just a bit too far I think. I'll create a revision that is a happy medium (although aspens need much more thinning than conifers ... they are doubly 'thinned' from the others in these shots).

 

Mind you all, this is purely vanilla lighting in all of its crispness and with Revamped Exterior Fog for distance clarity. Vanilla outdoor lighting accentuates the LOD contrast quite a bit, so this is about as good as it gets from what I have played with. Also note that all LOD are based on the exact same vanilla LOD. Vurt's is a tweaked version of Rennn's I think (which is also tweaked vanilla) --> (see EDIT below) and mine is purely a fresh revamp of vanilla as seen in my last post ... same exact asset.

 

First set (left) = vanilla

Second set (middle) = Basic 186

Third set (right) = Basic 181b + my recolored version of Vurt's snowy pines and my custom vanilla LOD

 

 

I'll update that last shot with my modification to the mask as indicated above. UPDATED Give the images a chance to sync with my DropBox before the thumbs become

 

EDIT: also updated Vurt's LOD to his new Basic update for v1.86 (looks quite good with that version, but I still think the snowy LOD does not match the pines and that both could be a bit brighter). However, these updated Basic LOD are based on Vurt's own assets (rather than vanilla/Rennn) so now I have the Vurt source for Basic ... so I will try my hand at editing those like I did the vanilla. LOD will not only match in color on my and like systems, but it will also match in shape detail ;)

 

EDIT: Sorry all. These are PNG, so they will slow down this page in the thread a bit. Will change to JPG when I get a chance.

 

@Vurt

You are using ENB in your previous post screens, right? Also, I have to say that I prefer your "less dead-ish" pines ... unless you are able to create this effect only on the lower branches. I am guessing that this may be possible. Usually (but not always), the dying/dryer branches are the older ones closer to the conifer base. This is certainly the prevailing pattern anyway (I used to teach plant evolutionary biology, and have a lot of experience with conifers as the ancestors of flowering plants )

[vurt]

No ENB or weather mods, otherwise it's not possible to tweak them correctly. The first row of trees are non-LOD's.

 

The dead pines were inspired by, well, pictures of dead pines, saw some pictures of a whole forest with dead pines and the color is actually sampled from that image, though i made them slightly less orange-red because it looked a bit too odd..

 

The snowy pines matches really well in my image i think, remember that you have to check in different weathers and that you can't use weather mods or lightning mods, that will mess up everything if you are.

 

Tweak away! ;)

 

Edit: oh, and noise is probably a good idea, if it doesnt make them shimmer a lot..

[z929669]

Yes, I forgot to mention weathers. All my testing is under clear weather at about 9 am. I have yet to actually play with these mods :P

 

... and your LOD do match the trees very nicely ;)

[vurt]

Ok good to know, i acctualy think you have mentioned it before, when it think of it.

 

Not happy with how the pines look, especially not when using just vanilla, so i'm working on some new ones (not just recoloring this time):

 

https://i.imgur.com/78ICu3Z.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/sxLoqzt.jpg

 

tried to make them appear a bit thicker / more lush, i know that many people like that mod that doubles the branches.. But it can be done more performance friendly with just the texture, though perhaps not exactly as thick/lush..

[z929669]

Wow, I think I like your new textures even more, same meshes, just different artwork?

 

I will hold off on messing with these until you are finished with the revision :P

 

In the meantime, I want to show everyone why LOD textures can't really be thought of as we thing about regular textures in terms of size (since regular textures use most of the 'canvas', but LOD textures use only a fraction of the 'canvas' ... although plants are unique in that most of them do not use the entire texture)

 

i.e., 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k is actually a significant overestimate of the rendered texture pixels of plants and other 'branchy' things (for standard textures and LOD), and this is 4x so for the Regular SFO LOD:

 

Basic LOD texture use:

 

Regular LOD texture use (note that the new trees cannot fit on the full square canvas without raising the canvas one mip level [i.e., 1k to 2k or 2k to 4k, etc]) ... or reducing the original painted area: