DynDOLOD seems to not be working as it used to - SSE

[YolDovahkiin]

In SSE I recently updated to Majestic Mountains 3.0, and in this included the LOD texture pack for use with DynDOLOD. After having done this and rerunning DynDOLOD, the LOD was completely disrupted and ended up in some pretty awful textures: https://imgur.com/a/fHdt9j2

 

So, I reinstalled the game and its mods after attempting to disable everything did not help, and this seemed to help but only partially. I still have some issues with the LOD that I did not have before, although it is not as bad (https://imgur.com/43O8Tdj) and it suggests to me that there are still problems with what I am doing. Below is an example before installing the new MM, with the mountains in the background clearly not rendering like they used to.

Before: https://imgur.com/YIBPWEI

After: https://imgur.com/Modh764

 

Any help is appreciated, I have been working on this for two days trying to uninstall and reinstall different mods, and I am still running into problems.

Edited May 5, 2020 by YolDovahkiin

[sheson]

The first screenshot simply seems to show short LOD distances that can be controlled by the gamer launcher, BethINI or in game with the DynDOLOD Skyui MCM Settings page.
 
DynDOLOD uses the LOD models and textures it finds in the load order.
 
If the before/after screenshots are for different load orders, I am not sure why you are surprised they look different.
 
Especially if you are using different versions of a third party mod that modifies models and textures of mountains and their LOD models and textures and snow LOD shaders.
 
If you have problems with the changes a third party mod makes, check its description and install instructions, use its forum or ask the author of the mod.

[YolDovahkiin]

Thanks for the quick reply. 

 

To respond to your suggestions, I have yet to get any notable insight from the mod author. My primary concern is that the general consensus for the new LOD resources for MM are nearly indistinguishable from those of the actual mountains in this new mod, yet my DynDOLOD output seems to come off as far worse than the original mod without dedicated LOD textures. It seems like a lesser version of something I easily got before, and this is on max settings for all DynDOLOD presets just the same. Yes, it is a different LOD load order, but the alteration is from one mod and I do not really understand how a dedicated LOD is worse. Is it better to allow DynDOLOD to generate its own LODs for the mountains then?

 

Again, I am just trying to figure out if this is an LOD issue from DynDOLOD (I have a hard time believing that it isn't considering what other have said), or if this is a LOD issue with the textures from MM for DynDOLOD. If you have any steps that would allow me to determine if it is an LOD issue with DynDOLOD, it would be appreciated. Otherwise, I am going to try and remove the dedicated LOD pack and see if that improves it. 

 

Honestly, previously it barely even looks like I am using LOD textures, but now it is obvious I am.

Edited May 5, 2020 by YolDovahkiin

[sheson]

AFAIK all versions of the mod have updated LOD models and LOD textures for generating LOD. Make sure to generate LOD with DynDOLOD for the current load order and that its generated output is ever overwritten by anything. 

 

You are using one mod that specially alters mountains and their LOD. 

 

The way LOD generation works does not change. LOD generation uses the LOD models and textures it finds in the load order. 

 

Also looking at the before/after screenshot none looks worse than the other, just different. However, typically the question is how well LOD matches its full models. I can not see an discrepancies between the rocks in the front to the rocks in the distance in either screenshot. It simply seems one version uses a lighter texture and maybe different snow shaders than the other.

 

Just use the version you like.

Edited May 5, 2020 by sheson

[YolDovahkiin]

Exactly, that is what I have done. The only alteration to initial load order before DynDOLOD generation is the LOD file specifically for DynDOLOD from MM. Dyndolod textures and output are not being overwritten at all after generating them again.

 

The difference is that the furthest mountains in the Forgotten valley have a noticeable loss of definition. Yes, overall they are darker, but what I am referring to is the furthest peaks (top slightly to the right) and how in the first image they are completely rendered in, but in the second they are much lower quality in terms of shapes and definition. 

 

Again, I am having a hard time reconciling how in one image they are rendered in, while in another they are not with DynDOLOD active in both.

Edited May 5, 2020 by YolDovahkiin

[sheson]

Looking at the before and after images, the snow LOD shaders are different, the textures are different.

 

Maybe in the one version the texture is higher resolution. That will also affect how well fine grained the LOD snow shaders are applied.

 

There are also INI settings that affect the snow shader.

 

It is possible that the LOD models for the different LOD levels changed.

 

It possible the LOD distances are different so that the less detailed LOD levels load closer in one image.

 

So, either the resources used for LOD generation changed or the settings how LOD models and textures are rendered in the game changed.

Edited May 5, 2020 by sheson

[YolDovahkiin]

Assuming I may be able to adjust the ini files to cause the mountains to render at a further distance, how would I go about doing this? I am going to start here to see if these are changed, and if not I am going to assume there is an issue with the LOD files for the mountains that makes them worse.

 

Right now I am currently running DynDOLOD generation again without the included MM LOD pack in the meantime to see if it is the culprit.

[sheson]

LOD distances can be controlled by the gamer launcher (Distant Object Detail), with BethINIs or in game with the DynDOLOD Skyui MCM Settings page.

[YolDovahkiin]

I figured it out potentially. 

After running dyndolod with no MM LOD files, the peaks for the mountains came up as more defined due to the changed mesh, but with a worse texture. I guess I just do not understand what is intended with his LOD textures by seemingly reducing the definition of the meshes.

 

Original MM (1.84?)+Dyndolod: https://imgur.com/YIBPWEI
MM (3.0) With MM LOD+Dyndolod: https://imgur.com/Modh764
MM (3.0) Without MM LOD+Dyndolod: https://imgur.com/a/AcG16mf

 

Guess I am just going to have to compromise.

Edited May 5, 2020 by YolDovahkiin