DarthGustav Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 (edited) Let's start by getting this out of the way: Skyrim Special Edition's 64 bit architecture required some reworking to achieve such smooth gameplay and high FPS. One of the things that Bethesda has noted is that the format for meshes has changed. That's not going to be too big of a problem for new mods, because authors are likely to follow procedures and use tools and file formats specifically for Skyrim Special Edition. That's just the way mod community workflow tends to go. However, the fact that Skyrim features reverse-compatibility for the old mesh format is anathema. It means that any mod that's converted from classic Skyrim has a pretty high likelihood of significantly degrading performance while it's being drawn. Since mod makers from Skyrim classic will be motivated to carry their mods over as quickly as possible, it's also likely that most of them will not comb through every custom mesh, converting them into the new high-performance format. Even exceptionally powerful systems will likely be bogged down by this issue. Because I've done a lot of Skyrim modding (maybe an understatement) I'm pretty intimately aware of how many mods add their own custom meshes. It's a lot of them. If the majority of mods with custom meshes are released with unconverted mesh formats, Skyrim Special Edition's longevity will suffer along with mod enthusiasts' performance. This post isn't meant to rail on Bethesda or even the mod authors themselves. It's made to remind everyone, mod enthusiasts and authors alike that this will be an issue unless the community addresses it. So far I've experienced this problem with relatively few mods. Then again, I've also been aware of this issue since release. The most prevalent issues by far come from meshes in Static Mesh Improvement Mod. SMIM not only uses the old format, but also features an absurd overabundance of extra polygons, making the problem considerably worse with this mod. Supreme and Volumetric Fog (right now only on Bethesda.net) also causes significant performance hits during foggy weather while looking directly into the fog. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting a relatively popular mod that I have removed from my list for the similar reasons, but I digress. The point is these mods were converted reasonably quickly from the Skyrim classic versions. If you're playing Skyrim Special Edition with mods from classic Skyrim featuring custom meshes and you're noticing performance hits, this is likely the reason. The mod itself may have been converted for usability in Skyrim Special Edition, but it's likely that the custom meshes were not properly converted. If you're suffering from performance and use converted mods, ask the authors specifically whether or not they've converted the mesh files to the new format. The mod will work if they didn't, but it will be terrible by comparison. Edited November 4, 2016 by DarthGustav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted3897072User Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 A program for converting old meshes inside nif's to the new mesh types would be a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atsuraelu Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 A program for converting old meshes inside nif's to the new mesh types would be a good thing. AFAIK zilav is already working on one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted3897072User Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 A program for converting old meshes inside nif's to the new mesh types would be a good thing. AFAIK zilav is already working on one. Good to hear. I think it will prove quite popular. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisselli Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 Err no no, this wont "shorten" SSE's longevity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthGustav Posted November 5, 2016 Author Share Posted November 5, 2016 Err no no, this wont "shorten" SSE's longevity.I'm sure you're right...especially if mod authors are made aware of the issue and the community plans a way for this to have minimal/no impact. Development of a mesh conversion tool sounds promising. In the meantime, regardless of the original mod's quality, converted mods with the old mesh format seem pretty terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zilav Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 A program for converting old meshes inside nif's to the new mesh types would be a good thing. AFAIK zilav is already working on one. I'm not working on it, only helping to debug. Converter is ready actually and works fine, just needs some polishing on few exotic mesh types which include particle effects and the like. Mind you such meshes are very rare and probably 90% of mods don't use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triptherift Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Can you PLEASE make it convert facegens by any chance? Running a custom vertex sculpt from Racemenu or ECE through the CK to convert it just destroys the altered geometry, which makes it a less than worthless tool. The fugly NPCs are just depressing to go back to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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