uGridsToLoad Talk and Testing

[TheWilloughbian]

I have had it set to 7 since almost from the start and haven't had any issues. However I don't run any mods that make changes to LOD.

[Rasikko]

Most people seem to not understand how ugridsToLoad works, and suggests changing to really high and wild values.

 

7 is absolutely the lowest I've ever seen, and personally think that is a reasonable setting.

 

I've seen values as high as 25 x_x. Skyrim is loading a lot more than just loading LOD and ground/mountain textures.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Rasikko

[Arthmoor]

It seems to me that ugrids is 2011 news. Like some people didn't get the memo on Lodgen tools. Or am I missing something?

It's way older than Skyrim in general. People were doing this as far back as Oblivion and breaking their games even then. It's never been safe to raise it past 5.

[TheWilloughbian]

I don't know man. I read a lot of posts about "don't do this" and "never do that". I have broken every one of these "rules" and never had a problem. From changing load orders to uninstalling mods mid save. Over 200 mods and I've never used a bashed patch either. I've had the same character for a year. Of course if I use a mod that has leveled lists, the first thing I do is remove said lists using SSEedit. I'm just saying. As long as it doesn't break your computer, Why not?

 

You know, I ruined a graphics card with Neverwinter Nights back in the day, getting too crazy with the tool set.

[kthompsen]

 

It seems to me that ugrids is 2011 news. Like some people didn't get the memo on Lodgen tools. Or am I missing something?

It's way older than Skyrim in general. People were doing this as far back as Oblivion and breaking their games even then. It's never been safe to raise it past 5.

 

 

 

My bad, I suspected as much.

 

Anyhow, the basic Lodgen is pretty easy to use. I understand being scared by DyndoLOD though (I don't use it myself, because I use your Open Cities mod, in fact.. One day I'll have the patience to configure it).

[Arthmoor]

I don't know man. I read a lot of posts about "don't do this" and "never do that". I have broken every one of these "rules" and never had a problem. From changing load orders to uninstalling mods mid save. Over 200 mods and I've never used a bashed patch either. I've had the same character for a year. Of course if I use a mod that has leveled lists, the first thing I do is remove said lists using SSEedit. I'm just saying. As long as it doesn't break your computer, Why not?

 

You know, I ruined a graphics card with Neverwinter Nights back in the day, getting too crazy with the tool set.

Well I'm quite certain you have had problems but may have failed to recognize their origins. That said, you're mixing some myth with fact and that may be part of why you think this is all bogus.

 

1. Changing your load order mid-game by rearranging things or by ADDING a new mod to the game is never going to cause problems. If this were true then there isn't a single DLC that could ever be released for the game without it breaking everyone's saves outright.

 

2. A Bashed Patch is not necessary to ensure a functional load order. That's only useful for resolving conflicts between records. So if you happen to have 200 mods all doing different things that don't actually conflict with each other, you have no problem there.

 

3. Breaking your entire PC is not the benchmark people are targeting here. It's breaking your save. Not even the game, just the save.

 

So with that in mind, removing leveled list entries from mods is dumb because you're basically removing any reason to be using it to start with. Why bother if you're just going to kill the data?

 

Uninstalling mods mid-save is dangerous though, and ignoring this is foolish just because all the other stuff you heard about isn't necessarily a problem. That one you play with fire, and eventually you will get burned.

[TheWilloughbian]

 

Well I'm quite certain you have had problems but may have failed to recognize their origins. That said, you're mixing some myth with fact and that may be part of why you think this is all bogus.

 

 

 

Sure, I've run into issues and had to fix them. As for myth and fact, that's what I mean, there's a lot of noise around that just isn't true.

 

 

1. Changing your load order mid-game by rearranging things or by ADDING a new mod to the game is never going to cause problems. If this were true then there isn't a single DLC that could ever be released for the game without it breaking everyone's saves outright.

 

This is one bit of misinformation I see going around every so often.

 

 

2. A Bashed Patch is not necessary to ensure a functional load order. That's only useful for resolving conflicts between records. So if you happen to have 200 mods all doing different things that don't actually conflict with each other, you have no problem there.

 

I just use SSEedit to get rid of the records I don't want if I have that problem.

 

 

 

3. Breaking your entire PC is not the benchmark people are targeting here. It's breaking your save. Not even the game, just the save.

 

I'm just saying, I've done it. Broken a save here and there too.

 

 

 

So with that in mind, removing leveled list entries from mods is dumb because you're basically removing any reason to be using it to start with. Why bother if you're just going to kill the data?

 

 

It's kind of a case by case thing. I tend to avoid mods that add leveled list in general. But say there's an armour I want, but don't want NPCs running around with, I nerf the leveled list. Book of UNP was one of these. I hated the changes it made to the guards, so the leveled lists had to go.

 

 

Uninstalling mods mid-save is dangerous though, and ignoring this is foolish just because all the other stuff you heard about isn't necessarily a problem. That one you play with fire, and eventually you will get burned.

 

 

It's not something I do all the time, but if you do it with some care, it can be done without breaking things. Some mods, no, once it's baked into your save, that's it. You have to leave it.

 

I'm not saying you can't break things. I'm just saying if you do things properly every rule has an exception.

 

As for the UGrids being old news. Not everyone is up on how to use all the crazy utilities that are out there and bumping up UGrids to load is a quick and easy, if not dirty way to make the game look a little nicer. Not everyone has been modding Skyrim for 8 years and there's a lot that can be learned about it. Especially all the utilities out there. If someone knows a better method of doing something, I wish they would just share it, rather than take umbrage

[Arthmoor]

That "better method" is pretty well known though: DynDOLOD. That's the only safe alternative to using uGrids hacks.

 

What people fail to consider is that uGrids doesn't just push LOD back further, it also causes everything in those cells to load into active memory. Which means AI is processing. Scenes are running. Quests have initiated. Scripts are processing events. All of which can be easily missed and all of which are capable of breaking a quest in an unfixable way because the game was not designed to run at anything other than uGrids=5. Nevermind the fact that expanding to a 7x7 grid (49 loaded cells) will more than double the resource load on the game in general. At some point, the game itself will choke even with 64 bit memory systems.

 

And I'd wager the reason people get irritated by all this is that it's information that's out there easily found if one spends 5 minutes to find it. Skyrim modders are people too - we get just as annoyed at having to repeat ourselves as anyone else.

[kthompsen]

If one finds DynDOLOD confusing, seriously... just TES5Lodgen will help a lot. It's so easy. Download Vanilla Skyrim Boards at the same Nexus page for Lodgen, download Lodgen and unzip to a folder (call it "Bethesda Tools" or something) and just fire up the Lodgen executable. You literally don't have to do anything but press a series of "OK" buttons. DynDOLOD is tricker. Custom LODs are trickier. This isn't anything.

 

edit: Rather, since we're talking SE, get SELODGen. But you still use the same Vanilla boards from the original Lodgen page.

Edited May 28, 2018 by kthompsen

[TheWilloughbian]

That "better method" is pretty well known though: DynDOLOD. That's the only safe alternative to using uGrids hacks.

 

Wouldn't it have been easier just to say this in the first place. Instead of calling somebody "dumb" and "foolish".

 

 

dumb

 

foolish

 

 

 

And I'd wager the reason people get irritated by all this is that it's information that's out there easily found if one spends 5 minutes to find it. Skyrim modders are people too - we get just as annoyed at having to repeat ourselves as anyone else.

 

I don't imagine that anyone is forcing anybody to reply to any given topic. If someone doesn't want to help out the new guy they don't have to. But, there is no call to discourage an open dialogue on a particular topic, or be even remotely unkind.

 

A simple post such as...…..

 

"Try this instead https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59721/ http://forum.step-project.com/topic/13029-dyndolod-236-skyrim-se-beta-with-dynamic-lod/. It's a better/safer way of doing what you are trying to accomplish."...……..

 

...…… would have sufficed and would have helped/educated anyone that was interested in this topic.

 

 

 

I had no idea what DynDOLOD is. I'm sure other people are in the same boat. If you asked me about converting OBJ/3DS/DAE/FBX to NIF and importing it to the game, I would be a little more knowledgeable. But, ENB and custom LOD is not something I have really gotten into. I have a basic understanding of how to use Oscape and SSELODGen, but that's about it. I've never tried generating LOD for the Tamriel worldspace.

 

That's the thing I like about this hobby, is that there is always something new to learn, always the drive to push what the possibilities are. I enjoy sharing the experience I've had trying different tweaks and modifications. And maybe I'm getting a little uppity. I just don't see a need for anyone to be condescending. There's a bit of a learning curve when it comes to this hobby and nothing wrong with someone asking questions and having a discussion about what they don't know. Just think. There's a good chance this little exchange will help someone to further enjoy the hobby. The best advice I've every gotten about it is, "Have Fun".