[CK HELP] How to fragment vanilla static collection ?

[SammyMemento]

Hi, what the title say, I known how to fragment alt+U but U can't do that to vanilla collection it does nothing. Would like to use the HighTech buildings, retexture them or change some part but even just duplicate them seem to not work as they dissapear after I reload my plugin.

[South8028]

All vanilla, like all building meshes in general, have long been exported by some author into one mod (I'll look for the name later). The meshes of hi tech buildings there definitely were everything that is in the game, only with the added bs connect points.

[greekrage]

Hi, what the title say, I known how to fragment alt+U but U can't do that to vanilla collection it does nothing. Would like to use the HighTech buildings, retexture them or change some part but even just duplicate them seem to not work as they dissapear after I reload my plugin.

have you tried "recreate nif from data " ?

[niston]

The name of the mod South8028 refers to: Snappy Housekit.

But the parts in there don't have any LOD meshes assigned.

[South8028]

The name of the mod South8028 refers to: Snappy Housekit.

But the parts in there don't have any LOD meshes assigned.

I donât know at all how lod's work in ce. Once I even thought that lod's are generated automatically, due to the optimizer built into the engine, which recalculates the number of polygons, depending on the distance to the object. Ahaha. ) But actually we are still in the Stone Age.

[niston]

There is the possibility to assign up to 4 LOD level meshes (NIFs) to objects in CK:

 

 

Level 0 is highest detail, Level 3 is lowest detail. You could use distinct meshes for each level, but the vanilla game objects usually just reuse the same mesh for all their LOD levels.

 

These meshes will be used for the LOD Generation Process (such as with xLODGen), which then weaves them into giant NIFs (IIRC, the NIFs it generates are for 4x4 cells, 8x8, 16x16 and 32x32 cells, maybe even 64x64).

If a mesh for a level is not assigned, that LOD level will not have the object in it.

For example, level 3 has very few objects in it - Even things like the overpasses do not have a Level 3 mesh assigned.

If an object does not have any LOD meshes assigned, it won't appear in the LOD at all.

In fact, many vanilla objects (such as the one in the pic above) do not have LOD meshes assigned. Consequently, they won't be visible in the LOD at all.

Some mods exist which provide LOD meshes for more objects. But the situation is generally a bit dire.

 

There's actually more to making LOD meshes than just reducing the number of polygons (altho that is very important).

You also need to change stuff like windows from transparent material to something not transparent, replace doors and such and possibly unroll matswaps directly into the LOD meshes.

 

Also funny: The Levels 0 to 3 in the dialog above do not correspond directly with the actual LOD levels in game.

 

Another thing to note is, LOD meshes usually represent an entire building or other object. When you assign LOD meshes to individual walls etc (like the stuff in Snappy Housekit), that can tank performance because instead of 2 tris for one side wall of a building, you're going to have multiple tris for each of the pieces that make up the wall, which might sum up quickly if you have large buildings. Problem then is, the LOD stuff will be loaded even if you're not in the cell (of course).

[South8028]

There is the possibility to assign up to 4 LOD level meshes (NIFs) to objects in CK:

ÃÂ

ÃÂ

Level 0 is highest detail, Level 3 is lowest detail. You could use distinct meshes for each level, but the vanilla game objects usually just reuse the same mesh for all their LOD levels.

ÃÂ

These meshes will be used for the LOD Generation Process (such as with xLODGen), which then weaves them into giant NIFs (IIRC, the NIFs it generates are for 4x4 cells, 8x8, 16x16 and 32x32 cells, maybe even 64x64).

If a mesh for a level is not assigned, that LOD level will not have the object in it.

For example, level 3 has very few objects in it - Even things like the overpasses do not have a Level 3 mesh assigned.

If an object does not have any LOD meshes assigned, it won't appear in the LOD at all.

In fact, many vanilla objects (such as the one in the pic above) do not have LOD meshes assigned. Consequently, they won't be visible in the LOD at all.

Some mods exist which provide LOD meshes for more objects. But the situation is generally a bit dire.

ÃÂ

There's actually more to making LOD meshes than just reducing the number of polygons (altho that is very important).

You also need to change stuff like windows from transparent material to something not transparent, replace doors and such and possibly unroll matswaps directly into the LOD meshes.

ÃÂ

Also funny: The Levels 0 to 3 in the dialog above do not correspond directly with the actual LOD levels in game.

ÃÂ

Another thing to note is, LOD meshes usually represent an entire building or other object. When you assign LOD meshes to individual walls etc (like the stuff in Snappy Housekit), that can tank performance because instead of 2 tris for one side wall of a building, you're going to have multiple tris for each of the pieces that make up the wall, which might sum up quickly if you have large buildings. Problem then is, the LOD stuff will be loaded even if you're not in the cell (of course).

Thanks. Nice detailed description. The game has, for example, a mass fusion building. It's probably the biggest one in the game. It is assembled including from small building elements, 128,256,512 each. Perhaps you can assemble a skyscraper from small objects, and then just make a separate very low-poly 3D model of the entire building for it? Edited October 29, 2021 by South8028

[niston]

Yup I think so. Could probably export as Static Collection NIF and then import in 3d editor, combine objects and reduce polygons etc.

[South8028]

Yup I think so. Could probably export as Static Collection NIF and then import in 3d editor, combine objects and reduce polygons etc.

It could be easier. Take screenshots of the building from all projections. Prepare textures, assign materials to the planes, scaling the projections as accurately as possible. Just make a low poly model from these simple 3D drawings. That's what everyone usually does. This is how I make clothes and shoes. With this size; huge buildings; jewelry accuracy is not required, but the projections can be used to make an object quite accurately. It's probably easier than exporting hundreds of meshes to max and tinkering with them for a very low poly model. Edited October 30, 2021 by South8028