How do I change the terrain LOD draw distance?

[Aelius28]

I'm trying to make comparison screenshots between two different versions of a mod (HD Enhanced Terrain) that enhances the texture of that blurry low-detail distant terrain. Apparently the mod author didn't think it was worth 3 minutes of time to do this himself. The thing is, in order to get a better view of the difference, I want the distance at which terrain gets rendered in this low detail to decrease, so that the land gets blurry closer to me. Unfortunately, I can't find this setting in the .ini files. I've spent the last 15 minutes searching Google for how to change the distance at which terrain becomes blurry and low detail, but I couldn't find it.

 

Before you suggest it:

 

uGridsToLoad doesn't seem to affect ground LOD distance. It only seems to affect things like objects and rocks.

fGrassStartFadeDistance affects the 3d grass that sprouts from the ground, not the terrain texture.

The fLODFadeOutMult settings affect objects, items, actors, and the sky, not the terrain.

 

And also, it must be possible, because the mod author manages to provide screenshots (not comparison ones, of course,) where the draw distance for distant terrain textures is practically 0, or, right next to him.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Aelius28

[jet4571]

If the LOD textures are not redone then the normal up close textures wont matter. But to change the normal blur of the regular textures and Not LOD would be to adjust the anistropic filtering or iMaxAnisotropy= in SkyrimPrefs.ini. change the value to 0, 4, 8, or 16.

 

As for comparison shots you need to use the same settings for both otherwise its not really a comparison when the setting are different and the settiongs could make the normal textures look worse than they normaly do and thats exactly what you are looking for by wanting to make them blurry closer to you.

 

If you choose to take before and after screenshots with different anistropic settings I hope the author doesnt use them because they would not be accurate.

[Aelius28]

If the LOD textures are not redone then the normal up close textures wont matter. But to change the normal blur of the regular textures and Not LOD would be to adjust the anistropic filtering or iMaxAnisotropy= in SkyrimPrefs.ini. change the value to 0, 4, 8, or 16.

 

As for comparison shots you need to use the same settings for both otherwise its not really a comparison when the setting are different and the settiongs could make the normal textures look worse than they normaly do and thats exactly what you are looking for by wanting to make them blurry closer to you.

 

If you choose to take before and after screenshots with different anistropic settings I hope the author doesnt use them because they would not be accurate.

 

You misunderstand. I said: "I want the distance at which terrain gets rendered in this low detail to decrease, so that the land gets blurry closer to me."

 

I don't want the non-LOD terrain to be low quality. I want the LOD terrain to be drawn closer.

[jet4571]

Skyrimprefs.ini, All below is all about LOD. Set for mid range system so should render LOD ealier than a high end system.

[Display]

fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=3600.0000

fDecalLOD2=1500.0000
fDecalLOD1=1000.0000
fSpecularLODStartFade=500.0000
fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
fLightLODStartFade=1000.0000
iTexMipMapMinimum=0
iTexMipMapSkip=0

fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=3072.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=4096.0000

 

*edit,

Are you sure you want LOD to draw closer? LOD makes things look like crap up close because it is far less detailed. You can say LOD stands for Loss Of Detail just as easy as Level of Detail. If you want LOD to draw closer it is a simple matter of dropping to min settings then tweaking some to make normal objects look good without touching LOD. Either way making the LOD draw closer just makes the scene look bad. If you want the scene to look better you want LOD to render further away so the high poly and high resolution textures apply for anything close.

 

Since you are trying to get comparisons shots of ground textures anistropic at 16 would get the best comparison shots if used for both. That will allow users to see the finer detail without blur making it hard to tell, and many people will see anistropic filtering shut off in one and 16 in another. They will really notice LOD being changed.

 

If you want to maximize the detail of the scene you would use

[imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=0
iRadialBlurLevel=0
bDoRadialBlur=0

 

Now do the opposite of the imagespace settings above and make the LOD settings lower and you will have a not so good looking blurry scene but get exactly what you want and thats closer LOD.

 

**Edit again,

I have a feeling you don't really want the LOD to draw closer. So download this http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49757/ and enter that worldspace. the LOD is not done right and draws close. You will see the differance if you compare that to Whiterun. That island will draw the LOD close to you without any setting changes.

Edited January 14, 2014 by jet4571

[Aelius28]

I found out that I can use the TFC console command to free roam with the camera, which allows me to get closer to the distant LOD so I can get a better look at the texture.