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A Question About LODs


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I like making enclosed little world spaces that have mountains and raised up ground around them (much like Bloated Man's Grotto). The problem is that in game there are no lod models for them and so they just disappear. You need to go in quite close before they pop into view. Before they do, all you see is sky.

I have read and tried to follow LOD-creation tutorials on Youtube and on CKWiki https://ck.uesp.net/wiki/Creating_a_Custom_Worldspace_with_LOD , but those tend to fall flat when it is time to use the .bat file to convert the DDS's into TGA's. I have the notepad file and the nxConvert exe in the same file as the DDS's and everything, all of the programs and Steam and Skyrim live on my D-drive.  I double-click on the Notepad .bat-file and it will not run. I tried going through the whole process twice, but it just will not run.

I'm not computer savvy myself at all. I'm just trying to follow the instructions but I have little to no personal understanding  about what I'm doing.

 

If I cannot create LODs, is it possible to let people create them themselves with Dyndolod? I have not used Dyndolod myself, because it is (or at least it used to be) quite complited to set up for someone who does not understand what they are doing. 

Thank you.

 

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https://tes5edit.github.io/docs/16-xLODGen.html

it is combination and xEdit and DynDoLod

https://tes5edit.github.io/docs/17-DynDoLod.html

thanks for the memories, I beta tested DynDoLod, way before  it it had a wizard and was all manual, its easy has now.... imagined doing that with no wizard 

Edit, that was a lot years ago, I can remember doing it, I knew xEdit was involved, but I do not remember the details, I am sorry about that 

Edited by PeterMartyr
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So, basically Dyndolod is kind of like a tool for creating a mod that contains lods for my game?  Others could use it too, then, and make their own LODs.

I don't even want to imagine. I find it all stressful enough as it is. XD I'm only considering using Dyndolod now myself, because it became easier.

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OK I need to be more specific xEdit has a LOD  gen, it should fixed your issues with vanilla, and create the asset for DynDoLod, but you may need to supply some billboards

remember it has been years for me, just trying to point you in the right direction with some lite reading 

EDIT open xEdit ...

  1. load your mod
  2. once loaded right click it
  3. hover over "Other" with the cursor
  4. click "Generate LOD"

Just wanna add, any thing xEdit can do, CK can too, except clean plugin's,  so I am fairly confident somewhere somehow it can be done there too

 

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LOL just wanna add some of CK features can only be access via command line arguments if you cannot find them, LIKE make a ESL plugin for SE OR make a SEQ file for example. that why xEdit mimic it, for those that cannot not write code ))

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/13/2024 at 4:41 PM, PeterMartyr said:

OK I need to be more specific xEdit has a LOD  gen, it should fixed your issues with vanilla, and create the asset for DynDoLod, but you may need to supply some billboards

remember it has been years for me, just trying to point you in the right direction with some lite reading 

EDIT open xEdit ...

  1. load your mod
  2. once loaded right click it
  3. hover over "Other" with the cursor
  4. click "Generate LOD"

Just wanna add, any thing xEdit can do, CK can too, except clean plugin's,  so I am fairly confident somewhere somehow it can be done there too

 

Well, thanks. You're very nice to try and help anyway, even though it has been a while for you.  I'll try that. But if I need to somehow supply the bilboards, that might be my undoing. Heh.

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I'm adding my "what I did" steps, just in case someone wonders.

Ok, as instructed:
-Starting XEdit.

Wait, what? So "XEdit" means SSEEdit, and the "X" stands for "whatever games we cover"? Or something?

Well, opening SSEEdit. Loading mods. Picking GPI (my mod). Right-clicking. Choosing "other". Generate LOD.

"Objects LOD generation for Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim VR is possible in xLODGen mode either by renaming executable to SSELODGen.exe or running with -lodgen command line parameter.

What? So I need to copy the exe and rename it into SSELODGen?

I click OK and get a box that suggests Tamriel "Skyrim" LOD generation, Trees LOD is checked. Up on the same window there is an "objects" LOD, which is un-checkable. That will be precisely the box that I need to check for my mod. I need mountains. Even if I get nothing else, I would be happy if I had mountains.

Now to cancel and do the whole copy-rename -thing.

Okeydok.

SSELODGen.exe renamed. Clickety-click!

...Aaand my mod does not appear on the LOD generation list. Info text says: "Only worldspaces that have existing lodsettings file "LODSettings\<Worldspace>.lod" are shown either in the Data folder, or in BSA/BA2 archives. Archives are loaded similar to the game itself - the ones specified in the game ini file and those that match loaded plugin names.

...So! Data file it is!

Pressing "cancel" and rushing off to create a file called LODSettings\<Dustmote_Gold_Pile_Isle>.lod

But do I need to include the... what are they called? https://www.computerhope.com/keys.htm ANGLE BRACKETS? I'll include them anyway. If I shouldn't have, I'm sure I will find out.

Ok. "The file name cannot include any of the following characters:", and it removed all of the offending characters by itself, leaving me with a file that is called: LODSettingsDustmote_Gold_Pile_Isle.lod

Back to SSELODGen. And waaait. And -my mod still does not appear in the list of available worldspaces. Only the original Skyrim and Skyrim DLC files are listed.

If I built the atlas for Skyrim, would it appear in some form that I could use in my worldspace? Would the files no longer be TGA's? I don't know, so I won't try. I don't want to destroy my game (Slow internet and all that. Takes hours to reload.) But I am soooo tempted...

I don't click that button. I don't know what would happen, after all. I press cancel.

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3 hours ago, Dustmo7e said:

Wait, what? So "XEdit" means SSEEdit, and the "X" stands for "whatever games we cover"? Or something?

Exactly.  The same program is used with Skyrim LE (as TES5Edit) and a few other Bethesda games: Oblivion (as TES4Edit), Fallout 3 (as FO3Edit), Fallout: New Vegas (as FNVEdit), and Fallout 4 (as FO4Edit).  I don't think it works with Starfield yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if that gets added eventually.

3 hours ago, Dustmo7e said:

But do I need to include the... what are they called? https://www.computerhope.com/keys.htm ANGLE BRACKETS? I'll include them anyway. If I shouldn't have, I'm sure I will find out.

Ok. "The file name cannot include any of the following characters:", and it removed all of the offending characters by itself

Yah, for future reference, you usually leave those out in these kind of situations.

 

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16 hours ago, AaronOfMpls said:

Exactly.  The same program is used with Skyrim LE (as TES5Edit) and a few other Bethesda games: Oblivion (as TES4Edit), Fallout 3 (as FO3Edit), Fallout: New Vegas (as FNVEdit), and Fallout 4 (as FO4Edit).  I don't think it works with Starfield yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if that gets added eventually.

Yah, for future reference, you usually leave those out in these kind of situations.

 

So much to learn... 😅

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