Frostcrag LOD Bug

[jemiari]

I've been getting this glitch where a chunk of a mountain that comprises Frostcrag Spire doesn't show up at a distance. Has this been happening to anyone else?

 

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1329/frostcraglodglitch.th.jpg

[SteelCrusader]

I'm getting the same, especially from a distance. This was a while ago, so did you manage to find out why this occurred?

[DavidBudreck]

You can reset your LOD yourself with Tes4LODgen. I use this pretty much after any change, adding or removing mods.

 

Tes4LODgen

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15781

[SteelCrusader]

Thanks, but I have already tried to use that tool to fix this. It works for everything else, including RAEVWD (because now I can see all the forts and ruins in the distance just fine), so I know its working and I'm not using it incorrectly, at least not for everything but Frostcrag Reborn. Also, I noticed that when I use TES4LODGen, Frostcrag has only one tower visible, instead of several.

 

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd304/SteelCrusader/Frostcrag/crop4.jpg

Starting from the Imperial Sewer, I "fly" with console command tcl towards frostcrag. This is what distant LOD frostcrag looked like before running TES4LODGen. I've read that in the original mod, the author had to use the fully upgraded (I guess you add "pieces" to your tower?) version to show at LOD, but if you got close, they'd revert to less fancy untill you upgraded in game. TBH I'm ok with this restriction, but obivously, this is floating in air, and thats not cool. What seems to be missing is not any part of the building itself, but the rocks and snow underneath that form the foundation of the tower. Whats underneath now is just the bare, vanilla mountain top as though FC isn't there.

 

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd304/SteelCrusader/Frostcrag/th_crop1.jpg

After running TES4LODGen, the appearance changes. This is because it takes the real architecture data from the meshes folder and overwrites the LOD stuff the mod author used. So it shows my unupgraded tower, fine. I'm OK with that. What is still missing is MOST of the rocks/snow that support those wooden beams underneath the "house" part. Curiously, we do get ONE rock at the base of the main tower.

 

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd304/SteelCrusader/Frostcrag/th_crop2.jpg

I continue flying, getting pretty close. The building is still floating, although this angle is hard to tell from. The wooden beams aren't attached to anything. They're just, floating. Also notice the strange little symbols/sigils or whatever that I assume are part of the fully upgraded tower that TES4LODGen decided it wanted to include.

 

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd304/SteelCrusader/Frostcrag/th_crop3.jpg

Once I get close enough, there's an abrupt shift: The supporting rocks and snow appear all around Frostcrag, but the supporting pillars disappear. This is some kind of .ini object draw distance issue that I'm not overly concerned about. You'd never actually approach frostcrag from this angle in game. TES4LODGen seems to ignore these rocks and snow when it makes the distant LOD for frostcrag.

 

So my question is: What does it look like for everyone else who has it, from long distance near the imperial sewer exit (or anywhere else distant for that matter)? What distant LOD mesh/texture am I missing that is causing this? I'm certain the author didn't go through the trouble of making a sweet distant LOD for this tower only to have it apparently suspended in mid air. Also, nowhere does the mod say it relies or TES4LODGen, or assume you have it at all. I would think that a vanilla install of Oblivion (GOTY steam edition for me) + Frostcrag would have everything it needs out of the box.

 

Any help would be appreciated. This is really bothering me, since its visible EVERYWHERE outside. Thanks in advance.

[forli]

If you use TES4LODGen, you need to enable HDR. I don't know why (You have to read the TesNexus page of the mod), otherwise the new LOD will be invisible.

[SteelCrusader]

I always have HDR on. I double checked anyways, re-ran TES4LODGen, and same result.

 

Can someone please post an image of what distant LOD frostcrag reborn is supposed to look like from this angle?

[SteelCrusader]

Problem solved: sort of.

 

Using the OMOD fixed everything. For some reason, using Wrye Bash's installer tab on the archives "missed" installing the distant LOD rock meshes. I can't imagine why, they're present in the archives, in the correct folder, and have no conflicts....

 

Meh. Too lazy to figure it out. I've spent too much time modding and not enough playing. Thanks for offering to help, y'all.

[ArmeniusLOD]

Are you using version 287 of Wrye Bash? This version specifically fixes a bug in BAIN where it would skip files when you install it. Also make sure that the "Skip LOD" option isn't checked when right-clicking on the file column in the "Installers" tab.

[SteelCrusader]

I don't have skip LOD checked, but I *am* using v. 275! Good catch, as I'm sure this will save me untold headaches in the future as well. I think I'll try to see if installing w the updated version fixes the problem like installing w the OMOD did. thanks much!

[ArmeniusLOD]

You're welcome! Personally, I prefer Bash over OBMM. OBMM just seems so bloated, as it has a lot of features I don't need (except when I need to convert an .omod to a .7z :P). Beyond being programmed in Python, Bash is a much cleaner application.