LE Massive interior, need help with optimization

[griever7x]

To any interior makers extraordinaire:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I assume you have looked at the screenshots. Is there ANY conceivable way of effectively optimizing this interior with room markers/roombounds and portals?

 

If not, would it be a better idea to make this as a worldspace and why ( I guess LOD would play a big part in this, and grass is nice to have )?

 

Keep in mind I want to preserve the lighting shown in the very first pics, and I am not sure this would be possible in a worldspace, but then again I am still a novice in some areas, such as worldspaces and LOD, so my understanding is not too broad.

 

Thanks in advance

[dalsio]

AFAIK you should be able to make a worldspace have no lighting, and then control the lighting from there. At worst you can always modify the lighting manually with scripts etc.

 

As for optimization, you might consider some type of fog. If you put it far enough away, it shouldn't be too noticeable and can allow you more aggressive LOD without looking too jarring. I don't know if you can modify LOD stepping, but if you can having more aggressive LOD with very light fog may be a good solution.

 

You also might consider making the space look bigger but actually scaling it down. I know that interior decorating has a lot of interesting techniques for making a space look bigger or smaller. You probably won't be able to scale it down too much with that, but every little bit helps.

Edited August 28, 2016 by dalsio

[griever7x]

Thanks for the advice, I'm guessing you think doing this in a worldspace is better than in an interior right?

 

Guess I will have to make a worldspace version and see how it compares...

 

Not sure what you mean by fog though. Do you mean those items found under the "moveable statics" category, or the fog values editable in the lighting template/cell windows?

Not sure how fog would help with performance...

[MadTod]

I'd just like to add that you can indeed make a worldspace without light, Blackreach for instance.

 

I'm not 100% sure as I've not looked but I think it's achievable without scripts, it could just be a ticky box or dropdown menu, have a look at Blackreach's data to be sure.

[NexusComa]

[griever7x]

Right, forgot about Blackreach, going to look at it.

 

As for darkfox's optimization tutorial, I've already watched it; it does mention occlusion planes and I'm aware they can be put inside big models like buildings/cliffs but I don't think it's going to be enough for my interior, what seems to be needed the most is breaking the very very long line of sight from one end of the interior to the other...

 

Unless I'm not aware of something else in that video that could help? Sorry, you didn't actually say anything and only linked a video in your post so I can only make assumptions.

[thumbincubation]

If I'm correct in my understanding that it's currently in an interior cell (?) then I think the fog suggestion was about the fog setting under the lighting tab, when you edit interior cells. Generally, I believe it's set so you can just start to see some haze, when you're in a normal sized room, at the outer edges. In a big enough room, you wouldn't be able to see the far walls. You can also adjust near/far and power. 0 max setting = no fog. That being said, I don't know much (at all) about optimization, so I can't say if this would help or hurt, but it's a quick and easily-reversed experiment.

 

Here's a link to the lighting template tutorial. http://www.creationkit.com/index.php?title=Lighting_Template

Edited August 29, 2016 by thumbincubation

[dalsio]

When I say fog I specifically mean simple fog; that is, on a very basic level, a constantly moving "sheet of white" that always sits in the distance (as opposed to volumetric fog or smoke which are visual effects). It's the haze, and eventually pure white that you see looking off into the distance of any open-world game. Simple fog helps with performance in two ways:

1. It's easier for a GPU to render simple fog than the textures that are hidden by it.

2. It obfuscates LOD, so that it can be made a bit more aggressive without being too noticeable by the player.

 

In skyrim, simple fog acts like a 3d filter, getting more and more hazy the farther away it is until it ends in an opaque sheet.

 

In short, simple fog is basically exactly what you're asking for: A "break" in a very large space that isn't too noticeable by the player because it's constantly both obscuring, and marking the edge of their view.

 

And yes, if you can make it a worldspace I would. As long as you've set the mipmaps for your textures right, LOD can make a big difference and fog can help make LOD less obvious. I don't know what kind of options there are for interior fog in Skyrim, but I'm pretty sure exterior fog can be easily controlled and altered.

[griever7x]

Thanks, I understand what you mean now.

 

I tested this in a new worldspace, and the problem I seem to be having is with lights.

The ones I'm using have a huge radius that affects more than one cell, and it doesn't look right...

Is there any way to preserve their appearance through multiple cells? Because otherwise a worldspace is not an option anymore.

[NexusComa]

you can always size your lights with S and the mouse

Edited August 31, 2016 by NexusComa