Fallout 4 Optimization and Performance Systems Explained

[MissingMeshTV]

Thanks for the input, everyone. It’s very much appreciated! I think the idea of a separate video aimed at mod authors is an excellent suggestion. It’s something that was in the back of my mind as my intent with this initial project would be to make it as concise and as focused as possible on the simple basics…the target audience being Betty and Bob Moduser who have little or no comprehension of our beloved optimization system: a sort of “Precombines for Dummies,” if you will.

 

I think the longest this should be is 15 minutes (give or take a few minutes...most likely on the "give" side) as short attention spans prevail and overloading with too much info upfront would be counter-productive methinks. The challenge will be to boil it down to the most essential bits for the lowest common denominator of users, hence my thought of focusing on the basics from the first page of the thread. Any additional video aimed at authors would certainly be longer and more in depth. Suggestions for that author-focused video will also be appreciated.

 

payl0ad: I have a nasty habit of randomly using obscure pop culture references. So much so that I’m planning to use one in the video title: “The Fallout 4 Optimization System Explained or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Precombined Meshes.” :happy:

[Trosski]

 

“The Fallout 4 Optimization System Explained or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Precombined Meshes.” :happy:

Lol!

[Trosski]

Would serve well to have a comprehensive video for the masses. +1 from me.

 

Has it been covered or mentioned, where scrappable objects clipping with static objects (that are otherwise unscrappable) are either ignored by precalc generation or causing any issues? I just noticed some trash piles etc getting scrapped along with the scrappable object they were clipped with. Can't recall if it was raised or not.

Those are being ignored by the system because of the WorkshopStackedItemParentKEYWORD. It links multiple refs to another ref, and when that object is scrapped it removes the other objects as well. This is most notably used at the Nukaworld Red Rocket Settlement. It was something they didn't really use for settlement cleanup outside of Nuclear Barrels until Nukaworld was released. I think it had to do with people being upset that they couldn't get rid of trash piles, and other debris in vanilla settlements.

 

I used that keyword as part of an example of how to do precombines when making things that aren't otherwise scrappable disappear with other objects in my video, but I didn't go into detail about it.

[yakalrad]

Trosski, if I am not mistaken, I believe it was actually Far Harbor when they started linking trash and debris to scrappable objects. A lot of the debris in the FH settlements disappears with vanilla cleanup, Echo Lake Lumber Mill is a great example of where this happens.

[SMB92]

Thanks Trosski, indeed I remember now.

[ZeroAndOne]

But this post is sooooooooooooo long. LOL Good night everyone. :-D

[Trosski]

Trosski, if I am not mistaken, I believe it was actually Far Harbor when they started linking trash and debris to scrappable objects. A lot of the debris in the FH settlements disappears with vanilla cleanup, Echo Lake Lumber Mill is a great example of where this happens.

It could have been... I have very limited settlement building experience in Far Harbor. I only really did what was necessary to progress the story in that DLC.

[payl0ad]

 

payl0ad: I have a nasty habit of randomly using obscure pop culture references. So much so that I’m planning to use one in the video title: “The Fallout 4 Optimization System Explained or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Precombined Meshes.” :happy:

 

 

Made me chuckle. Go for it. ;)

[yakalrad]

I was wondering if any of the heavies in this thread have looked any further into the Nuka-World bottle scenery glitch and what causes it? For those that may not know what the NW bottle glitch is, apparently the vanilla bottle scenery models are bugged in such a way that certain mods can cause them to become gigantically enlarged, and although they have no collision, they obstruct your view. When this glitch happens, it is most noticeable inside the Cola Cars Arena but it does occur elsewhere in Nuka-World, like at the entrance to Dry Rock Gulch, at the Bottling Plant, among other places.

 

There is a mod to fix this glitch, which from what I understand basically replaces the bugged models with new identical ones, found here on Nexus: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17853/ This Fix mod is also available for Xbox and PC (not PS4) on Bethesda.net. Since there is no PS4 version, I am left to assume that the only fix to this glitch, by replacing the models, is not possible on that system due to the Sony restrictions on external assets. If I am wrong in my assumption, please let me know.

 

The reason I am bringing this up is because I have only ever seen this glitch appear on console, both on Xbox and PS4, when I was using a mod that allowed scrapping throughout the entirety of Nuka-World. So it started me thinking, in much the same way that it has been shown that texture swaps happen when precombineds are disabled, is the catalyst for this NW bottle glitch actually broken precombineds? As long as these bottle models are contained within a precombined mesh, they appear normal sized, but the moment you disable the precombineds, they buff up like a weightlifter on steroids? If so, it is just another piece to the puzzle. Thoughts?

[Trosski]

I've never seen that glitch, but whether it is caused by broken precombines could be tested easily by generating new precombines for the cell, and uploading it to test on an affected XBOne. if that is the case, then PS4 users are SOL.