Need help! Would someone please generte the LOD for sun valley

[kevinshively]

Ok so ive been working on Sun Valley for over a year now and it should be done by this weekend. I really need help with Generating to LOD of Sun Valleys world space. every atempt ive made has failed or has cause the world to become completly flat in game. i really need some help dont want all of my years work to be thrown out the window because of this one thing. If you can do this for me you will be added to the credits and considered a co creater of the mod I really need some help with this. :wallbash:

[kibblesticks]

Ok so ive been working on Sun Valley for over a year now and it should be done by this weekend. I really need help with Generating to LOD of Sun Valleys world space. every atempt ive made has failed or has cause the world to become completly flat in game. i really need some help dont want all of my years work to be thrown out the window because of this one thing. If you can do this for me you will be added to the credits and considered a co creater of the mod I really need some help with this. :wallbash:

 

If someone would release a LOD essentials pack, like Chucksteel did for Fallout 3 (thanks Chuck), I'd happily give generating your LOD a bash. Problem is I don't have all the neccessary TGA textures and I have no inclination to find and convert every single one needed. Chuck released his pack for NV but it's the same one as for Fallout3 and is therefore missing the NV files. So if someone releases a NV mod with all the neccessary textures then I'll have a go for you. It'd also be an awesome resource for all Worldspace builders.

[chucksteel]

Kibblesticks,

 

my NV LOD pack has the proper files for FNV what do you mean it's the same as the one I uploaded for FO3? I just checked to make sure I didn't upload the wrong file by mistake. I've used it myself to Generate LOD for other people. It may not be 100% complete but, that is because I haven't ben able to fully test it.

 

Kevinshively,

 

Send me the file and, I'll give it a go for you.

 

chuck

[kibblesticks]

It is the same LOD pack as you uploaded for FO3 isn't it? I just meant it's not complete for NV LOD generation and I'm too lazy to finish it :tongue: Mainly because I don't know how many seconds/minutes/hours it's going to take to convert the remaining NV dds files.

[chucksteel]

It is not the same as the one for FO3 I went through and found as many of the LOD fils as I could in NV. I'm guessing it's about 95% complete but it's not fully tested. For some reason not all of the LOD file end, with LOD making it impossible to know if I've found, converted and packed them all up. I'm going to run LOD for Kevinshively so if I find any missing files I'll do an update.

 

It does have most of the file needed for NV LOD generation though and, you should use it I and, let me know if you find any errors.

 

chuck

[kibblesticks]

It does have most of the file needed for NV LOD generation though and, you should use it I and, let me know if you find any errors.

 

Ah sorry, didn't realise you'd added other files.

 

Okay, well I got this one:

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j454/kibblesticks/LODerror.jpg

 

I haven't bothered converting the file because like I said before, I don't know how many files there are going to need converting after that one and I'd rather spend my time modelling :tongue: Would be very grateful for an update for the pack when you generate Sun Valley. Looking forward to it! ;)

[chucksteel]

Just so you know, I'll never be able to fully test this pack and, get it 100% with out the help of other modders. I've tried my best to pack up all the LOD file but, as you've already found I'm not perfect. http://forums.nexusmods.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/whistling.gif It's worked on the worldspaces I've done I'll find that file and, add it but even when I run the LOD for Kevinshively I still won't be able to guarantee it will be 100%.

 

chuck

[avianrave]

I've got a nice amount of the TGAs reconverted. I had to scale a lot of them down though, as apparently there is a max size for the LOD texture palate.

 

You could send me a link via pm link if you want me to take a shot at it.

[chucksteel]

I've got a nice amount of the TGAs reconverted. I had to scale a lot of them down though, as apparently there is a max size for the LOD texture palate.

 

You could send me a link via pm link if you want me to take a shot at it.

 

 

I've ben trying to help Kevin myself but, my GECK keeps crashing! I haven't given up yet but, maybe you'll have better luck.

 

The GECK keeps stalling out while Disseminating Meshes so, I've never even gotten to try to run the textures. I'm starting to think it might have something to dow with the fact the mod relies on all four main DLC, Speedy and, Monster mod.

 

I was going to try striping out the 3rd party masters and, see if it helps but, at this point I'm just making guesses.

 

chuck

 

 

[avianrave]

How many chunks are in the mesh? I usually have good luck around the 60 range, and have trouble in landscapes larger than that. That is some rule that I decided on last year, but that was working on a landscape in a weird shape. I think it might have to do with how the LOD mesh is generated in specific sizes. If you have a cross section that is more then 16 cells wide or high, then GECK will need to generate a 32x32 cell. Each increase in cell size requires an exponentially more processing.

 

Here is what EMH (creator of Alton IL - Huge World and Quest Mod) told me about a year ago.

 

Alright, here we go. This process took me about two days worth of work, so get comfortable. :P

For this, you'll obviously need your .esp, the GECK, and FO3Edit. Before anything, back up your .esp. FO3Edit can be risky, so back it up and keep it safe.

 

1) In FO3Edit, load your .esp and whatever dependencies it has.

 

 

2) When it's finished loading, find your .esp, navigate to World Spaces, your worldspace (AltonDowntownWorld, in my case), then Blocks. I had 12 blocks in mine, which added up to 439 total terrain chunks.

 

 

3) This is where it gets tedious. What you need to do is deep copy as override the blocks individually into a new .esp. You can do this by right clicking the block and selecting the option. Each block needs to be a seperate, new .esp, otherwise the GECK likes to lock up.

I ended up having 12 new .esp's alongside my 'Alton, IL.esp'. I had AltonLOD1 all the way to AltonLOD12.

 

Diverging from the steps here, the reason that the GECK locks up during LOD generation is the border blocks. These blocks, even though they are usually a flat nif or a cube, give the GECK a really tough time. This is why the seperate .esp's are important.

 

When using deep copy override, make sure to make a new .esp for each. It might take a little while to copy it over, but before you save and close, navigate to your NEW .esp's World Spaces record and make sure that it has the new worldspace AND the block that you copied over. If it only has the worldspace, but no block records under it, simply click deep copy override again on the same block as before.

 

When I was going through and doing this, I closed FO3Edit every time after creating a new .esp. This seemed to minimize crashes, but you might not have to. Again, the important part is to have a seperate .esp for every single block.

 

 

4) Next, open up the GECK. Load up the first of the .esp's that you created, and generate terrain meshes. Most of the time, the blocks you generate should have either 80 chunks, or 12. The 80 chunk ones, surprisingly, will generate MUCH faster than the 12's, as the 12 are the border blocks. The 80's took around 15 minutes for me, and the 12's took 30-40.

 

 

5) When this is done, generate terrain textures, grab them from the Source/Textures TGA/Landscape/LOD/Worldspace Name, rename the DiffuseGenerated folder to Diffuse, and move them into your standard Data/Textures/Landscape/LOD folder.

 

 

Do steps 4 and 5 for every .esp you created. When you're done, you should have a full set of LOD meshes and textures.

 

There is a tradeoff, however- you will not be able to generate objects. This is due to the fact that LOD relies on the .DLODSettings file in Data/LODSettings for displaying LOD. I've basically figured it out through a weeks worth of hex editing, and with this method, objects will not show up. I don't know why, but they won't.

 

The problem is that the GECK, since we're using an extreme workaround, has no idea that you're generating LOD for your original .esp. The game is simply reading the .nifs we created using the workaround and saying, "Oh hey, I guess I'll show these, they have the right name!"

 

But there was also a major coincidence that happened after going through this whole process. As I handed the files off to a friend of mine who wanted to mess with them (we've tried LOD on his computer dozens of times previously), LOD magically worked... on the main .esp. All 439 chunks of it. It took a week or so, but it worked, and now LOD objects work to. So hey, maybe this does something that I can't figure out. But think of it this way- land meshes/textures only is better than no LOD at all.

 

Anyways, good luck, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

EDIT: Oh, and if LOD doesn't show up for you, extract the Wasteland's DLODSettings file from Fallout-Misc.bsa and rename it to fit your worldspace.

Edited March 27, 2012 by avianrave