Don't know where else to put this: need help with definitions.

[Kiwabi]

Hi, so first off, I play Fallout 4 on Xbox. The reason why I'm making a post here is because I've been constantly looking for clear definitions of these terms which are things that everyone seems to know but never outwardly explain. Here are the terms I am confused with:

 

Cells - for example, Enhanced Lights and FX quotes "This mod has issues on Xbox right now, it's crashing at some cells." I figured this had something to do with the rooms and interiors but other people using the term seem to have a very different use of it. I especially don't get it when the word "precombined" is put in front of it.

 

Script - from what I gathered, a game's script refers to it's sequence of codes that run certain functions and what not. Applied to something like quest progression, if the game cannot load the script fast enough there is "script lag," but I really need clarification on this.

 

Rendering - I thought I knew this term well but yet again I was proven wrong. I figured people refer to rendering when, say, a character walks through an area and things in the distance need to render in. I've seen another use of this word and now that I think of it, I never actually looked up what this could also include.

 

Master Files - okay this one I kinda get but would also like clarification on. I know it's referring to (mostly) big mods that are like frameworks and stuff, alters the game in multiple ways, but it doesn't always come across so clearly. I understand these mods usually move themselves to the right place but I've come across some mods that move to the very bottom and actually DISABLE itself so.. not sure why that happens :-I

 

 

These are just the big ones that I tried looking up and didn't get any results for. I didn't think posting this in bethesda's website would help me get better responses since Nexus is a PC thing so I figure you guys would be more inept with these phrases than them. Help ASAP is very much appreciated!

 

 

 

[TheGreatFalro]

I had a nice big post almost finished, but I accidentally clicked a link and the Nexus ate my comment :(

 

Here's a brief summary, feel free to contact me if you have any more questions.

 

-Cells: You were halfway there. Basically, the entire worldspace is broken up into chunks called Cells. I can't remember the exact size, but it's something like a few hundred feet or so. Each time you go through a loading screen, you are entering a new cell; however, you also go through cells while wandering the exterior. Precombines are semi-related - basically, Bethesda, in order to improve performance, bundled many objects that would normally be separate into larger "precombined" files, so that the game can load them all at once, making less work for the graphics processor.

-Script: You're basically there. A script is a file containing code, written in Bethesda's Papyrus scripting language, that either runs all the time or is triggered by certain events. When too many scripts are running at once, odd things can happen, including quest issues, crafting oddities, and mod-related bugs. Not all mods contain scripts, and not all that do have the same amount or impact on script lag. Generally, big mods like overhauls, frameworks, and quest mods will have a larger amount of scripts, whereas texture and item replacers often have few or none.

 

-Rendering: Essentially, anything that is shown on the screen is rendered. You are actually correct that distant things do need to "render in" - but there are several other ways that term is used. Specific to your example, a related concept is the term LOD (Level Of Detail), which refers to the process where the game will load a far away object with as little detail as possible, quickly replacing it with increasingly more detailed models as the player gets closer. This is theoretically invisible to the player, but often (especially in Bethesda games due to their large, open-world design) there will be issues, including a phenomenon known as "pop-in". "Pop-in" is when the lower LOD model doesn't match the full-detail object, or when the model switch happens too late for some reason, and objects like trees or rocks suddenly appear to change shape or position. You may also notice times when things look really blurry and blocky - this is because the game hasn't rendered the proper LOD model yet.

 

-Master Files: This is actually a term used in two different ways in Bethesda games. Generally, it refers to a plugin file that ends in ".esm" (ESM stands for "Elder Scrolls Master", interestingly!) These files are loaded by the game first, before plugins ending in .esp or .esl. The difference between the three is mostly in how the game loads them; a mod can (barring some exceptions) work as any one of them. A few examples are the base game and DLC plugin files - these are all master files.

The second way this is used, and more commonly when referring to mods, is when a mod requires content from another mod, or from DLC. Let's say that one mod, we'll call it "Better Frog Scope", is a mod that changes something in a mod we'll call "M4AFrog". Instead of copying all of the contents of M4AFrog into their new mod, the author of Better Frog Scope simply creates a new plugin file based on the original. Now, if someone wants to use Better Frog Scope, they have to download M4AFrog. This means that M4AFrog is a master file for Better Frog Scope. In short, any time a mod requires another plugin file, the mod that is required is a Master File. Now, what happens if you download Better Frog Scope, but you don't have M4AFrog? Well, the game will crash, generally at the main menu. Generally, any plugin with a required master files must be loaded after the mod it requires. On PC, we have a tool called LOOT that automatically sorts mod plugins in the proper order, or they can be sorted manually; I don't know how it works on console.

 

Again, if you have any more questions, or need a different explanation, just let me know!