Graphic Anomaly

[donnato]

Well I seem to have the same problem in two mods using the same resource of MR Silka`s boats,the sails look all wierd. In gimp they look fine so I know the files are ok. There`s no other instance of this anywhere else,vanilla, or mods. The two affected in my game are Halcyon House, where a few of the smaller sailboats are anchored behind the house, and,the Eska Cair.I`ve spoken with WhoGuru about this and she allows as how this is isolated to my rig.

If there`s anyone who`s seen this and knows what it is or how to handle it, I`d sure appreciate any help.

These are shots of the anomaly in game,and,the.dds in gimp...

In Game

and in the Gimp

Ok since I don`t have internet at home I may not be able to link in till the weekend so if I don`t respond right away that`s why.Thank you all for the help you`ve given me in the past,I`m sure there`s a logical explanation for this.When I first saw it at Halcyon house I figured it was supposed to be like that, silly me.

[Critterman]

I'm not familiar with this problem, but have you checked the normal map? Normal maps, I've found, have a tendency to be the root of a texture problem.

Though, I'm uncertain about this one, it sort of looks like what happens to the icons in my inventory sometimes (the clogs still have a screwed up texture). I wish I knew what caused it...

[DarkRider]

Looks like a graphics card anomaly; Oblivion creates all sorts of graphics weirdness when your graphics card is not up to the job. If it was the texture, normal or mesh, it would do that for everyone. That you are the only one experiencing the anomaly points to a shortcoming in your rig. Make sure your graphics card drivers are up to date, and look for any gaming specific driver options for your card. If that doesn't help, you may need to upgrade your card to get rid of the tiling.

[Critterman]

Is it only the sails that are having the problem?

If so maybe you can fiddle with the settings on the sail DDS texture, since it probably is set weird causing your graphics card to choke. Just a suggestion, since it is the only texture to cause this problem, I don't see why a new graphics card is necessary .

[nottlong]

Could it have to do with the shape of the sail. the in game shot appears to be triangular like a jib or spinnaker. The gimp shot shows a different shape, more like a square rig sail. Just a thought.

[DarkRider]

I don't see why a new graphics card is necessary .

Hey now, I didn't say necessary, it was just a suggestion. I noted the settings in his screens were set low (no lod)so looked like he was already compensating for a weak card. If tweaking the texture works/helps anything you can do that doesn't cost coin is the way to go.

[WhoGuru]

LOL let me help clarify guys. It's not the texture on the sail that's at fault here.

The Sails in my game:

The sails in InsanitySorrow's game:

and just for good measure, this is of the same sails at Halcyon House. different mod.

two different rigs and two different mods without a problem with these textures. That kind of narrows it to Don's rig having a bit of a meltdown.

[WillieSea]

What is the size in KB or MB is the texture? And the normal map? You might be able to fix the issue by decreasing the size if its a large texture. That might help if the texture is taking a lot of graphics memory. Just a suggestion.

[DarkRider]

Texture is 1024x1024 if it's smaller the graphic might stretch when added to the mesh, but it's a good idea for the plain sail!

[WillieSea]

Well, I would not do it for the released mod. I was just suggesting it for donnato.

1024 is a rather large texture for oblivion. Most textures in the vanilla game are at maximum, 512.

If it were me, I would half the sail size from 1024 down to 512. It will still fit nicely on the sail and take a lot less graphics memory.

[InsanitySorrow]

Here Don try the textures attached, I decreased the size like was suggested from 1024 to 512, file size when from over 600kb down to 170kb. Normal Map size was also reduced by roughly 200kb.

That should hopefully fix your issue, I have already checked and it works

[WindmillTilter]

Another suggestion would be to grab an arosol can of compressed air (unless you have handy access to a small compressor). TURN OFF the computer, pop off the side panel (usually two screws at the back), blow out the heat sink on the video card. While your in there it's probably worth blowing out the CPU heatsink and vacuuming out the excess dust built up at the bottom of the case etc. I have a pretty high end video card and when dust buildup causes it to overheat I get graphic anomolies very similar to what you're seeing there.

WT

[HeyYou]

I don't recommend using a vacuum cleaner on your PC. The very act of sucking air generates a potential static buildup, which your computer most certainly will NOT like. Best bet is to unhook everything, take it outside (if you value your life.....) and blow it all out. Pay close attention to any heatsinks, and the power supply as well.

[Arthmoor]

One other possible suggestion. The anomaly looks just like what happens to landscape that's missing mipmaps and someone playing on lower than normal texture size. Is it possible the texture in question doesn't have mipmaps?

[InsanitySorrow]

I just checked and the textures DO have Mip Maps.

[Arthmoor]

Could it be a case where it doesn't have enough? The typical 1024x1024 texture I see in most cases has 11 mipmaps. The Elven sails only seem to have 9.

[InsanitySorrow]

As far as I am aware most textures only need 4 MipMaps, usually 1 for each texture size. Though I don't know if there is a case of too many or not enough

[WillieSea]

Oblivion and Fallout both only use 4 mip-maps. Anything more is a waste of graphics memory since they are not used.

[Arthmoor]

Interesting tidbit. I wasn't aware of that. Unfortunately Paint.NET doesn't seem to give you an option of how many mipmaps you generate.

Do the games use whatever the sizes are in those 4 or are they both looking for specific sizes?

[PacificMorrowind]

Oblivion and Fallout both only use 4 mip-maps. Anything more is a waste of graphics memory since they are not used.

I was under that impression too... but I was talking to ThrottleKitty the other week (hmm or month), and s/he said that s/he had done some tests with each mipmap being a different solid colour and had seen all of them... I'm thinking it must display a smaller texture at a distance and the four is for the texture size settings... but in any case 4 is enough to not cause problems.

Pacific Morrowind

[WillieSea]

had done some tests with each mipmap being a different solid colour and had seen all of them.

Really? That is good to know.

I think for most purposes, 4 is more than enough. Its not like you will see that much difference between the 7th and 12th mip-map.

So I agree with you, 4 should be enough. It especially helps with the size of the texture and the cost to your graphics card memory.

[Arthmoor]

Well if the memory stats on WTV are any indication, mimmaps 5-12 don't take up much space. Though I suppose multiplied over hundreds of files it might start to matter.

How would one go about getting rid of the unneeded ones if the program being used to generate them doesn't give you an option?

[InsanitySorrow]

I think you can manually edit the texture to remove the un-needed MipMaps, though I am not fully sure on this.

[WillieSea]

You might want to try GIMP if possible since its free. It should use the the nvidia plugin which gives you the option of setting your mip-maps to create.

[InsanitySorrow]

GIMP uses a seperate DDS plugin which aims to have the same functionality to Nvidia's but its not exactly the same, worth trying though