[INFO] TES4LL, a new tool for Landscape(!) LOD generation

[auryga]

I'm currently testing TES4LL (http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=40549), a great new tool for Landscape(!) LOD generation.

It's a similar tool as TES4LODGen, but this one will produce the Landscape LOD NIFs, those horrible LOD quads my CS always refuses to generate as it should. Don't expect too much yet, as it's only a preliminary version and currently it's quite difficult to work with it. But it shouldn't be a problem to improve that later after the current testing phase is over.

You also need TesAnwynn (http://projectmanager.f2s.com/morrowind/TESAnnwyn/index.html), to first create a heightmap bitmap of all your mods. TES4LL will then generate LOD NIFs from this TesAnwynn BMP file. There's also a config file for TES4LL with lots of additional options to optimize the output further. See the tools readme for further details.

The current prelim version didn't work yet for my full Tamriel Worldspace, so next time I'm going to test it with some smaller mod setup.

Hope you all will test it and report any problems to gruftikus, the developer, to help improving this new tool!

[auryga]

An update: gruftikus told me that tes4ll is a 32bit program and that the bitmap is loaded 5 times into memory. My bitmap based on Onra's "Full Tamriel" Worldspace is about 400MB big, so can't be handled in the usual 2GB RAM of a 32bit prog. I patched tes4ll with CFE Explorer http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=32405 to use 3GB, and now much more happened. Couldn't let it complete, as it uses lot of my Laptops resources, and I have to do some "real" work now ... hope I'm able to set it up later again ...

[Arthmoor]

It's definitely a step in the right direction, but the procedure to prep everything ahead of time, especially the part about having to take spaces out of all your filenames, puts up an awfully high barrier for anyone carrying a large mod load. I think that will need to be addressed somehow before this would have a chance of getting more widely used.

[auryga]

It's definitely a step in the right direction, but the procedure to prep everything ahead of time, especially the part about having to take spaces out of all your filenames, puts up an awfully high barrier for anyone carrying a large mod load. I think that will need to be addressed somehow before this would have a chance of getting more widely used.

No need to rename mods with spaces in their names. As I had played around a lot with Tesanwyn I knew that you simply have to enclose the mod list in double quotation marks for mods with blanks.

E.g. Tesanwynn.exe ... -w Tamriel "Oblivion.esm,My Mod.esm,My Mod.esp".

The only mods you have to rename are those with a comma in their name (e.g. "Bashed patch, 0.esp"), much less work than to rename those with blanks. Gruftikus will change the readme accordingly in the next version.

As far as I understood Gruftikus readme he already plans to further improve the tool after it is stable enough. And even if he isn't able to do so it wouldn't be much work to program a "wrapper" for easier handling.

I would love to combine it with Wrye Bash, but Python programing is not my world

[Arthmoor]

Well that certainly removes a huge amount of complexity from things. Enough so that if I get a bit of time I'll take a shot at it and see what kind of results I get. If only texture generation wasn't being such a pain in the CS.

[auryga]

Nearly finished a "GUI shell" that will somewhat automate all the tasks necessary for running tes4ll. Really quick and dirty, but with some nice tricks ... hope I'll finish it tomorrow or at least until end of the week.

Edited October 12, 2011 by auryga

[vometia]

This looks like it's just what I need to deal with my "unwanted landscapes" problem I posted about last night. Giving it a try to see what happens...

[vometia]

Yes, that fixed my problem!

Looks wonderful but I need to figure out the performance options to balance it with framerates since they took quite a hit, but it looks very promising (if a little complicated to figure out!)

Edit: actually I'm not sure if it is to blame for my fps. It's not entirely unlikely that it's my expectations that are at fault...

Edited October 12, 2011 by vometia

[auryga]

I've finished a GUI frontend for tes4ll: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=40822

[Ethatron]

An update: gruftikus told me that tes4ll is a 32bit program and that the bitmap is loaded 5 times into memory. My bitmap based on Onra's "Full Tamriel" Worldspace is about 400MB big, so can't be handled in the usual 2GB RAM of a 32bit prog. I patched tes4ll with CFE Explorer http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=32405 to use 3GB, and now much more happened. Couldn't let it complete, as it uses lot of my Laptops resources, and I have to do some "real" work now ... hope I'm able to set it up later again ...

You can install (then copy out and uninstall if you don't want it) LLOD from here https://code.google.com/p/oblivion-graphics-extender/downloads/list for the TWMP-map with meshes and normal-maps and color-maps in various sizes.

[auryga]

You can install (then copy out and uninstall if you don't want it) LLOD from here https://code.google.com/p/oblivion-graphics-extender/downloads/list for the TWMP-map with meshes and normal-maps and color-maps in various sizes.

Sorry, should have reported that too: Gruftikus' tool is working perfectly fine now. As my game PC is up and running again, I can generate the whole Tamriel LOD now whitout problems. Except the time, last's some hours, but results are gorgeous.

Anyway I would like to try out that OBGE thing too. Already tried Liquid Water some time ago, but only managed to let all water disappear back then . Which might have had other reasons, had some bad settings in my Oblivion.ini that let the game crash quite often too. After I've fixed that in the mean time, I wanted to try OBGE v3 and Liquid Water again anyway, any hint for a good installation guide? Edit: should have tried it first, this setup's are perfect, no need for any guide, thanks a lot!

Edited October 31, 2011 by auryga

[Arthmoor]

Auryga, this GUI of yours is a godsend! All of the pain of the process has been removed

[auryga]

Thanks! Being as lazy as I am, I just needed something like this . Currently working on an update, Gruftikus asked for further improvements. Hope I get that done before 11.11.11 (or is it 11/11/11?). It's a bit more complicated than I thought.

[Ethatron]

Sorry, should have reported that too: Gruftikus' tool is working perfectly fine now. As my game PC is up and running again, I can generate the whole Tamriel LOD now whitout problems. Except the time, last's some hours, but results are gorgeous.

Some hours, damn ...

Then I don't want to know how long it would take to render all 4 mesh-resolutions required for LLOD.

Anyway I would like to try out that OBGE thing too. Already tried Liquid Water some time ago, but only managed to let all water disappear back then . Which might have had other reasons, had some bad settings in my Oblivion.ini that let the game crash quite often too. After I've fixed that in the mean time, I wanted to try OBGE v3 and Liquid Water again anyway, any hint for a good installation guide? Edit: should have tried it first, this setup's are perfect, no need for any guide, thanks a lot!

You're welcome. Enjoy it.

[vometia]

That looks an awful lot nicer than the Bash script (er, I mean the Unix shell, not the Wrye thingy) I cobbled together as my own attempt to automate things! Thanks for putting it together. Downloading now...

[vometia]

Actually, one thing that'd be nice would be to re-order the mods, if possible: I've found that the optimum order in which TES4LL reads them isn't necessarily the same order that Oblivion loads them...

[auryga]

Actually, one thing that'd be nice would be to re-order the mods, if possible: I've found that the optimum order in which TES4LL reads them isn't necessarily the same order that Oblivion loads them...

Upps! Could you give me an example were this shows up?

[vometia]

Upps! Could you give me an example were this shows up?

One that comes to mind is using Valenwood Improved, Elsweyr Anequina and the Valenwood-Elsweyr Patch; I find that if I don't put Elsweyr Anequina first in the list for TESAnnwyn (contrary to the normal load order) I tend to get various landscape nasties going on in Valenwood. I dare say there may be other examples of the same thing happening, but I haven't quite refined my list of mods yet!

Edited November 4, 2011 by vometia

[auryga]

@vometia: There is another component I could use for that list so dragging items around would be possible. But that will need much more coding which I might not get finished before my ultimate 11.11.11 deadline for any work on this tool. But I will try ...

Edit: was lucky, found some code example and could finish it already. But I can't update my shell currently, as it depends on a new version of Gruftikus tool which is not released yet. The preliminary version he sent me did work very well for me, so it shouldn't last too long, may be even today.

Edited November 4, 2011 by auryga

[auryga]

New version 2.20 of Gruftikus tes4ll is availiable, and my TES4LLShell v2.0 now too. Supports the new flags of tes4ll and manual reordering of plugins now. TesAnnwyn is called internally by tes4ll, so this page was removed.

Edit: I also added start and end time and a duration to the tes4ll/TESAnnwyn log. Took less than 2 hours now for me to generate an "ultimate" LOD version of all my >140 plugins including Onra's complete Tamriel worldspace and most Unique Landscapes.

Edited November 6, 2011 by auryga

[Arthmoor]

Something I'm not quite clear on. Does the GUI and tes4ll process the mods by the current load order? The logs seem awfully random in the order things are being displayed and manually fixing that with ~200 mods isn't a viable option.

Also - the flags don't seem to be working:

[info] Flag ultimate not set, skipped

[info] Flag ultimate not set, skipped

[info] Flag high_res not set, skipped

[info] Flag high_res not set, skipped

I selected the Ultimate version and it didn't process that at all.

[auryga]

Something I'm not quite clear on. Does the GUI and tes4ll process the mods by the current load order? The logs seem awfully random in the order things are being displayed and manually fixing that with ~200 mods isn't a viable option.

Also - the flags don't seem to be working:

I selected the Ultimate version and it didn't process that at all.

Gruftikus has the same problem with the flags. He send me a pre-2.20 version only with the -l option for testing and I didn't do a test run with 2.20 again. I will have a look at both things immediately ...

Edit: found the problem with the flags (actually 2). Can't fix them now as I haven't the latest sourcecode with me, but will do so later.

For some few test plugins the order of the selection list seems to be maintained correctly, and TESAnnwyn processed them in the same order. Will test that with my full list later at home again.

Edited November 7, 2011 by auryga

[auryga]

Fixed Version 2.1 uploaded to Tesnexus. Flag settings are recognized now correctly, except for the "Ultimate" setting.

That's incorrect in the tes4ll_all.batch file, you need to change it near the end of the file to this:

;- <option value="ultimate"> Ultimate Resolution </option>

Currently processing all my plugins again. The plugin list was submitted to tes4ll in the correct order (identical to the selection list box) and as far as I could see until now TESAnnwyn processed them exactly this way. Even the last plugin showed up in the log, so the list isn't truncated either.

[Psymon]

First off hello long time no post ... forgive the gratuitous use of necroing to bring this tool back up.

I'm trying to work with this program and the front end MPGUI to create distant land for TWMP and UL and then later add in city and village mods to create distant land that is more filled in over the borders in the newer mod added regions.

It keeps crashing though even on low settings. I made a report about this on the nexus page.

My load order is fairly minimal number wise, but these are easily some of the biggest mods out there, But comparatively .... less than 70 slots of the 255 max.

[spoiler]00  Oblivion.esm
01  Morrowind_ob.esm  [Version 066]
02  TamRes.esm  [Version 1.5]
03  LenasTransport.esm
04  TamRes_LandscapeResource.esm
05  Oblivifall Master File.esm  [Version 1.2]
06  LenasCompanions.esm
07  Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp  [Version 2]
++  Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp
08  DLCShiveringIsles.esp
09  Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.esp  [Version 270]
0A  SM Plugin Refurbish - SI.esp  [Version 1.30]
0B  TamRes.esp
0C  DLCHorseArmor.esp
0D  DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.9]
0E  SM Plugin Refurbish - HorseArmor.esp  [Version 1.11]
0F  DLCOrrery.esp
10  DLCOrrery - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.7]
11  SM Plugin Refurbish - Orrery.esp  [Version 1.11]
12  DLCVileLair.esp
++  SM Plugin Refurbish - VileLair.esp  [Version 1.21]
13  DLCMehrunesRazor.esp
14  DLCMehrunesRazor - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.8]
15  SM Plugin Refurbish - MehrunesRazor.esp  [Version 1.30]
16  DLCSpellTomes.esp
++  DLCSpellTomes - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.1]
17  DLCThievesDen.esp
18  DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.15]
19  SM Plugin Refurbish - ThievesDen.esp  [Version 1.30]
1A  DLCFrostcrag.esp
1B  DLCFrostcrag - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.10]
1C  SM Plugin Refurbish - Frostcrag.esp  [Version 1.2]
1D  Tamriel.esp  [Version 3.3]
1E  Morrowind_ob.esp  [Version 066]
1F  Morroblivion Tree Replacer.esp
20  TWMP_BlackMarsh.esp
21  TWMP_Summerset.esp
22  TWMP_Hammerfell.esp  [Version 1.2.1]
23  TWMP_HighRock.esp
24  TWMP_SkyrimImproved.esp  [Version 1.1.2]
25  TWMP Skyrim Alive.esp
26  TWMP_ValenwoodImproved.esp  [Version 1.02.0]
27  TWMP SI.esp
28  ElsweyrAnequina.esp
29  TWMP_Valenwood_Elsweyr.esp
2A  ElsweyrPelletine.esp  [Version 1.42]
2B  Dagger Galore Patch.esp  [Version 066]
2C  Morroblivion - MDP 2016.esp
2D  TWMP Southern Alliance.esp
2E  UsefulHomes_mob.esp  [Version 0.7.6]
2F  Morrowind_ob - Hlaalu.esp
30  GnaarMokExpanded.esp  [Version 066]
31  Morroblivion - Improved Caldera.esp  [Version 064]
32  Morroblivion Towns Extended.esp
33  Tales from Elsweyr Anequina.esp  [Version 2]
34  Tales from Elsweyr Anequina-Rev's Redo.esp  [Version 2.9]
35  TWMP_Locations.esp  [Version 1.0.9]
36  Oblivifall - Losing My Religion.esp  [Version 1.43]
37  Kvatch Rebuilt.esp  [Version 3.0RC3]
38  New Senchal.esp
39  Elsweyr Mysteries.esp
3A  Rimmen.esp
3B  TWMP Valenwood Cities.esp
3C  Elsweyr Rhondal Updated.esp
3D  Dwemer Ruins.esp
3E  Ak- Mournhold in Tamriel.esp
3F  RAEVWD Cities.esp  [Version 1.9.1]
40  Elsweyr plantations & co..esp
41  TWMP_Azure_Palace.esp
42  Alternative Beginnings.esp  [Version 1.4.6]
43  TWMP_Castle_Dunkerlore.esp  [Version 1.01]
44  Rost3_Topal.esp  [Version 1.0]
45  ElsweyrCityExtension.esp
46  ElsweyrAnequinaPatch.esp  [Version 1]
++  Kvatch Rebuilt - No More Burned Ground.esp
47  ValenwoodIslands.esp
48  Alternative Beginnings - Kvatch Intact.esp  [Version 3.0.2]
49  Morrowind_ob - Conversation.esp  [Version 065]
++  TWMP Black Marsh_Rost3_CastleDunk.esp
4A  RAEVWD Imperial City.esp  [Version 1.9.2]
4B  TWMP Skyrim Guard Armors & Shields.esp
4C  Elsweyr South Mark Settlement Updated.esp
4D  MtHeimthor.esp
4E  Elsweyr South Heimthor Camp Updated.esp
4F  AK- Morroblivion in Tamriel.esp
50  Morroblivion - Caldera_Fighters_Guild.esp
51  Elsweyr More Senchal Stuff Updated.esp
52  LevelerCheat.esp
53  Ak- Morroblivion in Tamriel GPS.esp
54  Morrowind_ob - UCWUS.esp  [Version 066]
++  Morrowind Lighting - Overhaul.esp
55  Tel Nechim.esp
56  Morrowind Birthsigns.esp
++  MorrowindRacialAbillities.esp
++  ElsweyrAnequinaRoadRecordsPatch.esp
57  ElsweyrCityExtensionPatch.esp  [Version 1.1]
++  ElsweyrPelletine - Skeletons.esp  [Version 1]
++  ElsweyrPelletine - Mysteries Patch.esp
58  TWMP Northern Realms Localised.esp
59  RefScope.esp  [Version 2.1.2]
5A  Oblivifall - Losing My Religion Chapel Update.esp  [Version 1.1]
5B  Dynamic Map.esp  [Version 2.1.1]
5C  Extended UI.esp  [Version 1.8]
5D  BetterMenuControls.esp
5E  Display Stats.esp  [Version 2.0.1]
5F  RAEVWD New Sheoth.esp  [Version 1.7]
60  Unique Landscapes.esp  [Version 2.2.0]
++  ULM TWMPBlackMarsh-EasternPeaks patch.esp  [Version 2.0]
++  TWMP_ValenwoodImproved-UniqueLandscapes-Patch.esp
++  ULE KvatchRebuilt-CheydinhalFalls patch.esp  [Version 2.0]
61  ULM TWMPSkyrimAlive-JerallGlacier patch.esp  [Version 1.1]
62  ULM TWMPSkyrimImproved-JerallGlacier patch.esp  [Version 2.1]
63  ULM TWMPSkyrimAlive-Snowdale patch.esp  [Version 1.1]
64  ULE TWMPSkyrimAlive-Snowdale patch.esp  [Version 1.1]
65  ULM TalesFromElsweyr-BravilBarrowfields patch.esp  [Version 2]
66  ULM DwemerRuins-EasternPeaks patch.esp  [Version 2]
++  ValenwoodIslands - UL AIO patch.esp
++  ULE Anequina-FallenleafEverglade patch.esp  [Version 1.1]
++  ULE LevelerCheat-ImperialIsle patch.esp  [Version 1]
++  ULE UnofficialOblivionPatch-CorboloRiver patch.esp  [Version 1.0]
67  Bashed Patch, 0.esp [Version 27][/spoiler]

I've tried with the bashed patch included with those ++ mods deactivated in this process and the reverse where these are active and the bashed patch is not included. Failures either way. It is odd to me that in the worldspace tab ... the menu UI mods are included. Next time they wont be.

Attached are pics of the options I chose. The log always seems to indicate that the last file being accessed is data\Ini\tes4ll\FortUrasekToAleswell.dat Not sure if that is due to an esp it is choking on while referencing that region or just a straight up punking of my rig.

A portion of the log is here:

[spoiler]11193 [Command] SelectAll
11194 [Command] ExportMap -filename="Tamriel.bmp" -depth=32
11195 [Command] SetHeight -z=-2048 -usegameunits -min
11196 [Command] SetFlag -name="_install_dir" -value="I:\Games\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\Data\Meshes\Landscape\LOD"
11197 [Command] SetFlag -name="_install_dir" -value="I:\Games\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\Data\Meshes\Landscape\LOD\Oblivion.esm"
11198 [Command] SetFlag -name="opt_useshapes" -value=""
11199 [Command] SetFlag -name="_mindistance" -value="128"
11200 [Command] ReadDataFile -filename="ini\tes4ll\RumareCoastLine.dat"
11201 [Info] ReadDataFile: 33 vertex points added from data file ini\tes4ll\RumareCoastLine.dat
11202 [Command] ReadDataFile -filename="ini\tes4ll\WeyeNorth_FortEmpire.dat"
11203 [Info] ReadDataFile: 38 vertex points added from data file ini\tes4ll\WeyeNorth_FortEmpire.dat
11204 [Command] ReadDataFile -filename="ini\tes4ll\WeyeWaynet.dat"
11205 [Info] ReadDataFile: 26 vertex points added from data file ini\tes4ll\WeyeWaynet.dat
11206 [Command] ReadDataFile -filename="ini\tes4ll\Weye_FortAsh.dat"
11207 [Info] ReadDataFile: 35 vertex points added from data file ini\tes4ll\Weye_FortAsh.dat
11208 [Command] ReadDataFile -filename="ini\tes4ll\FortEmpire_Aleswell.dat"
11209 [Info] ReadDataFile: 62 vertex points added from data file ini\tes4ll\FortEmpire_Aleswell.dat
11210 [Command] ReadDataFile -filename="ini\tes4ll\WayToCheydinhal.dat"
11211 [Info] ReadDataFile: 76 vertex points added from data file ini\tes4ll\WayToCheydinhal.dat
11212 [Command] ReadDataFile -filename="ini\tes4ll\FortUrasekToBridge.dat"
11213 [Info] ReadDataFile: 67 vertex points added from data file ini\tes4ll\FortUrasekToBridge.dat
11214 [Command] ReadDataFile -filename="ini\tes4ll\FortUrasekToAleswell.dat"
11215 [Info] ReadDataFile: 147 vertex points added from data file ini\tes4ll\FortUrasekToAleswell.dat
11216 [Command] SelectAll
11217 [Command] SetGrid -x=4096 -y=4096
11218 [Command] SelectAll
11219 [Command] SetFlag -name="_mindistance" -value="256"
11220 [Command] Panorama -x=0 -y=0
11221 [Info] 3531 panorama vertices set
11222 [Command] Panorama -x=38520 -y=46880
11223 [Info] 3242 panorama vertices set
11224 [Command] Panorama -x=7410 -y=-157980
11225 [Info] 2144 panorama vertices set
11226 [Command] SelectAll
11227 [Command] SetFlag -name="_mindistance" -value="128"
11228 [Command] ContourLine -x=4096 -y=4096 -z=0 -offsetx=0 -offsety=0
11229 [Command] ContourLine: 6911 vertices set
11230 [Command] ContourLine -x=512 -y=512 -z=100 -offsetx=0 -offsety=0 -minmaxgrid=4 -findmax
11231 [Command] ContourLine: 80480 vertices set
11232 [Command] ContourLine -x=512 -y=512 -z=-100 -offsetx=256 -offsety=256 -minmaxgrid=4 -findmin
11233 [Command] ContourLine: 85741 vertices set
11234 [Command] SetFlag -name="_mindistance" -value="256"
11235 [Command] Filter -n=4
11236 [Command] MakeDerivatives -map="_heightmap_filtered" -use16bit
11237 [Fatal] MakeDerivatives: out of memory
Background error reader finished
Background reader finished

[/spoiler]

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated and I may as easily come back here to report progress or whatever answer I finally come to.

thanks

[edit] ok weird so this forum allows screenshots, but not spoiler tags? I placed the lists in code boxes then so ... apologies for presentation.

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Psymon

[Psymon]

Then also ... why is it after every time I run the 4gb large adress patcher on my DVD copy of oblivion. This program ... refuses to deal with Oblivion reporting:

18 [Warning] Plugins.txt not set, Plugins button disabled

When I haven't adjusted the oblivion ini AND the plugins are read by the game launcher AND by wrye bash AND the game loads and runs fine.

It seems I've had to reinstall oblivion twice now just to get this via MPGUI to recognize the plugins.txt

Good Gravy that is a pain.
The last time I ran modded oblivion it was with win7. This is probably some BS with Win10. Probably I should grow up and install a linux for gaming,

I tried the registry hack of adding entries for the game, but didnt' take. And I'm painfully aware of the folder and UAC controls of Win10.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Psymon