Dumac [Finished]

[TheImperialDragon]

I have very little knowledge about LOD so I need to ask. Would it be possible to create a three dimensional static-type object that ends up as a two dimensional object when it is far away?

[Seniosh]

That would be done through .far nifs, and it would be possible to make it 2-dimensional, but it wouldn't look good.

The thing about speedtrees is that the 2d .nif is always facing you (it spins) so that you never see the trees from the edge on, and thus they look reasonable considering that they are far in the distance. I do not think it is possible to do that with regular .nifs, so depending on the polycount of the trees, i might have to be sparse with them.

[SACarrow]

I'll try in the next day or so to do a rush job on all the BC trees, using mostly existing ST textures and minimal collision. Those facets can easily be redone without affecting the model's visible geometry. That way they'll be available for inspection and possible use in region generation. If anyone has suggestions for bark, leaf, vine and moss textures, I'm all ears.

About billboards: searching on the official forums, I found they are used on weapons to give a special effect that can always face the PoV. I'll check with throttlekitty at NifTools to see if that could be adapted for these "trees."

Later,
Steve

[SACarrow]

Work got in the way, but here are the first two, done very Q&D. No vertex painting, no collision, limited mapping with the OB cottonwood texture. I was just given a bark tex by ev1, but I'll need to remap. I hope this gives a feel though. Thay don't blow up the CS at least. I'll fire off the others after I wake up.

Bed calling,
Steve

[Seniosh]

I notice the trees don't have any leaves. Are these the dead models? or do leaves just not show up in nifskope.

I do like these dead trees better than the ones we have now (which look kinda strange), though the true test is what the leaves look like.

In any case, please don't rush too quickly through these on my account. I won't be able to mod this weekend anyways, and i should probably wait until the trees are in the ESM to do region generation.

My original intent was just to get a timeframe of when they were expected. I've got plenty of other work, so i'm in no huge hurry,

[SACarrow]

In case it gets too far down the portal page, I just wanted to note that I've gotten first cuts in-game of all 5 models provided; the info is in this post.

Thanks,
Steve

[Seniosh]

Thanks, i saw that. I'll probably start messing with them once they're in the BSA and ESM.

Just a note on this - i might not be able to make much progress for a while, my History teacher thought it would be fun to assign a 42 paragraph essay, due June 6th.

My every waking hour will be a living hell until i am done, but after that, i'll get right back to work. Region Generation just takes a lot of time

[SACarrow]

This is mostly directed to Seniosh, but I wanted this on the forum for discussion: do you think the tree models as they stand now are OK for a prelim region gen? I do intend to copy and transplant branches for a denser feel, but I want to ensure that they're basically useful first.

Thanks,
Steve

[Seniosh]

As long as you don't change the trees too much in relation to each other, things should be fine.

I don't want to populate my region with nice full trees, only to find that the updated models have less cover than everything else. Likewise, i don't want to put in the occasional bare tree, only to realize that they're all transformed into leafy billowing giants.

Also, where exactly are the models? I have only seen screenshots, and i haven't checked the CS, though i assume they're not in the ESM yet.

I'll definitely start using them as soon as I get them.

Also, what exactly does copying/transplanting branches entail? Cause i've seen some ST trees with WAY too many branches coming directly out of the trunk, often at unrealistic angles. I'm not exactly a landscaper, but I like trees to look decent. (just my 02 cents design-wise)

Rest assured, they'll be useful, and they will be used once they're in my hands, ready to go. I've got a lot of time now, and i'm mostly just waiting (though not idle if you look over on the MT boards)

[SACarrow]

Sorry, I hadn't realized that you hadn't had the chance to play with the trees directly. You can check out my post in the BC tree thread for the FF link to DL everything you need to check out the trees in the Testtree world. Feel free to experiment. As for sparse vs non-sparse, we can duplicate and rename the models; for the time being, they'll remain the same, but that will allow us to cleanly add the trees with denser foliage later. I proposed a similar scheme for any variants to be used in the Forgotten Forest.

As for the trunk-branch junctions, they do look a little odd up real close. I'm not sure what to do about that, but the right texture and vertex shades will go a long way.

I've also looked at using _far models will billboard nodes to kinda-sorta duplicate SpeedTree LOD behavior but haven't worked out the kinks yet.

HTH,
Steve