LOD Discussion

[I give up 152]

So far:

 

Object lod transitions are much better (pretty much seamless transition with little flickering).

 

FPS seems lower (may be related to other changes on todays build so I'm not auto-blaming new lod tech for this).

 

Trees seem the same (they transform after you finish zooming in/out).

 

edit:  Smoke seems to disappear from view too much when zoomed out.

I dont see nothing of it.

LOD transiction should be exclusively linked to view distance, 

Is like, you have hardware for it or not.

Thats how it works in all games. Better hardware = Better gameplay.

[das attorney 858]

I dont see nothing of it.

LOD transiction should be exclusively linked to view distance, 

Is like, you have hardware for it or not.

Thats how it works in all games. Better hardware = Better gameplay.

 

 

I was stating my opinion, whereas you are making sweeping statements which I presume you can back up and should back up seeing as you haven't provided any information to substantiate your assumptions so far.

[das attorney 858]

Okay well if you see no changes then fair enough, but I don't see where you're coming from saying that the changes to make lod transitions better are somehow linked to hardware, and I'm not sure why you quoted me in the first place.

 

In any case, this is not really worth debating (especially on a Monday evening), so you obv think what you think and I'll do the same and that's fair enough with me.

[x3kj 1247]

FPS seems lower (may be related to other changes on todays build so I'm not auto-blaming new lod tech for this).

This is to be expected - increase switching distance -> performance lower. Pretty sure this is the reason why they changed the algorithm to begin with - on tanoa the version that worked for altis just doesn't do it, because there are alot more objects per squarekilometer on tanoa (at least that's what it looks like... haven't measured obviously) 

LOD transiction should be exclusively linked to view distance

So when you are in a big city you want exact same LOD switching distance, as when in a desert? Neither optimal for desert, nor optimal for city. Do you expect users to constantly fiddle with view distance setting or what?

[takehomethecup 13]

you obviously fail to understand what i wrote. mods can be 100% up to industry standards in terms of quality and complexity, although they are released for free. If you would translate that the content (not manhours btw, modding allows one to spend as much time as needed, for commissioned works there is always deadlines) into money at industry standards, you will end up with a sum ending in a lot of 0s. Nothing more nothing less.

 

making a fool of yourself once again? i can only assume you are doing it on purpose...the other option would be a lot more tragic...

 

 

I definitely believe that mods can be up to industry standards. I know that animations are usually done with motion capture. But, as far as I know, there are ways around that...

As for everything else, you pretty much have what you need.

[das attorney 858]

maybe people could provide some videos of it and stuff and maybe see if something in the video settings has changed. for those of us who can't switch branches quickly.

 

 

Here's my contribution - some hatching on a Stratis house

 

[ineptaphid 6413]

Okay, i have just had to hide over 20 posts here that ranged from being offtopic, to spam to very insulting.Some people have now lost their ability to post due to this and will have to have posts approved by moderators. I will ask everyone to get back on topic or more infractions will be given.

[R3vo 2654]

LOD switching on objects it defininitely better know, well done BIS!

[Brisse 78]

LOD switching is a big step forward. Not only does it look much better, but I also had a huge performance increase that turned the game from unplayable to playable in Tanoa wilderness, but sadly, I still can't achieve playable framerate in towns (drops into the tens and twenties).

 

FX-8350 @4.6GHz

16GB DDR3 @1333MHz CL9

R9 290X

Game and OS running from 850 EVO 500GB SSD

View distance: 2000

Object distance: 800

Shadow distance: 100

Objects quality: Low

[Brisse 78]

Please do something to the bridges. I hate seeing them appear piece by piece right in front of my eyes.

 

[nikiforos 450]

LOD switching is a big step forward. Not only does it look much better, but I also had a huge performance increase that turned the game from unplayable to playable in Tanoa wilderness, but sadly, I still can't achieve playable framerate in towns (drops into the tens and twenties).

 

FX-8350 @4.6GHz

16GB DDR3 @1333MHz CL9

R9 290X

View distance: 2000

Object distance: 800

Shadow distance: 100

Objects quality: Low

Seems you are the only one with FPS increase, others experience lower FPS so I guess you are the lucky one :)

[CaptainObvious 95]

Good job on the LOD switching, now, if you get it to look as good on the foliage as it does on objects, sweeeet!  ^_^

 

 

Please do something to the bridges. I hate seeing them appear piece by piece right in front of my eyes.

 

Well it is an object(s), what can they do about it if you have OVD at 800meters?

[Brisse 78]

Well it is an object(s), what can they do about it if you have OVD at 800meters?

 

Anything more than 800 and the game becomes unplayable on the FX-series CPU's, and that's not just Tanoa, but also Altis and Stratis. It's always been like that, and it still is. I'm sure they can override the object distance for certain object. I remember the lighthouse on Stratis is visible waaaay beyond 800.

[Brisse 78]

Seems you are the only one with FPS increase, others experience lower FPS so I guess you are the lucky one :)

 

Depends on how you define "lucky". The thing is that most Intel PC's seemed to be able to achieve playable framerates even before this update, while the AMD-rigs could not run Tanoa at all due to the insane stuttering.  As soon as things started moving I dropped into the unplayable tens and twenties. This update just brought me up to the same level as other people, which means I can now usually achieve 40-60fps in the Tanoa wilderness. Not sure how that's "lucky".

[DancZer 65]

It is lot better than before the BI fix for short: BIx! :D Thank you!

[laxemann 1673]

i slowly start to think that the maximum visible distance for many grasses and jungle clutter simply is incredibly low. There still is a _lot_ of popping up foliage below 4m, especially in Tanoa's jungles and Altis' meadows.

[tortuosit 486]

Anything more than 800 and the game becomes unplayable on the FX-series CPU's, and that's not just Tanoa, but also Altis and Stratis. It's always been like that, and it still is. I'm sure they can override the object distance for certain object. I remember the lighthouse on Stratis is visible waaaay beyond 800.

I also think there are exceptions and I agree.

[dnai92 0]

Holy Moly, this is a huge visual improvement for the game! No ugly plopping objects or textures if you´re zoom in and out. With a SSD drive there is a little lag if you turn around and the textures are loading. But after this few seconds it run as smooth as before the update. In the worst case there are 2-3 FPS less. tested on Altis. I can play it with an FX-8350@4,3GHZ and a GTX970@1400MHZ on 4500m view distance and 2000m objects distance and setting between high and very high (Textures on ultra).

Nice job BI  :)

[lexx 1363]

Yea, the new lod change is good. It's not yet perfect, but already looks much better than before.

[bullet purveyor 85]

Great job on the new LOD blending, it looks a lot better. I hope you can do something similar about the small plants LOD-popping 3-4 meter in front of you in the jungle.

 

I also request that you make landmark objects like bridges, harbor cranes etc and maybe even the new tower buildings tie in with terrain distance. You already have this working for radio towers and construction cranes.

It looks really weird when half a bridge is drawn on your screen, cutting off right at draw object distance.

[nikiforos 450]

This a huge step forward , and I can certainly notice flying over Altis or Tanoa. Everything looks much more realistic now, I really love the smooth transition.
Of course there is some FPS impact but I really don't know if we should expect any improvement with the FPS.

 

All in all great job and once again this makes the game look much better :)

[tortuosit 486]

I also feel there is a huge step forward now.

[soulkobk 40]

Anyone that's posted positive remarks regarding the LOD's in the last few posts care to record and upload a sample video or three to show how it is now on the dev/rc branch? TIA, (btw, I am not on the dev or rc branch, hence why I asked).

[kremator 1065]

OK, so I've now had a good look at the LOD improvements and they are a step in the right direction.  However, the 'hatching' seems to come in almost as rapidly as before.  IF the LOD change is based on distance can the 'hatching' not be made a little more smooth and feathered in.  If the change was dependent on your speed towards the object, then on foot we could have a much slower LOD change (it would be imperceptable) and a the way it is now for vehicles/aircraft.

[nikiforos 450]

i slowly start to think that the maximum visible distance for many grasses and jungle clutter simply is incredibly low. There still is a _lot_ of popping up foliage below 4m, especially in Tanoa's jungles and Altis' meadows.

This^ 

Can you improve on that BIS?

These plants have some serious Lod issues , they keep changing  shape/form  although you are 3-4 meters away :