Meet the lod family

[Konyak-2 0]

Ok, this is a fill the spaces thread. Most of us are making models and managing ok, but I know there are many who don't fully understand all of what they are doing. I would like to gather all the purposes and uses of each LOD into this list.

1. Resolution LOD, is the one you see, and it's numbers represent the distance range it works in. LOD 1.00 will show that model up to 100 meters away from it. LOD 0.10 will show it up to 10 meters away, and so on.

2. Geometry LOD. This one defines the collision detection for the engine, as well as governing vehicle mass distribution, and therefore how it handles. Watch the blue dot, center of mass.

3. Memory LOD. Handles definitions for animated things, axis points, lights, smoke and so on. Quite a bitch because it's all in czech

4. View LODs. These are for models that show the part of the vehicle that the passenger would see, be he a pilot, gunner or cargo.

5. Fire Geometry LOD. This one I have no clue about, and would be nice to get input here.

6. View LOD. Not named for a crew position, so I'm not really sure what it does.

7. Hit Point LOD. Not used it yet, presumably for defining damage taken in various areas of the model. Confirm.

8. Roadway LOD. This one only really works in Resistance, but it allows vehicles to drive on this surface. In regular OFP, it only semi works, and if you walk and crawl on it, it makes the camera shake.

9..

10..

Ã'm at work, so I'm probably forgetting some of them, feel free to add them if you know them. It would be nice to get real info on the LOD's I wasn't sure about as well.

Konyak (really bored

[kegetys 2]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Konyak-2 @ July 18 2002,16:28)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">1.  Resolution LOD, is the one you see, and it's numbers represent the distance range it works in.  LOD 1.00 will show that model up to 100 meters away from it.  LOD 0.10 will show it up to 10 meters away, and so on.<span id='postcolor'>

Actually it doesnt represent the distance, as in-game the distances are determined by the amount of detail you have set from the video options. It should just be: the bigger number, the less polygons.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">3. Memory LOD. Handles definitions for animated things, axis points, lights, smoke and so on. Quite a bitch because it's all in czech  <span id='postcolor'>

...but if you dont like Czech, you can change most of the memory point names from the config

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">5. Fire Geometry LOD.  This one I have no clue about, and would be nice to get input here.<span id='postcolor'>

Im quessing that fire geometry is the same as the normal geometry, but its used to collision-detect firing. Placing crew proxies in this LOD allows them to be shot from a vehicle.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">7. Hit Point LOD.  Not used it yet, presumably for defining damage taken in various areas of the model.  Confirm.<span id='postcolor'>

Its used by tanks at least to determine hitpoints for engine/wheels/hull/turret, etc. Look at T72 model from demo to check out the names.

Theres also Pathway lod, which is used by AI, and LandContact lod where points for land contacting is defined, without this vehicles usually tend to shake and start jumping.

[Konyak-2 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">LandContact lod where points for land contacting is defined, without this vehicles usually tend to shake and start jumping.<span id='postcolor'>

This one seems a little sensitive to placement. I noticed on the Antonov that if they are just a little bit inside of the geometry part of the model, it will bounce. I put them just a little bit below the wheels contact point of the geometry LOD, and that solved it, as well as solving damage taken in going down the runway at breakneck speeds needed for takeoff

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Its used by tanks at least to determine hitpoints for engine/wheels/hull/turret, etc. Look at T72 model from demo to check out the names.

<span id='postcolor'>

I noticed that when trying to destroy the Antonov with tanks and helis, everything would just pass right through it´s body (hard not to hit it), but it would only sustain damage when I hit the area that was around it's center of mass. Do I need a hit point lod for it to be solid in other places? I know many people have had this problem with rockets passing through models, but I'll vager they don't pass through it´s center of mass. This is one of the things stopping me from releasing it.

Konyak

[PSC 0]

There are some more LOD's that should be explained. The View Geometry LOD. I dunno exactly what it does, be I think I remember that I read about it in some other post. I think it is importand for what the AI will see or not (that means if there is nothing in the View Geom. LOD, the AI will be able to see through the model as if it would be invisible). And furthermmore it is importand for what will be rendered, and what not. A bush behind a model with a working View Geometry LOD will not be rendered to save performace.

PSC

[PSC 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I noticed that when trying to destroy the Antonov with tanks and helis, everything would just pass right through it´s body (hard not to hit it), but it would only sustain damage when I hit the area that was around it's center of mass.  Do I need a hit point lod for it to be solid in other places?  I know many people have had this problem with rockets passing through models, but I'll vager they don't pass through it´s center of mass.  This is one of the things stopping me from releasing it.<span id='postcolor'>

This happens if your Geometry LOD is not convex. Try to avoid too complex shapes. Only use basic primitives like boxes, cylinders, spheres. No planes though, 'cause they have no volume.

I usually place the LandContact Vertexes a bit inside of the vehicles, to simulate the mass of the vehicles which usually deforms the wheels a bit. I did not realize any bad bouncing yet.

PSC

*edit*

P.S.: To check your Geometry LOD, make use of the Find Non-Convexities funktion in the Structure menu. If you get any results (marked Faces/Vertices) something is wrong.

[spider_ipc 0]

Fire Geometry is the area in which the model takes dammage,if you look at say a uh60 model, the wheels and stuff also have Fire Geometry, but the open door on the side does not, so you can shoot in, the best way to check them is to open a model and go through each LOD, double click the group to see what its assigned to

[Tigershark 0]

Can one of the moderators make this a sticky...I think it has merit if others start to contribute their knowledge of LODS.

[Hag Celine 0]

Question ... The roadway lod is for ledders etc, right? I used it for a turret, can i also use it with a plane? i didnt tried it yet, but i want the playermodel to climb up the wing to enter then the plane. Should work too, or r there known probs?

[deadsoldier 0]

how can u make shadows...please tell me..so the f-15 can be released.

cheers

[der bastler 0]

Cookbook for shadows:

Create a resolution-lod with less than 300 faces.

Add named property "lodnoshadow" with value "1" to all lods with more than 300 faces (to let OFP skip these lods while looking for an appropriate shadow lod).

(Well, I'm not a moderator, but one of these guys would say: "Next time use search!" )

[Stag 0]

Where's the LOD for custom crosshairs hidden, eg, for rifle scopes?

[CupidMoon 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Wardog @ Dec. 07 2002,04:56)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Where's the LOD for custom crosshairs hidden, eg, for rifle scopes?<span id='postcolor'>

It's view geo. lod, I think

[maddogx 13]

Hi there. I myself have made a few rules for making models in O2, be it vehicles or map objects.

1. The Geometry LOD should be slightly larger than the model itself.

(if the Geometry LOD is smaller than the model you get the error of being able to look through the object when you run up to it.)

2. The Fire- and View Geometry LODs should be slightly smaller than the model.

(if they are bigger you sometimes get strange effects like bullets hitting thin air and objects that are partially behind the model sometimes disappearing.)

3. I have a system for making weapon LODs:

View Pilot: max 800 poly (LODnoShadow - 1)

LOD 0.1000: max 500 poly(LODnoShadow - 1)

LOD 0.5000: max 300 poly

LOD 0.7500: max 200 poly

LOD 1.0000: max 100 poly

LOD 1.2500: max 70 poly

LOD 1.5000: as few polys as possible

(This way the weapon should work fine and cause no lag.)

[mooncaine 0]

3. Memory LOD. Handles definitions for animated things, axis points, lights, smoke and so on. Quite a bitch because it's all in czech  

Quote[/b] ]

...but if you dont like Czech, you can change most of the memory point names from the config ;)

I thought so .... but how exactly to do that? Could someone here post a brief snippet, even one line, that shows how we can remap the Czech vocabulary to a language we are more familiar with [in my case, English]? That'd be super.

[Drill Sergeant 0]

I have but one question.

If I have made a model of a man that has some special objects attached to him that are nonloded. IE the texture isn't looser on them and such as the degradeing quality on other lod section models. So how can I reduce the vertex and pollyandquality of the showen texture on the model?

Or do I have to go and make a whole new low resolution model of the man ? Or wil the lods automaticly increasing in number change the quality of the model if I copy paste it?

[mooncaine 0]

The only way I know to do this is make a new model for the LOD--but I'm no expert. The point of the LODs is to have models with fewer faces on them, so pasting the same model into the LODs is the wrong thing to do.

The good news is that the LOD models don't need as much work--you can make them pretty basic. The bad news is that you have to map them with the images, though.

[Drill Sergeant 0]

How many lods are good 3? any bigger than that and thep3ds seem unwieldy. (I'll just copy paste BIS lods and re add hat I need.)

[VXR 9]

How many lods are good 3? any bigger than that and thep3ds seem unwieldy. (I'll just copy paste BIS lods and re add hat I need.)

minimal 4 or 5 Lods up to 8 or something

[Guest]

It all depends on the model. The numbers on the previous page are a good guide, but obviously an addon with only 100 faces doesn't need 5 LODs

[mooncaine 0]

...but if you dont like Czech, you can change most of the memory point names from the config ;)

Kegetys: could you please post a snippet of code in this thread that shows how to change these memory point names? I would appreciate it. No one else has responded to my request--perhaps no one else who's read this thread knows how.

thank you,

MoonCaine

[hardrock 1]

the best way to get to know how to change some selection names in the config.cpp is:

download Config.txt 1.46 (it's only v1.46 but that's enough)

open it with notepad and search for 'selection=', there you will see the czech names and also the values which have to be changed

short introduction in some classes:

if you want to have lights on your addon you have to make

a reflectors {} class where you define the lights with their selection names. for blinking lights you have to use the original czech names

all classes beginning with indicator define the instruments in your cockpit. both the axis and the selection have to be in the same LOD (mostly ViewPilot)

cheers hardrock

[mooncaine 0]

Thanks, hardrock! I'll do as you suggest. I especially appreciate your going into detail about the reflector and indicator classes.

[bmgarcangel 0]

LandContact lod where points for land contacting is defined, without this vehicles usually tend to shake and start jumping.

whoa seriously, vehicles and do without it

[andersson 285]

Quote[/b] ]The only way I know to do this is make a new model for the LOD--but I'm no expert. The point of the LODs is to have models with fewer faces on them, so pasting the same model into the LODs is the wrong thing to do.

After I made the model just the way I wanted it I mark everything and edit\copy. Then I create another LOD and edit\paste. Then I will have a new LOD that are a copy of that first LOD. Then I start to take away small details and making the model simpler. So when I create next LOD I mark everything in the latest LOD and edit\copy. Create another LOD, edit\paste. So now there is a copy of the last LOD and I start to make that model more simple. The textures will stay during the copy-paste.

At my third LOD, depending on the model, I usually start to replace textures so it uses less textures. In the last two LODs I use just one texture.

[Garcia 0]

umm...to make a copy of a lod you just have to right click on it and press "duplicate", and you get a new lod which is exactly the same ;)

Garcia