LOD and Model Geometric Detail questions

[Wahlamt]

I have a few questions regarding a few things.

1: Does model geometric detail affect the track? When I race EMF am's, I have to lower from 9/90 which I usually run to 7/75 or 8/75 model geometric and texture detail. But for some reason, the track does look worse, the decals aren't as sharp and it's harder to see the ruts. Everything else is the same, the ground geo and levels are at 10/100 and the ground texture resolution is at 512x512. Terrain render method is Shaders/Direct. So I wonder why the gound looks worse when the ground affecting (?) sliders and values are the same..

2: How do I create a LOD that is removing the statue? I have some optimization issues on one track I'm working on. To make up for all the models I'm using, I've wanted to create a lod that is making the object invisible a 'x' distance. However I am struggling with making that happen. My main idea was to make a blank document and name it 'modelToRemove_lod5.jm'. For some reason this doesn't work. So again, the lod file I made is completely blank inside. Any tip on how I can create a lod file that is removing the object would be very helpful!

3: How does the model gemetric detail affect the LOD distance? Browsing around a while back I remember stumbling across some topic that had the formula for how lod worked. I'd like to recall that is was something like if you have geo detail at 90%, the lod's are going to kick in after 90% of their assigned-to-kick-in distance. What confused me was the 100 Geo detail. Did that mean it never kicked in or did it mean that it kicked in at 'lod6' distance?

For anyone wondering about what distance "lod6" is or what "lod3" would be for a distance, there is a lod=ft chart in this topic.

[M@xTizZz]

1. no

2. just do a blank txt file and name it .jm

3. idk

[M@xTizZz]

dp

at 4500 posts, you have to stop posting for one week. just to know how big is your addiction

[Wahlamt]

1. No
2. just do a blank txt file and name it .jm

I tried just making a blank one but it didn't seem to work

At 4500 posts, you have to stop posting for one week. just to know how big is your addiction

No gonna happen haha. I need something to do when I am bored

[jlv]

At 0, it scales by 2 and adds 50.
At 10, it scales by 1.8 and adds 50.
At 30, it scales by 1.4. No bias.
At 50, no scale or bias.
Above 50, it scales by ((100 - detail) / 100 * 2) ^ 3

Not sure why I cubed the last one. Maybe I'll take that out.

[Ash]

Hello Wahlamt,

I know it's a very old subject. But did you find how to fix 2. ?
I have the same issue, my lod seams to not be take in account by the game. I also try with a totally different jm (from other object). But as far as I can go, my object doesn't became the object of my lod and stay the high definition object.

[Wahlamt]

Hello Wahlamt,

I know it's a very old subject. But did you find how to fix 2. ?
I have the same issue, my lod seams to not be take in account by the game. I also try with a totally different jm (from other object). But as far as I can go, my object doesn't became the object of my lod and stay the high definition object.

Hey, yeah I got it solved. Essentially it's:
model.jm -> model_lod5.jm (you can do 5.5, 5.6 etc too). Just copy the original jm and delete all its content and rename it to suit the lod you want.

BUT if you run model geometric detail at full, it won't load lods at all, as said here:

The lod levels are in feet in powers of 2 (1ft, 2ft, 4ft, 8ft etc). Model geometric detail just scales the distance from the observer. At 0 the game will act like objects are 8 times farther than they really are, at 50 the distance isn't scaled, and at 100 the scale is 0, so it will draw the highest lod no matter how far the object is.

In this version, objects are now hidden entirely depending on the distance when the model geometric detail is 10 or less. The distance used is d*d*20, where d is the detail setting.
0: 0ft
1: 20ft
2: 80ft
3: 180ft
4: 320ft
5: 500ft
6: 720ft
7: 980ft
8: 1280ft
9: 1620ft
10: 2000ft

Also helpful:

tree.jm < 2 feet
tree_lod1.jm 2-4 feet
tree_lod2.jm 4-8 feet
tree_lod3.jm 8-16 feet
tree_lod4.jm 16-32 feet
tree_lod5.jm 32-64 feet
tree_lod6.jm 64-128 feet
tree_lod7.jm 128-256 feet
tree_lod8.jm 256-512 feet
tree_lod9.jm > 512 feet

If an lod is missing it will use the next higher lod.

[Ash]

My model geometric is setup to 100, it's why I saw no difference when I go far from my object. I will try at 50 to be sure all is right.

Why @jlv remove lod at 100 ? All games have lod even if they run at 4k or with very high graphic setup. Lod are very important for the optimization.

[Wahlamt]

The point of model geometric detail is to control the detail. Running 100 is kind of "max everything you can and some more". Personally I use 90, feels like a fair trade off. 100 for screenshots.

[jlv]

I wonder if I should just remove the advanced graphics settings menu. Those settings were never meant to be "maxxed out". Might be better if you had to use a console command to set them.

[Ash]

I wonder if I should just remove the advanced graphics settings menu. Those settings were never meant to be "maxxed out". Might be better if you had to use a console command to set them.

Personnaly, I'm not an hudge fan of console command due to for new player, it will be hard to know which commands exists. May be you can just rebuild the menu like other games : textures details, render distance, 3d model texture, résolution, Vsync, erode... With more friendly choices for each.
Personnaly, after 10 years on the game, I always don't know what each options really do.

[Wahlamt]

[quote=jlv post_id=899694 time=1644114434 user_id=2]
I wonder if I should just remove the advanced graphics settings menu. Those settings were never meant to be "maxxed out". Might be better if you had to use a console command to set them.
[/quote]

I think it should be kept. It's very easy to do small adjustments right before a race if it's needed. That plus it's pretty easy to work with. Just compress textures that seems to not be used as much any more. Just makes loading times longer in my experience.

[jlv]

It's just that everyone cranks everything to the highest setting and ruins the performance. It makes the game worse for most people.