Quick Help - 2nd/3rd Level LOD Requirements

[+swambast 723]

Have to hurry, at airport and traveling...can someone please refresh my memory.  What requirements exist for creating a 2nd/3rd level .LOD?  Do you have to maintain mesh hierarchy, etc.?  Or if I have a complex aircraft could I literally assign a cube as 2nd level LOD?  Any requirements or can we use whatever?

[+logan4 847]

The bellow is direct quote from 3rdW forum:

 

 

All levels of LODs need to have the same heirachy, same pivot points, and same names for the mesh nodes as the highest detail LOD. We generally start with the highest LOD, and go through and reduce polygons by moving verts without manipulating the mesh (pivot point).

--------------------------

 

No, gears (or anything else) do not need to be present in all LODs. When removing part in LODs, all parts attached to that it also have to be removed. For example, if you have Wheel attached to Gear attached to Wing attached to Fuselage, as in 

 

Fuselage 

+Wing 

++Gear 

+++Wheel 

 

If you remove Gear, you also have to remove the Wheel, if you remove the Wing, you also have to remove Gear and Wheel, etc. 

 

And any parts removed in one LOD should also need to be removed on lower LODs. 

 

This way, the main heirachy remains the same throughout the LODs. 

 

TK 

 

 

Links to these in post #9 of this thread

http://combatace.com/topic/78965-distance-lods-pros-and-cons/

[+swambast 723]

logan4, sorry for the delay but THANK YOU for the information you provided. 

 

I'm having a suspicious behavior occurring on one of my models - meaning, I'm not sure the 2nd and 3rd level LODS are actually "switching over".  To any modders out there that might read this, any creative ideas on how to best verify something like this? 

[+RAVEN 414]

When I build a model and want to check  the .lod's for errors, flipped faces ,pivot points and such, I take the 'AC_whatever.ini' and do this.

 

[LOD001]
Filename=A-4E.lod
Distance=10  <-------------------------------------------
[LOD002]

Filename=A-4E_lod002.lod
Distance=25

[LOD003]
Filename=A-4E_lod003.lod
Distance=50

[LOD004]
Filename=A-4E_lod004.lod
Distance=70

[LOD005]
Filename=A-4E_lod005.lod
Distance=8000

 

Then I load the game and Pause, Ctrl/12 Then zoom out and look at it.

Then I start changing the .lod’s

 

[LOD001]
Filename=A-4E_lod002.lod
Distance=10
[LOD002]

Filename=A-4E_lod003.lod
Distance=25

[LOD003]
Filename=A-4E_lod004.lod
Distance=8000

 

And then do it agin. This is grate for finding  meshes that need correcting and tracking down a level .lod with a incorrect name causing the AC not to show or (prop plane prop not showing). If a mesh (nose) has say an incorrect pivot point, say in  _003.lod, You will see it this way.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2013 by RAVEN

[+swambast 723]

Darned good idea RAVEN - thanks very much for your time and excellent advice.