[RELz] Deathb0rns Modified Qarls LOD Normal Maps : IV

» Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:57 pm

Some may remember my old "Smaller and Better-looking Qarls LOD Normal Maps" mod whose topic went down to oblivion unfortunately :brokencomputer: .
Well it doesn't really matter that much as I'm back with some new textures for you to enjoy, anyway :foodndrink: .

Feedback is very much appreciated

http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=32709

The Readme:

The sequel to "Smaller and Better-looking Qarl's LOD Normal Maps"

by Deathb0rn

Description

After creating "SBLQLNM" I still wasn't really satisfied with my work
and after a long time I came up with a new idea to improve it.
I mixed up Qarls Normal Maps and Normal Maps generated with TES CS to "wipe out" DXT compression artifacts
and saved them as 4.4.4.4 .dds to prevent new ones.

As this may be a bit too technical for the "normal" mods-user to understand, I recommend checking the screenshots.

Now you might ask yourself why I have put up a new page instead of updating the old one.
The answer is simple:
I have included new texture options which will decrease performance on older systems.

The options so far are:

* 512*512 683kB per texture (Vanilla size;a bit more detailed than SBLQLN)
* 1024*1024 2.66MB per texture (same size as Qarls 2048)
* 2048*2048 10.9MB per texture (same size as Qarls 4096)

Installation

Either use BAIN, make an OMOD
or just drag and drop the included Textures folder into your [...]\Oblivion\Data\ folder.

Credits

Thanks to:
Qarl for the original normals
dev_akm for TOTO
Bethesda for the game
Adobe for Photoshop
Nvidia for the .dds-Plugin
The Elder Scrolls CS Wiki for all tutorials I used

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:01 am

Nice to see your new work. I always liked your old textures and now I am happy to see that they can be improved. I will download them and will give some feedback.
I would like to see some 2048 textures as well even if it just for testing purposes. So if its not so much work for you I would like to see therm.

Thanks for making these very nice textures!

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:15 am

Thx for your kind words. Now I know I have at least 1 fan

Regarding the 2048 textures:
I've only made 1 till now and here is a
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh122/deathb0rnwc3/Oblivion%20Screens/2048.jpg

Don't know if it makes sense making those as they are as big as the 4096QN with a bit less detail + the "blockiness factor" of the 4096 isnt that noticable.

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:02 am

Small bump because of a new file:
2048*2048 textures are now available.

Edited OP.

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 12:10 am

I wonder if it is possible to make 4096 uncompressed normals

» Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:00 pm

Great work! I never liked the huge amount of compression artifacts on Qarls normals, that's why I didn't use them. Now I use your 1024 versions with Xerus LOD textures and grain shader, looks beautiful.

I wonder if it is possible to make 4096 uncompressed normals

Haha...if your harddrive has enough space for that.

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:55 am

I tried it just for fun but Photoshop wouldn't let me save them. But to be honest,it's a bad idea anyway as their size would be 44MB each
and all of them are loaded into VRAM at the same time, which means 13 x 44MB = 572MB ONLY for the normal maps :brokencomputer:
+ if you are going for the real deal (8.8.8.8. textures) you'll end up with 87MB per texture.... =1131MB VRAM usage which is not so healthy for your gfx card :hehe:

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 12:57 am

Thanks for the release. I followed Phitt's set up

Now I use your 1024 versions with Xerus LOD textures and grain shader, looks beautiful.

and it looks much better than my previous LOD combo. Excellent! :celebration:

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:15 am

Can you guys please help me?

I have installed this -by the way beatuful job - along with Xerus' LOD and the result was this: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/tDESncanXquNTmKUBShz8Q?feat=directlink

I've deleted my landscapelod folder and replaced it with the backup, ran archiveinvalidation again and the rain still falling in carebears purple.

Any ideas? I don't even get how can LOD textures affect rain..

» Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:09 pm

Can you guys please help me?

I have installed this -by the way beatuful job - along with Xerus' LOD and the result was this: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/tDESncanXquNTmKUBShz8Q?feat=directlink

I've deleted my landscapelod folder and replaced it with the backup, ran archiveinvalidation again and the rain still falling in carebears purple.

Any ideas? I don't even get how can LOD textures affect rain..

Is your game patched to v1.2.0416? Xerus LODs also has a TerrainNoise.dds replacer (Textures\Effects) and that was added by the 1.2 patch. I guess running it on on a unpatched game can lead to weirdness.

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:23 am

If you have OBMM, try to use BSA-redirection, reset your BSA timestamps and delete your ArchiveInvalidation.txt. Plus: I've heard that you should never put normal maps into your Archive Invalidation as that can mess things up.

Hope that helps.

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:57 am

Arkngt : Yes my game is patched to v1.2.0416 and also copied the terrainnoise.dd backup to effects .

Deathb0rn Thanks I will try that out. I never edited archiveinvalidation.txt manually so no normal maps should be in there, but I'll check.

Thank you both for the answers, fingers crossed.

EDIT: BSA redirection, arcive reset seem to fixed the issue, thanks a ton!

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:19 am

Just a small monthly bump :whistling:

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:12 pm

My pc would blow up if I used the highest one my gpu is nvidia geforce g210 btw

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:21 am

i love using your 1024 x 1024 size, it's really a huge improvement from my last lod normals... umm... which were also from you :laugh:

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:09 am

Hey Deathb0rn

Is there any way to make this normal maps as "sharp" as the Qarl 4096? I still have some VRAM left

» Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:59 am

Sry for the late reply. Since I can't make them bigger (my Photoshop crashes when I'm trying to save the 4096 textures) the only option would be to use sharpen filters etc. on them. Unfortunately I don't have a clue what your preferences are so you'd have to do it yourself.

Just pm me if you need some help