How can I reduce distant object Pop-In?

[minttea]

I've been using distance-enhancing mods for awhile now, but ever since I restored my computer and erased my Mod and .ini files, I can't remember if there is a performance friendly technique for reducing object and texture pop-in when traveling around Skyrim.

Would appreciate any tips or mod recommendations, atm I'm only using HD Enhanced Terrain. I'd prefer to stay clear of u-grid shenanigans :) - Thanks.

[EbonHawk]

There's a ton of stuff on this page, pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about tweaking Skyrim's .ini files.

http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/35760/how-can-i-extend-the-view-distances-further

A simpler explanation on how to extend draw distances for grass and trees..
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/23/tweaking_skyrim_image_quality/3#.VH6qhTHF9H8

[Nazenn]

Skyrim Distance Overhaul LOD Improvement
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19446/

High Quality LODs
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/4834/?

High Quality 3D Maps (as a companion to the above mod)
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/4817/?

Are the three that I use to help with stopping textures and models from popping so much.
Theres also two new systems being developed that use a tes5edit script to dynamically generate a LOD based on what you have in your load order as well, but they are both still in development and not finished. If youre daring you can try them and help with the testing though. One is called BETA - Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - DynDOLOD and the other TES5LODGen.

[EbonHawk]

Do those mods affect the .ini files in any way, Nazenn?

[Nazenn]

Not at all. All they do is add/replace meshes and textures :) The first one actually adds in LOD meshes for a lot of rocks etc which REALLY helps when youre running around outside so you dont see rocks just fade into existance any more

[JustOnePepsi]

SDO is a pretty good mod.

You will still see the textures of those objects fade in though. Which could even be more noticeable in some instances if you're using high-res textures that appear drastically different from vanilla.

[Incunabulum]

Here's the problem you're going to have if you extend LOS *too far* - you'll start to see how close evreything is and how small Skyrim is.

As you extend uGrids and LOD, that fog that hides distant mountains goes away. It can be very when you see the fort on the other side of the valley is only a couple hundred meters away.

My reccommendation if you push out your view distance - get a strong depth of Field mod that blurs everything in the distance. It'll still be there, but you won't be able to see things that are supposed to be miles away crystal clear.

That way you can reduce pop-in (though I just change the .ini for most of that - saves precious plugin slots) and still not get immersion-breaking views.

[EbonHawk]

Originally posted by Nazenn:

Not at all. All they do is add/replace meshes and textures :) The first one actually adds in LOD meshes for a lot of rocks etc which REALLY helps when youre running around outside so you dont see rocks just fade into existance any more

Wouldn't he still have to apply the .ini tweaks then to keep higher-res "stuff" from popping in just like before? Just seems like it would be more noticeable if things were better-looking in the distance.

[minttea]

Thanks for the replies,

I have used SDO before but as Grouse mentioned, the fade in is still pretty noticeable. I think maybe if I use a combination of the mods mentioned by Nazenn along with some ini tweaks, I can reduce the issue considerably.

Actually now that I think about it, the reason the pop-in is so noticeable is because of a slight stutter as the objects and meshes fade in. Is that part of the engine, or is there something up with my system?

Thanks.

[Nazenn]

Originally posted by VenMag:

Thanks for the replies,

I have used SDO before but as Grouse mentioned, the fade in is still pretty noticeable. I think maybe if I use a combination of the mods mentioned by Nazenn along with some ini tweaks, I can reduce the issue considerably.

Actually now that I think about it, the reason the pop-in is so noticeable is because of a slight stutter as the objects and meshes fade in. Is that part of the engine, or is there something up with my system?

Thanks.

Depending on what textures you use, there might be LOD packs that fit those textures that you can get to also help reduce the pop in of the textures which can help as well.

As far as the stuttering, it might be a number of things. Most likely that I can think of is just memory limits, you may be low on memory in outdoor spaces (remembering skyrim has a memory cap) which you can check by grabbing the skyrim performance monitor, or it might be part of the way that the engine loads LODs in that, as far as i know, it loads it all at once as opposed to object by object, so if its having to load too many textures/models/grass etc as you move through and area there is a delay as it tries to process it all.