And one final related question Is there a way to specify a different directory for the LoD entities so I don't have to have 500 objects in the root of my game dir =)

Thank you.

Mark

yep, this is what i have:

path "c:\\rpg";
path "panels";
path "scripts";
path "models";

Thanks ninja, I've got that for my sound and images etc but wasn't aware that the LoD files worked form there. I thought they had to be in the root and was wondering if there was a way to path them. So as long as they are in the same dir as the original entity is loaded from I am cool?

I'll give it a whirl but it sounds like thats the case.

Thanks again.

Mark

Thanks for posting all the info. This will be helpful!

One thing that you need to be careful about when using LOD is your memory consumption.

It is a pretty simple matter to go ahead and create a single level, and fit it all into memory, but when you start cramming 3 or 4 levels into the same small block of memory (everything made a couple times over as seperate LOD) it can get to be a pretty fat level. Not a huge problem - just something to keep in mind.

Yes Myrlyn thanks, excellent point. I have been monitoring the memory but forgot to post it. Currently Im chewing up about 15Megs of memory. Not bad. Thats with full detail LOD on 10 very complex and fully interiored structures. Based on further testing regarding BSP and rendering speeds based on loc 0,0,0 my next set of optimization tests will be to make additional smaller landblocks above and below the primary "zone" landblock that can be used for Large interiors that a player can portal to or things like dungeons / cellars etc.

Although I have not tested this yet, based on my research, additional levels within a thousand or so quants of the 0 Z axis should render just fine and since they will be anclosed within their own skybox (wehter its actually a sky or not) they should not impact the rendering of the primary outdoor zone at all. For anyone seeing this thread who hasn't seen this "trick" used before, according to what other people have said, if you make completely enclosed landblocks, you can "stack" them so to speak to accomplish much larger playing area within a single level.


Thanks for the heads up on the memory.

Mark

Fog DOES have a use in keeping FPS high. view.fog_start and view.fog_end give huge control over fog. view.fog_end is the point far enough from the camera where nothing is visible. This way you can safely use clip_range without actually seeming like clipping is used. Great for REALLY foggy levels, because then you can increase the detail of the level without worrying about slideshow FPS.

Thanks, MarkMcFear, for all these tips. I will use them, and give them to my team's level builder!

Julian