[eMod] Tile Detail Reduction (Performance Increase)

I was absolutely looking for this! My computer is supposedly not too bad (a one year-old VAIO), but it got hell-like after half an hour of LH. Not to speak of the noise. Many thanks, I'm trying it right now!

Very nice of you to do this!  I'm sure those with 'not so cutting edge' machines will be thanking you profusely for this!

BTW, this has been added to the comprehensive LH Mods list.  I'm trying to keep my replies in that thread to a minimum (so as to showcase the mods), hence my reply here.

Still, though, an excellent approach that I'm sure took some time to do, since you had to sort through and modify all of those tile files!

@Bigorra:  If heat is a problem, you might look into a framerate limiter.  I've got nVidia GPUs on both my computers, so I use a program called nVidia Inspector to set the framerates for my games.  You can set a different framerate for each game (LH isn't on the default list, but you can add it).  I've actually dropped LH to run at 18 FPS (which I disabled when testing this mod so I could find out what the performance gain would be).

You can download nVidia Inspector here (or just do a search for it):
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5077-nvidia-inspector.html 

And you'll need a custom settings XML file that adds the framerate limiter.  There's a few out there, but I haven't seen any that go below 30 FPS, so I added the lower FPS settings on my own, and you can get my custom settings file here (just extract this into the folder with the inspector):
http://darkseam.com/fe/CustomSettingNames_en-EN.rar 

If you don't have an nVidia GPU, then you'll need to search for a framerate limiter elsewhere.

Point of interest:  If you use a framerate limiter for Skyrim, don't set the limit lower than 32 FPS or it will take forever to load.  That's the only game I know of that has framerate limiter issues.  If you keep it at or above 32, load times will stay normal.  I really don't know how or why they tied the load times to the framerate.  

I actually made this mod to reduce the amount of heat my GPU puts out rather than get a performance boost.

Darxin, I love you and I want to marry you and live forever together in a cottage.

Now seriusly, many thanks. I suspect this might be really helpful (now I'm in Germany and it improves, but in the Spanish summer, I ended up using ice :S)

Edit a little later: Ugh, apparently I actually have an ATI Mobility or something like that (took me a bit to figure out, lol). Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, will keep on looking... All Hail Google!

Anyone know if there's a way to utilize the Mods folder for this instead of overwriting the actual game files?  I've tried putting them in the mods folder with a few different subfolders, and it won't actually use them from there.  It wouldn't make the mod work any better, but... Well, it would just be more proper that way.

My computer struggles with the late game. Thanks for this!

This is something the developers would have to address.  Some files can be modified/overwritten in the mod folder, while others can't.  This has been an issue for quite some time now (Since E:WOM actually), and there have been a couple of threads about this.

What you can do, if you are nervous, is to back up all the files that are to be overwritten and save copies of them in a separate folder somewhere else on your computer.  That way, you have them on hand if an issue arises.

I actually distribute the mod with a .rar of the original Core Tiles folder, so it's not that it makes me nervous, it's just... Well, for one, it does make it more of a pain to get "before" screenshots.  

My main concern, though, is when the game upgrades, if it overwrites my tiles.  After upgrading to the 1.3 beta, I noticed that some of the tiles reverted, which wouldn't have been a problem if my custom tiles were loaded as mods instead of overwriting the original files.  

Also, my current method of install just kinda bothers me.  I never liked overwriting the original files for a mod.  It just doesn't seem right.

For v0.3, I'm going to go in and replace all the tree trunks (of trees that have leaves) with the least complicated ones, so you'll still have tree trunks, but no branches.  I can't see the branches anyway (honestly, I can't see the tree trunks most of the time, either, but whatever).

Currently I've been trying to make changes that were so small only your GPU would notice.  I think, after I finish v0.3, I'm going to go back through and make a "more reduced" version, where some of the changes will be visually noticeable, such as removing all the rocks from river tiles.  Also, I would like to give it another once-over because I left a lot of details that I'm just really not noticing, even at the default zoom level.  I'd ultimately like to have two versions of this mod: The somewhat-reduced detail version (v0.3), and the "My GPU is a sun! Make it stop!" version (v0.4+).  It'll be kind like adding Medium and Low tile detail settings. *nudges Stardock*

I released a new version, but I decided to call it 1.0 instead of 0.3.  Aside from the number difference, my plan from last post is still in effect.  The next release will include Low-detail tiles.

Keep in mind that, after installing 1.0, the changes won't take effect until you start a new game.

I have released the latest and final (at least until there are new tiles) version of this mod.

The new version contains the same Medium detail tiles from the prior version, but also contains a new set of Low detail tiles, which are more reduced than what I'd released before.  Unlike with the Medium detail tiles, I decided to wait until I was completely finished before releasing a version with the Low detail tiles, so there will not be any more versions.  It's safe to go ahead and start a new game using these.

Also included in this new version are some tips about improving performance through options, and also about frame rate limiting (it goes into more detail than my post earlier in this thread; also, I still don't have any info about an ATI frame rate limiter).

With the Medium detail tiles, I was trying to make changes that you wouldn't notice, but would still improve performance.  With the Low detail tiles, I threw caution to the wind and just removed a lot of stuff, so you'll probably notice the difference.  I figured, as long as it still resembles the original tile, that's good enough.  

With any luck, this will prevent your computer from cooking its surroundings.  Maybe it'll even save you money on electricity.

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I think the shadows are pre-rendered for tiles.  I never did find out for certain why it creates that folder when saving the mods, so I just kept it where the program was putting it.

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I'm getting the same thing in mine.  I don't know what's causing that.  Looking at my tile backups, G_Forest_Full_01 originally had 138 objects, 05 had 133, and 06 had 138 (apparently I didn't do much with 06).  I'm not sure why it thinks they used to have 100, or even why it's bothering to check since it's a moddable game.