HowTo:Add LODs

Editing XMESH

HowTos

Adding Engine Glow

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Levels of Detail, or LODs, are used to help cut down strain on the engine. An LOD mesh is a simplified version of the high-detail (top-level) mesh. When an object is far away from the player, the engine switches to the low-poly LOD so it is easier to render.

It's easy to reference LODs from within the xmesh file of the top-level mesh. All you need to do is place an <LOD> tag somewhere betweeen the <mesh> and </mesh> tags. For example:

<LOD size="275" meshfile="1_1.xmesh" />

Would reference a LOD to replace the current xmesh when the mesh occupies ? pixels on the screen. Size is the perimiter of the pixel dimensions, multiplied by a figure based on the player's detail setting? FIXME - This is really confusing. Also, LODs don't work anymore.

Here is an example of the standard naming scheme for xmeshes:

• name.xmesh = the main mesh
  • 0_1.xmesh = 1st LOD of main mesh
• 1_0.xmesh = submesh #1
  • 1_1.xmesh = the 1st LOD of submesh #1
• 2_0.xmesh = submesh #2
  • 2_1.xmesh = the 1st LOD of submesh #2
  • 2_2.xmesh = the 2nd LOD of submesh #2

and so on.

Note that when creating a BFXM file, only the top level xmeshes need to be appened. For instance, if you are compiling the mesh above, all you need to do is:

mesher.exe name.xmesh name.bfxm xbc
mesher.exe 1_0.xmesh name.bfxm xba
mesher.exe 2_0.xmesh name.bfxm xba

Mesher will automatically append all LODs.

For LODs to work, the entries must be sorted by decreasing size.

See also

• See Development:Model Guidelines#Polygon/Vertex Count for guidelines on LOD polycounts.
• See Terminology:LODs for a general explanation of LODs.

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Editing XMESH

HowTos

Adding Engine Glow