Make use of the official DynDOLOD support forum to post feedback and to receive qualified answers and help for any questions or problems with xLODGen, TexGen or DynDOLOD or any other LOD related question, including issues or compatibility with mods.
The official DynDOLOD support forum should be preferred over any other resource where only second hand knowledge is available at best. Posting about problems anywhere else usually results in wrong answers, wrong assumptions and wrong suggestions and does not really help to fix or improve the tools, procedures or documentation for everyone.
Refer and use the official documentation on this website, included in the download archives and on the official DynDOLOD support forum. In case of posts be wary about their timestamp and for which versions of the tools they were made. 3rd party instructions, guides or posts are often (long) outdated or wrong and are generally not well supported or updated. The tools and their official documentation are constantly updated to add new or refine features or to address issues with the tools or mods.
Report the actual problem or error message without making assumptions or asking leading questions. Read the explanations and tips below, especially about what information and logs to provide and how. Also see Don't ask to ask, just ask and How do I ask a good question? Try not to make posts that only promise more information, logs, results etc. in the future. If it takes time to first gather information, logs, results etc. it is fine to just take it and then post when ready.
Disabling something is typically a troubleshooting step and not a fix, especially when trying to circumvent errors or problems. Research the issue and report problems to the official DynDOLOD support forum, so they can be properly troubleshooted and fixed, whatever their reasons are.
Use the Latest Versions
Always use the latest DynDOLOD Standalone and DynDOLOD Resources version. Bugs and other problems may already be fixed or addressed.
In case of problems with the latest version, report them on the official DynDOLOD support forum.
Use the latest versions of additional requirements and the latest release versions of graphics drivers etc.
Using older versions of something is a troubleshooting step and not a fix. A problem can only be troubleshooted and fixed if it is reported properly.
Check the FAQ
Check the FAQ for some common questions and answers.
Read Log and Error Messages
Pay attention to log messages and read their explanations.
If there is an error prompt, read the entire message carefully. Many of them describe the problem in detail and offer hints for for a solution.
Read additional explanations and help for a message by clicking on the Click on this link for additional explanations and help for this message link of the message. That will open a corresponding page on this website with further explanations and help for the message.
Otherwise search this website for (part) the message.
Rudimentary Troubleshooting
To test if something is tree LOD, object LOD (includes ultra tree LOD and grass LOD) or terrain LOD, disable all LOD with tll in console. Whatever remains is added by plugins, including dynamic LOD.
Uncheck DynDOLOD is active in the DynDOLOD SkyUI MCM - Main page to disable dynamic LOD.
In case of issues in the game, test if the problem persists without any DynDOLOD output.
If the problem goes away, make sure that the DynDOLOD output is generated for the current load order, e.g. the assets, the plugins and their load order priority did not change.
Use Search
The official DynDOLOD support forum contains many years worth of information and discussion. Chances are high that a question or a problem has been discussed before.
For example, search for the mod or plugin name to find discussion about a particular mod.
For example, use parts of the log messages or error message to search for posts containing the same messages. Remove the individual information, for example in case the message contains a path to a file, only keep the filename.
Before making "me too" posts, read the posts and answers to see if a similar problem was already sufficiently reported and/or an issue was already solved. If the answers or solutions do not seem to apply or do not have the desired result, report the problem or ask for help for an issue with the logs and information as explained below. Always provide logs. "Me too" posts without required logs and information might be ignored or removed.
Copy and Paste Text
Copy and paste text instead of making screenshots of text. Text can be indexed and searched so posts can be found more easily.
If the option Copy message to clipboard is available on a message prompt, use it to copy and paste the text.
Screenshots of text means it can not be searched, copied or pasted. Screenshots of text means the text can not be read by screen readers. Screenshots of text makes it hard to read on small screens. Text needs less space compared to images. Copy pasting text is easier to do than taking screenshots and uploading images.
Do not post screenshots of the tools, unless it is about visual issues with the user interface. If necessary, convey the information in text form. The debug log as explained below typically contains most of the selected settings and options already.
Post Logs
When making posts to report problems or to ask any questions, always zip and upload or paste these entire log files from the DynDOLOD Standalone folder to a free file upload service or text sharing service:
- ..\DynDOLOD\bugreport.txt - if it exists
- ..\DynDOLOD\Logs\[DynDOLOD|TexGen]_[GAME MODE]_log.txt - truncate large log files to the entire last meaningful session, starting with the line [DynDOLOD|TexGen] ... starting session
- ..\DynDOLOD\Logs\[DynDOLOD|TexGen]_[GAME MODE]_Debug_log.txt
The log and debug log are saved when the program shuts down. Do not interrupt the shut down process so it can write the log files. While the new log is appended to older logs, the debug log is replaced every time. Keep a copy somewhere else for future references if required.
If there are no logs or debug logs because the tool is being terminated prematurely, check the Windows Event log for related messages. Add RealTimeLog=1 under [TexGen] or [DynDOLOD] in ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\[TexGen|DynDOLOD]_[GAME MODE].INI respectively. Then execute the tool again to generate the real-time debug log in the Logs folder in real time and upload the entire file.
If the issue involves LODGen upload or paste the entire:
- ..\DynDOLOD\Logs\LODGen_[GAME MODE]_[WORLDSPACE]_log.txt
If there is no LODGen log or it does not contain a useful error message, start DynDOLOD in expert mode, select the desired worldspace and click Execute LODGen. Bring the LODGen command prompt window to the front to see if it prints more details to the console. Copy and paste that text. If that does not give more detail, check the Windows Event Viewer for additional messages from the .Net Framework or .NET Desktop Runtime.
If the issue involves xLODGen upload or paste the entire file:
- xLODGen\[GAME_MODE]LODGen_log.txt
Simply zipping the entire log folder and uploading everything is fine, too.
The log and the debug log are often sufficient regarding information about the load order, used mods and plugins. Consider uploading load order information to modwat.ch and link it to provide additional information.
If there are suspected problems related to dynamic LOD or the DynDOLOD SkyUI MCM in the game, enable and upload the entire c:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents\My Games\[Skyrim|Skyrim Special Edition|Skyrim VR]\Logs\Script\Papyrus.0.log. To enable papyrus logging add/edit these line in the Skyrim.ini [Papyrus]
bEnableLogging=1
bEnableTrace=1
bLoadDebugInformation = 1
In case of CTD in the game, upload the entire crash log from Crash Logger. Also see ..DynDOLOD\Docs\DynDOLOD-README.txt.
Do not post screenshots of the tools, unless it is about visual issues with the user interface. The used settings and options are typically documented in the debug log already.
As troubleshooting progresses further information or logs might need to be provided on request.
In-Game Screenshots
A screenshot alone does not substitute describing the issue with text. "This" is not a problem description. Do not waste time making videos of things that can be explained in a couple sentences or to provide information that a screenshot provides more easily as explained below. Nobody has time to watch minutes of shaky videos with bad lighting just to find the couple frames that have the required information.
How to take a screenshot in Skyrim. Do not use a camera to make pictures of the monitor.
When making screenshots in the game, make them in broad daylight. Use console command 'sw 15e' to change to the default weather or 'sw 81a' for sunny weather.
To get closer to LOD, toggle to the free fly camera with tfc in console. Note that LOD may start to rapidly cycle through its LOD levels. Any rectangular holes are disabled LOD meshes due to TVDT - Occlusion Data.
If making screenshots of the LOD area, also make screenshots of the close-up object or full model for comparison.
When making screenshots of full models, open console and click the object in question to show its reference form ID. Note that multi pass snow shaders can prevent full models from being selected. Temporarily disable any mod that prevents getting the form ID of full models in case getting the information is not possible otherwise.
Use Mfg Console or More Informative Console to show additional information when opening the console and clicking an object.
If making screenshots of objects missing with DynDOLOD output enabled, make a screenshot of the objects as explained above without DynDOLOD output enabled.
If making general screenshots of areas or worldspaces, provide information like the worldspace name and the cell coordinates. The DynDOLOD SkyUI MCM - You Are Here page provides the current cell coordinates of the player.
If the form ID points to a DynDOLOD plugin, load the plugin into xEdit and look up the reference. Take note of the Editor ID, which is typically of the format pluginname_formID for the source plugin and reference.
Note that tree LOD or object LOD does not have a form ID. To determine if something is LOD, toggle LOD on/off with tll in console. In that case, also walk close to an object, so its reference with the full model is loaded in order to get its form ID and provide that screenshot of the full model in addition to the screenshot of the LOD.
Use the DynDOLOD SkyUI MCM You Are Here page to determine the cell coordinates and the LOD filenames being used for the area.
xEdit Screenshots
When investigating records in xEdit, make sure to scroll to the far right to show the last winning plugin to overwrite the record. If not everything of interested fits into a single screenshot, do several to show the whole record, scrolling to the bottom, too.
Do not trim anything. Do not filter anything, make sure everything is shown. Unfold elements (in particular when they link to other records) in case their content is not shown in the folded view.