[SIZE="3"]Nehrim Landscape LOD Textures by Xerus[/SIZE]
Version 1.0

Modification and Bugfix for the Oblivion Total Conversion "Nehrim - At Fate's Edge"


[SIZE="3"]What does this mod do?[/SIZE]

This mod replaces the default LOD textures of the distant landscapes in Nehrim with better quality textures and also adds some missing textures. All LOD textures will be replaced, so all color maps, all normal maps as well as the texture for the terrain noise effect. You have the choice between the standard resolution (1024 x 1024) or the higher resolution (2048 x 2048). LOD textures that are based on "Qarl's Texture Pack 3" are also included in this mod pack.


[SIZE="3"]What exactly will be replaced by what?[/SIZE]

Color Maps: Standard 1024 x 1024 DXT1 (682 KB) -> New 1024 x 1024 DXT1 (682 KB) or 2048 x 2048 DXT1 (2.66 MB)
Normal Maps: Standard 1024 x 1024 32 Bit (4.00 MB) -> New 512 x 512 24 Bit (768 KB) or 1024 x 1024 24 Bit (3.00 MB)
Terrain Noise: Standard 512 x 512 DXT1 (170 KB) -> New 512 x 512 DXT1 (170 KB)

The textures "2057.00.-64.32.dds" and "2057.00.32.32.dds" are scaled down to 512 x 512, because they are completely under water.


[SIZE="3"]Why are these textures better?[/SIZE]

The default textures were created with the Construction Set by using the "Generate LOD Land Texture" function. But this kind of LOD texture generation does not work entirely bug-free and provides only lower quality textures. The textures of this mod were created by a completely different and more complex method. Thus, LOD textures with very high quality were generated on which all objects, e.g. stone blocks and buildings are visible.


[SIZE="3"]Why this mod is also a bugfix?[/SIZE]

With all due respect to the makers, but in Nehrim some normal maps for the distant landscapes are simply missing. The negative effect of this is mainly noticeable in the region of Treomar. Look at the attached images and you will know what is meant. This mod adds the missing normal maps.


[SIZE="3"]How to install?[/SIZE]

1. Make your decision for the resolution 1024 x 1024 or 2048 x 2048 in the folder "Color Maps" and copy the contained folder "Textures" to your "...\Nehrim\Data" directory. I recommend the resolution 2048 x 2048, because it offers better quality without significant performance loss. The resolution 1024 x 1024 I only recommend for a weaker computer. If you have installed "Qarl's Texture Pack 3", so here you should select the appropriate textures.

2. Make your decision for the resolution 512 x 512 or 1024 x 1024 in the folder "Normal Maps" and copy the contained folder "Textures" to your "...\Nehrim\Data" directory. I generally recommend the reduced resolution 512 x 512 for better performance, because there is no noticeable difference to 1024 x 1024 in the game. Look at the attached comparison image, can you see any difference? ;-) The normal maps with the standard resolution 1024 x 1024 are included only for completeness.

3. Copy the folder "Textures" from the folder "Terrain Noise" to your "...\Nehrim\Data" directory. This will overwrite the file "TerrainNoise.dds". A backup copy of the original file is included in this mod pack.

4. I am not sure, but an archive invalidation could possibly be necessary, so that the game can load all the installed textures.


[SIZE="3"]How to get rid of?[/SIZE]

1. Delete the folder "LandscapeLOD" from your "...\Nehrim\Data\Textures" directory.

2. Copy the backup of the file "TerrainNoise.dds" from the folder "Backup" to your "...\Nehrim\Data\Textures\Effects" directory.


[SIZE="3"]How the textures of this mod were created?[/SIZE]

Color Maps:
The creation of the color maps was proceeded according to the tutorial from Blade9722 and GhanBuriGhan: http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Generate_High_resolution_LOD_textures
First, local maps were generated with the Construction Set. To prevent that the undesirable objects (e.g. triggers, collision boxes, creature markers, etc.) are visible on the local maps, all the meshes of each of these objects were replaced with an empty mesh before the generation process. The resulting partial textures were assembled by the Python script from GhanBuriGhan to complete LOD textures with the ultra-high resolution of 7712 x 7712 pixels. The textures were scaled down to the size of 2048 x 2048 pixels and a slight grain effect was added to reduce the tile effect somewhat.

Normal Maps:
The normal maps were created by using the "Generate LOD" function in the heightmap editor of the Construction Set. It was ensured that all normal maps exactly fit together seamlessly. To prevent compression artifacts, which would be clearly visible in the game, the final normal maps were left uncompressed.

Terrain Noise:
The texture for the terrain noise effect in Nehrim was taken from TES IV Oblivion. However, I am not really satisfied with this effect. The texture in this mod I have simply taken from my landscape LOD mod for Oblivion.


[SIZE="3"]Who have contributed to this mod?[/SIZE]

Mod Creator: Xerus (Eugen Prediger)

Used Programs:
TES Construction Set from Bethesda Softworks
NConvert from Pierre-E Gougelet
Python with Python Imaging Library
LOD Texture Fix Script for Python from GhanBuriGhan
Gimp 2 from Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis and the GIMP Developer Team
DXTBmp from MW Graphics

Thanks to:
Bethesda Softworks for TES IV Oblivion and TES Construction Set
SureAI for Nehrim - At Fate's Edge
Blade9722 for the Tutorial for creating the LOD textures
GhanBuriGhan for the LOD Texture Fix Script