Name: AEVWD Fixes
Version: 0.1
Date: 2008/07/06
Category: Models and Textures
Required: Oblivion Patch 1.1.511
TES4LODGen
Author(s): Silverglade
Source: http://www.tesnexus.com


Description
===========
This mod contains various meshes that attempt to fix problems that exist
in Iggey's Almost Everything Visibile When Distant (AEVWD) mod.

Some these fixes can be used as is. However, to get the most out of
this mod, you need to get and use TES4LODGen by ElminsterEU.


Details
=======
As I played through Oblivion with AEVWD, I noticed problems with a few
of the the meshes Iggey provided. I also noticed a few cases where no
VWD meshes were provided and this caused VWD objects to appear
strangley. This mod contains various fixes that I have made for use in
my own game to correct these issues.

I have not made any attempt to optimize these fixes for people with low
end computers, and I don't intend to. All meshes use the original
Bethesda textures.

For people that want fine control over what gets installed into their
game, I have provided each fix as a standalone fix. I have also included
a directory that contains all of the fixes in one place for people that
want everything.

Here is a list of everything that has been fixed or added. If the fix is
labeled as "(TES4LODGen)", that means that you won't see this fix unless
you also use TES4LODGen. See the Technical Details section for more on
TES4LODGen, meshes, and VWD objects.

* anvil_docks (TES4LODGen) - AEVWD only includes the very tip of each
dock as a VWD object. This adds the docks to Anvil bay.

* anvil_ships (TES4LODGen) - AEVWD doesn't include the ships in Anvil
bay. This adds both ships to the bay. As a side effect, this also adds
both ships to the Impericla City Waterfront.

* battlethorn (TES4LODGen) - For some reason Bethesda didn't provide a
VWD mesh for the Downloadable Content (DLC) Battlethron Castle. This
adds Battlethorn Castle as a VWD object.

* burned_island (TES4LODGen) - There is a bruned out island in the Niben
Bay. It contains a burned out tower, house, and tree. AEVWD doesn't
provide the tower or house. This fix adds them both.

* cathedralakatosh - AEVWD provides a mesh for this cathederal. However,
it has some problems with the windows. Depending on which angle you
approached the catherderal from, you can see right through the
building. This fixes that problem.

* cathedralstendarr - AEVWD provides a mesh for this cathederal.
However, it has some problems with the windows. Depending on which
angle you approach the catherderal from, you can see right through the
building. This fixes that problem.

* foot_bridges - AEVWD provides a mesh for the various stone foot
bridges you find out in the country. These bridges are often used for
crossing small rivers and streams. Unfortunately, the meshes are see
through. This fixes that problem and makes the bridges solid again.

* frostcrag (TES4LODGen) - For some reason Bethesda didn't provide a VWD
mesh for the DLC Frostcrag Spire. This adds the Spire as a VWD object.

* wayshrines (TES4LODGen) - AEVWD doesn't proivide wayshrines as VWD
objects. This fix adds them..

* wfall_bridges (TES4LODGen) - There is a location where two foot
bridges are needed to span an expanse of water around the IC. The
bridges have a rock between them to make up for the extra distance
that the bridges don't span. Unfortunately, AEVWD doesn't provide that
rock so it looks like the bridges go from the shore to no where. This
fix provides the rock and the bridge ends to make the scene complete.

* wood_bridge_stairs (TES4LODGen) - AEVWD provides a mesh for a wood
bridge that crosses the lower Niben Bay. However, it doesn't provide
the stairs on either side of the bridge. This makes the bridge look
like it is floating in mid air above the water. This fix adds the
stairs at both sides.


Technical Details
=================
This is a simple explanation of how Visible When Distant (VWD) objects
work.

Every object that you see in the game is represented by a .nif file on
disk or in the original .BSA files from Bethesda. These are called
meshes. If something needs to be VWD, it needs to have a corresponding
_far.nif file. For example, if a chruch needs to be VWD, it would have
two different meshes (.nif files):

church.nif
church_far.nif

The church.nif file would be used to render the church when you were up
close, and the church_far.nif would be used to render the church when
you were far away.

Bethesda only provided a few _far.nif files for things that they wanted
us to see from far away. Mods like AEVWD went through and created many
more _far.nif files.

However, just having a _far.nif file is not enough to get things to show
up when distant. You need to tell the game that you want those objects
to show up when distant.

Once the _far.nif files were created, the mod author went into the
Construction Set and turned on the VWD flag for the objects they wanted
you to see. Once this was done, they regenrated the Distant Land Level of
Datail (LOD) information for each cell in the game.

You can think of Distant Land LOD as a list of information that tells
the engine "at this location, you need to draw the following object".
When it comes time to render that cell's VWD objects, the engine then
checks to see if that object has a _far.nif file associated with it. If
it does, then it renders the object. If it doesn't, then nothing is
drawn.

When you install something like AEVWD, you get the new _far meshes that
the mod author created, as well as the Distant Land LOD information that
they generated in the Construction Set.

This mod replaces some of the _far.nif files that came with AEVWD. For
these meshes, nothing needs to be done. The Distant Land LOD data that
comes with AEVWD, calls things by name and I kept the meshes named the
same as AEWVD. Therefore, the game will just pickup the new meshes and
use them instead of the ones that came with AEVWD.

However, several of these fixes are new _far.nif files. The Distant Land
LOD data that came with AEVVD doesn't contain references to these new
objects. In order to get these new objects to appear in the game, you
need to use TES4LODGen by ElminsterEU.

TES4LODGen takes a different approach to getting things to show up as
VWD objects. Whereas the Construction Set generates Distant Land LOD
information by checking which objects have their VWD flag set,
TES4LODGen checks to see what _far.nif files exist and automatically
generates a Distant Land LOD reference for every object that would use
that _far.nif.

TES4LODGen allows you to make even more things VWD. If Iggey forgot to
turn on the VWD flag for a house, even though he provided a _far.nif, it
wouldn't show up in your game. However, TES4LODGen would make that house
show up since it doesn't rely on the VWD flag.

Using TES4LODGen allows you to take a mod like AEVWD and add new things
to it.

I did not modify any of Iggey's _far.nif files in creating this mod. I
used Bethesda's original meshes. I then ran wz_'s GenerateFar.exe on the
meshes to reduce them and generate the _far.nif files.

All runs of GenerateFar were done with the settings "1 0 1 0". I know
that it has five parameters, but I only used the first four. There is no
particular reason I used those settings. I saw an example somewhere, and
those settings seemed to work out okay for me. There is a chance that
better settings could have been used.


Install
=======
1. Extract this archive to any folder EXCEPT your Oblivion Data folder.

2. Navigate to the folder where you extracted this mod.

3. Decide whether you want all of the fixes or only specific ones.

4. Go into the folder for a fix you want. Go into that folder's Data
folder.

5. Copy that fix's 'meshes' folder into your Oblivion Data folder (usually
C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\Data).

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each fix you want. If you want them all, you
just need to copy the 'meshes' folder from the '_all' folder.

7. If you used any of the fixes that require TES4LODGen, go ahead and
run TES4LODGen.


Uninstall
=========
In order to uninstall this mod, you will need to go into the meshes
folder and delete and of the _far.nif files this mod added. You'll then
need to reinstall AEVWD. If you ran TES4LODGen, you'll need to run it
again.


Incompatibilities
=================
Any other mod that supplies VWD objects could be incompatible with this
mod. When installing multiple VWD mods, you get the VWD objects from
whichever mod is installed last. See the Technical Detials section.


History
=======
0.1, 2008/07/06 - Initial release.


Contact
=======
You can send me a Personal Message (PM) on the official Elder Scrolls
forums. Just PM 'Silverglade'. All updates to this mod will be posted on
TESNexus (http://www.tesnexus.com).


Credits
=======
Thanks to Bethesda for creating such a beautiful world.
Thanks to lhammonds for the Readme Generator that this file is based on.
Thnaks to Iggey for creating Almost Everything Visible When Distant (AEVWD).
Thanks to wz_ for GenerateFar and his work on Nifskope.
Thanks to ElmisterEU for creating TES4LODGen.


Tools Used
==========
GenerateFar.exe by wz_
Nifskope by The Nifskope Team
Readme Generator - http://lhammonds.game-host.org/obmm/tools_readme_generator1.asp


Licensing/Legal
===============
You can do whatever you want with this mod. No permission is required to
use any of the resources.