MSFS Adaptive LOD

[cj-ibbotson 81]

On 12/19/2023 at 11:07 PM, FBW737 said:

Does anyone now of a way to keep the DynamicLOD UI in the foreground with MSFS in Full screen and still be able to use the click spots in the sim without the DymanicLOD UI disappearing into the background? It would be useful for the purpose of tuning values.

If you install "Power Toys" from the Microsoft Store (freeware) you can easily make an window stay on top of others using a combined key assignment.

Ive not tested it with the sim but it works generally very well

[abennett 177]

Genuinely don’t understand how people don’t notice the difference between TLOD 100 and 400. Even with higher TLODs of 200+ the distance where things stop being drawn is so obvious and one can clearly see the edge of detailed terrain, where trees and buildings stop being rendered etc, and the terrain just becomes at blurry mess. At low TLODs like 100 is it really really obvious as it’s such a small distance around the aircraft where things are drawn.

[caneman 91]

On 12/31/2023 at 9:45 AM, TheFamilyMan said:

I also initially experienced the problem you've described.  Brought the app back to "operating normally" by deleting the install directory (which effectively uninstalls the app) and running the installer again followed by a windows restart.  BTW, the above 'instructions' is a reprint of the app's README file.

The '+' button add a new pair, though its use is what I call "brittle" in that if used incorrectly it seems to FU the app.  The correct use is to first make sure no existing AGL/xLOD list entry is selected, then input a AGL/xLOD pair in the empty boxes and then click '+'.  The '-' button deletes the currently selected AGL/xLOD list entry (but don't try to delete the first entry).  To change an existing AGL/xLOD list entry, select it, update its values and click 'S'.  All self explanatory, right?  😄

I find that the app works great when I first bring up a flight and start it, but usually after I finish the flight MSFS eventually hangs.  Once that hang resulted in Windows being hung as well, requiring a power off to get thing knocked loose.  I was dreading that power on sequence, half expecting the dreaded BSOD but fortunately it didn't happen.  Anyone else see this behavior, I'm now at the point of abandoning the app.

BTW I do notice the difference, but I fly GA usually at FL80-100.  Mountainous terrain has noticeable more detail, that is if you're looking to see that detail.

Hey Familyman - So, this was very helpful. 

I can add ( + button) as long as I don't try to add to "0 AGL" slot.  And yes you are correct, if you hit "add" to the 0 AGL field it kills the app and you have to reinstall. Including removing folder in the %appdata% folder. 

I cant seem to get either the S (edit) button or - (delete) button to do anything at all.   

Any help on what I'm doing wrong?

[caneman 91]

Ok ... so my bad.   After many random clicks, figured out how to double click to bring the intended value into the "edit box"

 

 

[cj-ibbotson 81]

1 hour ago, abennett said:

Genuinely don’t understand how people don’t notice the difference between TLOD 100 and 400. Even with higher TLODs of 200+ the distance where things stop being drawn is so obvious and one can clearly see the edge of detailed terrain, where trees and buildings stop being rendered etc, and the terrain just becomes at blurry mess. At low TLODs like 100 is it really really obvious as it’s such a small distance around the aircraft where things are drawn.

Ive seen videos in the past, perhaps Asobo development interviews, and there was a way to show in red the extent the LOD value had on the sim.  Think it was through Developer Mode.  Changing the TLOD showed a larger radius to the red shading.

[TheFamilyMan 281]

23 minutes ago, caneman said:

I cant seem to get either the S (edit) button or - (delete) button to do anything at all.   

Any help on what I'm doing wrong?

Sort of goofed up my instructions.  The list entry must be double-clicked for the S and - to work.  (Edit:  glad you figured that one out, excellent!)

Seems my issue with MSFS hanging after ending a flight is due to using VR, which I do exclusively.  I find that if I exit VR mode before going back to the main menu, MSFS doesn't hang.  A slight inconvenience, but when I end a flight I usually exit MSFS soon afterwards anyways.

Edited January 1 by TheFamilyMan

[caneman 91]

Thanks again for posting all your helpful info Familyman.  Really helpful mod! 

[Sky_Pilot071 581]

Why not use a graphics load factor to automate the optimization?

sp

[Noel 4,563]

3 hours ago, abennett said:

Genuinely don’t understand how people don’t notice the difference between TLOD 100 and 400

It really depends on a lot of things including how clear the air is between you and the horizon, what the lighting is, what the screen resolution and graphical settings are and how your eyesight is.  I guarantee you I see a difference but what I don't agree with is that it really matters very much at all and that the relative value, to my experience, is somewhere between modest and barely significant.  I'm being genuine too when I say that.  I am very busy flying the plane (or it's on AP and I'm off doing something else), and I love the scenery but there is a certain loss of clarity secondary to conditions we will summarize it as, so it's rather realistic looking to me.  But it is significant at one level,. to have higher LOD.  As was pointed out certain scenarios lend themselves to our discerning difference.  Here you go, can you tell which is which?

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/640425-msfs-adaptive-lod/?do=findComment&comment=5049721

 

[SKEWR 364]

Hello all;

Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. I start this program and it works fine. I try to modify values on the TLOD and it shuts down with no warning and will not open. The only cure for this behavior is to reinstall the program (and then any changes I made are gone). Any ideas?

Edit: RTFM strikes again

Thanks

Edited January 2 by SKEWR

[brucewtb 250]

2 hours ago, abennett said:

Genuinely don’t understand how people don’t notice the difference between TLOD 100 and 400. Even with higher TLODs of 200+ the distance where things stop being drawn is so obvious and one can clearly see the edge of detailed terrain, where trees and buildings stop being rendered etc, and the terrain just becomes at blurry mess. At low TLODs like 100 is it really really obvious as it’s such a small distance around the aircraft where things are drawn.

OK I am genuinely curious as to what other folks are seeing on their displays at higher altitudes with T/O LOD at 300/400 that I don't see. Furthermore what I see at altitude in the distance at 100 LOD is certainly not a blurry mess - for instance at inibuilds KJFK at altitude the Manhattan city skyline has the same crisp clarity at 100 as it does at 300 there is no difference that I can see.  At 100 TLOD I definitely don't have a small zone of  hi res texture around the aircraft and beyond that a blurry mess - I have to drop below 100 before image quality starts to degrade.  Now the higher you go the more hazy it becomes in the distance so detail does blend into the haze but it is often like this IRL. Maybe someone can post some comparison screenshots at 100 LOD and 300/400 LOD so at least we can find out if we are talking about the same thing.  Perhaps it is something to do with the 24gb of VRAM I have on my 4090 or even the photo vivid preset I am using on my Sony 4K TV as this not only makes just about any photo look very good it also greatly enhances the look of games.  Alternatively, I have been testing this using the drone camera, so is there a difference if you just use the internal cockpit camera?  Now one thing I have noticed with the drone is that if you move the drone high up above an airport and look straight down runway textures are lo res and jaggy until TLOD is increased beyond about 280 - but not sure if that is what is being discussed here.

Bruce

[willy647 193]

7 hours ago, SKEWR said:

Hello all;

Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. I start this program and it works fine. I try to modify values on the TLOD and it shuts down with no warning and will not open. The only cure for this behavior is to reinstall the program (and then any changes I made are gone). Any ideas?

Edit: RTFM strikes again

Thanks

The answer is just a couple of items up on this topic

[JaseMelbo 391]

Hi all,

Can anyone offer some advice on how to uninstall this?  I've deleted from my Appdata folder but it's still trying to load it at startup.

Jase

[RALF9636 1,998]

12 minutes ago, JaseMelbo said:

Hi all,

Can anyone offer some advice on how to uninstall this?  I've deleted from my Appdata folder but it's still trying to load it at startup.

Jase

You need to manually edit your exe.xml.

 

[Reader 2,034]

13 minutes ago, RALF9636 said:

You need to manually edit your exe.xml.

If you bought the Microsoft Store Version, you will find the file at AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\exe.xml
You can open it with Notepad and this is the section that needs to be removed:

<Launch.Addon>
    <Disabled>False</Disabled>
    <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>
    <Name>DynamicLOD</Name>
    <Path>C:\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\DynamicLOD\bin\DynamicLOD.exe</Path>
  </Launch.Addon>

Or, you can leave it in and just change

<Disabled>False</Disabled> to <Disabled>True</Disabled>