Flickering objects on mod map

[{AR}MetalKiller]

Hey folks,

I am on the finishing touches of my new mod map and have a problem with distant objects.

The only related post I found was from wsa30h: https://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?topic=13489.msg121504#msg121504
However, I don't believe that my map is that detail-heavy.

I hid away quite a few objects under the map that I didn't need. I put them -200 under the surface (does it even matter how far they are donw?).
Could this be the source of my problems?


Video showing the flickering:
https://mega.nz/file/4aUzVaAQ#3oixSPLSirm_5KuoJ-KyMLMwapWzwAA6nmeel59QGBk

As always, thanks for any suggestions.
See you.

[AnthonyBF2]

Both games don't like rendering too many props or too many small props at close range.
You need to play around with the Far Scene and Near Scene values in the map's .SKY file.
Try using a set of sky values from any original map because we know those work 100%.

[{AR}MetalKiller]

Cheers for the input.

I tried to fiddle around with the values from the original maps. However, it seems that the scene values do mostly have an effect on the terrain but almost none on the objects.
Is there a documentation of these function, or do you know which parameter affects what?

Thanks again!

[AnthonyBF2]

I don't understand the sky values much either. I've always tried different stock values until one works for whatever my current mod is.

[Dark_Phantom]

Psych0fred tutorials are your friend:
http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?topic=8418.msg91007#msg91007

Basically, object rendering is controlled through LODs, so you'll have to make sure your object has a low-rez model.  It will render all objects at high-rez unless it has something to flip to.  Portals in BF2 "fixed" this problem, as I understand it, by only rendering sectors as needed.  BF1 doesn't have portals, and thus will render everything in the viewport as high-rez unless there are low-rez meshes present.  Although I do think outside of the far-scene max range they shouldn't render at all.  Fog also greatly helps with this problem.

Credit to Sleepkiller for this image here:
https://github.com/PrismaticFlower/SWBF-msh-Blender-IO/blob/master/docs/reference_manual.md

Below is a couple of screenshots showing how the game uses LOD models.

Red Spheres are LOD0 (Full Detail)
Green Spheres are LOD1
Blue Spheres are LOD2
Orange Spheres are LOWD (Low Detail/Far Scene models)
All spheres were ico spheres with each LOD model have one less subdivision than the last.

The map's near scene range values set to NearSceneRange(90.0, 400.0, 120.0, 600.0);.

https://github.com/PrismaticFlower/SWBF-msh-Blender-IO/raw/master/docs/images/lod_example_distances_0_hill_view.jpg

ninja edit: things under the terrain, if they are in the viewport, will still render.  BF1 is mostly outdoor maps because this sucks for buildings which have to render stuff which isn't even visible to you.  The only way to "fix" this problem is to obscure the far objects with fog, edit your farscene range, or make low-rez meshes that can free up your games rendering memory.

[{AR}MetalKiller]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. At least the problem is now clear to me. Using an engine from before 2004 really has its flaws 
IMO, using fog takes you out of the game but seems to be the only solution since it there is no low res version of the objects causing the problems.

Cheers!