Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago

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Making good level of detail ( LOD ) even for a professional artist can be hard work. You’ve got to try and make each LOD transition look very similar to the previous LOD transition while taking into account the distance at which that LOD will be shown on the screen.

The current system in Trainz replaces one LOD with another. Take the following rock asset:
- LOD 0 = Mesh has 2k polys and is rendered from 0 to 10 meters.
- LOD 1 = Mesh has 1k polys and is rendered from 10 to 20 meters.
- LOD 2 = Mesh has 400 polys and is rendered from 20 to 30 meters.
- LOD 3 = Mesh has 100 polys and is rendered from 30 to 500 meters.

With the current Trainz LOD system you wouldn’t normally be so aggressive with the distances mentioned above LOD0 – 10m, LOD1 – 20m, LOD2 – 30m but the new crossfade LOD transitions mask any ugly mesh swaps due to fading one mesh over the other over a certain distance.

NOTE:
* it requires work by the creator
* it's only available for clutter

Read the entire dev diary blog at trainzportal.com