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Toggle Cell boundary visibility

Koeran83

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This seems to fall more within the scope of W+ than WSFW, so I'm suggesting it here. I apologize in advance if it's already been implemented, as I haven't been able to use WSFW or W+ yet.

Having read through some of the posts about the Triangle of Death and how Scrapping Mods work, it occurs to me that knowing the number of Cells (and what their boundaries are) within a settlement could help builders optimize their construction more.

The suggestion:
Highlight Cell boundaries with transparent walls (in a similar fashion to the vanilla settlement build zone boundaries), and allow the visibility of those walls to be toggle-able on or off within the Holotape/Menu options.

I expect this may be out of scope given that (in my understanding) the vanilla settlement boundaries had to be created manually for each settlement, and as such the cell boundaries possibly would be too.
 
You can use the console command tb to toggle cell borders. Not sure how that would aid builders. Building to far over the vanilla budget is the problem. Not where in the cells the stuff is.
Desktop Screenshot 2018.10.09 - 23.21.07.20.png
 
You can use the console command tb to toggle cell borders.
Cheers. I didn't know that. Can XBox players use the console?

Building to far over the vanilla budget is the problem. Not where in the cells the stuff is.
I realize the main build budget is the major performance concern.

My thought process is based more around cell density. And I presume that cell density is probably more of a dynamic concern than a static/simple one. And while it may not be CTD performance worthy, I'd be surprised if it's not something that could have a noticeable effect on FPS, especially on XBox.

For example, for settlements within the Triangle of Death, it might be worth spreading the build across more of the cells rather than packing the same number of objects into one or two cells within the settlement. That way when walking towards the settlements the system loads the overall number of objects more gradually than it might otherwise.
Inversely, if you have a more isolated settlement, and you're only planning on building a smaller outpost/survival support settlement, then you can confine the build to a single cell, reducing the chances that you'll incidentally load some of the settlement if you happen to be walking nearby, but don't intend to actually visit the settlement.

I presume vanilla builds probably aren't too much of a problem, but players using mods, especially script heavy mods like SS, might get more benefit out of it. It's probably something that would be even more important for players using Expanded Settlements or similar.

I'm also not sure how much of an impact it would have on SS scripting. For example, if a Settler's assigned residential plot is in one cell, while their assigned job plot is in another. I don't know if that would cause interruptions or delays in the scripts, as the relevant cells load.

Does that make sense regarding what I'm getting at?

I might be making a mountain out of a mole hill, but based on my limited knowledge it was something that occurred to me that might be helpful.

I guess the relevance of the suggestion then falls back to two points:
  1. Does managing cell density have any noticeable impact on performance?
  2. If so, do XBox players need the option added, if they can't use the console?
EDIT: Typo.
 
If you look at how many cells are in a settlement, there isn't many. Abernathy has 2, Red Rocket has 2, Sanctuary has 9.
I see what you're saying. But once you view the cells in game and see how they are laid out, it will make more sense. And you'll see why it all boils down to budget size. If you have to sneak into a settlement.. it's just to big.
I know for some, that's a hard pill to swallow. But.. the Papyrus engine, and the system running it, can only handle so much. And the box-o-rocks AI only makes things worse. LOL
As for the scripting.. every script function is attached to a frame, some will have like 3 frames attached, just for example. Which means the script will execute in the time it takes 3 frames to be rendered.
Some are triggered on cell load..
Some are set to run on timers..
Some are set to run on events.. or a combination of all the above.
Uncapping your FPS can have detrimental effects, as the engine was designed for 60 FPS for PC and I think 30 FPS for console.
Oh, and no, console players can't use the console... ironic yeah! hehehe
 
Oh, and no, console players can't use the console... ironic yeah! hehehe
"We heard you like to console, so we put a console in your console so you can console while you console!"
"Ah, Xzibit. Controllers don't have the 'tilde' key. We had to remove console functionality."
"Dang-it!"

Thanks for the discussion, and the information. While I wait until I can get a PC to get involved in creating, all I can do is overthink things (Probably my only superpower).
 
Thanks for the discussion, and the information. While I wait until I can get a PC to get involved in creating, all I can do is overthink things (Probably my only superpower).
LOL!!
Over thinking things is how ya learn. Or get slapped.. wait.. that's over feeling things... aaah.. never mind.
 
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