It is great to have Level Of Detail (LOD) in M&B, but it can be improved much with a little effort from the devs.
Simply, the threshold values (the ones determining which LOD is to be used in a given moment) should be dynamically increased/decreased according to current FPS.
In other words, if the FPS is low, then less detailed LODs should be used even at closer distances, while, as long as the FPS is high enough, detailed LODs are used even for stuff that is quite far away. Every time the FPS is below a certain value, decrease thresholds, and the other way 'round
Let me show two opposite scenarios where this simple approach would greatly enhance current experience:
(1) when lots of fighters are in a close furious melee. Currently, they are all hi-res because they are close, even if the game has started lagging.
In this case smooth frame rate is so important for gameplay that, if it is necessary, lower LOD should clearly be used instead.
(2) when randomly wandering in a city, with very low stress on the machine and high FPS. Currently you still have got to see low res models at mid distance even if you can afford a better quality in this case. A bad side effect of this is that you clearly see popping artifacts when LOD is switched.
BTW, the LOD is really well done. It depends on screen size rather than distance. For example, try running the game in a window ard reducing window size: the game switches to lower LOD (even if subjects are at the same distance). That's the right approach. Just needs to be improved as discussed above.
Simply, the threshold values (the ones determining which LOD is to be used in a given moment) should be dynamically increased/decreased according to current FPS.
In other words, if the FPS is low, then less detailed LODs should be used even at closer distances, while, as long as the FPS is high enough, detailed LODs are used even for stuff that is quite far away. Every time the FPS is below a certain value, decrease thresholds, and the other way 'round
Let me show two opposite scenarios where this simple approach would greatly enhance current experience:
(1) when lots of fighters are in a close furious melee. Currently, they are all hi-res because they are close, even if the game has started lagging.
In this case smooth frame rate is so important for gameplay that, if it is necessary, lower LOD should clearly be used instead.
(2) when randomly wandering in a city, with very low stress on the machine and high FPS. Currently you still have got to see low res models at mid distance even if you can afford a better quality in this case. A bad side effect of this is that you clearly see popping artifacts when LOD is switched.
BTW, the LOD is really well done. It depends on screen size rather than distance. For example, try running the game in a window ard reducing window size: the game switches to lower LOD (even if subjects are at the same distance). That's the right approach. Just needs to be improved as discussed above.