OpenSimulator region module that creates and maintains a level of detail version of the region (makes it LOD'en).
The name is a play on the action of making a "level of detail" ("LOD") version of the OpenSimulator region -- to LOD'en the region. There is a color named "loden green" and a loden cape which lends itself to a logo and color theme.
At the moment, one must build this module with the OpenSimulator sources. Eventually there will be a DLL to drop into a running OpenSimulator installation.
cd DirectoryRootOfOpenSimulatorSources
cd addon-modules
git clone https://github.com/Herbal3d/Loden.git
cd ..
./runprebuild.sh # or ./runprebuild.bat
compileOnce a region has loaded, Loden scans all of the objects in the region, groups all the objects into areas, and creates unique hashes for all the objects and their groupings. From that, Loden can see if objects and groupings of objects have been created already.
From that analysis, the OpenSimulator primitives and meshes are converted into a Basil viewer compatable format If groups have not been created, they are built and added to the quad-trees.
There is also the concept of 'layers' what are overlapping 3D spaces that are union'ed together. Loden can create multiple layers for the region. Initially I'm thinking 'static', 'dynamic' (scripted or physical), and 'avatar' layers. There could be multiple of each.
The converted format is expected to be close to (if not compatible to) the CesiumJS 3D tile format. This models a hiearchy of bounding boxes that give decreasing level of detail as the bounding boxes get larger.
Over time, the actual rules of grouping and model simplification will change.