Different graphics levels have different render distances. Graphics Level 1 stops rendering objects at a distance far lower than Level 10.
Maybe there’s a limit on the number of objects. Maybe, the more objects are drawn, the lower the render distance, and maybe Level 1 is much more strict in this regard.
The Unofficial Wiki mentions the Render Distance of the different levels:
Persistent streaming has nothing to do with graphics level rendering distance. Graphics 1 will cut off rendering distant items on games that don’t even use Streaming Enabled.
Put your graphics to 10 if you want to test streaming enabled.
As for the empty baseplate mystery, I think this could be right:
If you can see the item in the explorer pane, then it hasn’t been streamed out. Look inside this model and notice that the part is inside:
if it was streamed out the model folder will be empty or missing
I think it is true that there’s a limit on number of the objects, because when i simply turn away from the map and look only at the HQ model IT IS rendered at any distance.
Here’s the Example of what do i want to achieve.
The big “space ship” and mountains on the background are 3d models and are ALWAYS rendered no matter what.