Hey vesuvias
You only want the multi res option for L3DT for designing you map, right?
Maybe a preview option that only renders part of the map would be a good way to do this?
e.g you could specify a small area of the map within L3DT and render just that, so it would only take a small amount of time..though it it my thinking that wouldnt be possible, unless the DM was created at the production res.
Maybe the "map stitching" suggestion that popped up a while ago would be worth another look Aaron?
as far as "in game"
Probably, IMHO, your best option would be to create a uber high res map (or as high as your Dev. spec./game will allow) and then put the parrallex map on it later and us DDS with mipmaps for your textures(if that's possible with Atlas, im looking into it my self).
It is my understanding that Torque uses an "on the fly" L.O.D implementation and Atlas uses paged geometry for runtime, so there is not much point in creating a specific LOD function for your maps, other than using 2 poly billboards for distance trees etc.
I have had lots of problems with Atlas when trying to view long distances, the area always seems culled and black after a certain distance.
Have you had better luck with this?
Right i had better be going...i have date with TGEA, we are off to bang my head against Atlas for a bit.
lol