wrong labels everywhere

[Badileus]

Originally Posted by gap

@ Badileus:

before I start messing with textures and labels, can you make sure that some of the original labels replaced in TWoS by other labels (see my post #7), aren't more appropriate for CR/EER devices?

Unfortunately almost none of all these labels (in file CR9C2.dds; original and TWoS) are usable in any other place than the TDC, for which they are apparently created. If it is any help, here is a picture of the TDC with the corresponding german terms (I couldt not make out the meaning of every gauge though).

https://imgur.com/OAAb7EP

So, for example, every time i am in the EER and look at the gauges left and right, i see them all lableled with "Streuwinkel" (=spread angle), two with "Entfernung" (=range), and this of course is silly and i can´t get used to it. To make things not too complicated, for the EER perhaps it wouldt be enough to change these to plates with the term "Spannungsregler" (voltage regulator) and "Schaltautomat" (switching automat). Much more sense.

I found, that the file CR8C2.dds contains exactly these plates of the EER. If they are not needed elsewhere, they can be simply changed then, right? So, "Streuwinkel" -> "Spannungsregler" and "Entfernung" -> "Schaltautomat". There are two brighter plates labeled "Leistung". They shouldt be labeled with "Amp-Meter" and "Volt-Meter". But how to put them to the corresponding gauges (the 2 different scales: for Ampere and Volt)?

By the way, i noticed that some of the plates (CR9C2.dds, TWoS-Version) are nowhere correctly used, as far as i can see. Perhaps i missed something. These are:

"Frequenzbereich"
"Frequenzabgleich"
"Entfernungsskala"
"Abfragen/Einstellen"
"Null Stellen"

and "Schiffspeilung" is there twice . Perhaps they can be changed and used elsewhere.

I noticed, that there are some other (bigger) plates on some devices, such as "Heizungs- und Teleskopbeleuchtung" in the CR. Don´t know if this one is correctly placed and where the source is. Is it perhaps possible to change the graphics of some devices and "paint" labeled plates on them, so that they are fixed and individual?

[Badileus]

I tried to change the black plates in the E-Engineroom (in the file CR8C_2.dds), and it seems to work! If i get no further problems, at least i am satisfied with the EER now (not tried changing the "Leistung"-plates yet). But better than nothing...

Can anyone perhaps tell me the optimal editing method for dds-files in SH5? I used Photoshop Elements 10 with a dds-plugin, but I am not sure if i have loaded and saved the file correctly. Here an image of my loading- and saving-dialogs.

https://imgur.com/a/FZftgru

Thanks!

[gap]

Hi Badileus and sorry for my late replies. Please find them below

Originally Posted by Badileus

I found, that the file CR8C2.dds contains exactly these plates of the EER. If they are not needed elsewhere, they can be simply changed then, right? So, "Streuwinkel" -> "Spannungsregler" and "Entfernung" -> "Schaltautomat". There are two brighter plates labeled "Leistung". They shouldt be labeled with "Amp-Meter" and "Volt-Meter". But how to put them to the corresponding gauges (the 2 different scales: for Ampere and Volt)?

CR8C2.dds is not among the stock files, and I doubt that it is actually used in TWoS. It was probably created by the author of the interior mod included in TWoS, in hope that one day someone could import it in game: at that time there was no GR2 Editor at all.

Now we can do that, at least in theory

Can you send me that texture too?

Originally Posted by Badileus

By the way, i noticed that some of the plates (CR9C2.dds, TWoS-Version) are nowhere correctly used, as far as i can see. Perhaps i missed something. These are:

"Frequenzbereich"
"Frequenzabgleich"
"Entfernungsskala"
"Abfragen/Einstellen"
"Null Stellen"

and "Schiffspeilung" is there twice . Perhaps they can be changed and used elsewhere.

Sure they can

Originally Posted by Badileus

I noticed, that there are some other (bigger) plates on some devices, such as "Heizungs- und Teleskopbeleuchtung" in the CR. Don´t know if this one is correctly placed and where the source is. Is it perhaps possible to change the graphics of some devices and "paint" labeled plates on them, so that they are fixed and individual?

Not sure what you mean here. Could you please illustrate your question with a screenshot?

Originally Posted by Badileus

I tried to change the black plates in the E-Engineroom (in the file CR8C_2.dds), and it seems to work! If i get no further problems, at least i am satisfied with the EER now (not tried changing the "Leistung"-plates yet). But better than nothing...

Well done!

Originally Posted by Badileus

Can anyone perhaps tell me the optimal editing method for dds-files in SH5? I used Photoshop Elements 10 with a dds-plugin, but I am not sure if i have loaded and saved the file correctly. Here an image of my loading- and saving-dialogs.

You should check the 'Generate MIP maps' radio button and save as DXT5 (interpolated alpha). My suggestion is to redo your changes on a clean copy of the file, because with your current save settings, the alpha channel (used as specular mask) was lost.

[Badileus]

Hi gap,

thanks for your reply. Here is the other dds-file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxyzpos1as...R8C_2.dds?dl=0

With the "other plates" i mean these (for example), they seem to be individual plates:

https://imgur.com/a/spXpLxn

I followed your advice and saved the dds as you said, but when saving i got the message "image width and height must be multiple of four". Indeed the dds-files have all the width of 2047. I boldly changed it to 2048, but then in the game i get this:

https://imgur.com/a/zQfKPpd

So the area the game takes for the plates from the file is now double the width as before. I used a clean copy of the file. Are you sure with choosing "Generating MIP-Maps" and not "Using existing MIP-Maps"? I am not an expert in this, certainly you know what i did wrong...

[gap]

Originally Posted by Badileus

thanks for your reply. Here is the other dds-file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxyzpos1as...R8C_2.dds?dl=0

I got the file, thank you too

Originally Posted by Badileus

With the "other plates" i mean these (for example), they seem to be individual plates:

https://imgur.com/a/spXpLxn

In which room?

Originally Posted by Badileus

I followed your advice and saved the dds as you said, but when saving i got the message "image width and height must be multiple of four". Indeed the dds-files have all the width of 2047. I boldly changed it to 2048, but then in the game i get this:

https://imgur.com/a/zQfKPpd

So the area the game takes for the plates from the file is now double the width as before. I used a clean copy of the file. Are you sure with choosing "Generating MIP-Maps" and not "Using existing MIP-Maps"? I am not an expert in this, certainly you know what i did wrong...

Stock CR9C2.dds is 512 x 512. The textures you sent me double this resolution to 1024 x 1024. Where is this 2047-pixel width coming from?

You can resize game textures, but you need to keep the same width/height ratio as in stock textures (or redo the UV mapping of the objects using those textures). Moreover, if you want to save the resized textures as signed DDS images, both width and height must be multiple of four. This is because the DDS compression uses groups of 4x4 pixel as compression unit.
Mipmaps are a series of pre-rendered copies of the main texture with progressively lower resolutions. They are useful in 3D imaging because they relieve the GPU from having to resample the textures in real time, when (during gameplay) the said texture is seen from a distance. If a texture is edited, it is a good rule to recalculate its MIP levels before saving, otherwise what you see at close and far distance won't match each other

[Badileus]

This device is in the CR, to the left of the depth gauges and diving plane control.


When i open a dds-file with my photoshop plugin (choosing "default size" and "load MIP-Maps"), i get this:


https://imgur.com/a/VAuGO58


I thought it is normal, so that the textures for the different distances can be changed. And how many bpp shouldt it have? Here it has 8 bpp, but when i open it with IrfanView it tells me 24 or 32 bpp. I am a bit confused...

[gap]

Originally Posted by Badileus

This device is in the CR, to the left of the depth gauges and diving plane control.

Okay, found them. Their labels are in Uboat7_CT.dds

Originally Posted by Badileus

When i open a dds-file with my photoshop plugin (choosing "default size" and "load MIP-Maps"), i get this:


https://imgur.com/a/VAuGO58


I thought it is normal, so that the textures for the different distances can be changed. And how many bpp shouldt it have? Here it has 8 bpp, but when i open it with IrfanView it tells me 24 or 32 bpp. I am a bit confused...

Okay. Before a dds file is loaded, you should be prompted with a loading option menu. You should uncheck the option 'load MIP maps', and when you save, choose to (re)generate them. In this way, whatever change you have done to the texture, its MIP maps will be always updated with your changes

[Badileus]

Thanks gap, I think I got the meaning of MIP-Maps now. It works now. Perhaps I try to play around a bit with TDW´s GR2-Editor, is there a good tutorial for beginners? But maybe this is too advanced for me...

[gap]

Originally Posted by Badileus

Thanks gap, I think I got the meaning of MIP-Maps now. It works now.

Originally Posted by Badileus

Perhaps I try to play around a bit with TDW´s GR2-Editor, is there a good tutorial for beginners?

I am afraid not. You can read its thread, start messing with it, and ask here in case you need help

Originally Posted by Badileus

But maybe this is too advanced for me...

Not that advanced, but you need to be familiar with 3D modelling and texturing in general and with the relevant terminology. Moreover, GR2 Editor is an unfinished tool: dpending on the GR2 file you want to edit, some ot its function might not work, work in a different way than supposed or even corrupt the file.

A bit annoying but nothing impossible though, and again, you can always ask for help.

[Badileus]

I still have a little problem with my modified plates: They all work fine save one in the CR (from file CR9C_2.dds), image below. Ingame it looks ok from the right, but viewed from the left you can see the old label, mixed with the new one. These views are from the same distance! And it doesn´t change if i look from further away.


https://imgur.com/a/wMQMbig


I noticed, when i open this file with IrfanView (ver. 4.30), the changed labels look mixed up. Does this mean anything? What does the 24 bpp at the bottom mean? I thought I saved the file with 8 bpp.


https://imgur.com/a/E5NzUD9


By the way, there is another file with obviously unused plates (CR9C_8.dds), this time with mostly not TDC-terms, which couldt be useful for several devices. Even one with "Spannungsregler" (the term i used myself for the EER-plates) i found there, although spelled wrong. Don´t know if this file is a stock one or from some other interior mod. Here it is:


https://www.dropbox.com/s/1a0tt8keob...R9C_8.dds?dl=0

[gap]

Originally Posted by Badileus

I still have a little problem with my modified plates: They all work fine save one in the CR (from file CR9C_2.dds), image below. Ingame it looks ok from the right, but viewed from the left you can see the old label, mixed with the new one. These views are from the same distance! And it doesn´t change if i look from further away.


https://imgur.com/a/wMQMbig


I noticed, when i open this file with IrfanView (ver. 4.30), the changed labels look mixed up. Does this mean anything?

What you probably see is the specular map which is stored in texture's alpha channel. Did you update it when you edited those labels?

Originally Posted by Badileus

What does the 24 bpp at the bottom mean? I thought I saved the file with 8 bpp.

https://imgur.com/a/E5NzUD9

8 bpp is the uncompressed colour depth for each channel. Multiply this number by three (the number of channels composing an RGB image) and you get 24 bpp, i.e. "true color". This is not considering the extra 8 bpp ("shades of grey") alpha channel that the DXT5 compression format also supports.

Originally Posted by Badileus

By the way, there is another file with obviously unused plates (CR9C_8.dds), this time with mostly not TDC-terms, which couldt be useful for several devices. Even one with "Spannungsregler" (the term i used myself for the EER-plates) i found there, although spelled wrong. Don´t know if this file is a stock one or from some other interior mod. Here it is:


https://www.dropbox.com/s/1a0tt8keob...R9C_8.dds?dl=0

No, this texture is not among stock files. I hope it can be imported (in theory yes, in practice who knows?). Do all the needed changes to CR9C_2.dds first, an then tell me if new textures are required