How to extract textures from SH4 .dat files?

[Pirate]

Hello to all...

I have tried every tool i could find on this site to extract the textures on the SH4 .dat files but none is able to successfully acomplish that :-?

Some don't even show the textures inside while others although showing them do not extract...

What's up with this??? Didn't have any problems extracting from SH3 .dat files...

Thanks in advance,
Pirate

[DeepIron]

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=124340

It's all in here... :up:

[Pirate]

Thankyou DeepIron but I have indeed tried those tools and as I said before some of them altough display the textures (.tga) inside the .dat do not extract them... I hit the extract button and all is extracted except the the .tga's

Other of those tools don't even show the .tgas inside the .dats

Hope someone can help me :-?

[DeepIron]

That's weird. I've been using the Gimp quite successfully on both .tga and .dds files... Have you tried dxtbmp? http://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.uk/

[skwasjer]

S3D can export/import textures and has a preview for each texture. If you have problems with S3D please tell me what errors you get.

[Pirate]

Ok, I'm trying to extract the textures from NSS_Uboat18.dat and NSS_Uboat9d2.dat.

Ubisoft texture extractor and inserter - does not show the tgas inside the .dats

Pack3D - Shows the tgas but when I hit the extract all button, it extracts all but the tgas!

Silent 3ditor - Shows the tgas, but can't seem to find the extract funtion. I only find the export function that only allows extracting raw. When I extract the raw of the tga, it creates a file that is not a tga with only 1kb os size which not possibly be the image.

BTW I though the GLIMP was only an image editor... does it also extract textures from the .dats?

Thanks,
Pirate

[DeepIron]

Stupid me Pirate :oops:, you're working on .dat files, I was "reading" .dds files. The Gimp along with this plugin, http://nifelheim.dyndns.org/~cocidius/dds/ (http://nifelheim.dyndns.org/%7Ecocidius/dds/) is what I use for textures in .dds files... It's not going to solve your problem...

[skwasjer]

Ok, I'm trying to extract the textures from NSS_Uboat18.dat and NSS_Uboat9d2.dat.

Ubisoft texture extractor and inserter - does not show the tgas inside the .dats

Pack3D - Shows the tgas but when I hit the extract all button, it extracts all but the tgas!

Silent 3ditor - Shows the tgas, but can't seem to find the extract funtion. I only find the export function that only allows extracting raw. When I extract the raw of the tga, it creates a file that is not a tga with only 1kb os size which not possibly be the image.

BTW I though the GLIMP was only an image editor... does it also extract textures from the .dats?

Thanks,
Pirate

Yea, ok I see the problem, the export texture option is a hyperlink. Select the texture and look on the same line as the label Size (w, h) on the far right. Click it and voila.

There's no export menu option in the context menu/file menu. I've never added it (an oversight really), but I will now, thanks! ;)

See screenshot:

http://sh4.skwas.net/images/screenshots/5.jpg

[Pirate]

skwasjer,

Can't find that Import / Export link :-?

http://joao.martins.st/images/se.jpg

[skwasjer]

Ok, you are having a 'illumination' chunk selected. This is a similar chunk as a 'material' chunk. Neither are really a texture, and there is also no preview for it.

Such chunks can have an internal (embedded) texture chunk linked to it (depicted by the MS-style image icon which you can see in my screenshot), or - and this is more likely the case in SH4 - have an external texture. In the latter case, you will find the texture in the same folder as where the .dat is located, OR in the global textures folder: data\textures\<quality>.

In the case of that type 18, look in the Data\Submarine\NSS_Uboat18 folder. :up:

Again, note that SH4 uses external textures in most cases.

[Pirate]

Ok I tried to find the embeded texture inside the same dat file... but did not find it.
Also the same folder as the dat file has no tgas in it!

Then I searched the global texture folder, both on low and normal res places and also did not find it. :-?

It has got to be somewhere...

BTW skwasjer, I like your tool :up:

[Digital_Trucker]

Also the same folder as the dat file has no tgas in it!

Don't just look for .tga files, see if you can find the same file name with a .dds extension. This game (for whatever whacky reason) often refers to .tga files that don't exist, but instead uses a .dds file of the same name. Go figure:rotfl:

[Pirate]

Thanks Digital_Trucker, it was indeed in a .dds instead of in a .tga ;)

[skwasjer]

Actually, there are quite a few games that do the same. Reason usually being that engines are reused and upgraded, and no dev wants to modify hundreds of tga references to dds references or whatever other format, and the need to modify all designer tools. It's just easier to just make the file handling function more flexible to first look for a dds, and if not exist, look for a tga. Also don't forget that, during design/test fases, tga's are more easy to use/view/modify and more software supports the format.

[Pirate]

Ok I think I have done what I wanted :)
http://martins.st/joao/images/sh4-type18-cwskin.jpg

[Digital_Trucker]

Actually, there are quite a few games that do the same. Reason usually being that engines are reused and upgraded, and no dev wants to modify hundreds of tga references to dds references or whatever other format, and the need to modify all designer tools. It's just easier to just make the file handling function more flexible to first look for a dds, and if not exist, look for a tga. Also don't forget that, during design/test fases, tga's are more easy to use/view/modify and more software supports the format.

It's early in the day here and I've learned something new:up: no more thinking for the rest of the day, wheeeeee-heeeeeeeee:88)
Seriously, as you can probably tell, I'm very new to the whole modding "business" and don't know much about how games work (yet;) ). Thanks for the info, skwas:rock:

Ok I think I have done what I wanted :)


Excellent:up: