Question on texture size and ships

[U-HAI]

Hello

I see that the textures for ships are two,, one is 512 by 256 the other 512 by 512,

can either or both of these be doubled to have better graphos?

[danlisa]

Which version of the Game?

If you're talking about Stock SH3 then yes there nearly 2 sizes of every texture in the game. This allows the options for High & Low Quality Textures in the main menu to work.

As for resizing. I wish it was that easy.:cry: Resizing a 512 x 512 texture to 1024 x 1024, will actually give in a poorer quality result. A graphics suite, during resize/upscale will need to add pixel information, based on it's neighbors colour, this usually results in a blurry final image. It can't just make that stuff up.

The only way to successfully improve an existing 512 x 512 image is to use the upscale as a base in a gfx suite and then design/overlay your new creation which by default will be at the higher res.

Here's an exmaple. Sorry in advance, I just googled something.:)

256 x 256 Icon:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/danlisa_photo/Smilies/IconsLandVistaStyleEmoticonsDemo-PN.png

Upscaled to 512 x 512:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/danlisa_photo/Smilies/IconsLandVistaStyleEmoticonsDemo-1.png

You try to gain quality but you actually loose it.

[Dowly]

I've heard about programs that minimises the loss of quality when upscaling a picture, but have never tried one. :hmmm:

[danlisa]

Yep!

Extensis Pxl Smartscale Plugin for Photoshop. Have it.:)

The results are very good but it still gives a blurry output (dependent on upscale ratio), the only solution is to sharpen the edges but then artifacts start to appear.

Actually, Photoshop does a pretty good job itself. The trick is not to try to make a huge 200% jump in scale but rather resample in 10% increments.;)