[TEC] Graphics Editing...

danlisa · 03-21-07, 10:36 AM

The graphics in SH4 are in .dds format.

This format can be used to store textures, cube maps and mipmap levels, and allows for compression. Due to the fact that most video cards natively support DXTn texture compression, use of this format can save memory on the video card. These files can be compressed by upto 50% more than other formats, this explains the improvement in load times & performance. This is all good.

However, has anyone taken a serious look at these files to see if they can be reworked and improved.

I'm thinking specifically of improving the resolution & detailing of these files.

So far from the screens that I have seen, some of the ships skins are poorly detailed and at a low resolution.

There is a photoshop plugin available at - http://developer.nvidia.com/object/p...s_plugins.html
but I have no files to play with.

Tips, Tricks & messy fixes are welcome!

Skins baby, yeah!

CaptainCox · 03-21-07, 01:01 PM

Man!!!! you are a star...been tearing my hair out trying to open DAT files here. This just works man...CHEERS!

CaptainCox · 03-21-07, 01:07 PM

Maybe you can explain me why we have these repeats, and what to do here ?. Never seen this in SH3

ref · 03-21-07, 01:17 PM

They are different resolutions for diferent lod (level of detail), the game chooses the high resolution one when the object is at close range and the lower ones when the object is distant and doesn't need to much detail.

Ref

CaptainCox · 03-21-07, 01:30 PM

So...If I would like to mod the skin I basically just copy it and resize it to fit that template?, with the repeats that is. Oh and there are 2 files with the same skins, you have "NSS_Gato_O01.dds" and "NSS_Gato_O01_lr.dds" for example. To me they look the same when i open them in PS CS2... what does "lr" stand for?

bigboywooly · 03-21-07, 01:56 PM

Could it be low resolution :hmm:

CaptainCox · 03-21-07, 02:12 PM

LOL...to easy man ...now I feel like a N00B. Cheers man. Gonna get crackin here.

Seeadler · 03-21-07, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainCox

So...If I would like to mod the skin I basically just copy it and resize it to fit that template?

If you want to make a skin, make one in the biggest scale you want f.e 1024x1024. Now when saving this skin to DDS via the Photoshop plugin, you can select how much mip maps (the smaller skins) the file should have. The plugin creates the mip maps for you automatically. Be sure to save in the right DDS format a game use, because there 5 formats.

BBury · 03-21-07, 06:20 PM

DDS textures are easy to work with in Photoshop with the DDS plug-in. You can open them without the extra LOD's and work with them as any other file. After opening, I save mine to native PSD until done. Then collapse all the layers and convert back to DDS when ready to re-install in game.

rascal101 · 03-23-07, 04:40 PM

God you guys are great, I sure hope you can achieve something with the graphics. They may have looked impressive on little movies while we were all waiting for the game, I have the game now and the graphics are really giving me the ****s !

I've tried every permutation with the options but cant get rid of the overall fuzzyness in SH4 I sure hope you can mod this or tell me how to improve the graphics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by danlisa

The graphics in SH4 are in .dds format.

This format can be used to store textures, cube maps and mipmap levels, and allows for compression. Due to the fact that most video cards natively support DXTn texture compression, use of this format can save memory on the video card. These files can be compressed by upto 50% more than other formats, this explains the improvement in load times & performance. This is all good.

However, has anyone taken a serious look at these files to see if they can be reworked and improved.

I'm thinking specifically of improving the resolution & detailing of these files.

So far from the screens that I have seen, some of the ships skins are poorly detailed and at a low resolution.

There is a photoshop plugin available at - http://developer.nvidia.com/object/p...s_plugins.html
but I have no files to play with.

Tips, Tricks & messy fixes are welcome!

Skins baby, yeah!

03-21-07, 10:36 AM	#1
danlisa Navy Seal Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Cornwall, UK Posts: 5,499 Downloads: 45 Uploads: 1	[TEC] Graphics Editing... The graphics in SH4 are in .dds format. This format can be used to store textures, cube maps and mipmap levels, and allows for compression. Due to the fact that most video cards natively support DXTn texture compression, use of this format can save memory on the video card. These files can be compressed by upto 50% more than other formats, this explains the improvement in load times & performance. This is all good. However, has anyone taken a serious look at these files to see if they can be reworked and improved. I'm thinking specifically of improving the resolution & detailing of these files. So far from the screens that I have seen, some of the ships skins are poorly detailed and at a low resolution. There is a photoshop plugin available at - http://developer.nvidia.com/object/p...s_plugins.html but I have no files to play with. Tips, Tricks & messy fixes are welcome! Skins baby, yeah! __________________

03-21-07, 01:01 PM	#2
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Man!!!! you are a star...been tearing my hair out trying to open DAT files here. This just works man...CHEERS! __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

03-21-07, 01:07 PM	#3
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Maybe you can explain me why we have these repeats, and what to do here ?. Never seen this in SH3 __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

03-21-07, 01:17 PM	#4
ref Grey Wolf Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Mar del Plata, Argentina Posts: 871 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	They are different resolutions for diferent lod (level of detail), the game chooses the high resolution one when the object is at close range and the lower ones when the object is distant and doesn't need to much detail. Ref __________________

03-21-07, 01:30 PM	#5
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	So...If I would like to mod the skin I basically just copy it and resize it to fit that template?, with the repeats that is. Oh and there are 2 files with the same skins, you have "NSS_Gato_O01.dds" and "NSS_Gato_O01_lr.dds" for example. To me they look the same when i open them in PS CS2... what does "lr" stand for? __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

03-21-07, 01:56 PM	#6
bigboywooly Rear Admiral Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Swindon, England Posts: 10,151 Downloads: 35 Uploads: 0	Could it be low resolution :hmm: __________________ My mediafire page http://www.mediafire.com/?11eoq19bq9r41

03-21-07, 02:12 PM	#7
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	LOL...to easy man ...now I feel like a N00B. Cheers man. Gonna get crackin here. __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

03-21-07, 06:20 PM	#9
BBury Torpedoman Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 118 Downloads: 7 Uploads: 0	DDS textures are easy to work with in Photoshop with the DDS plug-in. You can open them without the extra LOD's and work with them as any other file. After opening, I save mine to native PSD until done. Then collapse all the layers and convert back to DDS when ready to re-install in game.