Niborius on 3/9/2018 at 14:25
Good day taffers,
I was wondering how I'd add a custom skybox to my mission. I already know how to name the 7 image files, but now with newdark I was wondering if a 7th image is still necessary. Do the images still need to be in pcx format? And do they just go in SkyHW or can I have my own folder?
So far in-game it shows up as Jorge, but since I have so many doubts that was to be expected. I was also wondering if there is a limit for image size for skyboxes.
Thanks in advance :)
ZylonBane on 3/9/2018 at 19:57
Using DDS for skyboxes is highly recommended since they can use so much memory, if you're doing high-res ones.
No, you don't have to include the palette image if you're using true-color images for the other panels. Possibly not even if you're using GIF/PCX. I haven't tested it.
Cardia on 3/9/2018 at 20:19
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Using DDS for skyboxes is highly recommended since they can use so much memory, if you're doing high-res ones.
No, you don't have to include the palette image if you're using true-color images for the other panels. Possibly not even if you're using GIF/PCX. I haven't tested it.
If DDS format for skybox has the same visual effect as in textures for objects then i don't recommended it, the experience i had with dds textures is a deception for me regarding the way how they are displayed in game mode, specially at long range, you can see a kind of visual noise caused by these textures. I would recommend PNG. But maybe a nigh sky with stars will work well with DDS format and will make the stars have this texture effect cause by the visual noise which can turn into a positive result.
ZylonBane on 3/9/2018 at 21:05
You need to stop. Someone might accidentally think you're giving good advice.
Cardia on 3/9/2018 at 21:12
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
You need to stop. Someone might accidentally think you're giving good advice.
lol, like a PNG skybox would make much difference, i´ve updated many missions using PNG format for Skyboxes, and it doesn't affect anything at all. As far as i´m concerned i avoid using DDS textures(personally i don't like it) unless you plan to have countless high resolution textures, in that case it's recommended (even if thought it doesn't make much difference ...)
Yandros on 4/9/2018 at 14:09
As I understand it, the difference between DDS and PNG is how they are loaded by the engine. DDS textures (especially large/hi res ones) generally lead to better performance than PNGs. During development, we converted a lot of textures from PNG to DDS in Waterfront Racket and improved the performance by 10-15 fps. ZB can provide more detail here.
Cardia on 4/9/2018 at 15:11
Yes Russ, they have better performance, but the quality is not so good i´ve tested textures with DDS format in higher quality using paint.net, and i still see this visual noise effect, for example a wallpaper with stripes texture, viewed from a long range causes a strange visual effect. If you want i can post here two videos , one with PNG texture and the other with DDS texture, so you can see the difference in game mode.
Judith on 4/9/2018 at 17:33
Cardia, you've been making missions for years, you should know your basic technical stuff by now.
JPGs and PNGs aren't meant for games, as their compression algorithms lower performance and mess with visuals. They need to be decompressed during rendering, and they are swapped in memory when player moves around the game world, causing slowdowns and hiccups. DDS is short for Direct Draw Surface, which is a format used directly by GPUs. One huge advantage of DDS textures is that their data stays compressed in GPU memory and can be read in its compressed form. If you find those textures blurry, you can do several things:
a) sharpen the final image
b) force higher quality mipmap genration during export (you can even correct them manually as they're saved as layers, going from original resolution to 1x1 px)
c) change compression algorithm from DXT1 to DXT3 or DXT5 and see if it makes any difference (DXT5 should handle gradients better)
d) increase texture anisotropy in engine to x16.
Anyway, it doesn't matter whether you like the format or not, just don't spread misinformation.
nicked on 4/9/2018 at 17:40
If you're seeing poor quality DDS textures, maybe you've screwed up the Mipmap generation somehow upon saving the texture file? That's all I can think of.
There are literally no downsides to using DDS textures, and to claim otherwise without understanding how they work is disingenuous.
