Mod texture issues

[jimbo32]

I posted this several months ago and didn't really get any answers, so I thought I'd put it out there again.

 

My problem is with new (ie modded) skins and textures in both K1 and TSL. They are usually very "splotchy". This is especially true for "cloth" items such as robes (Prime's movie robes or stoffe's Visas robes), though dark coloured armor (such as RedHawke's Verpine Reflec armor) looks awful as well.

 

My usual setup is AA @ x2 and anisotropic filtering @ x8 using high quality textures. With these settings, all of the 'in-game' items look great - when looking at them close-up (while on the Ebon Hawk) you can really see the detail. The flip side is that the modded items look especially horrible close-up.

 

I've tried adjusting all of my graphics settings up and down to no avail. Also, if I extract a skin from the game using the KOTOR Tool and place it in override (with no modifications) it looks great. But if I use GIMP to re-colour it, I get the same splotchy look (for example - I changed the horrible collars on the master robes in TSL, only to have the whole robe look bad).

 

I'd love to use some of the great skins that have been released, but I just can't stand looking at them like this. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[RedHawke]

It is likely your video card that is the issue here. Maverick187 had similar issues to what you are having when we were working on a mod together on his laptop, I believe he had an ATI vid card. I don't think he ever got it fixed either.

[Reclaimer]

It is likely your video card that is the issue here. Maverick187 had similar issues to what you are having when we were working on a mod together on his laptop, I believe he had an ATI vid card. I don't think he ever got it fixed either.

 

This is true. Video Cards are such a pain to deal with.

[stoffe]

When you extracted unaltered textures to override to test, did you keep them in the TPC format or did you convert them to TGA/TXI?

 

If you didn't convert them it's possible your video card has some problem with uncompressed textures. I don't know if there is a tool which lets you create TPC files, but if there is you could try compressing the textures from those Mods to TPC and see if it makes any difference.

[jimbo32]

It is likely your video card that is the issue here. Maverick187 had similar issues to what you are having when we were working on a mod together on his laptop, I believe he had an ATI vid card. I don't think he ever got it fixed either.

 

 

Thanks for the quick reply RedHawke (I think you were the only one to offer anything the last time I asked as well ).

 

After reading your post, it all suddenly came back to me - I had pm'ed Mav about this when I first noticed it. I checked my 'sent items' and discovered that that was last August. I can't recall any posts (or mods) from him recently, but it doesn't seem like it's been that long. Anyone heard from him?

 

I'm not sure the issues (Mav's and mine) are related anyway. I have an NVidia card and have spoken to others with same card who don't have the tex problem. Also, I remember using the Verpine Reflec armor when you (RH) first released it and I don't think I had the problem then (when was that?). The only things I can think of that have changed (which seem applicable) are my monitor and vid card drivers.

 

RH, do you know if Mav was having problems with other games as well, or was it limited to KOTOR/TSL?

[jimbo32]

When you extracted unaltered textures to override to test, did you keep them in the TPC format or did you convert them to TGA/TXI?

 

If you didn't convert them it's possible your video card has some problem with uncompressed textures. I don't know if there is a tool which lets you create TPC files, but if there is you could try compressing the textures from those Mods to TPC and see if it makes any difference.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head! I just did a little experimenting with the env. bastion armor. Using a tga in override, the white armor part still looked the same, but the pants and sleeves looked crappy. When I substituted a tpc in override, everything went back to normal.

 

Thanks stoffe - that never would have occurred to me.

 

Now, how do I convert all those tga files so I can use them? I just did a google search for converters, but came up with nothing. Maybe one of the graphics gurus here has some suggestions?

 

Anyone...?

[RedHawke]

Thanks for the quick reply RedHawke (I think you were the only one to offer anything the last time I asked as well ).

That's because I'm here waaaaaaaaaay too much!

 

This reminds me I need to play some more Morrowind... got to finish it as I have Oblivion waiting in the wings.

 

RH, do you know if Mav was having problems with other games as well, or was it limited to KOTOR/TSL?

Don't know, I only know of the issues he had with TSL.

[jimbo32]

Just an update - After some searching I found the Bioware DDS compression tool on their website (here in case anyone is interested). Using that tool, I created a *.dds compressed file using an uncompressed *.tga. I then dropped the new dds in my override. Seems to have worked! I'll edit this post with any new developments.

[Darkkender]

Can you compress files to have the "TPC" extension with it?

[stoffe]

Can you compress files to have the "TPC" extension with it?

 

Doubtful since that file format didn't exist for Neverwinter Nights. However, as far as I understand it the TPC format also uses DXT compression, but has some additional data added, like the TXI information at the end of the image data.

 

If the KotOR engine still supports DDS textures like NWN, and those don't produce the image corruption there shouldn't be any need for that, since, AFAIK, there is no real downside to have the compressed image and the TXI separate.

 

(Remember that DXT is destructive compression though. If you edit an already compressed image and then save/recompress it the image quality will get worse, just like if you save a JPEG image multiple times.)

[jimbo32]

Looks like I may have spoken to soon. Although it seemed to work the first time I tried it (I compressed PMBI01, renamed it to -04 and it changed the blue robes to brown when I put it in override), I haven't been able to get it to work on any modded textures.

 

I just tested it again using an extracted tex from the game and it also worked with that (replaced the default heavy armor skin with the one for the Mandalorian heavy). I'll keep fooling around with it and post any updates.

 

Doubtful since that file format didn't exist for Neverwinter Nights.

 

I read somewhere on the NWN site that the tex files for that game were split up into TPA, B, and C with 'C' being the lowest quality. Much like the quality settings in KOTOR, the texture pack used depends on the capabilities of your PC. Maybe I misread it, but it sounded like they used seperate extensions for each pack.

[stoffe]

I read somewhere on the NWN site that the tex files for that game were split up into TPA, B, and C with 'C' being the lowest quality. Much like the quality settings in KOTOR, the texture pack used depends on the capabilities of your PC. Maybe I misread it, but it sounded like they used seperate extensions for each pack.

 

No, that's just the name of the texture pack ERF files. Those packs then contain texture files with a .dds extension in NWN, and with a .tpc extension in the KotOR games. The TPC format is not used in Neverwinter Nights.

 

While both use some form of DXT compression I don't know how those formats differ, other than the TXI information being included into the TPC file rather than being in a separate file like with DDS (compressed) and TGA (uncompressed) textures.