Simviation Forum - What's the secret to DDS?

Sep 6^th, 2009 at 1:53pm

Boikat Offline
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I tried repainting the Caspian Sea monster, saved it as a .dds, put the folder into the airplane folder, did the .cfg edit, two caspians show up on the selection screen, but when I select repaint, it comes up as the same paint as the original. I've double checked, and the texture in the folder is the edited texture. I double checked the .cfg, and the edit is there (if that were messed up, I doubt I'd see two Caspians to begin with).

Am I missing something, and if so, what?

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Reply #1 - Sep 6^th, 2009 at 2:58pm

JoBee Offline
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Is it possible that you have 2 entries in the .cfg with different title= lines that reference the same texture folder?

This would give you 2 entries in the sim that look the same.

Hope this helps,
Joe

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Reply #2 - Sep 6^th, 2009 at 3:33pm

Boikat Offline
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JoBee wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 2:58pm:

Is it possible that you have 2 entries in the .cfg with different title= lines that reference the same texture folder?

This would give you 2 entries in the sim that look the same.

Hope this helps,
Joe

Thanks, but no. I double checked the .cfg. It's the "texture=xxxxx that designates the texture folder. I think "sim=xxx" is for aircraft with variations that call for a different "xxxx.air" or model. But don't quote me on that since I'm never fidled with those paticular entries.

I did find that if I flip the .dds, then save as an extended .bmp, it works. I was just going to flip it again and save as a .dds, and see if that does the trick.

(added) Flipping and resaving as a .dds didn't work. I guess for now I'll stick with the .bmp...... Not that there's anything wrong with that!* Tongue

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Reply #3 - Sep 6^th, 2009 at 3:52pm

Hagar Offline
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Which utility are you using to save in DDS format? Alex (Alrot) always insisted that DXTBmp is not suitable for this job. Try Imagetool. I think it comes bundled with the FSX SDK.

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Reply #4 - Sep 6^th, 2009 at 4:29pm

Boikat Offline
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Hagar wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 3:52pm:

Which utility are you using to save in DDS format? Alex (Alrot) always insisted that DXTBmp is not suitable for this job. Try Imagetool. I think it comes bundled with the FSX SDK.

That's what I'm using (DXTBmp), and Alex is probably correct. I'll give Imagetool a try. Thanks!

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Reply #5 - Sep 6^th, 2009 at 4:42pm

JoBee Offline
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All due respect, I don't think this is an issue of texture format.

If I understand correctly you have 2 seperate and distinct variations that in the sim both look the same.

This means that -
1) both variations are using the same textures. This is most likely a .cfg problem. What I meant by my first post is make sure the 2 entries in the .cfg have different texture= entries. My comment about the title= line was due to the fact that if you have 2 entries with the same title= line only one will show up in the sim. BTW, I didn't mention sim= at all.

or 2) You in fact have 2 .cfg entries referencing different texture folders that have the same textures in them.

When you saved your edited textures were you asked to overwrite existing files or is it possible you saved them as a copy.

The fact you see the same textures for both variations leads me to suspect #1 above.

Hope this help,
Joe

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Reply #6 - Sep 6^th, 2009 at 4:52pm

JoBee Offline
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Rather than edit my last post I will add this.

Are the original textures that came with the plane DDS?

If they are not, and the plane is not designed to use DDS textures you cannot simply take ,say a DXT3 texture, and convert it to DDS. Won't work.

Still doesn't explain your first post where you stated Quote:

but when I select repaint, it comes up as the same paint as the original

unless your repaint folder contained the original .bmp and your edited file saved as a DDS.

To restate, not all planes in FSX can use DDS textures. If this is a port from FS9 it will most likely not accept DDS.

Hope this helps,
Joe

PS. If you are having problems with DDS textures in DXTBmp, make sure you have the latest version. Martin has made some updates and the latest version is 4.0.0.96

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Reply #7 - Sep 6^th, 2009 at 10:16pm

Boikat Offline
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JoBee wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 4:42pm:

All due respect, I don't think this is an issue of texture format.[/uote]

It is, most certainly, a texture issue.

[quote]If I understand correctly you have 2 seperate and distinct variations that in the sim both look the same.

There was originally only one paint (texture), and I added one. I edited (and saved) the edited texture, first as a .dds, which showed up exactly as the original texture. I flipped it, and saved it as a .bmp, and it worked. (I also renamed the original dds's so the sim ignores them)

Quote:

This means that -
1) both variations are using the same textures. This is most likely a .cfg problem. What I meant by my first post is make sure the 2 entries in the .cfg have different texture= entries.

With all due respects, this is not my first repaint, or .cfg edit.

Quote:

My comment about the title= line was due to the fact that if you have 2 entries with the same title= line only one will show up in the sim. BTW, I didn't mention sim= at all. [quote]

No, I did to cover all bases.

[quote] or 2) You in fact have 2 .cfg entries referencing different texture folders that have the same textures in them.

When you saved your edited textures were you asked to overwrite existing files or is it possible you saved them as a copy.

No. When you save a file it asks you what format you wish to save it as (extended bmp, dds.....) then if you are saving it as the same format, it alerts you about that file already esisting, do you wish to over-write, and I said "yes" when I tried the DDS. I also reopened it after it did not display the new paint in the sim. It opened as the edited DDS.

Quote:

The fact you see the same textures for both variations leads me to suspect #1 above.

Hope this help,
Joe

Apparently, the problem is as stated a few posts above: DXTBmp does not save .dds's very well.

For now, and until I can find where "Imagetool" is hiding, either the SDK or GMax, or if I have to download it separatly, the .bmp testures work just fine. No re-editing of the .cfg needed.

Thank you for your intrest, however.

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Reply #8 - Sep 6^th, 2009 at 10:21pm

Boikat Offline
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JoBee wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 4:52pm:

Rather than edit my last post I will add this.

Are the original textures that came with the plane DDS?

If they are not, and the plane is not designed to use DDS textures you cannot simply take ,say a DXT3 texture, and convert it to DDS. Won't work.

Still doesn't explain your first post where you stated Quote:

but when I select repaint, it comes up as the same paint as the original

unless your repaint folder contained the original .bmp and your edited file saved as a DDS.

To restate, not all planes in FSX can use DDS textures. If this is a port from FS9 it will most likely not accept DDS.

Hope this helps,
Joe

PS. If you are having problems with DDS textures in DXTBmp, make sure you have the latest version. Martin has made some updates and the latest version is 4.0.0.96

I'll check out the DXTBmp version. But yes, the original textures were .dds. The Caspian Sea Monster was originally an AI that was usually only seen if you went on a particular mission (and maybe as ai traffic in the Caspian sea..I'll have to check that out....). Someone added the needed tweaks to make it flyable.

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Reply #9 - Sep 7^th, 2009 at 3:31am

Hagar Offline
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Boikat wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 10:16pm:

For now, and until I can find where "Imagetool" is hiding, either the SDK or GMax, or if I have to download it separatly, the .bmp testures work just fine. No re-editing of the .cfg needed.

Look for Imagetool.exe in the in the FSX Terrain SDK Folder.

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Reply #10 - Sep 7^th, 2009 at 11:22am

Boikat Offline
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Hagar wrote on Sep 7^th, 2009 at 3:31am:

Boikat wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 10:16pm:

For now, and until I can find where "Imagetool" is hiding, either the SDK or GMax, or if I have to download it separatly, the .bmp testures work just fine. No re-editing of the .cfg needed.

Look for Imagetool.exe in the in the FSX Terrain SDK Folder.

And there it its! Thanks Hagar!!

(added) That did the trick!
Smiley

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