z929669

This feature is not present on the boards edition I don't think. Why not just review the pattern prior to activating the first image (2 sets, 4 variants, same order)?

Just finished running the pre-release over all vanilla textures (including DLC): Ignore > Compress all known image formats [ticked] Ignore > Don't process any of the known file types [unticked] Behave > Raise foliage-map opacity ... [ticked] Behave > Contrast-correct ... [ticked] vanilla: DDSopt 7.3: DDSopt Pre-Release: DDSopt Pre-Release (with vanilla foliage replacement): Vanilla: DDSopt 7.3: DDSopt Pre-Release: DDSopt Pre-Release (with vanilla foliage replacement): As can be seen, there is an obvious loss of detail, presumably caused by the contrast correction to ALL textures? Also, there still seems to be quite a bit of foliage loss, presumably due to the alpha test transparency filter on the foliage. Not sure what to conclude other than I want to try again without contrast-correct enabled (and then again without Raise foliage-map opacity). Finally, the tops of trees are much darker with these new settings, as are rocks and other aspects of textures displayed at lower mip levels. Thoughts? PS: Also added the following to the ini... does this make sense? [AlphaFoilage] treeaspenbranchcomp.dds treepineforestbranchcomp.dds treepineforestbranchcompsnow.dds treepineforestbranchcompsnowl.dds treereachaddon01.dds

Initial observations after running 64-bit pre-release version on Skyrim - Textures.bsa to loose files: Ignore > Compress all known image formats [unticked] Ignore > Don't process any of the known file types [unticked] Behave > Raise foliage-map opacity ... [unticked] Behave > Contrast-correct ... [unticked] - Expected behavior: Compress & re-mip ONLY DDS image formats. - Observed behavior: Presumeably, ALL image formats are NOT compressed and ONLY re-mipped - Additional observations: This was default settings when first launching DDSopt, but the new version may adopt certain settings from my previous run of the old version. All PNG images were purple italics as were select DDS known to be problematic, and these were processed witout alteration. On Constraints tab, all compression dropdowns were grayed out EXCEPT grayscale alpha, which was set to compress as DXTx. Ignore > Compress all known image formats [ticked] Ignore > Don't process any of the known file types [unticked] Behave > Raise foliage-map opacity ... [ticked/unticked] Behave > Contrast-correct ... [ticked/unticked] - Expected behavior: Compress & re-mip ALL image formats. - Observed behavior: As expected - Additional observations: All compression options on the Constraints tab were available for adjustment (NOT grayed out). When UNticking again "Compress all known image formats" and after refresh, PNG image formats DID NOT refert to purple italics. I had to close DDSopt and re-open, to get back the purple with this changed setting. This tells me that settings are not translated in the "soft" refresh. This is confusing because when viewing the Constraints tab, ALL compression dropdowns are grayed out (even the grayscale alpha). REticking "Compress all known image formats," causes all compression dropdowns to again become available, but UNticking again causes all to be grayed out. Have not looked at any of the results yet. How can I log the processing time? That seems to be missing from the logs.

+1 .... GET and SET Skyrim Unplugged!

Wow, LOTS of enhancements. thanks for the detail. (also noticed that you added time formats in HH:MM:SS rather than the old MMM:SS for people that cannot easily divide by 60 :P)

Thanks for heads up

+1 I already notice some very nice added features. Ability to preview each mip level (very nice)Added functionality to the Ignore menu, including extra file-format qualifiers (very nice)I see that the preview pane uses italics and now there is a new purple font color (ignored textures?)Three new Behavior-menu options Raise alpha opacity at each mip level (this is the automated mock of the custom edits to the lower mips of treepineforestbranchcomp.dds?)Contrast-correct mipmap filtering for alpha (not sure what this does, but I assume that it is intended to soften edges where opacity is increased maybe by adding gray levels to the alpha?)Don't eliminate lower mip levels (you added it at my behest, but I would like to know when this might actually be useful... perhaps it is not?)All in all this looks theoretically fantastic. Testing now.

Glad this is getting done! I am anxious to download and use the revised ed, as the screenshots look fantastic

Yeah, I just updated to SVN and have not yet messed around in the mods tab, so it must have been 295.5

I am also not sure if BOSS automatically applies tags in Skyrim. I have had to sometimes mark mods mergeable and add tags myself, according to BOSS's suggestions.

FYI, please link to content rather than attaching content. We have a descent thumbnail viewer incorporated (just click the picture icon in the editor and enter a link). If you need an internet repository for content, try DropBox, it is free. If you do not use it, let me know, and I will invite you (we both get 500 Mb of additional space this way ) Your disk usage is fine at the moment you took the pic, but perhaps earlier in your DDSopt process there was another process holding things back. Total time to process vanilla textures on a modern system should not exceed 4 hours (mine ran in about 2 hours). DDSopt is currently under revision with boasts of 2-3x speed improvements and additional features.

OK, then it is running just fine. Sounds like a sluggish I/O. perhaps the HDD is heavily multitasking (e.g., virus scan, defrag, file serving). Suggest you just let it finish and fix the larger I/O issue after!

I, for one, will always accept a competent helping hand to the wiki group. you have my vote in our little STEP-admin democracy ;)

It shouldn't take that long. Sounds like something went wrong. Do you have evidence that the program continues to process textures in real time and that it has not stopped responding?

@puuloo I am glad you created the mod and hope that you will spend some time bringing it up to standard now that this has been pointed out. It should be a good learing experience for you as well as a testament to your fans that you are a mod author that is likely to produce good things ahead. STEP is a great venue for an up-and-coming mod author

@Ethatron Thanks for that detail. I look forward to testing the pre-release and to all subsequent Skyrim-asset-optimization applications that you develop down the road. Vond is another avid user on these forums (as are several others) that will be interested in the new features!

Discussion thread: Bellyaches Fur and Quilted Saddles by Bellyache Wiki Link You get the choice of having a quilted or fur saddle for all horses, with shadowmere and imperial variants. The fur replacer is a cleaner, newer and (IMO) more cartoonish version of vanilla. The quilted is the same. Decent looking textures, but the assets within each texture are a bit too clean and "unfinished" looking. I expect saddles to look worn and matted/darkened where the rider's arse is sitting/sweating/farting day after day. I'd not personally recommend until/unless more care is taken to at least match the level of detail and cohesiveness of vanilla as well as adding some wear detail. This is the brown fur example. Extrapolate the same effect with regard to shadowmere and imperial (can you tell which is vanilla?):

Discussion thread: Advanced Alloys-Bow & Quiver by jaredschons Wiki Link Checked this out in more detail and I must say that, based on my own interpretation of TES lore --that ancient Dwemer craftsmanship is practiced, true to original form, by adept armorers-- these textures are not consistent with that lore. Although gorgeous, these textures imply a replication of the Dwemer motif, but using composites and non-traditional materials, thereby rendering them, by definition, not Dwemer. Same goes for all AA-Dwarven. (note also from the texture, that this looks "factory" produced and not hand crafted. Everything is too perfect, no nics & scratches or evidence of crafting (i.e., these cannot be made at a Skyrim forge!) Yeas? Nays?

Thanks for clarifying (need things explicitly spelled out all to often!). That makes sense, and is also a bit disappointing, as this would mean that there is no way to tell without examining each texture manually :(. [Yes, Ethatron, I am finally understanding what you have been driving at ... deja vu] This would also suggest that the alpha-transparency-filtering technique is driven by the game shader rather than texture dependent, which clears up another point of confusion I was going to raise later (still?) :P [you can lead THIS horse to water, and he WILL drink if you direct his mouth to it!]

Actually, I was just speaking about the BCF instructions; however, I will heed your endorsement and go ahead with the wizard too. That scripting seems rather straight forward, and I like the idea of having a solid reference

cool, thanks. This will likely get me closer to the format I prefer if not already, and I will post that if different.

How does one identify if "special filtering" is used? i.e., Does the texture file itself possess some attribute that tells us how the alpha channel behaves? I think I understand that treepineforestbranchcomp.dds uses the "alpha test" technique (smooth grayscale??), and that this is visible in the alpha channel in Gimp, but this is not the case for treeaspenbranchcomp.dds (uses alpha to coverage??). When processed by DDSopt, treepineforestbranchcomp.dds alpha channel is converted to alpha to coverage?? The following shows mip lev5 using native texture (top) and DDSopt-ed texture (bottom), which is analogous to treeaspenbranchcomp.dds:

Thanks. I'll let Fri take the lead on merging in your suggestions. (I also think that guide would benefit from some figures to help illustrate a few things)

I am not there yet, but will make one when I install it.

RCRN replaces terrain textures, so I wonder if those could be associated with mid-distant mountains?