GUIDE [WIP] DDSopt & Texture Overhauls

[z929669]

Discussion thread:
DDSopt Guide by STEP
Wiki Link

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GET DDSopt:
Github Pre-release versions
Official Nexus versions (select pre-release update 4)

[EssArrBee]

I guess I'll start using this thread to not confuse others about the optimization until it is a little further along.

 

I finished up with optimization using H1 for Ordinary Textures, H2 for Exteriors and Exterior Normals, and H3 for Body Textures.

 

The bat files all seemed to do there job. There are two batch files for compression, is that normal? I'm guessing one of them calls on the other. Good thing about FNV is that FOMM has a BSA creator, so I can pack them all up again if I want to.

 

Here's my log: https://copy.com/SVNsqWq4tvOT

[Kelmych]

For Skyrim textures optimization there will be a new version of the batch files very soon. It's mostly small updates to the documentation in the files. For vanilla textures the compression batch file will now add "_opt" to the end of each file name, as is already done with the optimized mod files, and the archived files will be stored in "Vanilla Optimized Archives".

 

There still need to be a lot of additions to the table of mods; this is being worked on but there have been other priorities.

 

There are now beta batch files for processing the Fallout New Vegas vanilla textures and mods. These are currently in the Fear and Loathing in New Vegas feedback thread, but they will soon be in the DDSopt guide soon along with a new associated Quickstart guide tab for Fallout New Vegas texture optimization. The main difference is that FNV has a lot of textures used in interfaces (e.g., in the Pipboy3000) and these are 2D textures for which there is no value in texture optimization. These are excluded from optimization by the FNV version of the batch files.

 

These FNV batch files are being tested by users, so if you are interested please try them and report on any problems you see. The potential problems would be:

• there were errors in the command window when running the batch files,
• there were errors in the log file other than the ones that can be ignored,
• the textures were not sorted into the proper folders, or
• there were problems in game with one or more of the optimized textures (e.g., purple or black textures, artifacts introduced by the optimization).

The initial testing on the current batch files for FNV did not show any of the (1) - (3) errors.

 

There is no automated BSA file creation for the optimized textures with FNV or Skyrim since we're not aware of programs that can be used in command line mode (since this is the way batch files work) capable of properly adding to or extracting files from BSAs.

 

For both Skyrim and FNV the mod batch files can currently be used to add exterior textures from one version of a mod (typically lower resolution) and another version for the rest of the files. If there is any interest another option could be added where only the exterior normal maps are taken from the lower resolution version of the mod.

[EssArrBee]

Is there any plan to add a page about using Archive.exe for Skyrim now that MO seems stable?

 

I was probably going to recommend repacking optimized textures with FOMM for FNV, but I haven't tested it yet. I think it works fine for older games.

 

Arthmoor has a good directions for using Archive.exe here: https://www.iguanadons.net/Using-BAIN-and-Archiveexe-to-Package-a-Skyrim-Mod-494.html

 

I would recommend compression for just textures though. Anything but sounds can be compressed.

[Kelmych]

Is there any plan to add a page about using Archive.exe for Skyrim now that MO seems stable?

About a month ago the sidebox on repacking textures on BSAs in the DDSopt guide was revised to recommend the use of Archive.exe. In addition the BSA Extraction and Optimization guide was revised to recommend using Archive.exe to create Skyrim BSAs, and a new tab about creating BSAs was added. A pointer to the STEP thread that discussed which resource types should or should not be compressed was also added.

 

I was probably going to recommend repacking optimized textures with FOMM for FNV, but I haven't tested it yet. I think it works fine for older games.

The use of FOMM for older games was added to the new tab on creating BSAs in the  BSA Extraction and Optimization guide. BSAopt/DDSopt should also work fine for most of the older games; the problems with texture compression using them only started with Skyrim 1.7 .

 

Arthmoor has a good directions for using Archive.exe here: https://www.iguanadons.net/Using-BAIN-and-Archiveexe-to-Package-a-Skyrim-Mod-494.html

Thanks for the pointer; I had looked for a good reference on using Archive.exe but I hadn't found one. This reference was added to the BSA Extraction and Optimization guide

 

I would recommend compression for just textures though. Anything but sounds can be compressed.

The STEP thread where we discussed this mentioned several resource types that Bethesda typically compresses and ones they never compress. In addition, Bethesda never uses compression when multiple resource types are included in an individual BSA.

[Kelmych]

Version 2.75 of the DDSopt guide batch files have been added to the guide. This is a small change; most of the changes were in the readme files and in the remarks in the batch files to provide better documentation. The only notable change is that the archive batch file for vanilla textures now works the same as the batch file used with mod files; it adds "_opt" to the end of each folder name and moves the archived files to "Vanilla Optimized Archive". In addition to being useful, it helps prevent filenames for the optimized textures from addon DLC be the same as the filename for the associated BSA.

 

These changes doesn't affect any optimizations done using the batch files; there is no need to redo any existing optimizations.

 

Some small text additions were made to the recommendations of which quality settings to use based on the capabilities of the graphics card.

[pudz]

Hi, on step 4 under "Archive or Move the Optimized Vanilla Texture Files" on the quick start guide, it says "(insert location here)" but doesn't actually contain a link. I'm unsure what to do at this part. Thank you.

[EssArrBee]

Hi, on step 4 under "Archive or Move the Optimized Vanilla Texture Files" on the quick start guide, it says "(insert location here)" but doesn't actually contain a link. I'm unsure what to do at this part. Thank you.

Should be on the detailed instructions of the DLC on the STEP guide in Section 2.D Fixes. You want to stick the opted textures between the DLC and the corresponding unofficial patch in the left pane of Mod Organizer. This let the files overwrite and be overwritten in the correct order.

 

@Kelmych, do I just use the 2.75 batch files for FNV? I know the test files said 2.76. THey also had readme's for FNV and not for Skyrim, but I think they all work the same right?

[Octopuss]

I've just noticed that some textures from the hires DLC get moved to the other DLC folders by the optimization process. Is that intended?

[Kelmych]

The "insert location" text was replaced with the correct text in the guide.

 

The repair process on the HRDLC does remove some duplicate files and folders across the HRDLC, and in a few cases this might appear like files are moved to a different HRDLC. I haven't noticed any files get moved to other folders during optimization or sorting; which ones did you notice Octopuss? 

[Kelmych]

Should be on the detailed instructions of the DLC on the STEP guide in Section 2.D Fixes. You want to stick the opted textures between the DLC and the corresponding unofficial patch in the left pane of Mod Organizer. This let the files overwrite and be overwritten in the correct order.

 

@Kelmych, do I just use the 2.75 batch files for FNV? I know the test files said 2.76. THey also had readme's for FNV and not for Skyrim, but I think they all work the same right?

The 2.75 version of the batch file archive (Batch_Files_for_DDSopt_guide_v2.75.7z) has the most recent updates for Skyrim. The 2.76 batch files are for the vanilla FNV and FNV mods. The current version is FNV_Batch_Files_for_DDSopt_Guide_2.76_beta4.7z  I tested both the FNV vanilla textures and FNV mod batch files and I didn't encounter any problems. The batch file archive can be found here.

[EssArrBee]

Okay, I'll get an F&L page done by the end of this week (maybe) so people can start using those batch files. I did have about 25% already done when the site went down. I tried to save the page and it just gave me a 404. Even hitting back didn't restore the text, so I'll have to start over again. 

[Kelmych]

Did you want the current DDSopt guide to include a new FNV QuickStart page for at least the vanilla files and a simple example of optimizing mods, or is the guide you are creating going to cover everything? The batch file is considered a beta until at least someone else in addition to me tests it. When that happens the "beta" can be removed from the name.

[redirishlord]

Just finished optimizing my Skyrim vanilla textures, your wiki & batch files made it a breeze, thanks! Moving on to the STEP mods now, and looking forward to FNV after.

[EssArrBee]

Well, I did use them for vanilla textures and two mods, Poco Bueno and NMCs. I only did exteriors for both to keep interiors at 2k. I hadn't noticed any issues with the textures after running around the strip, but a couple of ground textures in Novac looked pretty bad after reducing them. I think they were Poco textures.

[redirishlord]

Should I take that to mean you favor NMC? I think TTW only offers an NMC merged collection, maybe I should table Poco?