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)

[Kelmych]

What would we need to do to be able to include a pointer to the latest version in the STEP Wiki?

[frihyland]

No reason to package them back into bsa really' date=' just use 7zip to archive the directory or dds files. The way I do it is I unpack textures.bsa and the Hi res bsa's. I apply the HR DLC fix and Tweaks mods with our custom bat file to the directories. Then I merge all three directories' date=' pasting the fixed HR directories over the vanilla textures. Then I DDSopt that directory, archive with 7zip and name it Fixed Vanilla HR Textures.7z and keep it 2nd in my Wrye Bash bain tab right after my Vanilla Skyrim.7z (see SIG) and before USKP. I been waiting for DDSopt 8 to get out of beta before I put this into SIG fully fleshed out, been months now.[/quote'']

Ethatron has been out for quite awhile, so I would treat the pre-release as "final" for now ...

The version on Nexus is still 7.3 the problem is availability.

[jasonstory44]

Hi again guys...when running other mods and bsa's (such as Dawngard.bsa) thru DDSopt...I assume we convert them as directed in the DDSopt wiki but when we actually optimize the textures we want to select/filter for only the .dds files in the bsa? It seems like the HRDLC and Skyrim-textures bsa were almost exclusively .dds files except for the .txt exclusions pointed out in the guide. I'm curious, do we also optimize .lod files??? I know to leave the .png files alone. Trying to step up my game here and learn some serious modding tricks. Appreciate the guidance...thanks

[frihyland]

As the name implies ddsopt is for dds files only. There are other programs for lod and nif, but they are too complicated for even the staff here at STEP to comprehend fully. We've skipped those until they get a lot more mature and easier to use.

[Kelmych]

It seems to me that the DLC section of Wiki STEP Installation Guide needs a little update. In the high VRAM case it mentions the HD Textures DLC fix, but doesn't mention the HighResTexturePack DLC Tweaks that should be applied after the HD Textures DLC fix as Z described in an earlier post in this DDSopt thread.

[z929669]

It seems to me that the DLC section of Wiki STEP Installation Guide needs a little update. In the high VRAM case it mentions the HD Textures DLC fix' date=' but doesn't mention the HighResTexturePack DLC Tweaks that should be applied after the HD Textures DLC fix as Z described in an earlier post in this DDSopt thread.

First, do the following before applying DDSopt v8.0 pre III to the vanilla textures. Fri may elect to add this now that it is pretty clear that Eiwyn's mod has grown quite stale ....

 

• Download DLC tweaks 3.2. Extract to its own folder (e.g., HRDLC_Tweaks) in the working directory.
• Download DLC tweaks 3.1 beta. Extract to same folder as previous, overwriting all files.
• Download the HRDLC Fix. Extract to its own folder (e.g., HD_Texture_DLC_Fix) in the working directory.
• Extract HighResTexturePack01.bsa to its own folder in the working directory (e.g., HRDLC1).
• Extract HighResTexturePack02.bsa to its own folder in the working directory (e.g., HRDLC2).
• Extract the customized BAT files into the working directory (i.e., not into a sub-folder though).
• Run the START BAT and examine the logs as well as the resuting HRDLC1-2 folders.

[frihyland]

It seems to me that the DLC section of Wiki STEP Installation Guide needs a little update. In the high VRAM case it mentions the HD Textures DLC fix' date=' but doesn't mention the HighResTexturePack DLC Tweaks that should be applied after the HD Textures DLC fix as Z described in an earlier post in this DDSopt thread.

This was removed about 4 months ago by author request, he seems to have completely left the mod scene now so you can follow z's instructions without worrying about getting flamed by him.  They should go right where it says (waiting for ddsopt 8 release).

[Kelmych]

I used Zs instructions and batch file when I optimized the HRDLC. I'm surprised by the author's comment since the mod description says it should be incorporated into the fix file.

[frihyland]

He was very unhappy with z's bat file and the directions how to properly combine everything. He took it as a personal insult that his own mod and instructions wasn't good enough.

[Eckhart90]

Hi guys,

I hope this is the right thread for questions about DDsopt...

I'm following the (oudated?) guide in the STEP Wiki because I haven't found anything clear about the process of DDsopt.

I used Texture Pack Combiner with the three major textures overhaul (Serious HD, etc.) and the Hi-Res DLC Optimized for 1.5GB VRAM and more (I own a GTX 670 2GB).

 

Is there a way to optimize thw *whole* /texture folder instead of every single mods? Can I choose the Data/texture as the source folder?

 

Are the steps the same as above for every texture mod?

Like extracting loose files from the .bsa, then optimise and finally compress the folder in a .zip file?

 

EDIT: Is it possible, for example, to run DDsopt on the three major textures overhaul, put the new archive files in the folders in TPC and run the batch?

 

Thank you for your help and sorry for my english.

 

Good day to you all.

 

;)

[z929669]

Hi guys,

I hope this is the right thread for questions about DDsopt...

I'm following the (oudated?) guide in the STEP Wiki because I haven't found anything clear about the process of DDsopt.

I used Texture Pack Combiner with the three major textures overhaul (Serious HD, etc.) and the Hi-Res DLC Optimized for 1.5GB VRAM and more (I own a GTX 670 2GB).

 

Is there a way to optimize thw *whole* /texture folder instead of every single mods? Can I choose the Data/texture as the source folder?

 

Are the steps the same as above for every texture mod?

Like extracting loose files from the .bsa, then optimise and finally compress the folder in a .zip file?

 

EDIT: Is it possible, for example, to run DDsopt on the three major textures overhaul, put the new archive files in the folders in TPC and run the batch?

 

Thank you for your help and sorry for my english.

 

Good day to you all.

 

;)

You can run DDSopt on your entire textures folder if you want, but I recommend running on each mod, compressing to 7z format and installing with Wrye Bash. This allows you to determine if any custom or non-standard textures were broken by optimization. Compile TPC, run through DDSopt (see OP), compress and install to test. The DDSopt wiki is a bit outdated, but largely instructive. Will update soon I hope.

[Eckhart90]

You can run DDSopt on your entire textures folder if you want, but I recommend running on each mod, compressing to 7z format and installing with Wrye Bash. This allows you to determine if any custom or non-standard textures were broken by optimization. Compile TPC, run through DDSopt (see OP), compress and install to test. The DDSopt wiki is a bit outdated, but largely instructive. Will update soon I hope.

 

Nice, this made the procedure clear for me now. :)

I have few other (minor) questions:

 

When I'll have my DDSoptimized archives of STD and HRDLC BSAs ready to be installed (I'll try to use Wrye, by the way; now I'm using the less complex / more buggy NMM), do I need to optimize the Hi-Res DLC Optimized too and put on top of the previous archives? Like re-installing STD, HRDLC 1-2 and then Hi-Res DLC Optimized? Or Hi-Res DLC Optimized is already optimized with DDSopt?

 

Can I compile TPC without the optional mods (that I've already installed) to replace only the un-optimized required mods with the optimized version?

 

Is there a guide to monitor broken textures with Wrye Bash?

 

Thank you.

[z929669]

Eckhart90 Wrote'Eckhart90''12897''1347547935'

You can run DDSopt on your entire textures folder if you want' date=' but I recommend running on each mod' date=' compressing to 7z format and installing with Wrye Bash. This allows you to determine if any custom or non-standard textures were broken by optimization. Compile TPC, run through DDSopt (see OP), compress and install to test. The DDSopt wiki is a bit outdated, but largely instructive. Will update soon I hope.[/quote'']

Nice, this made the procedure clear for me now. :)

I have few other (minor) questions:

 

When I'll have my DDSoptimized archives of STD and HRDLC BSAs ready to be installed (I'll try to use Wrye, by the way; now I'm using the less complex / more buggy NMM), do I need to optimize the Hi-Res DLC Optimized too and put on top of the previous archives? Like re-installing STD, HRDLC 1-2 and then Hi-Res DLC Optimized? Or Hi-Res DLC Optimized is already optimized with DDSopt?

As described in the DDSopt Guide, I recommend converting all vanilla BSAs to loose files, optimizing and compressing as 7z for WB installation (see the WBG for details on using WB). Follow my instructions in this post on the preceding page of this thread.

Can I compile TPC without the optional mods (that I've already installed) to replace only the un-optimized required mods with the optimized version?

Is there a guide to monitor broken textures with Wrye Bash?

Sure, you can do whatever you wish. If you use WB though, you will see much better what you are doing during installation though. I personally would create my entire installation (including TPC & vanilla) using unoptimized textures (no BSAs) and install/configure STEP. THEN, I would create optimized versions of all mod textures (including the now-compiled TPC and vanilla loose files) and re-compress into 7z files with same but modified name and set up in WB adjacent to the unoptimized texture mods. This way, you can test your installation with and without optimization. This also allows piecemeal control of each mod version (opt vs non-opt) so that you can better track down any weird textures (RefScope for Skyrim would be better though... wonder if something like that has been created yet??)

[Eckhart90]

Sure, you can do whatever you wish. If you use WB though, you will see much better what you are doing during installation though. I personally would create my entire installation (including TPC & vanilla) using unoptimized textures (no BSAs) and install/configure STEP. THEN, I would create optimized versions of all mod textures (including the now-compiled TPC and vanilla loose files) and re-compress into 7z files with same but modified name and set up in WB adjacent to the unoptimized texture mods. This way, you can test your installation with and without optimization. This also allows piecemeal control of each mod version (opt vs non-opt) so that you can better track down any weird textures (RefScope for Skyrim would be better though... wonder if something like that has been created yet??)

 

That's a really great idea; I never thought about making a huge automated texture pack archive. Surely saves a lot of hassle in case of a complete reinstallation of Skyrim.

Fortunately I've already made my mods setup via STEP and TPC, using NMM as a simple BSAs installer and BOSS for the load order. Without ENB, my Skyrim runs smoothly (Ultra-settings, 'Hardcore' STEP, 1080p) @ 60 fps with only a major drop near Riverwood and some other place(-20 fps). With ENB (SSAO/SSIL) the fps goes to an average 45-50.

 

The problem is that VRAM is often saturated and CTDs randomly occur.

 

I'll post my personal tests with or without optimization once I'm done with the process.

 

:D

[Deathwing514]

So just to be clear from echarts90 recent comment,

 

1. I can combine the TPC first

 

2. Go to texture in the combine folder and ddsopted the file

 

3. 7zip the combine folder

 

4. have TPC ddsopted?

 

Because if this is the case, it can actually save me alot of time rather than ddsopted every file in TPC

 

Any help with my question will be fully appreciated.

 

PS: will any file in TPC be corrupted or mess my game up if i DDSOPT it?

Also is there any difference between using 7.3 and 8 pre release?