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)

[Bealdwine]

Thanks fri :) it doesn't surprise me that someone had already been thinking about this. I'll take a look through that file.

[blacksol]

Finally getting around to DDSopting by vanilla textures in preparation for next step.

 

On extracting HRDLC1 I get an error that failed to copy 'placeholder.txt". Does that matter?

 

EDIT: on HRDLC2 got same message for "\textures\architecture\placeholder.txt", "\textures\clutter\placeholder.txt" and in "\textures\dungeon\placeholder.txt"

 

I assume it doesn't so may be good to add this to the guide to future users are concerned (unless I am doing something wrong!)

[Bealdwine]

@blacksol

No, you're not doing anything wrong and I think you are right about possibly adding a warning about this to the guide so as not to surprise people ;)

 

The placeholder.txt files do nothing and are part of the few errors (this + files misnamed + files incorrectly located (iirc)) that came with the HD DLC release. I guess because we were accustomed to knowing the errors (used to have to fix them by hand) it didn't get mentioned in the guide.

 

A good catch on your part as it is very easy to become so familiar with a topic that you can't see it with 'fresh' eyes when trying to describe it to someone else and what is obvious to you gets forgotten or missed for the guide user. That's the beauty of working as a team - fresh eyes :)

[blacksol]

Also DLC section of Skyrim Installation guide:

 

- Step 4 - that mod has been discontinued but still works. Should also add a note that it if you have drives m, n or o already mapped then you need to unmap them while running the cmd file. - Also I dont think the cmd file it likes spaces in the filepaths on lines 1 to 3 so replace with underscores and likely move to say c:\temp to shorten the path (I could be wrong about this).

- Step 5 - this fix is more than just the blades armor fix but it is still just copy over HRDLC1.

DDSopt Guide - DDSOpt config - wiki says "...should be configured optimally..." Having just installed it I found 2 settings that were different:

- Settings - skip broken files was unchecked

- Constraints - Model/space normal maps had a different setting

EDIT: if it matters using 64 bit version of DDSopt

[Bealdwine]

Another good point blacksol about the config. I meant to raise this with zMan myself and forgot. In the end I went by the images in the guide and adjusted the DDSopt settings accordingly but did mean to confirm this.

[torminater]

Somehow I have a problem with this guide. I did everything as recommended until I'm supposed to use the Clean HRDLCFix batch.

As I extracted the bsa's of the original Data folder with DDSopt i got a file named out.bsa.bsa.bsa and a log file with a similar name. But no extracted files. I used OBMM to extract the folder further so I got the textures-folder. I tried it without a separate extraction but it would just say, that the folder could not be found.

any input on this?

[Vond]

When extracting via DDSOPT, make sure the lower section only says for example "E:\DDSOpt\out" and not "E:\DDSOpt\out.bsa". Browse and select Use Folder on the map where you want the results to be sure. Sounds like you had DDSOPT set up to make the result a bsa-file aswell.

[torminater]

great so now i have another 4 HDDs registered on my computer which are of course all the same. so how do I undo this?

so they are deleted by deleting the files they're referring to

but they come back as soon as the same path is used for something... probably something i have to fix in another way. just don't know how...

also my bsa->bsa.bsa.bsa conversion was caused by not clicking on the "Use folder" button

[Vond]

The fake-HDDs should be removed by the script when you're done with running it. Atleast it did for me. Otherwise a reboot should fix it.

[torminater]

Also did you guys notice that this has become part of this now? And that it has a new master?

 

oh and how do I know whether this batch thing actually worked?

i just kept pressing enter and eventually it closed by itself. was that it?

 

Is this thing really supposed to take about 15 hours of optimization? :(

[Bealdwine]

Good catch this is a very recent change, but afaik the original script still works fine. Will need to check out and test the new HighResTexturePack DLC Tweaks and the Cleaner.

[torminater]

so it only took 3 hours to optimize ^^

and so far the results are not bad at all! :D

by the way. in the DDSopt guide in the benchmarking section there should be a number indicating the memory improvement from vanilla to optimized! just as a little bonus!

[z929669]

Another good point blacksol about the config. I meant to raise this with zMan myself and forgot. In the end I went by the images in the guide and adjusted the DDSopt settings accordingly but did mean to confirm this.

 

 

Yep, just go by the graphics. I will edit the text so as not to confuse

[z929669]

Finally getting around to DDSopting by vanilla textures in preparation for next step.

 

On extracting HRDLC1 I get an error that failed to copy 'placeholder.txt". Does that matter?

 

EDIT: on HRDLC2 got same message for "\textures\architecture\placeholder.txt", "\textures\clutter\placeholder.txt" and in "\textures\dungeon\placeholder.txt"

 

I assume it doesn't so may be good to add this to the guide to future users are concerned (unless I am doing something wrong!)

 

Noted

Also DLC section of Skyrim Installation guide:

 

- Step 4 - that mod has been discontinued but still works. Should also add a note that it if you have drives m, n or o already mapped then you need to unmap them while running the cmd file. - Also I dont think the cmd file it likes spaces in the filepaths on lines 1 to 3 so replace with underscores and likely move to say c:\temp to shorten the path (I could be wrong about this).

- Step 5 - this fix is more than just the blades armor fix but it is still just copy over HRDLC1.

DDSopt Guide - DDSOpt config - wiki says "...should be configured optimally..." Having just installed it I found 2 settings that were different:

- Settings - skip broken files was unchecked

- Constraints - Model/space normal maps had a different setting

EDIT: if it matters using 64 bit version of DDSopt

We are all wiki editors, so feel free to edit the text to better reflect reality ;)

[z929669]

Also did you guys notice that this has become part of this now? And that it has a new master?oh and how do I know whether this batch thing actually worked?

i just kept pressing enter and eventually it closed by itself. was that it?

 

Is this thing really supposed to take about 15 hours of optimization? :(

 

 

 

 

I need to edit the guide to blend better with the SR Installation guide....