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)

[xiamthewalrusx]

have anyone tried Skyrim Mods Complex Optimizer - SMCO?

https://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13529//?

I have not tried it out yet, but it seems like it could be a useful tool

[EssArrBee]

I've never used the mesh optimizer from SMCO and would say to only do so at your own risk. SMCO is not as good as DDSopt, but it also does not take all day to optimize everything.

[statmonster]

I don't think I would do this. Too much risk for my taste. Lets others try it out and work out all the bugs!

[hellanios]

I've followed the guide step by step to optimize the vanilla textures. So, I optimized Skyrim textures,HRDLC textures, Dawnguard textures and Dragonborn textures. I have a question to make. In the giude it is said that if the optimized textures are used in the form of loose files then every mod that has textures should be in same form. Does this apply to every single mod (e.g. Climates of Tamriel, IA and IW)? It'll be a lot of work to do considering mods generally get updated.

[phazer11]

Most texture mods hardly ever get updated; the exception to these are ones for Armor and Weapon Packs. The Book of Silence for example. However it's not a big pain once you get used to the process. It used to take me at least 10 minutes a mod just to make sure I was doing everything right now. I just download unpack make a folder for the new files, setup max resolution limit and click process. 2 minutes tops.

[TechAngel85]

I've followed the guide step by step to optimize the vanilla textures. So' date=' I optimized Skyrim textures,HRDLC textures, Dawnguard textures and Dragonborn textures. I have a question to make. In the giude it is said that if the optimized textures are used in the form of loose files then every mod that has textures should be in same form. Does this apply to every single mod (e.g. Climates of Tamriel, IA and IW)? It'll be a lot of work to do considering mods generally get updated.[/quote']

That's exactly what that means. If you store these as loose files in archives then every single mod that has a BSA also needs to be unpacked and stored as loose files or the install order will not work properly. There are only two ways around this:

• Repack the optimized textures into their BSA files
• Use Mod Organizer. MO can treat BSAs as loose files so there is no reason to unpack them if using MO.

[hellanios]

Ok so every time I download a mod which is in a form of a BSA I'll have to check it if it has texture files. If yes then I'll have to extract the texure files only and optimize them if I want to. If the BSA has also other files like scripts or meshes then I'll have to keep the BSA because I haven't extracted any other file types from the vanilla BSAs. Weapon and Armor mods like IA, IW, BoS don't require unpacking.

[z929669]

Ok so every time I download a mod which is in a form of a BSA I'll have to check it if it has texture files. If yes then I'll have to extract the texure files only and optimize them if I want to. If the BSA has also other files like scripts or meshes then I'll have to keep the BSA because I haven't extracted any other file types from the vanilla BSAs. Weapon and Armor mods like IA' date=' IW, BoS don't require unpacking.[/quote']

You don't always need to unpack BSAs ... only when there is a texture conflict that will be overwritten if it is not extracted. This is pretty rare, so you don't really need to worry about 95% of all BSAs (just those for bigger texture replacements). I unpack them ALL though out of personal preference, because I want to see all conflicts in Wrye Bash.

[TechAngel85]

Ok so every time I download a mod which is in a form of a BSA I'll have to check it if it has texture files. If yes then I'll have to extract the texure files only and optimize them if I want to. If the BSA has also other files like scripts or meshes then I'll have to keep the BSA because I haven't extracted any other file types from the vanilla BSAs. Weapon and Armor mods like IA' date=' IW' date=' BoS don't require unpacking.[/quote'']

You don't always need to unpack BSAs ... only when there is a texture conflict that will be overwritten if it is not extracted. This is pretty rare, so you don't really need to worry about 95% of all BSAs (just those for bigger texture replacements). I unpack them ALL though out of personal preference, because I want to see all conflicts in Wrye Bash.

Again... MO can see the conflicts inside of BSAs as far as I know. It also asks you if you want to unpack the BSA when you install it so you don't have to mess with it yourself. :happy:

[phazer11]

Use Mod Organizer. MO can treat BSAs as loose files so there is no reason to unpack them if using MO.

 

Just thought I'd correct a bit of what you said so people don't start getting confused. Mod Organizer can't treat .bsa's as loose files It does have the option to unpack .bsa's whenever you add a mod that has a .bsa so that they become loose files without you having to use another tool to extract them from the .bsa. This is useful especially if you plan on optimizing the files as all you have to do is point DDSOpt to the Mod Organizer Directory for that mod and have it output the optimized files to a new folder and then you can archive the optimized files and replace the version that's in Mod Organizer.

[Kelmych]

Ok so every time I download a mod which is in a form of a BSA I'll have to check it if it has texture files. If yes then I'll have to extract the texure files only and optimize them if I want to. If the BSA has also other files like scripts or meshes then I'll have to keep the BSA because I haven't extracted any other file types from the vanilla BSAs. Weapon and Armor mods like IA' date=' IW' date=' BoS don't require unpacking.[/quote'']

You don't always need to unpack BSAs ... only when there is a texture conflict that will be overwritten if it is not extracted. This is pretty rare, so you don't really need to worry about 95% of all BSAs (just those for bigger texture replacements). I unpack them ALL though out of personal preference, because I want to see all conflicts in Wrye Bash.

You also need to be a little careful with mods that overwrite vanilla resources other than just textures, especially scripts, where the mod stores the resource is in a BSA. For example, some of the mods discussed in the Mod Suggestions area use BSAs to store scripts that overwrite the vanilla versions, and there is a possibility that this script(s) might not be used if there are conflicts with a mod that has its scripts in loose files (either because they were provided that way or the resources were extracted before use). I don't think there are any such conflicts in the STEP list, but users often utilize mods in addition to those in STEP.

[Kelmych]

There have been a number of comments in the STEP forums that the process in the DDSopt guide for optimizing textures is too complicated. The guide currently uses sequences of manual changes to the processing option settings in DDSopt to do all the steps. I've been looking at some ways of using some simple batch files in addition to manual DDSopt processing to simplify (and noticeable reduce) the steps for optimizing the vanilla textures, and also separately simplifying the steps for optimizing textures of STEP mods. DDSopt itself has a command line mode that I looked at including in batch files, but unfortunately many of the important options are not available in command line mode.

 

The first change I've been working on is to change the processing used to repair the HRDLC textures. The current batch file uses drive substitution, a method that can easily fail and when it fails it is hard to determine how to fix the problems. The new version I'm testing doesn't use drive substitution and should be more robust and easier to use.

[TechAngel85]

Two things that needs to be added to the guide:

 

• This what where discussing now could be defined better and made more clear. (BSA vs Loose and what needs to be done)
• The installation order of the created archives by following the recommendations. (I'm not even positive that mine is right but I think it is)

So if you followed the recommendation and optimized the normals for performance the installation order for optimized texture and normal archives should be like this I'm assuming:

• Skyrim - Textures (mine is named Vanilla Optimized)
• Skyrim - Textures Normals (mine is named Vanilla Optimized Normals)
• Dawnguard Textures
• Dawnguard Optimized Normals
• Hearthfire Textures
• Hearthfire Optimized Normals
• Dragonborn Textures
• Dragonborn Optimized Normals
• HRDLC 1 Textures
• HRDLC 1 Optimized Normals
• HRDLC 2 Textures
• HRDLC 2 Optimized Normals
• HRDLC 3 Textures
• HRDLC 3 Optimized Normals

[hellanios]

I agree. Repairing the HRDLC textures was very difficult. Another thing I want to point out is when I reached the optimization part. My VGA has 1VRAM. In the box Selecting the DDSopt Maximum Resolution Limit Parameters it is advised to use 1024x1024, or 2048x2048 (with 1024x1024 maximum resolution for optional separate normal maps). I chose the 2048*2048 but didn't understand the line in the brackets. So the only thing I did was to set the resolution limit to 2048x2048 both in uncompressed and compressed. Maybe you could clarify that part.

[z929669]

Ok so every time I download a mod which is in a form of a BSA I'll have to check it if it has texture files. If yes then I'll have to extract the texure files only and optimize them if I want to. If the BSA has also other files like scripts or meshes then I'll have to keep the BSA because I haven't extracted any other file types from the vanilla BSAs. Weapon and Armor mods like IA' date=' IW' date=' BoS don't require unpacking.[/quote'']

You don't always need to unpack BSAs ... only when there is a texture conflict that will be overwritten if it is not extracted. This is pretty rare, so you don't really need to worry about 95% of all BSAs (just those for bigger texture replacements). I unpack them ALL though out of personal preference, because I want to see all conflicts in Wrye Bash.

You also need to be a little careful with mods that overwrite vanilla resources other than just textures, especially scripts, where the mod stores the resource is in a BSA. For example, some of the mods discussed in the Mod Suggestions area use BSAs to store scripts that overwrite the vanilla versions, and there is a possibility that this script(s) might not be used if there are conflicts with a mod that has its scripts in loose files (either because they were provided that way or the resources were extracted before use). I don't think there are any such conflicts in the STEP list, but users often utilize mods in addition to those in STEP.

This is precisely why I unpack everything and don't use any BSAs at all (including vanilla). I want to know about all conflicts and correct them accordingly ... this also helps to spot potential issues in STEP.

 

I just finished my latest Skyrim install from scratch. I will go through all vanilla texture optimization again and propose a revised method.