User:EssArrBee/Fear and Loathing Texture Optimization

Fallout New Vegas textures are not very demanding on modern hardware if the game is played in its original state. That is fine for regular people, but modders download texture packs the second the game is done installing. When many high res textures are installed on medium range systems there can be some significant FPS loss. High end systems can run more high res textures, but may want to reduce a some exterior textures to eek out just a bit more performance. Low end systems may have to lower settings even greater than the recommendations, but this will be easy to do with the constraints settings of DDSopt.

For this part of F&L it will be recommended for users to use textures with 1024x1024 (1k) resolutions for exteriors and 2048x2048 (2k) resolution for interiors. Interiors are less demanding and are often seen in close proximity to the player, where as exterior textures, such as landscapes, may be seen a bit of a distance. This means that 2k textures for interiors will look best where performance is not as much of an issue, and 1k textures for exteriors will look good and also allow the best performance.

Vanilla Textures

Using DDSopt is quite easy with proper instruction from the DDSopt guide. STEP member Kelmych has added a Quickstart Tab to the DDSopt guide for vanilla textures. This should be followed explicitly for the vanilla textures. The same working folder and batch files provided on the Quickstart tab will be used for optimizing some of the mods in F&L.

Getting Started

1. Install DDSopt. Use the directions on the Quickstart Tab.
   • Make sure to get the correct batch files, v2.76, and the ddsopt.ini.
2. Follow the Quickstart Tab's directions for the vanilla textures.
   • The textures for Fallout New Vegas should not be reduced.
3. When the vanilla textures are optimized and repacked, delete all the folders in the 'Working Directory', but leave the batch files alone.
4. Now recreate the 'Vanilla Extracted' directory and copy the mods folders into the 'Vanilla Extracted' folder.
   • Each mod should have its folder in the 'Vanilla Extracted' folder.
   • Mods that should be extracted:
     1. NMCs Texture Pack
     2. Poco Bueno
     3. Type 3 Body and Armor Replacer
     4. Roberts Male Body
   • If performance is still an issue, then also consider optimizing armor/clothing and weapons. This should not be a problem for users with >2GB of VRAM after doing the large landscape and body replacers. Start with armor/clothing:
     1. Wasteland clothing Hires retexture
     2. ADAM
     3. BornAgain Combat Armor
     4. Book of Steel, from the aMidianBorn Book of Water
     5. Assassin Suit Retex
     6. NCR Trooper Overhaul Beta
   • Weapons:
     1. Weapon Retexture Project
     2. Weapons of the New Millenia
     3. EVE

Running DDSopt

1. Now that all the mods are extracted, run the "4_FNV_Mod_Sorting_Pre-optimization_2.76.bat" file located in the 'Working Directory'. When asked to separate external textures type "Y" and hit enter.
   • Separating external textures is not necessary if only optimizing armor, clothing, and/or weapons.
2. When the batch file completes there should be ten new folders, or eight if not separating the exterior textures.
   • Check the log.txt file created by the batch file and make sure that there there is nothing Error Level 3. Anything that says Error Level 2 can be ignored.
3. Open DDSopt and in the top browser bar click [Browse] and select the ...Working Directory\Mod Ordinary Textures folder.
4. In the bottom browser bar and click [Browse] and select the ...Working Directory\Mod Optimized folder.
5. Untick Behave->Textures->Raise foliage-map opacity each mip-level form the dropdown menu.