DXTBMP Causes Blotchy Reskins

[KVT]

Hello All

I am trying to create a reskin of the gwr castle, double chimney variant where I use the single chimney texture file and change certain aspects of it.
Firstly I exported it as .dds using rsbin tool.

Then I opened it using dxtbmp and exported it as 24bit bmp file and opened it with paint.net. Having edited it I saved it as a 24bit bmp file and then imported the new image over the old one using dxtbmp.

I then saved it and when I tried to import it I got an error saying this file does appear to not have enough mipmaps to replace the data.

I left the box saying include mipmaps unticked because it creates the blotchy and blurry effect on my reskins which ruins them.

Is there a way to prevent this error and have no mip maps or can I remove the mip maps from the original texture file.

I also tried to open the .bmp on it own in dxtbmp rather than importing it then adding the alpha channel but I still got the not enough mipmaps error.

Any help would be appreciated Thank You

[Glenn]

I assume that you are simply trying to edit the texture file? This is how I do mine.

What you are doing seems to be unecessarilly complex.

You will need TSTools, DXTBMP & a decent prog' to do the editing.

FIRST MAKE A BACK-UP OF THE TEXTURES FOLDER THAT YOU ARE EDITING < VERY IMPORTANT!!!

RUN TSTools then go to GRAPHICS TOOLS: Convert TgPcDx to dds, LOCATE and convert the file you wish to edit.

RUN DXTBMP: LOCATE: C:\Rail Utilities\TS-Tools\TempDDS - SELECT: your dds file and save as extended bitmap

LOCATE: C:\Rail Utilities\TS-Tools\TempDDS and open your bitmap file then edit as you wish (I use Photoshop)

SAVE the edited file overwriting the extended bitmap

RETURN TO DXTBMP: LOCATE: C:\Rail Utilities\TS-Tools\TempDDS - SELECT: your BITMAP FILE the save as dds over the original dds file. I suggest that you try dxt 5 from the drop down list.

RETURN TO TS Tools: GRAPHICS TOOLS and CONVERT dds to TgPcDx. Selext the dds file and the 'YES' from the pop up.

TSTools will then convert the edited file into the original TgPcDx file placing it in the original location and it will also create a back-up copy of the original.

[Glenn]

Just to add, if you do not already have TSTools, you can get it from Mikes website > http://www.agenetools.com/ it's totally free and I find it indispensible

[KVT]

Thank you for the response Glenn I will try this later may I ask when you do this does your reskins have little purple blotches on it due to the mip maps as this is how I started reskinning but it gave them the blotches so I changed how I did mine. The method I said I did above was from a forum specifically on how to reskin without getting mip maps blotches.

[KVT]

Just tried that and I left the include mip maps when saving off and it did not work it still made the reskin blotchy. Also when I exported the .dds paint.net does not let me open extended bitmap so I had to export it as 24bit map.

[KVT]

Does it make a difference if I save it as 24bitmap or extended bitmap maybe?

[KVT]

Is there a way for me to remove the number of mip maps in the texture file as having mip maps on means I get the purple blotch squares which ruins my textures.

[dknowles801]

https://www.gimp.org/news/2019/04/07/gimp-2-10-10-released/

https://code.google.com/archive/p/gimp-dds/

[dknowles801]

Using Gimp gives far better results than Paint.

[KVT]

I use paint.net I assume you mean that right? Also when you reskin with gimp do your reskins have purple mipmap blotches and retain their original look so to speak if so I am will try gimp.

[dknowles801]

it is what i use after following instructions in the manual in TS tools....do not encounter problems like blotchy patches at all..

[dknowles801]

DXT Bitmap is very old software...

[KVT]

so you follow the steps that Glenn does except you edit with Gimp?

[KVT]

thank you dknowles801 but that did not work as small purple blotches still appear and made the textures look even worse. What I did was open the .dds using gimp make some changes export it as BC3/DXT5 (as saving it did not work) with generate mipmaps on as it would not let me import the texture due to mipmaps being needed and I selected use perceptual error metric. Also I downloaded the plugin but I dont know if it worked or how to install it I downloaded the gimp-dds-win64-3.0.1.zip which I placed into the plugins folder but I dont know if it worked. The Castle says to save as dxt5 and there are two options BC3/DXT5 or RXGB (DXT5) then do I generator mipmaps as well as ticking use perceptual error metric.

[dknowles801]

You need to have TS-Tools installed to do this...

http://www.agenetools.com/

Editing Texture Files
To open a texture file, go to the Files Menu and click the 'Open Texture File' option and select a texture file ( .TgPcDx suffix ). The texture file will be converted to an .xml file and appear in the editor as an .xml file DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EDIT THIS FILE MANUALLY
TS-Tools has a built in image viewer, you can view the image of the .TgPcDx file you have just loaded by clicking the 'Show Image' button.

To edit the Texture, it must now be converted to a .dds format file by going to the Graphics Tools menu and selecting 'Convert .TgPcDx to .dds'
The converted texture file will be placed in your TS-Tools\TempDDS folder and will have the same filename as the original texture, but will have a .dds suffix. Once it is converted, you will receive a message like the following which tells you the type of .dds file it is and the number of MipMaps, you should note these down as they are required when you come to save your edited texture in your Paint program.

If you wish to edit this file,then it must be saved with the following format:

1. DDS
2. DXT1 ARGB
3. Number of Mip - maps - 8

Under Graphics Tools Select. gives
you the following options:

Convert TgPcDx to .dds
View .dds File
Edit .dds File
Convert ,dds File To .TgPcDx
Convert RS time to hours/mins

You can now either view this .dds file, or open it a Paint program for editing by selecting the appropriate menu option. Alternatively if you need to save memory, the editor can be closed at this time and the texture edited in your Paint program. (If possible, keep TS-Tools open while re-skinning the file as the it saves the details of the texture in a .dat file in the TempDDS folder so that the texture can be re-exported back to TS-2020 at a later date, so it is safer to keep TS-Tools open so that the .dat file is not unintentionally erased).
Once you have edited your texture file, you must save it in EXACTLY the same format as the original texture file or you will not be able to re-export it back to TS-2020. You must also save it with the same filename back into the TempDDS folder (when you click Save in your Paint program, you should get a requester as follows):-

D:\VB Projects\KRS_Bin2\TempFiles\Goat.dds already exists. Do you want to replace it ?
Yes or No(Click the relevant box)


Clicking on 'Yes' then 'Save' will bring up a requester similar to the following (Depending upon your paint program, this is the Nvidia .dds plug-in for Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop, other programs have similar requesters):-

You must select the .dds type in the top box (usually DXT1 or DXT3 ARGB, or may be 8.8.8 or A 8.8.8.8), also make sure the Generate MIP maps is selected and that the number in the box is the same as you noted above under the Convert Menu. Leave the other items at their default and click Save. The .dds file in your TempDDS folder should now be the modified one. You can check it by using your Viewer program.
Converting the texture back to TS-2020 format
Go to the Graphics Tools menu and select the 'Convert .dds to TS-2020 format' option and select your new .dds file in the TempFiles folder. You will be told that you are about to replace the original .TgPcDx file with a modified version and that a backup will be made. Click OK to proceed.
Important Note:
With TS-2020, some developers have started using a new texture format named HC_IMAGE_FORMAT_COMPRESSED_INTERP_ALPHA
TS-Tools can open these files and send them to external paint programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro as .dds files, however they can’t be viewed in the TS-Tools image viewer.
Using the new Serz.exe, textures up to 4096*4096 can now be opened/saved with TS-Tools, the earlier size limitations are no longer valid.


TgPcDx/DDS Viewer
TS-Tools now includes a built in viewer for TS-2020 texture files, just click this option in the Tools menu and it will bring up a simple file viewer. The viewer will display .TgPcDx, .dds, .tga and .png files.


Hope this helps to get you the correct Format for your reskins...




That is an extract from TS-Tools Instruction Manual

[Glenn]

I did just one re-skin, it was several years ago now, but it worked just fine using the method I gave above. Photoshop creates mips automatically and they always seem to work OK. It could be the software you are using. Trouble is, there are a lot of possible combinations to save and try! Try the method explained above by DKNowels. it looks promising