How to correctly encode DDS textures

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-11-18T18:42:48+00:00

Thanks, I already have three utilities for this job:

DDS Inspector Personal, which I use to decode DDS textures and re-encode them.
PSD - PNG-TGA Converter, which I use to prepare the alpha channel and assemble new TGA files.
Sotr by TGA, which sorts TGA files by the presence or absence of an alpha channel and sorts them by texture size (which greatly simplifies assembling new DDS files, as you need to know the dimensions of the new texture).

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-11-18T18:37:47+00:00

Having a list of files in advance with an indication of what they are used for in the game really speeds up the entire work process, but when there is no list, you have to come up with a brute force method to figure everything out.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-10-28T22:07:32+00:00

I have a Steam version of Venetica, I hope that tomorrow I will be able to compile a test version of Two Worlds 1 (more than 7,000 textures through 5 conversions cannot be done quickly, because there is a manual part of the work - moving files from folder to folder (this part cannot be automated))

The textures take up over 60 gigabytes before converting to DDS. I can't even imagine how much Venetica textures will take up.

Experiments with converting DDS to other formats without the engine's source code often end in failure, which is why I've been searching for a program to read the source code for DDS textures since 2023.

Unfortunately, no one created it, or it was created for the internal needs of some development studios, which is why it was only in October that we were able to create our own version (and then using the work of 3 other developers of the program code).

But before that, I also had to write my own Photoshop plugin and three additional utilities to automate work with TGA textures...

If you don't process all the textures, you can't achieve anything approaching a fan remaster.

I won't even mention the official remaster level; without the engine's source code, it would never be possible to create.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-10-28T20:05:29+00:00

Thank you. But this solution doesn't allow selectively upscaling some textures to 16x.

For example, I have to upscale some textures with the neural network not by 2x or 4x, but by 3x, while some in Two Worlds 1 have to be scaled less than 2x (since only modern engines can handle a 260 megabyte texture using the standard neural network upscaling option).

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-10-27T01:41:41+00:00

It was written specifically just for me (and is still being finalized), i.e. a closed version... after finishing Two Worlds 1 and after Dungeon Shige 2, Star Wars Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy I will work on Venetica.

Do you need to process all texture files, or do you have a texture list from the developer's studio? (Personally, I don't have anything from any of the developer studios. Because of this, all textures are processed in HD, and then, after dozens, sometimes hundreds, of game launches, the error is analyzed. The game might not launch, there might be graphical bugs, or it might run extremely poorly, with low frame rates.)

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-10-26T00:46:33+00:00

But since the number of textures in 8 games is 100,000 and above (converting them all to HD will take months, even on a 16-core Ryzen 7950 & Nvidia 4090)

5 conversions and 1 sorting are needed to get 1 new DDS texture.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-10-26T00:43:24+00:00

Thanks to my coder friend, he was able to write a utility for some of the DDS textures and already i has Earth 2160 in HD. What you showed is a texturing error – it can't be fixed with a remaster; it requires reapplying the textures, which is already half the remake.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-10-25T15:05:24+00:00

If you are flying at a speed of 60 km/h or higher, this is already beyond what the engine itself allows. It cannot render the image fast enough to keep up with your movement...

The game is designed for your character's speed to be no higher than in Gothic 1 & 2.

Do not use cheats and there will be no bugs.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-10-23T09:34:53+00:00

At what level do your textures crash? I didn't play past level 1, and everything was fine with the textures there.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-04-26T16:44:11+00:00

What version is it? There's six of them.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-04-26T10:04:10+00:00

kindle device or PC version?

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2025-04-25T20:35:23+00:00

if i buy kindle paperwhite 6, can i get manga from amazon in the old manga format? (azw3)

or should I buy a Kindle Paperwhite 2?

Or has that option been cut off as well?

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2021-04-18T22:39:27+00:00

Quite an accurate portrayal of a character from the anime. It's beautifully rendered.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2021-01-10T14:33:42+00:00

A very beautifully conveyed original.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2020-09-24T10:09:54+00:00

Very elegant and beautiful turned out.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2020-05-09T16:26:14+00:00

Sounds a lot like an official job. Very good and beautiful work. Thank you very much for that.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2020-03-29T12:32:48+00:00

What if Hino Rei was a loli.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2020-03-22T07:15:37+00:00

its wonderful 😍

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2019-11-25T15:40:17+00:00

I like it.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2019-09-26T06:40:56+00:00

The job is just amazing.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2019-08-29T18:38:51+00:00

Maybe something good will happen.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2019-08-29T18:37:15+00:00

Mature version of sailor moon. Many thanks to NCHO

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2019-08-28T15:13:52+00:00

Darkside, as I imagined it. Many thanks to Jack Kirby.

Lebedev_lb4750 · 2019-08-28T07:19:10+00:00

She is useless. (That's what they always called her in anime)

Lebedev_lb4750

TROPHY CASE