DCS Optimized Textures

[DayGlow]

I don't know why but the optimized A-10CII textures mess up the ARC-186 radio (bottom FM radio in stack). With the mod activated the default channel is 130mhz and anything below 80mhz gives an out-of-range tone. Once I removed the optimized textures it performs as expected with the default channel of 30mhz

[KoN]

I don't think these pass multiplayer check . 

[nocs25]

Is still work??

[diego999]

17 hours ago, nocs25 said:

Is still work??

Yes.

[lefuneste01]

FYI I found an issue with the A10CII and the "Optimized Core", light on wingtips were corrupted.. I had to redo the CoreMods\aircraft\A-10\Textures\A10C.zip by using the new one and overwrite the roughmet files by the ones of the library. I hope there will not be other planes impacted...

Edited July 14, 2024 by lefuneste01

[EFGross]

I was flying around in the F16 last night for the first time since the patch and all the pilot textures are showing the green, white and black checkerboard textures.  It's fine when I disable the optimized F16 textures (standalone, doesnt appear to be from the ones in the core mods.  Anyone know which files in the zip are for the pilot?null

[MAXsenna]

I was flying around in the F16 last night for the first time since the patch and all the pilot textures are showing the green, white and black checkerboard textures.  It's fine when I disable the optimized F16 textures (standalone, doesnt appear to be from the ones in the core mods.  Anyone know which files in the zip are for the pilot?null

I could be wrong, but aren't the pilot new, so the mod does not have the textures, hence why they're missing.
Cheers!

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[Majik]

23 hours ago, EFGross said:

I was flying around in the F16 last night for the first time since the patch and all the pilot textures are showing the green, white and black checkerboard textures.  It's fine when I disable the optimized F16 textures (standalone, doesnt appear to be from the ones in the core mods.  Anyone know which files in the zip are for the pilot?null

You need to transfer over the pilot body files into the F-16 zip in Optimised Cockpits (The directory for both mod and original file is at the top of the image)

null

[EFGross]

Thank you much Majick, that was it.  

[PX_RGR]

@Taz1004 Can you make an optimized Chinook please?  The AH-64 did wonders for my FPS and the Chinook's cockpit textures zip file is 3.2 GB!!  I can't get above 40 FPS and when I look at the center console it turns into a slide show. 

Thanks in advance......

 

 

Edited August 10, 2024 by PX_RGR
Added sentence

[YSIAD_RIP]

Optimized Core:  @Taz1004

Mirage F1 >>  From what I can see the texture for the F1 Afterburner Exhaust (Turkey Feathers) is missing.  Not sure if I noticed any other glitches.

• Looks like In July 2024 Aerges added new external model textures and the external 3D model was overhauled.  

[JesterIsDead]

The FA-18 Core Mod is missing some texture. The ED FA-18C.zip folder has 82 files. Your mod has 73. The new helmet is missing texture. I had to not use the FA-18 Core Mod pack. Is there a new upload I am missing?

Edited August 19, 2024 by JesterIsDead

[Mike Wazowsky]

On 8/19/2024 at 7:56 AM, JesterIsDead said:

The FA-18 Core Mod is missing some texture. The ED FA-18C.zip folder has 82 files. Your mod has 73. The new helmet is missing texture. I had to not use the FA-18 Core Mod pack. Is there a new upload I am missing?

Kudos to 132nd.Varjak for what is probably the right fix...

The new helmet textures are now 4096x4096.
You can get the new default texture from the FA-18C.zip.

There are now two textures:
pilot_f18_helmet.dds for the standard helmet, or when with the NVGs on
pilot_f18_helmet_hmd.dds for the HMD equipped helmet

To have now a fully consistent custom helmet for HMD, NVGs or none, edit a copy of the default texture, name one pilot_f18_helmet.dds and a second copy pilot_f18_helmet_hmd.dds

And in the descriprion.lua add

{"pilot_F18_helmet", DIFFUSE, "pilot_f18_helmet", false};
{"pilot_F18_helmet_hmd", DIFFUSE, "pilot_f18_helmet_hmd", false};

Needless to say you can now have two different custom helmet art jobs for HMD and NVGs helmets on the same aircraft...
If you just want to see the default helmet textures
In the descriprion.lua comment or delete these two lines below

{"pilot_F18_helmet", DIFFUSE, "pilot_f18_helmet", false};
{"pilot_F18_helmet_hmd", DIFFUSE, "pilot_f18_helmet_hmd", false};
or add
{"pilot_F18_helmet", DIFFUSE, "pilot_f18_helmet", true};
{"pilot_F18_helmet_hmd", DIFFUSE, "pilot_f18_helmet_hmd", true};

[MAXsenna]

Seems @Taz1004 has not been around here since March. Hope he is alright, and only taking a break.

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[EFGross]

 

On 8/9/2024 at 7:06 PM, PX_RGR said:

@Taz1004 Can you make an optimized Chinook please?  The AH-64 did wonders for my FPS and the Chinook's cockpit textures zip file is 3.2 GB!!  I can't get above 40 FPS and when I look at the center console it turns into a slide show. 

Thanks in advance......

 

 

 

I gave it a shot using Taz's instructions link. It took the stock texture files for the 47 in Mods\aircraft\CH-47F\Cockpit\Textures\ and CoreMods\aircraft\CH-47F\Textures from 4.6? GB total to 1.23 GB.  Not seeing any visual glitches (the weird missing texture camo pattern) in 2D or VR, in cockpit or external views.  Got about 0.9 GB VRAM improvement in the Cold Start at Camp Bastion instant mission after an auto start was complete.  I haven't been able to fully test and this is my first time so don't get your hopes up.  Link is set up for OVGME.

MI - Optimized CH-47F - Google Drive

[zbysiek]

@Taz1004 I've made a simple powershell scripts to automate this process.
Script: https://gist.github.com/zbysiek/8df79276f659674b3926a0a757050f2f
TexConv:
https://github.com/microsoft/DirectXTex/releases
Powershell 7.4:
https://learn.microsoft.com/powershell/scripting/install/installing-powershell-on-windows?view=powershell-7.4#installing-the-msi-package

Usage instructions:
0. Delete _backup and _downloads folder in your main DCS Install to avoid compressing unnecessary files
1. Open powershell as admin, type Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
2. Close the powershell window (we don't want to execute the script as admin, just in case, DO NOT EXECUTE THE SCRIPT AS ADMIN)
3. Open Powershell 7 in the same folder by right clicking > Powershell 7 > Open Here (DO NOT OPEN AS ADMIN)
4. Select your main DCS folder
5. Wait for it to finish
6. Open powershell as admin, type Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted


After it's done the files are gonna be ready in a OvGME ready format under ./Mod

Edited September 2, 2024 by zbysiek

[Zyll]

Amazing, I'll have to give this a try. I noticed you aren't processing files in coremods folder, where Taz did in the original post. Is there a reason?

Zyll @ TAW

[zbysiek]

10 minutes ago, Zyll said:

Amazing, I'll have to give this a try. I noticed you aren't processing files in coremods folder, where Taz did in the original post. Is there a reason?

Zyll @ TAW
 

I'm processing all these files and folders in the directory you point the script to:


zips.ps1:
All zips in paths that have "*texture*", "*liveries*", "*flir*" in them.
All zips that have "*texture*.zip", "*flir*.zip" in them.
All files inside those zips that have "*roughmet.dds", "*normal.dds", "*_N.dds", "*Nrm.dds", "*NM.dds", "*roughmet.tga", "*normal.tga", "*_N.tga", "*Nrm.tga", "*NM.tga" in them get scaled down by a half in each axis, down to 512x512 and the format gets changed to DXT5 (8 bits)

textures.ps1:
All files inside the main directory that have "*roughmet.dds", "*normal.dds", "*_N.dds", "*Nrm.dds", "*NM.dds", "*roughmet.tga", "*normal.tga", "*_N.tga", "*Nrm.tga", "*NM.tga" in them get scaled down by a half in each axis, down to 512x512 and the format gets changed to DXT5 (8 bits)


You could also point the scripts to a specific path, eg. if you want to do it per module.

Edited August 31, 2024 by zbysiek

[Zyll]

EDIT: I ran textures.ps1 following slightly modified version of your instructions above, and it created the folder structure but no files. 

• opened pwsh (Powershell 7) as admin, ran "Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted"
• closed this window, and opened a new pwsh window and navigated to d:\DCS texture convert (where my texconv.exe and the ps1 files are located
• ran ./textures.ps1 and let it find my DCS folder

It created the Mod folder, has all Bazar, CoreMods and Mods folders with subfolders under them, but no files

It created the Temp working folder too which is empty

Total time was a few seconds. I don't suppose I need any other files do I? Does the "Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted" apply to all future windows of pwsh until I restart the PC?

---

EDIT2: oh wait a sec, let me roll back all of Taz' optimized packages on my DCS installation first...

---

EDIT3: nope, didn't make a difference re-running the script after reverting Taz' packages

Admittedly my ability to read PowerShell script is rudimentary. So this iterates through the entire dcs install and finds all loose and zipped textures to create a converted version in a mods folder, nice.

Does it have any special handling for certain files deemed not to convert, like the canopy glass that Taz mentioned he omits?

I'm going to do further testing of this today and will give my feedback.

Zyll @ TAW
 

Edited August 31, 2024 by Zyll

[Zyll]

zips.ps1 seems to be running fine so far (its creating folder structures and zip files)

[Zyll]

3 hours ago, zbysiek said:

I'm processing all these files and folders in the directory you point the script to:


zips.ps1:
All zips in paths that have "*texture*", "*liveries*", "*flir*" in them.
All zips that have "*texture*.zip", "*flir*.zip" in them.
All files inside those zips that have "*roughmet.dds", "*normal.dds", "*_N.dds", "*Nrm.dds", "*NM.dds", "*roughmet.tga", "*normal.tga", "*_N.tga", "*Nrm.tga", "*NM.tga" in them get scaled down by a half in each axis, down to 512x512 and the format gets changed to DXT5 (8 bits)

textures.ps1:
All files inside the main directory that have "*roughmet.dds", "*normal.dds", "*_N.dds", "*Nrm.dds", "*NM.dds", "*roughmet.tga", "*normal.tga", "*_N.tga", "*Nrm.tga", "*NM.tga" in them get scaled down by a half in each axis, down to 512x512 and the format gets changed to DXT5 (8 bits)


You could also point the scripts to a specific path, eg. if you want to do it per module.

 

Also, do you happen to know what *_Alb.dds files are? Multiple examples can be found in the CH-47F cockpit textures. They appear to also be 4k textures, but they don't get included in your current list of filename masks. I had manually done this particular texture zip, I converted every file over 4k down to 2k including these Alb files, and did not see any issues, so I'm thinking these should perhaps be included in your script as well. 

 

null

Edited August 31, 2024 by Zyll

[zbysiek]

1 hour ago, Zyll said:

EDIT: I ran textures.ps1 following slightly modified version of your instructions above, and it created the folder structure but no files. 

• opened pwsh (Powershell 7) as admin, ran "Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted"
• closed this window, and opened a new pwsh window and navigated to d:\DCS texture convert (where my texconv.exe and the ps1 files are located
• ran ./textures.ps1 and let it find my DCS folder

It created the Mod folder, has all Bazar, CoreMods and Mods folders with subfolders under them, but no files

Fixed. Re-Download the textures.ps1 script.

 

 

31 minutes ago, Zyll said:

Also, do you happen to know what *_Alb.dds files are? Multiple examples can be found in the CH-47F cockpit textures. They appear to also be 4k textures, but they don't get included in your current list of filename masks. I had manually done this particular texture zip, I converted every file over 4k down to 2k including these Alb files, and did not see any issues, so I'm thinking these should perhaps be included in your script as well. 

 

null

 

Those are alpha (transparency) files, are you sure they have no effect on quality? 
They might even be in full color, open them in Photopea and unckeck the Alpha channel on the right side.

1 hour ago, Zyll said:

Does it have any special handling for certain files deemed not to convert, like the canopy glass that Taz mentioned he omits

Unless that's not a roughmet or a normal, no.

Edited August 31, 2024 by zbysiek

[zbysiek]

I've read this topic: 

I'll introduce omition of Damage and Glass files tommorow, alongise with conversion of .jpg .png .bmp and .tga to .dds  - Not happening, not mod manager friendly. I've added more file extensions to the script though.

I don't have the Apache to test, are there any other modules that suffer from the "*glass*" files being altered?  - Not happening until I see prof that it is still an issue.

Edited September 2, 2024 by zbysiek

[Zyll]

19 minutes ago, zbysiek said:

Fixed. Re-Download the textures.ps1 script.

 

 

Those are alpha (transparency) files, are you sure they have no effect on quality?

Unless that's not a roughmet or a normal, no.

Thanks for the quick fix, it looks like its running smoothly now.

With respect to the transparency files, I honestly can't say with certainty there was no effect on quality. Without a side-by-side comparison, I didn't notice any "glaring" (see what I did there) issues. What I can say though, is specific to the Chinook, whose texture zip file is a ridiculous 3.4GB (4.86GB uncompressed), these alpha files make up 1.67GB of that, mostly all 4k files. The Apache cockpit is 1.3GB zipped (2.66GB uncompressed), if it has transparency files, I can't tell from the filenames.

If you would like test texture files for modules you don't own, I will help however I can.

[zbysiek]

5 minutes ago, Zyll said:

Thanks for the quick fix, it looks like its running smoothly now.

With respect to the transparency files, I honestly can't say with certainty there was no effect on quality. Without a side-by-side comparison, I didn't notice any "glaring" (see what I did there) issues. What I can say though, is specific to the Chinook, whose texture zip file is a ridiculous 3.4GB (4.86GB uncompressed), these alpha files make up 1.67GB of that, mostly all 4k files. The Apache cockpit is 1.3GB zipped (2.66GB uncompressed), if it has transparency files, I can't tell from the filenames.

If you would like test texture files for modules you don't own, I will help however I can.

Feel free to shoot me one of those _Alb files, i'll check them out.

I've discovered one more bug in textures.ps1 that deleted the texture after converting if it was in a root directory, it's fixed now.