DCS Optimized Textures Powershell Script

[Hip Hind]

Guys, how to process Syria and its mod from Barthek with this script? I run the script, specify the Syria folder, the script starts working for about a minute, then stops, but I don't see the Mod folder and the contents in it. It's empty. The second time I specified inside the Syria folder a folder with textures only, the script also started and almost immediately finished running, also there are no files inside the Mod folder.

[MAXsenna]

Guys, how to process Syria and its mod from Barthek with this script? I run the script, specify the Syria folder, the script starts working for about a minute, then stops, but I don't see the Mod folder and the contents in it. It's empty. The second time I specified inside the Syria folder a folder with textures only, the script also started and almost immediately finished running, also there are no files inside the Mod folder.

That means the none of the textures meets the requirement set in the script, and no conversion is done.

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[Hip Hind]

8 минут назад, MAXsenna сказал:

That means the none of the textures meets the requirement set in the script, and no conversion is done.

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk
 

So Syria doesn't need optimization? 

[zbysiek]

3 hours ago, Hip Hind said:

Yes, but not necessarily. You need an admin command in PS (not PS7) Unblock-File.

In my case:
1. Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
2. Unblock-File -Patch (patch to folder)
In this case the process started.

@zbysiek add these points to the tutorial as optional but necessary, as my case shows.

 

 

No need to do that, you just type R and hit enter. If an user can't read a console message i wouldn't trust him to run the script properly. Just read that message, looks like in this case restrictionPolicy is not respected, weird one.

22 hours ago, Quekel said:

$whitelistedZipNames = @("*cockpit*.zip", "*terrain*.zip")


Aren't all the cockpit zips named differently, and terrains textures vfstextures ? 

 

That's why a whitelist for Folders exists, from what i checked there's some things that include cockpit and terrain

Edited October 18, 2024 by zbysiek

[Alexfly65]

Is normal that after the conversion  the folder Temp is empty?

[tomeye]

1 hour ago, Alexfly65 said:

Is normal that after the conversion  the folder Temp is empty?

yes it's get cleared at the end of the conversion
Remove-Item (Join-Path $tempPath -ChildPath "*") -Recurse

Remove-Item (Join-Path $tempPath -ChildPath "*") -Recurse

 

[lee1hy]

that is TexConv  ??

I used that on il-2 15 years ago. It had no effect at all.

 still use it in 2024 omg

Edited October 20, 2024 by lee1hy

[zbysiek]

UPDATE 28.10.2024:
Changed default minTexSize to 2048, i hope this will eliminate pixelated reflections at night, not sure why i set it that low (512) earlier. Most of the offending textures are 4096px anyways

[Alexfly65]

After the today huge DCS update of syria map, we need to run again the script?

[Zyll]

I run it every time I see the changelog mention significant model changes, like destruct models and whatnot. I would run it this time.

Zyll @ TAW

[Alexfly65]

Afetr the conversion, today in the temp directory I found 2 folder with a few files inside and 1 zip folder. 

What mean that? somthing gone wrong? Never happen before.

[LucShep]

@zbysiek Hello, 

Please disregard the following wall of text, if it's too much work, too complex to accomplish from a batch conversion. They're just suggestions. 
If it's already being taken into account, pardon me because I'm not up to speed (I didn't read all the pages in this thread, sorry all!).

I wonder if you can separate sizes and formats depending on the type of texture and aplication?

Core and Modules?
And for Modules, if you can separate packages for such batch process, "external textures" from "cockpit textures" ?

For example, this is what I've manually done (took weeks then!) for myself a few years back (for older DCS 2.5.6, not latest DCS versions).
I found outstanding results for smoother performance, with minimal (pratically unnoticeable) graphical difference:
 

• CORE textures (weapons, tanks, ships, vehicles, non flyable aircraft, etc, etc - i.e, every other texture not belonging to Maps or Modules)
  
  Diffuse maps (the main textures)  ----  resized to 75% of original (4096 pixels become 3072; 2048 pixels become 1536, etc).
  
  Bump maps and Specular maps  ----  resized to 50% of original (4096 pixels become 2048; 2048 pixels become 1024, etc)
  
   
• MODULE  textures
  
  - External textures
  
  Diffuse maps (the main textures)  ----  resized to 75% of original (4096 pixels become 3072; 2048 pixels become 1536, etc).
  
  Bump maps and Specular maps  ----  resized to 75% of original (4096 pixels become 3072; 2048 pixels become 1536, etc).
  
  - Cockpit textures
  
  Diffuse maps (the main textures)  ----  size remains as they are originally  (I think some could be resized but, as they're so close to POV, pixelization becomes evident, so best avoid)
  
  Instruments / Gauges  ----  resized to 75% of original (4096 pixels becomes 3072; 2048 pixels become 1536, etc).
  
  Bump maps and Specular maps  ----  resized to 75% of original (4096 pixels becomes 3072; 2048 pixels become 1536, etc).

All the .DDS textures converted to 8-bit whenever possible, whatever the case (i.e, no use of 32-bit textures as far as possible).

Even better, if there is any .DDS texture for the above that has no transparency alpha, then converted to DXT1 (and not DXT5).

- - - -

Please don't bother with the Maps (the terrains), it's not really worth it. 
The problem is not so crucial with these because all Maps have their own "LOW" textures.
Core and Modules don't have these (they use single set of textures), so are the most problematic.

That said, there is a simple trick that works well for slightly smoother rendering, which is to use the corresponding "LOW" (.min) trees in place of the "HIGH" ones in a Map.
There are then improvements without any prejudice for graphics, for those that which to keep Terrain Textures set at "HIGH" (terrain remains the same, difference for trees is very minimal). Benefit impact in VRAM might be small, but smoothness is noticed, especially in forested areas where tree textures are being triggered/rendered by the dozens.

Or at least I woldn't bother much with Maps (terrain), unless it's an 8K texture that is found - then maybe it should be 4K.

Lastly, and still about Maps, if you're going ahead and doing it anyway...
You may have already noticed that all the Maps use some sort of a system that, if you resize a texture differently (or use different format) and repackage it again inside respective .ZIP where it belongs, it may produce a rendering error once in the game - parts in the terrain to which that .ZIP package content corresponds become fully black.
Meaning, for the Maps, pay attention to the .ZIP packages where all textures inside have same size and format. For these, you either resize ALL the textures exactly same format and size inside their corresponding .ZIP package, or otherwise problems will be ahead once in the game.

PS: sorry all for the wall of text!

Edited November 2, 2024 by LucShep
rectified % size numbers

[zbysiek]

9 hours ago, LucShep said:

@zbysiek Hello, 

Please disregard the following wall of text, if it's too much work, too complex to accomplish from a batch conversion. They're just suggestions. 
If it's already being taken into account, pardon me because I'm not up to speed (I didn't read all the pages in this thread, sorry all!).


I wonder if you can separate sizes and formats depending on the type of texture and aplication?

Core and Modules?
And for Modules, if you can separate packages for such batch process, "external textures" from "cockpit textures" ?


For example, this is what I've manually done (took weeks then!) for myself a few years back (for older DCS 2.5.6, not latest DCS versions).
I found outstanding results for smoother performance, with minimal (pratically unnoticeable) graphical difference:
 

• CORE textures (tanks, weapons, ships, non flyable aircraft, etc, etc - i.e, every other texture not belonging to Maps or Modules)
  
  Diffuse maps (the main textures)  ----  half sized, and none to be bigger than 2048 pixels.
  
  Bump maps and Specular maps  ----  half sized, and none to be bigger than 1024 pixels.
  
   
• MODULE  textures
  
  - External textures
  
  Diffuse maps (the main textures)  ----  half sized, and none to be bigger than 2048 pixels.
  
  Bump maps and Specular maps  ----  half sized, and none to be bigger than 2048 pixels.
  
  - Cockpit textures
  
  Diffuse maps (the main textures)  ----  remain as they are, left untouched  (I think some could be resized but, as they're so close to POV, pixelization becomes evident, so best avoid)
  
  Instruments / Gauges  ----  simply half sized.
  
  Bump maps and Specular maps  ----  half sized, and none to be bigger than 2048 pixels.

All the .DDS textures converted to 8-bit whenever possible, whatever the case (i.e, no use of 32-bit textures as far as possible).

Even better, if there is any .DDS texture for the above that has no transparency, then converted to DXT1 (not DXT5).

- - - -

Please don't bother with the Maps (the terrains), it's not really worth it. 
The problem is not so crucial with these because all Maps have their own "LOW" textures.
Core and Modules don't have these (they use single set of textures), so are the most problematic.

That said, there is a simple trick that works well for slightly smoother rendering (2D or VR), which is to use the corresponding "LOW" trees in place of the "HIGH" ones in a Map.
There are then improvements without any prejudice for graphics for those that which to keep Terrain Textures set at "HIGH" (terrain remains the same, difference with trees is very minimal). Benefit impact in VRAM might be small, but smoothness is noticed, especially in forested areas where tree textures are being triggered/rendered by the dozens.

Or at least I woldn't bother much with Maps (terrain), unless it's an 8K texture that is found - then maybe it should be 4K.

Lastly, and still about Maps, if you're going ahead and doing it anyway...
You may have already noticed that all the Maps use some sort of a system that, if you resize a texture differently (or use different format) and repackage it again inside respective .ZIP where it belongs, it may produce a rendering error once in the game - parts to which that .ZIP package content corresponds become fully black.
Meaning, for the Maps, pay attention to the .ZIP packages where all textures inside have same size and format. For these, you either resize ALL the textures exactly same format and size inside their corresponding .ZIP package, or otherwise problems will be ahead once in the game.

PS: sorry all for the wall of text!

 

Thanks for the suggestions! It's definitely doable with the already existing filters, just gonna need to run the script a couple of times. I'll try it out when I wake up.

[Gil80]

didn't quite get how to install this mod.

so after the script finished, I ended up with a TMP folder and MOD folder.

using a mod manager, where should I place these folders? should they be on a HDD or SSD drive?

[tomeye]

1 hour ago, Gil80 said:

didn't quite get how to install this mod.

so after the script finished, I ended up with a TMP folder and MOD folder.

using a mod manager, where should I place these folders? should they be on a HDD or SSD drive?

You should only use the mod folder and install in DCS folder (not saved games). Using a mod manager you will backup and overwrite files to make it easy to reinstall after updating.

[titi69]

Hi , nice tool
overall it saved me 40G, but i have noticed that for some texture it increased the size, so far i noticed it for the Kiowa (in coremods Liveries_US.zip)
still testing if it can impact loading time for exemple

[Sr.]

On 9/9/2024 at 11:07 AM, Bounti30 said:

What I did and it works, because I'm not an expert either.

1-installer powershell 7.4

2-create on the desktop (or elsewhere) a folder where you must put ''TexConv.exe and the script '' dcs-texture-optimizer.ps1 ''

3-open classic powershell in admin and type ''Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted'' and answer ''y'' for yes in order to be able to execute the script

4-close classic powershell

5-open powershell 7.4 non admin and indicate the path of the folder that you created

6-type ''.\dcs-texture-optimizer.ps1'' choose the directory of your DCS and off you go, you will have to be patient.

In the folder you created there appears a "mod" folder ready to use with JSGME or OvGME.

7-open classic powershell in admin and type ''Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted''

 

I must be stoopid... I've run this 5 times now and it only goes for about 3 minutes, then error.

After running the script and acknowledging, popup window to choose my DCS folder.. done.

null

null

[Zyll]

Are you running the "Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted" command in PS 7.4 as admin? The steps you quoted indicated to run in classic powershell, but I believe this is incorrect

Zyll @ TAW

[Sr.]

17 minutes ago, Zyll said:

Are you running the "Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted" command in PS 7.4 as admin? The steps you quoted indicated to run in classic powershell, but I believe this is incorrect

Zyll @ TAW
 

I've tried both. The instructions from OP and those I quoted.

The texassemble.exe file is clearly in the directory with the script. 

 

I see now... I downloaded the texassemble instead of texconv.exe

null

did I mention I'm stoopid? 

 

Edited November 28, 2024 by Sr.

[MAXsenna]

Does this mean my disk got full when running the script? Even with 290GB free???

 

Edited December 5, 2024 by MAXsenna

[tomeye]

5 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

Does this mean my disk got full when running the script? Even with 290GB free???

 

Sharing a thought, the script creates a temp folder in the location you execute. It unzips and processes the files there. It might be on a different drive from where you have DCS installed. Also when you receive the out of memory error, did you check the free space on your drives?

[MAXsenna]

Sharing a thought, the script creates a temp folder in the location you execute. It unzips and processes the files there. It might be on a different drive from where you have DCS installed. Also when you receive the out of memory error, did you check the free space on your drives?

Yeah, it's the same drive with the free space. Thanks for the tip though.

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[Gil80]

Is it required to run this script again after the recent update? 

[zildac]

26 minutes ago, Gil80 said:

Is it required to run this script again after the recent update? 

Ideally you should have it as a mod, and yes re-run after each update in case base textures have been added/changed.

[MAXsenna]

Solved my issue! I was using the wrong script.

All well now. I can confirm it works, even if it doesn't work as good as the first time, before ED did the "optimization" for the Chinook. I wish they would come forth an tell us what they did. Basically I get the same performance with the mod as I get when selecting medium textures. It was playable in Afghanistan. It ain't anymore, alas.
I even get better performance in Syria compared to the Caucasus with this mod. Oh, well. That's the best map anyway.

Cheers!