The Woes of .dds for Macintosh

[-troy-]

Heyas fellas,

I've been trolling around for answers to an interesting (meaning unfathomable) question regarding .dds files in Warbirds.

In the past I've enjoyed playing with the in-game maps. The BoB was in .tga format, for example, and thus easy to throw into Photoshop and mess with, stick back into the Warbirds folder, and poof... new map.

However, the newer maps cause some havoc on the Macintosh front.

I can take a .dds file, say the PTO.dds, convert it using Graphic Converter and then manipulate it via Photoshop (Photoshop Elements for my Mac doesn't recognize .dds). However, when I convert it back to .dds, drop it into the Warbirds folder and boot the game... the map screen comes up "black" with the fields overlay still active. In other words, the file isn't being recognized once it's reconverted. Incidentally, the maps that I've created and then given to my Windows using squad mates... work in their Windows Warbirds. No black screens for them, just a modified map.

There are, as you know, about a BILLion different format options etc. that one could play with when dealing with such conversions.

If I knew the specifics of how the .dds files were put together I might be able to make something work.

Likewise, if anyone knows of a .dds converter plug-in for Mac, I'm sure that would be a possibility...

And lastly, if anyone plain ol' knows how to do this without losing years off of their lives... please do tell.

Thanks fellas,

Troy

[Muzz]

I'm not a Mac user, but try installing the nVidia .dds plugin tools. They are supposed to be compatible with both PS and PS Elements. Not sure if they'll work cross platform.

nvidia tools (http://developer.nvidia.com/page/tools.html)

[Target]

Here's the direct link..

http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html

I'm assuming it would work on Mac but I don't for absolute sure.

[e-b-o-]

^^ ehmm, the nvidia installer is a .exe file, I'm not sure if this works on a mac...
maybe you can try following:

download the dds.8bi file ( http://www.evil-turkey.de/TW/dds.zip ) and put it in your photoshop/presets/file format folder. (hopefully this is the right location, since I'm still on a german PS version ;) if it's wrong search for the file endings, than you should find the location by yourself).

I don't know if it works, but it's maybe worth a trial.

[colmbo]

I'd like to be able to edit a few features on the maps...first off for me would be to change the color of the grid coordinate numbers to something other than white.

Any way I can do this?

[Target]

nope, they're hard coded. sorry.

[colmbo]

nope, they're hard coded. sorry.

Rats.


Okay, who do I buy beer for to get them changed in an upcoming update? <G> Dang things are hard to see against Muzz's maps (which are friggin awesome)

[Target]

The problem is that while it's hard coded, it can only be one color for all maps. Changing it to look good with Muzz's maps will make them look bad on the defaults. Or vice versa. <shrug> sorry.

[colmbo]

So if Muzz's maps were the default maps....


:D

[iart7]

just a thought... if grid lines are the problem, perhaps making them 2 pixels thick. One pixel line DARK and the other line (next to it -- side by side) would be LIGHT. If a map is dark, the light line will show up, if the map is light, the dark grid line will stand out.

PS: Colmbo, you can buy me the beers! They'd do the most good in me.

http://www.iart7.com/WARBIRDS/HGB/images/bg2.gif
click PREVIEW (http://www.iart7.com/WARBIRDS/Planeskin%20Selection%20Menu9.html)

[colmbo]

Grid lines aren't the problem, it's the grid coordinate numerals

[colmbo]

This is an old thread but....


I've managed to find a way to work on the map dds files with my Mac. I use
GraphicConverter to open the DDS then I save it as a JPEG. I then use Photoshop to twiddle with it and again save it as a JPEG. I then use this nifty little shareware program called SquishDDS to convert them back to DDS format. Voila!!!


I too had the problem of saving them in Photoshop but then they didn't work in game....this resolves that problem.

[iart7]

So graphic converter does not save the DDS files? or saves DDS, but un-usable? Where did you get SquishDDS? What else can you do with it? What other files might be massaged? WWI Pilot skinfaces? Buildings? Huts? It would be cool to be able to skin the buildings!

Art
Erich Löwenhardt's Fokker (http://www.iart7.com/WARBIRDS/gallery%20photos/Low03Med.jpg)

[-term-]

Hi,

http://dwj.freeshell.org/celestia/

SquishDDS 1.1 - DDS converter for OS X
Changes (v1.1, 2007-05-06):
- Mipmapping
- Color matching (read Help for usage)
- DXT5 compressed normal map generation (.dxt5nm)
- New ultra high quality mode (introduced in v1.10 of the squish library)
Source code for SquishDDS 1.1 (includes squish 1.10, MIT License)

[colmbo]

So graphic converter does not save the DDS files? or saves DDS, but un-usable? Where did you get SquishDDS?

GC saves as a dds but the file didn't work in Warbirds. When I pulled the map up all I got was a gray screen. It may be that I didn't select the proper compression.

Google for Squish...that's how I found it.

[phenix]

What I do for grids is put my own on the map and then turn off the game's.

[iart7]

Phenix, this is old stuff, right? You have some map files we can download, right? Shouldn't they be posted on the PDC website for downloads?

Just an idea...

Art