A Note On Texture Creation

[TheJamsh]

So you want to make textures for some concept models you have? Or maybe you have a finished model thats ready for something but you need to make a texture for it.

TA5 allows textures to be MUCH larger in size with minimal effect on framerate. I would HIGHLY suggest, that to improve the graphical aspects of the game, you make textures in sizes of 1024x1024 for buildings and objects etc, and 512x512 for specials effect sprites.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN simply stretch youre already 256x256 texture to 1024, because it wont make a difference, it means MAKE it this size, add extra detail, make them better if you can.

[Warfreak]

 , slow down there sparky, Textures still take up a bit of room and not everyone knows how to make them .dxtbz2 files.

I think 512x512 is a pretty resonable size for anything really, but for LARGE, COMPLEX objects, 1024x1024 i do agree on.

[Angstromicus]

I do believe this should be expanded upon. Links to faqs about .dxbz2 textures, etc.

Battlezone 2 looks pretty, but larger textures would be even prettier . For people with older computers, it'll be a cinch to select smaller textures in the graphical options menu.

More importantly, though, is making large textures for BIG objects. There could be maps in this mod that are UP TO 300 km from corner to corner - with large objects to match  that size. Now, I'm not saying that there will be maps that large, but there will probably be maps like that with larger terrain tile sizes. The terrain tiles will need large textures so the textures don't appear "blobby". The same goes for objects in the game.

[General BlackDragon]

i vote standard texture size 1024X1024 with larger ones being 2048X2048

[Nielk1]

512 is QUITE reasonable for texture maps.

[Tempest Storm]

i vote standard texture size 1024X1024 with larger ones being 2048X2048

2048x2048 would be an excellent development size form making new textures. Implementing them in game should probably downsize to 1024x1024 for large texture options then 512x512 for medium size and 256x256 for a small texture option. This would provide textures made for the mod to be in high quality while allowing a smaller texture size for those with lower end machines as well as a standard BZ2 texture size for those that can't handle the above sizes. Developing at 2048x2048 would not only allow for extra detail in texture creation but also allow an ultra hi-res texture option if there was a demand for it.

[Nielk1]

Texture options no longer use diff files.

larger than 512 for textures that are UV mapped makes it difficult to get the effects to look right in Photoshop.

[Angstromicus]

Poll options sound good? Is a poll even necessary?

[General BlackDragon]

The textures sizes are only affect computer's RAM, if your RAM/HD space is enough to store the larger textures, it doesn't effect the game running. IF larger textures cause the game to lag, you seriously need a computer upgrade.

[Angstromicus]

I probably should make that a note. Though, I wish I knew some relative system specifications necessary for each standard texture size.

[General BlackDragon]

it also depends on what the user is running in the background too.

its very user specific but i'd say its safe to go as high as 1024X1024 atleast.

[Nielk1]

I should also note 95% of my textures are scalable because of the way I use effects and shapes.
I still don't want to go over 512 unless I am making a building, a massive massive massive unit, or terrain textures.

[ScarleTomato]

not sure what the old BZ used for small texture sizes but i agree that it could definitely be upped, probably even better that 256. If the CP is being developed for ta5, that means that you don't even need to worry about the really low end machines anymore because ta5 and the new directX wont support them. Maybe find out what some of the lower end users for TA5 use now? The new directX has probably greatly optimized the drawing. If it's any indication, I know for a fact I can now set my viewDistance to over 10000 meters without missing tiles. (pre ta5 i couldn't even reach 1000)

The vote doesn't have any quantifiable options.
Before knowing how the low end computers would handle it my vote would be 512, 1024 and 2048 for high. maybe have them as separate downloadable paks though so as not to make an insanely huge single download.

[Nielk1]

BZ1 was 128 by 128
BZ1 w/ Large Assets was 256 by 256

BZ2 is 256 by 256
BZ2:FS is 512 by 512

Most of my textures are 512 by 512

[Tempest Storm]

A higher texture resolution should certainly be an option now that TA5 offers much more graphical enhancement. The only reason I suggest a large size to develop new textures at is so a various amount of sizes can be used. Even if switching out texture sizes through different cfgs (like launching with a bz2cp_lgtx.cfg in the shortcut for example) would be used I think that it would be an enhancement everyone could enjoy.

EPIC used a lot of 1024x1024 sized textures on some of its assets, and I haven't seen what they look like in TA5 but before then they looked absolutely amazing.