I was revamping a few textures, and noticed some subtle differences while compressing, and not compressing them in Gimp. For normal maps and regular diffuse maps, what is the best export setting you should have it on? Thanks!

I'm sure you're aware that uncompressed textures will give you a better result, but it'll still be very subtle, as you said, and a lot more demanding for your GPU, so you have to ask yourself first, if it's worth it.

I don't know everything there's about to it here, and I can't give you all the answers. But I got some info once from a texture artist: basically, if you want to go uncompressed, then the normal maps definitely benefit the most from the 8.8.8.8 ARGB unsigned. I can't say about the diffuse.

As for compressed, there are some other factors present:
For diffuse maps with the need of alpha transparency maps, DXT5 Interpolated Alpha is more or less ideal.
For compressed normal maps that will need to contain a specular map (those should be the textures that end with ''_m.dds'') in the alpha channel, DXT5 again.

If you don't know if your diffuse maps contain these ''additions'', then I guess I should just say ''use DXT5 int. alpha just in case''

I'm sure others will jump to help you here too

@VWgolfR1 Sorry for the late response, notice box got a little crammed.

I've always been compressing them to DXT5, including the diffuse. Newbish mistake, but I needed something more tangible to look at to understand.

I'll only compress the normal maps for now on. Thanks for the help! =)

Is this for FO4 or FNV/FO3? Because it's different.

FO3/FNV:
Diffuse, non-alpha: DXT1 for diffuse, non-alpha.
Normal maps and alpha diffuse: DXT5. Use unsigned 8:8:8:8 only if you have to, because it's 4 times bigger than DXT5.

FO4:
Diffuse, non-alpha: DXT1 or BC7. BC7 is double in memory but is practically lossless (I say practically, because it's ever so slightly off).
Diffuse, alpha: BC7. It uses the same memory as DXT5, so there's zero reason to use DXT5.
Normal, spec: BC5. DXT1 if you're extremely desperate for memory size, as BC5 is double, but there's going to be a HUGE reduction in normal maps quality if you do which is not worth it.

@dazzerfong

I think I'm going to save that entire post to a word file. Thanks! Looks like I'll be re-compressing the textures I have on hand...

It's for FNV, but will be useful later on in FO4. I don't see an option for BC7 in Gimp. Is there a new dds script available? There is however BC5/ATI2.

While on topic how does the specular, and normal map differ? Should I note anything when taking into account of the PBR lighting in FO4?

I would just encourage you to keep a raw copy of your work somewhere regardless of what you currently use for export. In the future there will be new games and new info that might encourage you to revisit your works. Too many times I have seen mod author/content creators have to go back and recreate their works as they don't have the original sources.

@beardofsocrates: BC5 and BC7 have extremely limited support, especially for GIMP. You can use NVCompress to decode or encode to and from BC5/7 to TGA.

PBR has almost nothing to do with texture type (except for gamma work flow) and is instead a system of how textures and shaders mix.

@ritualclarity: yep, that's a given. Personally, I think it's an easy excuse for not continuing work.

@ritualclarity Don't worry, I have most of the originals stored online. With the amount of trial and error up to this point, I would probably be pulling my hairs out if I didn't. =P

@dazzerfong

Thanks for clearing that up. I'll probably stick to DXT5, for FO4, but if it's too noticeable I'll see about trying the Nvidia tool.

@beardofsocrates: if you go with BC7, it's not that annoying to utilise.

@"beardofsocrates" No problem, that's why I often roam through the Fallout troubleshooting section

By the way, is this ''tagging'' thing reserved only for users with special access? Because I don't believe ''Mention'' button sends notification to a user that I mentioned, in my case.

@VWgolfR1

Nope, I've been able to use it since joining. I would check to see if it's tagged in the notifications tab if you're not seeing anything. =/

dazzerfong wrote:

@ritualclarity: yep, that's a given. Personally, I think it's an easy excuse for not continuing work.

LOL.. I am more simple.. I wouldn't really have an excuse for not continuing to work.. I just don't want to lol. That is really all that is needed to say .

@"beardofsocrates" I haven't found any setting connected to it yet. When I ''mention'' you, your name or any other user's name isn't highlighted as mine is in your reply. That's why I got the notification that I was tagged in a topic. I have yet to discover how to do that. I've seen at least two newcomers who use the Mention button and it didn't work as a tag, because I haven't received any notifications when I was ''mentioned'' by them. I'm guessing they also don't know how to set up the tagging option.