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FSX effects textures using GIMP - how to make them work.

Messages
108
Country
us-newmexico
I just spent two hours figuring this out and thought I'd jot it down here for anyone else who might be struggling now or in the future. (Probably me in the future.)

If you've ever exported a bmp from GIMP and tried to use it in the FX tool, it has come out looking really bad. (If you get it to show up at all).

Turning to Imagetool, you discover that it cannot read a bmp file exported from GIMP. 32 bit, 16 bit, compatibility on/off, layer mask, alpha, no alpha. It doesn't matter. None of it works.

Here's what does work:

1. If you don't already have it, get the gimp dds plugin here https://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/#Downloads. I'v been using it for a while now and it is solid as a rock.

2. Using the dds plugin, export your texture as a DDS using DXT1 compression. Not DXT5 or DXT3. DXT1.

3. Open the DXT1 file in Imagetool.

4. (optional) add mipmaps if they're not already there.

5. Save as bmp.

6. Load up FX tool, reference your new bmp file and enjoy!

-MJL
 
Messages
1,956
Country
unitedkingdom
The GIMP .dds plugin allows one to create mipmaps when exporting straight away. Why do you need to open it with image tool and save it as bmp? I am confused.
 
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