EQInterface Forums - Everquest Reads new file format... DDS

09-27-2004, 07:49 PM	#1
Kudane Co-Founder Join Date: Jul 2002 Server: Xegony Posts: 2,145	Everquest Reads new file format... DDS <img src="http://www.eqinterface.com/images/sections/directx.gif" align="right">Nvidia has released a new texture based compression tool with the extention .dds. The Microsoft DirectDraw Surface (.dds) is part of DirectX 9. You can read more about the format it self at msdn. You can find the photoshop and other plugin info at Nvidia's site HERE Sokol and I have done some experiementing and found that you can use DDS files in your UIs. Upside Files are 10% of the file size of a TGA. (TGAs that are 1meg become 100k) Possible Downsides DDS UIs are not cross compatible with TGA UIs. Trying to merge them in experiements caused crashes If you want to see DDS UI at work, you can download the Solaria test HERE. Its a stand alone version of our UI to test the DDS files. We have added a category in the forums for DDS discussion. /bow - Kudane Last edited by Dolby : 09-27-2004 at 08:24 PM.

09-28-2004, 08:34 PM	#2
Kiniyen A Ghoul Join Date: Apr 2003 Server: Xev Posts: 17	shouldn't the topic say "Use .dds files in your ui now" since eq has been able to read .dds files since luclin(i believe it was luclin)? Eq uses the dds format for zone textures and player/npc skins. Sorry if I seem a bit stupid as this website is all about everquest uis so I should get the idea instantly that you mean uis can use them now but I felt like pointing that out.

09-28-2004, 09:40 PM	#3
*Dolby* Lord Dolby of Veeshan Join Date: Jul 2002 Server: Veeshan Posts: 2,397	The interface couldn't use .dds until EQ's gfx engine was upgraded to use directx9 since dds part of directx9 sdk. So it has only been a month or so since EQ's interface could use .dds. Since many havent played with dds we figured other authors would like to experiment with the file format for the eq interface graphics. With more people experimenting more information can be found about this file format in relationship to the EQ Interface. Luclin upgraded the gfx engine to dx8.

09-29-2004, 04:36 AM	#4
Talyns The Tablets Guy Join Date: Jul 2002 Server: Lanys Posts: 520	If the only upside is the size of the file, why not just Compress the tgas? I assume the 1 meg tga you were talking about was solWindowPieces01.tga.. I took that file and saved it as a compressed(RLE) tga and it reduces the size from 1025kb to 118kb.. I'm sure DDS has better compression. But, there seems to be some loss of image quality/sharpness.. Look at the the buttons in solWindowPieces01.dds and compare to the tga version(original picture).. __________________ Talyns Lanys Characters: -Acarrion (51 BST) -Hawkren (20 SHM)

09-29-2004, 07:16 PM	#5
Kiniyen A Ghoul Join Date: Apr 2003 Server: Xev Posts: 17	Yes luclin did upgrade eq to DX8 but DDS was introduced with 7 not 9. The DDS format has been used since luclin. so instead of the title being eq reads a new format it should be more like "eq can now use the dds filetype with uis". Last edited by Kiniyen : 09-29-2004 at 07:23 PM.

09-12-2005, 02:51 PM

rjengel

A Shissar Disciple

Join Date: Dec 2004

Server: Fennin Ro

Posts: 100

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiniyen

Yes luclin did upgrade eq to DX8 but DDS was introduced with 7 not 9.
The DDS format has been used since luclin. so instead of the title being eq reads a new format it should be more like "eq can now use the dds filetype with uis".

How bout we call it "EQ UI IMAGES Can Now Be .DDS"
That make it simple enough, to the point, without too much mombo jumbo added in. As for the Topic at Hand, I would like to make certain I understand this whole new .dds file type information... So here is an example
Say I make a UI were every window is modified with a graphic.
and that graphic is referenced in the EQUI_animations.mxl file as a .dds file
As long as all references to that file are for the .dds then it should work ok.
BUT If I make a UI with 10 windows that have the same back ground and 9 of them reference the .dds and 1 references the same file but in .tga format it will crash?
Or are you saying that is I make a custom UI and I use .dds files for my custom images I can ONLY use .dds for all images or I can mix and match .dds and .tga files in the same Custom UI as long as the window that references the different file has the correct reference.
And if so Am I able to use .dds and .tga in the mod of say ONLY ONE window?
Or have we not come to a conclusion on this matter yet?

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