Elihal;n9728171 said:
i know thats the goal. Was just commenting that cause the post above complained about changing textures of grass to be impossible while exactly that was done in this mod.
GregorWladacz;n9728211 said:
Not possible. I mean, if you know a way to do so, feel free to tell me. If you are talking about the shaders saved in "...\The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\bin\shaders\speedtree\shaders_directx11", you'd probably need a speedtree-license to edit these i'd guess. And even then i don't know if it's possible.
Hm, even if you have a license, you can't edit them. I tried. Well, I thought maybe the shaders are stored elsewhere. A shame
Beautiful Grass 4K was made somehow... Of course its a trade secret these days, but there's obviously a way to either edit and/or upscale DDS files for Witcher 3. I would like to upscale tree textures, but nobody's going to tell me how to work with DDS format to make it happen. I'm researching about and UT engine, etc...
EDIT: I don't know about editing (YET!) DDS files, but you can easily cook them and uncook them if you include SRT files in the Uncooked folder. Just use W3Oven and you get perfectly uncookable DDS-only texture.cache with whichever SRT file in blob.bundle. You don't even need W3Edit for that.
EDIT: I don't know about editing (YET!) DDS files, but you can easily cook them and uncook them if you include SRT files in the Uncooked folder. Just use W3Oven and you get perfectly uncookable DDS-only texture.cache with whichever SRT file in blob.bundle. You don't even need W3Edit for that.
Last edited by a moderator:
Dude, there's already a solution for how to uncook dds-files and it's literally on the FIRST page of this thread! (and no, you don't need the srts for that).
Also, editing dds-files is certainly not a "trade secret". Just get the latest version of Gimp (it's free) and download a dds-plugin for it.
Maybe you should do some research and reading for your own part before posting something here.
Also, editing dds-files is certainly not a "trade secret". Just get the latest version of Gimp (it's free) and download a dds-plugin for it.
Maybe you should do some research and reading for your own part before posting something here.
IchWillDeinRegal;n9784021 said:
I must be blind then because I see nothing about uncooking pure texture.cache files without bundle files included. How to uncook this - https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/942/? without losing quality, without using cache parser?
I found a way, but it required me to create a mod using vanilla tree files and an SRT file, which allowed for creation of a bundle file. No SRT file = no bundle file, unless you want to stick needless DDS or TGA or XBM textures in there for whatever reason. I used the bundle file + metadata file from the mod with vanilla tree files, but with Autumn mod's texture.cache file. That allowed me to uncook the exact DDS files Autumn mod used.
How would you do it?
And about DDS files - that is not what I meant. I open them with Paint.NET just fine. I wanted to know how to manipulate them, so I can put them through enhancement process, the way I did with this texture.
Original (before multi-pass sharpening, de-banding, de-ringing, de-noise, chroma upscaling, anti-ringing, image upscaling, image refinement)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B54...ew?usp=sharing
Modded (before multi-pass sharpening, de-banding, de-ringing, de-noise, chroma upscaling, anti-ringing, image upscaling, image refinement)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B54...ew?usp=sharing
I like the results. I want to do the same with DDS grass, trees, etc.
Last edited by a moderator:
I've been experimenting with normal maps recently and found out that proper normal maps can really enhance the appearance of grass ingame. Actually when i compare the retail-game with the E3-demo footage it almost looks as if there have been normal maps for the most common grass types, but they have been removed for some reason (the normal-map for the grass-types i edited only contains a plain green square...). Below are some comparison screens with normal-map and with the vanilla green square:
normal-mapped grass:
vanilla grass:
For better visibility of the differences watch the full-sized images.
normal-mapped grass:
vanilla grass:
For better visibility of the differences watch the full-sized images.
What do you mean? grass_common_n.dds is the normal map for common grass (and it's not a green square...) and grass_common_s.dds is the specular map for common grass. I upscaled all 3 - diffuse, normal, and specular to 4K and it made grass look sharper. Did you do something different?
Your work does look different from vanilla, but what are those black grass tops? Did you cook the mod correctly? DDS files in W3 are compressed to DXTA 5 format, must already contain Mip Maps and must be not be imported via Modded folder and/or TGA files. Files must stay DDS (already compressed with MipMaps), be placed in Uncooked folder along with ALL SRT files. That way you can create a fully uncookable mod in proper format.
Anyway, I am very curious about your findings. Here's what normal maps for W3 common grass look like in GIMP when I open them - https://drive.google.com/file/d/16JH-2qFuMxzb7TeFqXqj3okufn2q5aGO/view?usp=sharing
Your work does look different from vanilla, but what are those black grass tops? Did you cook the mod correctly? DDS files in W3 are compressed to DXTA 5 format, must already contain Mip Maps and must be not be imported via Modded folder and/or TGA files. Files must stay DDS (already compressed with MipMaps), be placed in Uncooked folder along with ALL SRT files. That way you can create a fully uncookable mod in proper format.
Anyway, I am very curious about your findings. Here's what normal maps for W3 common grass look like in GIMP when I open them - https://drive.google.com/file/d/16JH-2qFuMxzb7TeFqXqj3okufn2q5aGO/view?usp=sharing
Last edited by a moderator:
rfuzzo;n10826941 said:nicethat looks good! Release as mod pls!
I also know the name for the mod already:
Immersive E3 Grass Mod
It still needs a bit of work since the grass might look weird in certain lighting conditions right now. But thanks!
MonarchX
Well after i uncooked the game-files i got this:
https://i.imgur.com/8Jb19rJ.jpg
I've been editing dds files using gimp without a problem in the past.
The image above is not a result of editing though. It's just the unedited vanilla grass_common_n.dds after uncooking it with QBMS. All other textures (including normal-maps) seem to look fine...
The image above is not a result of editing though. It's just the unedited vanilla grass_common_n.dds after uncooking it with QBMS. All other textures (including normal-maps) seem to look fine...
QuickBMS is for unpacking, not uncooking, for which W3Oven is way better. You simply got a corrupted image that is actually in-tact in the game with proper normal maps.
E3 grass was different more than likely because of lighting translucency properties that were yanked or downgraded in the retail retail game.
E3 grass was different more than likely because of lighting translucency properties that were yanked or downgraded in the retail retail game.
Using ModKitchen gave me the same result though, maybe i will try it with W3Oven then i guess.
Hm i still feel like there's something different about the look of the grass not related to transucency when watching the E3-demo. It's also possible that the normal-map can actually affect the translucency somehow. I have zero experience with speedtree tho so i am not sure
Hm i still feel like there's something different about the look of the grass not related to transucency when watching the E3-demo. It's also possible that the normal-map can actually affect the translucency somehow. I have zero experience with speedtree tho so i am not sure
I don't know what other differences there are, but there are numerous grass types, such as the one in E3 Grass mod I used to enjoy until I realized it left a ton of empty gaps in places that vanilla grass would fill. Lighting is definitely a key player as it affects everything from color to reflections to translucency . AFAIK, Global Illumination in E3 Demo engine was superior to the one in retail game. That means there was more light bouncing off surfaces, including grass. That would enhance the effect of normal maps. In addition I noticed many NormalmapGloss textures in W3 have a strong alpha channel, making the gloss effect less pronounced and more"opaque" in some ways. In many cases that fits, but in others it does not.
Last edited by a moderator:
Actually Global Illumination isn't even part of the game anymore (not sure if it was in one of the prebuilds). Anyway, to get back on topic:
So no matter what i try, grass_common_n.dds always looks like the image i posted above after uncooking. Does this mean the texture is corrupted within my gamefiles? lol
Probably not possible though, also the grass looks exactly like it should without mods. I am really clueless because every other texture seems to get uncooked correctly...
So no matter what i try, grass_common_n.dds always looks like the image i posted above after uncooking. Does this mean the texture is corrupted within my gamefiles? lol
Probably not possible though, also the grass looks exactly like it should without mods. I am really clueless because every other texture seems to get uncooked correctly...