Skip to content

Add Texture Guidelines #23

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Closed
Closed
Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from 2 commits
Commits
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension

Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
78 changes: 78 additions & 0 deletions Asset/Art/dds/texture_guidelines.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
# Texture Guidelines

In *Generals Zero Hour*, there are several variations of textures adapted to different seasons, weather conditions,
times of day, and more. Each variation is updated accordingly, and the suffixes in the DDS filenames indicate the type
and condition of the texture.

## Texture Naming Structure

>[!TIP]
> the `_en` and `_rn` textures invalid because 99% of textures with these suffixes do not have proper night lighting but
Copy link
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

are invalid

> are simply darkened versions of the base texture. They only increase the brightness from `_dn` to `_en`.

### Summer Textures

- `<none>`: Pristine texture.
- `_d`: Damaged texture.
- `_e`: Really Damaged texture.
- `_r`: Rubble texture.
- `_g`: Garrison texture.
- `_dg`: Damaged Garrison texture.

### Winter Textures

- `_s`: Pristine Snow texture.
- `_ds`: Damaged Snow texture.
- `_es`: Really Damaged Snow texture.
- `_rs`: Rubble Snow texture.
- `_sg`: Snow Garrison texture.
- `_dsg`: Damaged Snow Garrison texture.

### Summer Night Textures

- `_n`: Night texture.
- `_dn`: Damaged Night texture.
- `_en`: Invalid texture, to be removed with Mod Builder.
- `_rn`: Invalid texture, to be removed with Mod Builder.
- `_ng`: Night Garrison texture.
- `_dng`: Damaged Night Garrison texture.

### Winter Night Textures

- `_sn`: Snow Night texture.
- `_dsn`: Damaged Snow Night texture.
- `_esn`: Invalid texture, to be removed with Mod Builder.
- `_rsn`: Invalid texture, to be removed with Mod Builder.
- `_sng`: Snow Night Garrison texture.
- `_dsng`: Damaged Snow Night Garrison texture.

## Vehicle Texture Variations

- `<none>`: Pristine vehicle texture.
- `_d`: Damaged vehicle texture.
- `_d1`: Wrecked vehicle texture.

## PSD Layer Naming Conventions

- If the background layer is flattened, it is the original retail texture (DDS) in the best available quality.
- If the bottom layer is not the original retail texture (DDS), it will have a name representing the source texture in
sufficient detail (e.g., `cbcnvstr01_s.dds realesr-general-wdn-x4v3` or a processed AI-upscaled texture like
`cbcnvstr01 merged`).
- If PSD textures are modified, the edits should propagate to lower-order textures that use higher-order merged
textures (Pristine → Damaged, Summer → Winter, etc.).
- Layer and group names should be in lowercase and use common keywords like "damage", "light", "barricades", "snow", or
any other relevant name.
- Layer and group names may end with a texture variant suffix (e.g., `_d`, `_g`, `_e`) to help identify the origin
texture variant. These layers and groups can be copied to other texture variants and should be identical if they share
the same name within the same texture set.
- Groups used to assemble an alpha channel should be named `_alpha` and will be hidden before saving the image file.

## Working with Textures

1. **Editing Software**: Use software like **Photoshop**, **GIMP**, or **Paint.NET** for editing DDS
textures.

2. **PSD**: When working with **PSD** files, maintain an organized layer structure and use clear names for each texture
variant (e.g., `_d`, `_g`). Layers with an alpha channel should be named `_alpha` and hidden before saving the file.
Copy link
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

'should' -> 'must'


3. **Saving and Conversion**: After editing, save the texture as a **DDS** file to ensure optimal quality and file size.
3 changes: 1 addition & 2 deletions Asset/_Navbar.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -6,8 +6,7 @@
- Models
- W3D
- Textures
- TGA
- DDS
- [Texture Guidelines](Art/dds/texture_guidelines.md)
- Audio & Video
- WAV
- BIK
Expand Down