What to use to make DDS files smaller? [Reforged]

[Ugabunda]

Hi guys,

I'm using Photoshop to create my custom icons for Reforged. The problem is that these icons are 64kb each and are starting to increase the map size a lot (they must be 256x256).

Is there something that I can use to reduce the file size?

I tried to use BLPalleter, but upon clicking "CONVERT" to .blp it simply gives me an empty text box and no output. I also tried to work and compres TGA, but this gives me a file size double as big as DDS...

Thanks.

 

[GhostWolf]

You can't.

DDS, or rather the DXT block compression that is generally inside DDS, has a constant compression ratio of typically 1:4 to the raw pixels.
As far as memory, it's a lot better than storing the data raw, like TGA usually does, but worse than more dynamic formats like JPG.

The special thing about DXT and why it's used instead of e.g. JPGs, is that your hardware knows how to use it directly, so the raw data is never needed, and thus memory is saved also when the game runs.
If a format like JPG was used to save on map sizes, every time the game loads a texture it needs to decode the format and generate the raw pixels, which is how BLP works for example (in fact, most wc3 BLPs actually store the pixel data as JPG inside them).

 

[Ugabunda]

Hey GhostWolf - thanks for the answer. So essentially DDS is the best solution? Isn't there something which also works, but can be used to lower the size of icons (reforged) below 64kb?

 

[GhostWolf]

DDS is probably the best for when the game/editor are running.
Perhaps TGA with compression (it can use RLE compression if I remember correctly) can in some cases be smaller as far as raw file size, I don't know what are its compression ratios, but I doubt it will be worth the effort.
As far as I know you can still use BLPs also in Reforged if you really want that good ol' JPG data, but maybe I am wrong, I don't have Reforged so I don't know too much about it.