Unreal Texture Unreal site and S3TC releases

[SkaarjMaster]

OK, I finally installed the new High End textures and the 3 recommended Extreme End textures and I want to say the skies look awesome now (only checked Nyleve and NaliCastle so far)!

One thing I noticed at least for these Unreal new set of High End textures is the HubEffects file is the same size as the old one from November 27, 2007. Was there just a minor change that resulted in the file being the same size or is it the same file without changes because you still need to fix HubEffects?

 

[Diehard]

One thing I noticed at least for these Unreal new set of High End textures is the HubEffects file is the same size as the old one from November 27, 2007. Was there just a minor change that resulted in the file being the same size or is it the same file without changes because you still need to fix HubEffects?

At this moment we are using the SkyBox package for testing, and we did notice that the testpackage and the control package kept having the same size despite there is a difference. Its a bit unclear to me how that works, theres a difference in what the packages do, and still the filesize is exact the same.


About HubbEffects, the package is exactly the same as the one that was released in 2007. The textures have been redone, but this was only because i needed the textures ready for Extreme End. So the nacelles(engines) that can be seen on the Vortex Rikers in Nyleve had to be redone to fit them for Extreme End.


From players point of view you wont notice a difference in the High End 2007 and 2010 version. It also means that the package size is the same(see story above). So yeah, the 2007/2010 have the same size and same textures. As said the update was only a technical update to solve the procedural texture problem. And while that problem is solved it picked up another problem on the Masked textures. But so far its limited to oné waterfall in oné of the RTNP maps.


Theoretically all textures in the package can be affected. As soon as a mapper makes a texture masked in a map(like the waterfall) it will disapear. So all textures in the package that dont have an S3TC counterpart are affected by the error. But obviously, why would you want to make a crate masked or for that matter any of the other textures. This would only be usefull on the waterfall, so you can more less see whats behind it. Therefore its unlikelly it will be seen on the other textures.


And of course the error would be invisible anyway
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[Freddie]

Diehard,

I'm a little confused about what textures I should download as a player. In May, 2009, I downloaded and installed the high-end UT textures (Packages 1-4) that were then available.

I now see packages 1-4 dated March, 2010, and also package 5. Do I need to download packages 1-4 again to get additional updates, or can I keep what I already have?

I know that I need to get package 5, no problem there.

Freddie

Later Edit: Well, I thought I was posting the above question on the UT Forum. Anyway, I have the same question regarding the high-end textures for Unreal. Do I need to start over, or can I just download package 5?

 

[SkaarjMaster]

They are just repackaged into smaller packages, so now you just need to see which individual files are updated and you should be fine. I only have the 4 packages and installed them around the same time you did, so now I'm just watching for updated individual files.

 

[Diehard]

Yep, what SkaarjMaster said is correct. To limit the filesize for the MasterFiles they have been re-packed in 5 packages, and the date only reflects when the re-pack took place. And in time when more updates are released its likelly a 6th, 7th, 8th etc. MasterFile will be added.


And i always pile up all files in oné folder, and than i am gonna split them into the different MasterFiles. And the only thing i am looking at is to make sure all MasterFiles have aprox the same downloadsize. So for that reason it wouldnt work to only download the last file(nr. 5) cause it can contain any file, and not necesarry new or updated files.


And indeed, the MasterFiles are ment for players that never used them before, so concider them as a first aid kit The people that already own the MasterFiles should look for the single updates. But of course, if you are uncertain, or lack the time to keep track on new updates, you simply could re-download all MasterFiles from time to time.


And today and tomorrow the MasterFiles will be repacked again to add the latest updates to it, since they lack them. So if you want to re-download everything, i would wait till at least Monday or Tuesday, or check the pages cause i will also add a new date(March 7th 2010) to the downloads.


And ill upload all changed zipfiles first, than i will update the pages themselves. So as soon as you see the date March 7th 2010 apear, its safe to go re-download everything.




P.S. make note that the site is using the US notation 01-03-2010 which means January 3rd 2010. But to prevent further confusement i am gonna use a new notation from now on. And the new date will be: March 7th 2010 and not 03-07-2010
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[Freddie]

Thanks, SkaarjMaster and Diehard. I'm now making a list and checking it twice, like they say. It's getting so that one has to have one's act together to stay on the playing field, in regards to these texture files.

I'll wait until early next week before I download and install any updates. I'll just make new CDs for my personal archive. I'll throw my former CD archives in the dust bin.

Freddie

 

[Diehard]

For stuff like this, you should use rewritable disks, so you dont have to throw them in the recyclebin after files have been updated. Saves on the money and the environment at the same time



At this moment i have all zipfiles assembled, and i am uploading right now. But it will take a while till all sites are synchronised. I have to upload a grand total of 12 gigabyte of updates with 130kbs But it should probably be there tomorrow evening, unless the FTP freaks out on me.
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[Freddie]

Diehard,

I've compared my list of Unreal textures I already had installed to your list of textures made available on March 7, 2010.

I had all of them installed, because I had already downloaded and installed the new additions. I installed those because you announced their availability, and posted the link, on this forum earlier. Those new additions I downloaded earlier included three Extreme End textures (ShaneDay, ShaneSky, and SkyBox).

Your new listing includes those three in High End versions, so I think I'm ahead of the game on those, not? Also, I had already installed the revised version of DecayedS. I guess I'm good to go on these. I just need to download and update my CD archive of these textures.

I also compared my list of already installed UT textures to those you posted on your download site. I had all but three already installed. Those three are: ShaneDay, HubEffects, and XpbFSX. I'll have to get those installed. I don't want to miss anything.

Do you agree with my statements, as best as you can tell?

Freddie

 

[Diehard]

As you already noticed i updated all downloads for the MasterFiles for Unreal and UT. But reading your list i do miss a few packages.


For UT you should have the updates for:

CTF.utx
HubEffects.utx
JWSky.utx
ShaneDay.utx
ShaneSky.utx
SkyBox.utx
SpaceFX.utx
Starship.utx
XbpFX.utx


For Unreal its:

HubEffects.utx
JWSky.utx
ShaneDay.utx
ShaneSky.utx
SkyBox.utx
SpaceFX.utx
Starship.utx

So seeing from your list you miss a few packages like Starship, JWSky and SpaceFX. And keep in mind that even you got them all installed, it doesnt mean you got the latest updates, you can only see that from the filesize and the date of creation.


And maybe i could add a date of creation to the site in time, so people can see if they have the latest date. But i know from experience its difficult, and it also cannot be done with the MasterFiles. It also would add a truckload of extra work, so it needs to be workable as well.


But in this case all updates mentioned above should have a date in 2010. And that includes DecayedS, that one should also have a date in 2010 as i released an update to fix a few problems. So in this case you need to have a date for all files within the year 2010.
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[Freddie]

Diehard,

OK, I'll check the dates to make sure I've updated properly.

On the previous page of this forum, you listed the following Unreal texture files as available at the time of your post dated 9 February 2010:

ShaneDay
ShaneSky
SkyBox
HubEffects
JWSky
SpaceFX
Starship

In addition, you listed the Extreem End versions for the following:

ShaneDay
ShaneSky
SkyBox

I downloaded and installed those seven files, except I installed the above three Extreem End versions, rather than the High End versions of those same three files, from the link you posted on the preceding page. Those are the same names you say I'm missing. Take another look, because I seems I have the latest files from the preceding post you made, not? If not, I'll install those files as you suggest.

As for UT, yes I need to install those nine files you listed in your previous post. I think I don't have the latest versions on those installed. It's getting hard to keep all this sorted.

Thanks much,

Freddie

 

[Diehard]

Yeah that sounds about correct, just make sure you also have the very last update for Starship(release date Februari 21st 2010), as it contains a fix for a few errors in the masked textures.
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[Freddie]

Diehard,

Yes, I have installed the Starship texture dated 2/21/2010. I downloaded and installed it the same day you made it available and posted that fact here on this forum. I check this forum every day.

I also installed the DecayedS texture you made available, here on this forum, in December, 2009. I think I'm up-to-date on Unreal. I'll get cracken on UT. I've a little work to do there. I'm now in the process of downloading all the latest texture packages.

Thanks again,

Freddie

 

[Freddie]

Diehard,

I've completed updating my Unreal and UT (Unreal Tournament) texture files using the High-End texture packages dated March 7, 2010. I have a couple questions:

For both Unreal and UT, the latest textures included the following texture:
For Unreal (Package 1): Mine.utx 95.3 MB, dated 11/27/2007

I didn't copy the above Unreal file because I already had the following installed:
Mine.utx 103 MB, dated 12/24/2008

For UT (Package 4): Mine.utx 95.3 MB, dated 4/15/2008

I didn't copy the above UT file because I already had the following installed:
Mine.utx 103 MB, dated 12/24/2008

My question is: Should I have updated to the earlier version in both instances?

My other comment concerns the fact that several files, in both the latest Unreal and UT textures, included files that were identical to what I already had installed, except for a date and maybe only the time. That is, the files may have only been one day different, and in a couple of instances, only a couple minutes different. For example:

For Unreal (Package 5): spaceFX.utx 26.9 MB, dated 2/9/2010 4:20 A.M.

I didn't copy the above file because I already had the following installed:
spaceFX 26.9 MB, dated 2/9/2010 10:25 A.M.

For UT (Package 3): NaliCast 35.6 MB, dated 4/15/2008 4:17 A.M.

I didn't copy the above UT file because I already had the following installed:
NaliCast 35.6 MB, dated 4/15/2008 5:17 A.M.

The above are only two examples. There were several others with the same kind of situation. My question is: Should I have updated my files in those kind of situations; that is, where the differences concern only slight time variances?

Sorry if this is getting complicated, but that's the way it is.

Freddie

 

[Diehard]

The mine package i asume really is an error. The problem is i cannot really check it, because i have been working on the package. And for testing i always overwrite the excisting file. But looking at the UT files, which i dont use for testing the file should be 103Mb and as date December 24 2008. And i checked the downloads, and the file there is around 95Mb and a year older.


So in that case you should keep the 103Mb file and disregard 95Mb file. And ill have to see if i can update the current downloads. But thats alot, alot, alot easyer said than done, as i have been working on the package , and i need to check the entire package to make sure theres not a few useless or bad beta textures inthere. So no easy fix for that unfortunatelly.


As for the other time differences, i have no direct explanation for those, and it might be that i run the mergertool for the MasterFiles seperatelly from the single updates. Thats the only explanation i have for that. Apart from the date i doubt there is any difference between the packages.


The decayedS package should have a date within 2010, and the timestamp can either be 3 or 4 January 2010 depending if its the High End or Extreme End.


In general i would say the date goes before the packagesize, because it happened, that an update resulted in a smaller package.

1 - Check the date
2 - Check the size


But mostly i finish up a package, and only the next day process them for download, so theres little chance theres a difference in a package even if its hours apart.
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[Freddie]

Diehard,

Thanks for the quick reply. I surmised that the newer and larger Mine.utx files that I had already installed were the correct ones. But you know what they say about assuming. That's why I decided to check it out with you.

As regards the miner date and time variances, I also assumed that those type differences can be ignored, so I did. Again, I just wanted to check with you about those situations, just to be sure.

Hey, no big deal. You're OK in my book. Anyone putting in the time and effort to upgrade these textures deserves everyone's support.

Good luck, and keep the cards and letters coming.

Freddie

 

[Diehard]

Ill try do my best


And at the moment i am working on a small update for PlayrShp and because of the new circumstances Mine as well. Aside that i am working on a larger update for the NaliCast package. But for all goes, no timeframe.
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[Diehard]

Release September 25th 2011

Ok, here we go.





Upfront

Upfront i need to say that i own Ahaigh a big appology, for taking so long to release his work. Innitially i simply was too ill to do anything at al, and when i finally was able to grab myself to get to work, loads of technical problems delayed everything even more. If new releases are made i hope to release them alot faster than i did now........





About these updates.

There are a fair amount of new textures available but the main real update as far as textures have been made by Ahaigh on the GenFX package and a few on Crypt and NaliCast. Than the bulk of the updates concern textures that have been turned Extreme End. And to do so, i also had to re-process all High and Low End version to make sure they match eachother. The other part of the update concern alot of fixes for both Unreal and UT. Mainly in UT some bugs apeared in the last year that badly needed a fix.





Dates

All utx packages in this update, and if needed fixes in the next weeks(i hope not) will have as date September 25th 2011. If you find a wrong date than please post that, because it means that i accidentelly uploaded an old file.





Crypt package, First comes first get

The Crypt package with a huge update

And it huge because theres only 2 textures in that package, with this update the package is 100% done All updates made by Ahaigh

Remark: First release of the Extreme End version.

Unreal_LowEnd_Crypt.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_Crypt.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_Crypt.zip





GenFX package

Large update concerning the amount of updatable textures, this package too is completed. All updates made by Ahaigh

Remark: First release of the Extreme End version.

Unreal_LowEnd_GenFX.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_GenFX.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_GenFX.zip





NaliCast package

The bookcases have been updated by ahaigh and i shipped in a few walls.

Remark: First release of the Extreme End version.

Unreal_LowEnd_NaliCast.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_NaliCast.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_NaliCast.zip





DecayedS package

While working on the update i noteiced a big difference beween Extreme, High and Low End. I found 20+ textures that were simply bloated up original textures. The Extrem End version dropped from 951 Mb to 936Mb. On a second attempt i still found differences which resulted in re-processing the entire package. Several textures were added and the package reached a new milestone and surpassed the 1 Gigabyte threshold and is now 1086 Megabyte.

Remark 20+ stupid fixes and a whole bunch of updates.

Unreal_LowEnd_DecayedS.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_DecayedS.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_DecayedS.zip





GenEarth package

The package received updates on the grass textures so it could be turned Extreme End. Still i am not satisfied about the grass, and likelly in the future there will be another update. Needs to be said, in Extreme end it looks awsome, the quality on the grass itself is unmatched. It also contains pretty much zero repeat. This is the reason i developed the Extreme End versions in the first place. I wanted to ship in the rockfaces but decided to not do that, i need to have second look at those.

Remark: First release of the Extreme End version.

Unreal_LowEnd_GenEarth.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_GenEarth.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_GenEarth.zip





GenTerra package

GenTerra contains all other variations on the grass, which ment that this package had to be redone completelly. It took my secondary computer system over 24 hours to make all calculations for the dds files. Extreme End is now 579 Mb.

Remark: First release of the Extreme End version.

Unreal_LowEnd_GenTerra.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_GenTerra.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_GenTerra.zip





NaliFX package

NaliFX also contains a few grass textures that needed to be updated.

Remark: First release of the Extreme End version.

Unreal_LowEnd_NaliFX.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_NaliFX.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_NaliFX.zip





ShaneSky package

This release contains a fix for the annoying black squares that people sometimes encountered. Like the skyboxes i forced the planets/moons to be masked at all time by adding an Alpha channel to the textures. Theoretically if the texture is being used as last texture in a skybox it could punch a hole to the universe and create a monster of a HOM. But i never heard this happen with the skybox textures, while they really pose a risk on that. Since it was succesfull on those textures, than its unlikelly this will happen on these. I doubt a mapper ever will add them as last texture in a skybox.

The package also have the offset atmospheres fixed which were reported not that long ago.

Remark: Critical fix on the package that contains a masking and atmospheric fix on all moons/planets, as well as a fix for the Black Square behind planet/moon bug.

Unreal_LowEnd_ShaneSky.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_ShaneSky.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_ShaneSky.zip





SkyBox package

Pretty much the same as ShaneSky, the moonplanet is forced masked and has the atmosphere fixed.

Secondary, the high resolution clouds have been ditched. In both Unreal and UT it triggered the so called Non-Tiling clouds. Unclear is why it happens, but effectivelly something went wrong on the Drawscale function. For now it means the cloud textures had to be ditched, which is a pitty of course........

Remark: Critical fix on the package that contains two different fixes on the moonplanet, as well as a fix for the Non-Tiling clouds bug.

Unreal_LowEnd_SkyBox.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_SkyBox.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_SkyBox.zip





SkyCity package

SkyCity also contains a few grass textures that needed to be updated, in this case the grass with the cobblestones on them, to be seen in SkyTown.

Remark: First release of the Extreme End version.

Unreal_LowEnd_SkyCity.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_SkyCity.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_SkyCity.zip





SpaceFX package

SpaceFX again pretty much the same as ShaneSky, the Earth texture is forced masked.

Remark: Critical fix on the package that contains a masking and atmospheric fix on the Earth texture, as well as a fix for the Black Square behind planet/moon bug.

Unreal_LowEnd_SpaceFX.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_SpaceFX.zip
Unreal_ExtremeEnd_SpaceFX.zip





Hourences packages

Hourences may not be that known in the Unreal community, but he is in the UT community. In the past he released several texture packages for Unreal, UT, UT2003 and UT2004. Using the textures provided by Hourences i was able to produce the High and Low End S3TC versions. The Extreme End versions could not be made since the textures he has simply did not go further than High End. At that time of release its pretty obvious he didnt make them larger, as there was no need for that backthan.

Initially there were 4 packages that were turned S3TC, however oné package dropped of due to the skating player glitch. Thanks to Protos who made the testmap available on his server for online testing The packages have been limited tested on a server to exclude the skating player glitch.

But there is still that second unknown factor build in some maps that can trigger the glitch. If it happens please report that. For that reason, use is entirely at your own risk !!!

The download contains 3 packages:
- HourIndusX_UT
- HourNature_UT
- HourPitores_UT

Remark: All credits go to Hourences, i only assembled the S3TC packages, and made a few textures forced masked.

Unreal_LowEnd_Hourences.zip
Unreal_HighEnd_Hourences.zip





Vanilla packages

A whole new serie of packages will be released called Vanilla UT and Vanilla Unreal. These packages have a few alterations to the normal S3TC packages. You cannot read the text on the holoscreens anymore, so they will remain neutral and wont interfere with another storyline(like Red Nemesis). The planet and moons will look more like the originals, which means they loose the noticable atmosphere and will look alot closer to the original. Some players didnt like them, and those packages offer a solution to that. The vanilla packages only concern the packages that have that kind of stuff in them, so its a limited amount of packages. Of course all packages will have Low End, High End and Extreme End versions.


I planned to have at least one of those packages include, but no go. As soon as one is available, ill post those here as well.
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[Freddie]

Hey Diehard,

I downloaded and installed all the above listed Unreal textures. I'm taking it on faith that these are better than those that came before. I was happy with the previous textures.

I thought that those few tiles that showed up here and there looked better with the higher level textures than the original textures looked with no tiles or seams. I didn't think it was all that bad. I didn't care that there may have been a box around a planet or what have you. It still looked good. I'm thinking the textures looked better than the original ones. I'm happy that we still have plenty of the new, higher level textures remaining to view.

Oh well, I installed all the new and revised textures anyway. I guess you can say that I'm not all the picky.

Now, on to the UT textures. Yeah, this is a lot of work. I like it though. Thanks for the hard work you and others are providing to the Unreal community.

Freddie

 

[UBerserker]

Links don't load for me...
The ExtremeEnd ones I mean.

All the files you have in this page provide all the existing S3TC textures? Asking because I want to know if there are certain packs that aren't ExtremeEnd only.

EDIT: Nvm that, there are quick packages for those textures that don't have ExtremeEnd quality yet.