Fixing blurry buttons without Photoshop easy

[Arian]

When playing on low quality graphics setting (for big MODS) some buttons appear small and blurry. It just doesn't look good. Because I don't have Photoshop I had to find another solution. I did find info on the forum but fixing the buttons required Photoshop

But I found a simple (and free) solution:

1. Download and install NVIDIA Texture Tools and select DDS Utilities:

Here: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nv_texture_tools.html

2. Run nvDXT

3. Use these commandline parameters:

nvDXT -file my_blurry_button.dds -nomipmap -dxt3 -fadeamount 0

The fixed buttons can then be found in the DDS Utilities map (they have an underscore attached). Wildcards are allowed so you can fix a whole bunch at once.

Maybe someone has figured this out before but I couldn't find it on the forum so I decided post it.

 

[EmperorFool]

Thank you very much for this information. It came at the perfect time and worked like a charm.

You don't happen to know of a handy utility that will strip the trailing underscore from the filenames after processing, do you?

 

[Arian]

Thank you very much for this information. It came at the perfect time and worked like a charm.

You don't happen to know of a handy utility that will strip the trailing underscore from the filenames after processing, do you?

Nope, didn't figure that out but when I convert png to dds there are no trailing underscores. Probably an extension issue.

BTW I use these batch file for rapid conversion:

makebutton.bat

nvdxt -file d:\games\*.png -nomipmap -dxt3 -fadeamount 0
nvdxt -file d:\games\*.dds -nomipmap -dxt3 -fadeamount 0
del d:\games\*.png
del d:\games\*.dds

Place this batch file in the "DDS Utilities"-folder and your png/dds buttons/atlas files in d:\games (or whatever directory you choose, just change the path)

It eats your blurry buttons and spits out nice sharp non-blurry buttons

 

[EmperorFool]

Nope, didn't figure that out but when I convert png to dds there are no trailing underscores.

It's possible that I only get the trailing underscore because I'm processing the DDS files in-place. It cannot use the same name, so it adds the underscore. I'll try pulling them from a different directory. And it's nice to see that it will convert the PNGs as well.

 

[Arian]

It's possible that I only get the trailing underscore because I'm processing the DDS files in-place. It cannot use the same name, so it adds the underscore. I'll try pulling them from a different directory. And it's nice to see that it will convert the PNGs as well.

Actually it reads also tga, gif, bmp, jpg, ppm, tif, cel, psd, rgb, bw and rgba!
To convert them too, add them in the batch-file.

 

[Xenomorph]

I still get the trailing underscores, even when I have everything converted in two different directories.

 

[Arian]

Me too. You have to remove them manually (for dds-files). I can't help you with that

 

[Xenomorph]

Well, is there a batch file command to remove a trailing underscore that could be used?

 

[Arian]

Well, is there a batch file command to remove a trailing underscore that could be used?

Man, you're talking DOS from 15 years ago

Try this IIRC:

ren *_.dds *.dds

or more general:

ren *_.* *.*

Be sure to backup first!

 

[Xenomorph]

Muchas grâcias.

 

[Arian]

Muchas grâcias.

Graag gedaan. Geen dank.

 

[OzzyKP]

And for those of you who do have photoshop:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=268684

 

[ZeroOne]

You don't happen to know of a handy utility that will strip the trailing underscore from the filenames after processing, do you?

Try Rename Master! It does simple things like that with just a couple of clicks, but it also does some more advanced stuff if you need to rename .jpg or .mp3 files according to their meta data.

 

[yamunatri]

Hi all, I have an Inkjet printer Canon MP500 which paper gets stuck. The paper is getting stuck in my printer, whether it comes from the tray or the top-feeder. Nothing seems to be broken or jammed, and it was working fine up until now. I've tried a few different types of paper. Should I take it apart and put it back together? I wouldn't buy this printer again; it uses a lot of ink. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Arian]

Hi all, I have an Inkjet printer Canon MP500 which paper gets stuck. The paper is getting stuck in my printer, whether it comes from the tray or the top-feeder. Nothing seems to be broken or jammed, and it was working fine up until now. I've tried a few different types of paper. Should I take it apart and put it back together? I wouldn't buy this printer again; it uses a lot of ink. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

You should post this on the Canon site, not here!

 

[Daryl95]

Thanks. I've been having trouble with this and I've never had trouble before. Did someone say something about graphics settings causing this?

 

[Arian]

If you play Civ4 in low graphics, you might get blurry, small buttons, if they are not in the correct format

 

[Daryl95]

If you play Civ4 in low graphics, you might get blurry, small buttons, if they are not in the correct format

What's the correct format? I use dds dxt3.

 

[Arian]

What's the correct format? I use dds dxt3.

That's the correct format.

 

[Daryl95]

That's the correct format.

I still have trouble though. They all come out 32x32.