Transparent Ads When Modding?

[keithj]

I modded a bunch of stadiums in 2k9 and never had a problem. I also did Yankee Stadium for 2k10 and didn't see this problem.

I started working on Cellular Field today and replaced a couple ads. When I loaded up the game to check them, I saw something I had never seen before. The ads are transparent and the original ads are permanent. Take a look at the image I attached.

I replaced the Twin Robo Music ad in at (13 20) with the Comcast Sportsnet ad. It looks fine when you're up close but look what happens when you start moving farther away. The Comcast Sportsnet ad starts disappearing and the Twin Robo Music ad comes back. I also replaced the ads at (13 22) and the same thing is happening.

Has anyone else seen anything like this?

[MarkB]

You need to create the mip maps for the bitmap. They're used when at a distance from the ad.

[jhtapp76]

You need to create the mip maps for the bitmap. They're used when at a distance from the ad.

MarkB is right. When you save the modded file, make sure that "Generate Mip Maps" is checked. This is with Paint.net anyway. Not sure about Photoshop or other editors.

[MarkB]

Sorry for the short reply...perfect example of why dinner and forums don't mix. To go in to more detail;

The mip maps are the parts of the bitmap that have the original image reduced in size so that, when the camera angle is further away than normal from the image it's showing, the system doesn't need too keep loading big textures into memory when it's only showing them at a quarter of their normal size. So, for example, if your original image is 1024x1024, your mip maps will be 512x512, 256x256 and 128x128, maybe even lower, depending on the level of detail the game requires. I haven't experimented much with 2K10 yet, so I can't tell you the exact sizes.

I use Paint Shop Pro to edit the graphics, and when saving to the .DDS file, there was an option to either generate new mip maps, use the existing mip maps, or have none. If you're showing the mip maps, you'll need to choose "Use existing", otherwise you'll end up with 2 sets of mip maps. IIRC, what I did was choose not to show them, then, when saving, choose to generate new mip maps, and this creates mip maps based on your image, so you'll be seeing your edited image instead of the TwinRobo ones.

When saving to the .DDS file, you should get a prompt with these options on it, although it may depend on the program, and plug-in, you're using.

[keithj]

Thanks.

I think I am getting there. I downloaded the NVIDIA dds plugin for Photoshop and installed it. I was able to save a dds file and import it back into the stadium but look what it did to my Comcast Sportsnet ad (iff.jpg).

I had it generate the mip maps but I'm guessing I had another setting wrong?

[keithj]

OK. I think I figured it out. There was a compression setting under Image Options and it was set to Highest (Fastest, Normal, Production, and Highest were the options). I changed it to Normal, resaved the file, imported it, and it now looks fine in the stadium from all distances.

Thanks for the help.

[MarkB]

Yeah, I'd avoid the nVidia one. It did that with mine too. I've attached one that works fine for me.

dds.rar