Shadowspawn on 23/8/2005 at 13:30

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Since so much of the graphics and 3D rendering is handled in DirectX (actually called Direct3D now), I'm guessing that the texture representation in the IBT file is either a Direct3D surface, or an in memory file format. I'm pretty sure this is done so the engine can just load the texture into Direct3D without any more processing, directly affecting performance. I haven't had time to play with that aspect much, but I've been writing some Direct3D test code for work which I can modify to help me test this.

Before I jump on the 1,899 .hex files idea, I'd like to see if I can convert the textures into the format used in the .IBT file. I'd hate to ship all the textures for a mission in the "cooked" format, and then have to distribute them separately for designers to use. If that's what is required, OK, but I'd like to avoid it if possible.

Unfortunately, I still need to process some more IBT files to find out what the contents are. I've discovered at least 12 types of texture blocks, there are probably more. But so far, they are the largest offenders in IBT bloat. However, I haven't yet discovered any object or AI contents, which could be worse.

I'll keep plugging at it.