Alpha Channel Textures

[Dynadin]

I want to put some images in my map with some transparency. No matter how much I follow tutorials they all end up with white backgrounds. What format do people use? As far as I can tell only .bmp and .tga can be saved with traditional programs. The program I have access to is Photoshop CS3. I have seen player made textures with alpha channels in maps (eg DM-BikiniBottom) so I know someone knows how to do it somewhere and I would greatly appreciate their knowledge.

Thanks

Dyna

[DW_KarmaKat]

I ran across this issue some time back when creating some graphics to be used in DM-CargoShip for Ant. You need to get a plug-in for Photoshop that will allow you to do DXT compression. The link and info I have is for use with CS2, but I'm pretty sure the NVIDIA developers site will have the proper plug in for your version of Photoshop...you'll just have to poke around in there a bit and find it. :D Here's the link for the CS2 version: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/phot ... #downloads

Check your email...I'm sending you some other info/instructions that should help too.

KKat

[DW_WailofSuicide]

.dds (using the Photoshop plugin Karma pointed you at), and then when you import the texture you make sure the Alpha/Transparency checkbox is checked.

Edit Also: Pay attention to the settings when exporting from Photoshop using .dds / DXT. DXT1 for example, can have 1 bit (on/off) transparency, you'd want to use this where there's a sharp distinction between the solid and non-solid areas of your texture. Ex. a prison bar texture, window blinds, etc.

DXT3 & DXT5 (IIRC) can both have a full alpha channel, with smooth transitions between transparent and nontransparent, but the filesize is going to be larger. This is what you want for something like glass or semitransparent leaves, water, etc.

[Dynadin]

Thanks to everyone for the help, especially to the indepth guide Karma emailed to me. I got it working perfectly :)