File Formats

Gamestudio and lite-C support numerous file formats for importing and exporting artwork and data.  !!  All file names that you're using should be kept short (texture and skin names in WAD and MDL files are limited to 15 characters) and must not contain any special characters except "_" or "+". Never, ever, use spaces in your file or path names! Many import filters will not find texture files when they have spaces or exotic characters in their name.

In the following you'll find specific information about the formats supported:

Image files

• BMP and PCX 256 color (8-bit palettized) images for low quality textures are supported for compatibility reasons. All 256 color images must share the same color palette per level, given in WED Map Properties. The first color of the palette (color #0) must always be black, the last color (color #255) must always be white. Due to the many restrictions and requirements, we do not recommend to use 256 color images - especially for beginners who don't know about handling color palettes.
• BMP and PCX true color (24-bit RGB) images are used for medium quality textures. They are internally stored in either 16-bit high color or 4-bit compressed format, depending on d3d_texdepth. PCX is preferable as it's a compressed format and files sizes are much smaller than for BMP images.
• TGA true color (24-bit RGB) and true color alpha (32-bit ARGB) images are used for high quality textures. They are internally stored in 16-bit high color or 32-bit true color, depending on the setting of d3d_alphadepth. 32-bit ARGB images contain an alpha channel which gives a transparency value for every single pixel. For creating an alpha channel in Photoshop, open the channels window, and click onto the small "new channel" button below. Now an alpha channel is created, and you can paint onto it. When saving the picture, use the 32 bit TGA format.
• DDS images are used for medium/low quality textures when video memory must be economized. They are supported in the DXT1..DXT5 sub-formats with included mipmaps. DDS uses a compressed 4-bit texture format for saving memory at the expense of image quality. DXT2..DXT5 textures contain an alpha channel and are treated as translucent by the engine. Due to their compressed content, DDS bitmaps can not be altered by image manipulation functions (like pixel_to_bmap), can not be used for textures that contain several separate images (like animated sprites or sky cubes), and are not displayed by the older GXL libraries in the WED and MED editors. They can be created with the DirectX Texture Tool, with a Photoshop Plugin, or with ATI's Compressonator.
• JPG images are supported for bitmaps, but are not recommended for realtime games due to their slow loading, high video memory consumption, and bad quality compared to other formats.
• WAD files are image collections containing several BMP, PCX, TGA, or DDS images, with names and included mipmaps. They are imported in WED and used for level textures. As DDS images are not displayed by WED, they appear as blue squares in the WAD preview.

Some considerations about transparency:

• All image formats that contain an alpha channel - 32 bit TGA, or DXT2..DXT5 - are treated as transparent by the engine, even if the alpha channel is totally opaque and even if you don't know what an alpha channel is. Transparency has consequences for sorting and rendering, so never use an alpha channel texture for an object that you don't want to be transparent.
• Images without alpha channel can be used for overlays with transparent parts. Overlays are sorted like opaque textures. In overlay images, black parts (RGB == 000) are totally transparent, the rest is totally opaque. For nontransparent black use a RGB color value of 8 or above. If d3d_autotransparency is enabled, the transparency color is taken from the upper left pixel of the image. This way an arbitrary color can be used for transparency, avoiding the dark seams around intransparent parts that are otherwise caused by black pixel antialiasing.

Restrictions apply to image sizes:

• 3D cards have a texture size limit - mostly 4096, 2048, or 1024 pixels in every direction. For supporting all 3D cards, don't use bigger bitmaps than 1024x1024, except for images containing several frames (for animation or sky cubes), or images with mipmaps. The next-lower mipmap is then automatically used when a 3D card does not support the image size.
• 3D cards can not render arbitrary texture sizes. Often they require power-of-2 texture sizes (32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024...), like 64x128 or 128x512. All other sizes are automatically 'padded' by the engine to the next power of 2, at cost of video memory, performance, and image quality. In some cases, f.i. for tiled textures, invalid sizes are not possible at all. So always use power-of-2 sizes for level textures and terrain or model skins. Only for sprites and panels it might make sense to use different sized textures.

Video files

Sound files

• OGG is the recommended format for snd_play and sound sources. It uses Gamestudio's internal OGG player. OGG can also be used with media_play, however an media player OGG filter (installer included in Gamestudio) must then be distributed with the game and installed on the target machines.
• WAV and MID work everywhere, but WAV is large in size and MID low in quality.
• MP3 requires a license fee and thus is not recommended for low budget games.

Script and Effect files

3D files

• 3DS, ASE, and OBJ files contain nonanimated models with multiple meshes and materials, and are supported by almost all 3D packages. Some 3D editors do not use transparency and set the alpha value at zero, so after importing check the material alpha setting. Using a list of 3DS files, vertex animation can be imported. 3DS models can also be exported for using them in external editors.
• FX and X files are models with multiple meshes and materials plus bones or vertex animation. The recommended format for importing complex models and levels is the FX format that is exported by all major editors. Unfortunately, FX as well as X bones animation suffers from inconsistencies, resulting from different versions of coordinate transformation systems (even within the same file). The importer tries to resolve the problems. For reasons that are the secret of the FX developers, the FX format exists in a 2005 and 2006 version that are incompatible and can not be detected automatically. So you have to try both if you don't know which format version your editor exports.
• Milkshape is a popular model editor that supports many formats through external filters. Milkshape filters can be used by MED, and models in Milkshape ASCII format can be directly imported, including bones animation.
• MDL and MD2 files are vertex animated models with a single texture, used for the Quake game series by id software.
• ASC is a nontextured mesh format for importing raw 3D data.

Gamestudio files

• WMP files are created by WED and contain the level lighting, textures and geometry, plus references to additional files for models, terrain, sprites, and sound source. Once they are compiled they become WMB files that can be read by the engine.
• WAD files are created by WED and contain texture collections. External WAD files from Quake and Halflife can be imported.
• MDL files are created by MED and used for animated models. They support bones and vertex animation, multiple meshes and textures, materials and shaders. They are not identical with Quake MDL files, although the engine also accepts models in the Quake MDL format.
• HMP files are created by MED and used for terrain. They contain the height values and the terrain textures.