madmax DDS texture modding help needed

[VladYvhv]

Hello. I'm looking to get into modding graphics for Mad Max. However, it seems that my lack of technical knowledge is biting me in the butt. I've got some Resoref mods, and can get those to work fine.

 

I'd like to do some modding on things like the Black Tar texture for various cars to make it less "black on white" and more "black on black" for a first project. I've been able to edit some files in GIMP and get them to look nice, but I'm not sure if I'm messing something up on import/export or what. I can't get any edited DDS file to not crash my D3D device by causing a graphical spasm and infinite loop error as soon as the offending file is viewed (or as soon as the intro movie plays, for things like Max's clothing), resulting in having to close Mad Max through the task manager and replace the offending file with an unmodded version.

If someone could walk me through the process and help me figure out where I'm messing up and how to fix that, or at least point me to an existing tutorial on the subject, that would be great.

[Cblades2002]

https://www.nexusmods.com/madmax/mods/30

[VladYvhv]

All I see in there is something about photoshop. Which, I don't have the money to bother with.