Compressing texture files?

[wildgravity]

So, I'm the author of a retexture mod that deals with retexturing pipers trench coats. http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2459/?

I have noticed the file size is unreasonably big, and it has been pointed out to me. Although it hasn't created that much of an issue for users, it eats up a lot of ram. Now, I used the GIMP to edit my files. The files come out in layers in the gimp and if you flatten those layers, that makes for a smaller file, but it creates CTDs for users. I'm really not all that adept at retexturing, and I'm not that familiar with the software, in general. but I wound like to compress these files better for users, and havent been having any real luck in my attempts. (if at all possible, I'd really rather not remake them from scratch) but another modder was able to compress at least one of my files using paint.nnet and rar. they walked me through what they did, and I still have these huge files, despite following instruction.

Can anyone tell me what it is I'm doing wrong, or need to do differently? all of my files have this size issue.

Any Help that could be given to me would be fantastic. Thank you again.

Edited December 11, 2015 by wildgravity

[Fl0W]

Are you talking about texture or .7z archive size/compression?

 

- The compression for textures are usually used the lossy DX1 (high compression, more lossy) or DX5 (less compression, less lossy). I dont have much experience in texturing. Do these cause CTDs ?

 

- To compress your archives you should use the "Normal" setting in 7zip. This setting use average compression ratio and is the most compatible compression method.

You also can use the Ultra setting in 7Zip, but this setting make the archive a solid archive. That means that you can not simply extract a single file out of it without scanning the entire archive file. Single file extractions out of huge solid archive take a very long time (depending on the HDD speed and file size).

 

http://i.imgur.com/gAvHjOY.png

 

I took a look at your mod and your archive "Pipers Trench Coat Retexture 2.0-2459-2-0.7z" is in fact not compressed at all!

You should at least use the normal compression, it would shrink down to 13MB with Normal compression and down to 10MB with the Ultra setting.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Fl0W

[wildgravity]

Thank you so much for taking a look at my files for me, and telling me what I've done wrong here with compression. I can't believe it was something so simple I overlooked on my end. You are the best.