What is the difference detween these textures?

[IconicDeath]

So I've been looking into retexturing, and I know the difference between dgshield_d.dds and dgshield_n.dds, but what is the third file for? (dgshield_m.dds).

It's the same with every piece of armor, I just used the dawnguard shield as an example.

[nightscrawl]

From here:

Used to fine-tune the behavior of texture optimization based upon texture type (as defined by the 'known use cases': The following use-cases are known (for Oblivion and Skyrim):

• in a "menu"-folder: User-interface element, alpha is element-mask
• in a "landscapelod"- or "terrain"-folder: World-space normal-map for terrain, no alpha
• "_n"-suffix: Tangent-space normal-map, alpha is specularity
• "_msn"-suffix: Model-space normal-map, no alpha
• "_g"-, "_glow"- or "_emit"-suffix: Glow-map, alpha is a mask
• "_hh"-suffix: Gloss-map for hair, no alpha
• "_hl"-suffix: Detail-map for hair, alpha is opacity
• "_m"-suffix: Reflectivity-map for light-sources, no alpha
• "_em"- or "_envmap"-suffix: Reflectivity-map for environment-maps, no alpha
• "_e"-suffix: Environment-map (some are planar, some are cube-maps), no alpha
• "_b"- or "_bl"-suffix: Backlight-map, no alpha
• "_s"-suffix: Specularity-map for skins, no alpha
• "_sk"-suffix: Tone-map for skins, no alpha
• "_p"-suffix: Parallax-map, no alpha
• "_d"-suffix: Diffuse-map, alpha is opacity
• "_h"-suffix: Haze-map, alpha is unknown

So in this case, it is essentially a separate map (separate from the diffuse) for certain components that determines the shininess of the item, how shiny it is based on how much light gets reflected. But the normal maps also have an alpha channel that determines reflection, so I'm not entirely certain why there need to be two of these reflection maps.

 

On the dawnguard armor, you can see that the _m looks different from the alpha channel on the normal map, so I'll assume that they determine different things. However, they look almost identical on the dawnguard shield.

 

 

All of that is my best guess, at any rate. I might be wrong.

 

[edit] On thinking about it further, I think that _m is for the reflection of all items, which includes leather. After all, leather can be shiny as well. The alpha on the normal map seems more focused on metallic components, which is why armor studs and other decorations are highlighted there.

Edited July 22, 2017 by nightscrawl

[IconicDeath]

Thanks for this, helped a lot!!