How to view .DDS files?

[Salk]

Hello!

Is there someone who can tell me how to open and view .dds files?

 

I have some reskins that use this kind of format and for the life of me, there is no way to open them, resulting in errors no matter what software I use.

 

I tried DDS viewer, no dice: it crashes.

 

I tried GIMP with plugin, errors here too.

 

Specifically I was trying to view Darth Sapiens' T3-M4 and Visas reskins. No luck with Constar's Hanharr either.

 

Any help?

 

Thanks.

[Sithspecter]

I haven't been able to find a viewer either. It frustrates me that people release textures in DDS because there's no way to view them and learn from them.

[DarthParametric]

It's a non-standard format that Bioware implemented for Neverwinter Nights/Aurora Engine (hence why it still works in Odyssey). You can view them at least in NWN Explorer - http://neverwintervault.net/project/nwn1/other/tool/nwn-explorer-reborn

 

It frustrates me that people release textures in DDS because there's no way to view them and learn from them.

It's preferable in pretty much all cases to use DDS over TGA for compression, especially in cases of large retexture mods. I advocate offering modder's resources of TGAs though, where applicable.

[Fair Strides]

It's preferable in pretty much all cases to use DDS over TGA for compression, especially in cases of large retexture mods. I advocate offering modder's resources of TGAs though, where applicable.

That's exactly why I plan to always have the textures as a separate download (so both a .tga pack and a .dds pack) whenever I release a mod.

[Salk]

Thanks, DarthParametric!

 

NWN Explorer does indeed work!

[Malkior]

I've been looking for this utility since my last computer build! Thank you very much, Darth Parametric!

[Purifier]

Many of you may want to try these as well;

 

http://dxtbmp.software.informer.com/4.0/

 

DXTMP

 

This one let's you view DDS files.

 

 

http://dds-converter.software.informer.com/2.1/

 

DDS Converter 2.1

 

This one let's you view DDS files and can convert it to TGA files or other types (like JPG) as well.

 

 

 

Over in the Far Cry & Crysis modding community we've used these two programs for years and they do the job quite nicely.

[Sith Holocron]

DDS Converter won't let you convert Darth Sapiens' files.  I'll try the other methods though.

 

Edit: NWN Explorer Reborn enabled me to cut and piece the texture together. Thanks, DP!

[Fair Strides]

The issue is that these aren't "true" DDS files that come from that program, and without the source code, I can't tell you what the format layout actually is. It's not true DDS, and it's not TPC either (Bioware's DDS format). Somehow, it does work, though.

[Purifier]

^Oh wow, man I've never heard of such a thing with file formats like that before, but then again, I've seen other strange things in general modding that never made sense either. I guess it's just one of those things that comes along and throws you for a loop every once in a while.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

DDS Converter won't let you convert Darth Sapiens' files.  I'll try the other methods though.
 
 

Aaah bummer! We'll you can at least view the texture files with those programs, right?

[Peardon]

I know this thread is almost 10 years old, but if anyone in the future wants to convert a .dds file back to TGA or PNG, this should work.

https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwnee/other/tool/nwn-crunch-enhanced-edition

Edited March 17 by Peardon