In the process of creating my new race, I came across a problem – No DDS File viewer! Anyone know any method of seeing these?
Another thing; I have the files for a new ship in what appears to be the correct place, but they’re not showing up in the hull editor for some reason. I have the ship’s image files here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Gratuitous Space Battles\Slyth Empire\data\bitmaps\ships\Slyth Empire\Nucleus Dreadnought
The hull files here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Gratuitous Space Battles\Slyth Empire\data\hulls\Slyth
Any ideas? If necessary I can post what’s on the files themselves.
I recommend Paint.NET. It’s free software that can open .dds files and is a very useful image editor just in general.
alternatively if you have gimp 2
a single google search will get you a dds extension for the program
side note, if you eventually want to make stuff (new races) for gsb2
in the current state, to get all the files you need you will probably have to 3d model
get google sketchup for that and then get this
http://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/clf-normal-map-maker
also who turns of the url bbcode? why would you do that?
Okay, I’ll take a look. Thanks! also, any advice on my hull problems?
I did see Gimp, but for some reason I can’t download the dds plugin. Ah well.
I don’t see what you mean about turning off url bbcode? 
NEVERMIND! I was stupid and made perhaps the biggest newbie fail ever in the history of newbies. I forgot the install file
Multiple earthquake inducing facepalms ensue
Alas, a new problem has arrived. DDS images make the black transparent (I think – already tried white), and having turned black the parts I want transparent, I open it in the hull editor. The black is not transparent. DAMMIT DDS FILES THAT I HAVE LITTLE EXPERIENCE WITH, WHY ARE YOU SO CONFUSING D:<
The game developer likes .dds format because of the small filesizes it can generate. But for modding purposes, it’s often a big pain in the neck for noobs to make use of this format, and that relative barrier to entry has long concerned me. [-sigh-]
There’s very likely other freeware (or even paid shareware) editors out there for getting started with your intended .dds sprites. You should consider searching for some, testing them for their user-friendliness, and then making further use of them only after you’ve read all of the instructions needed to become familiar with them. If you’re new to this, do yourself a favor and don’t expect to master it all at once – quality takes time.
when i did it i just made the transparent parts transparent
pop over here for a sec,
http://positech.co.uk/forums/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7603
and scroll to the bottom that ship i made all the transparent part are transparent in the dds, btw some pictures would really help if you have problms
Okay, thanks. 
EDIT: I still have the same problem. The transparent bits are turned to RGB 0, 0, 0 but it still just shows like a the ship is on a black square D:
thats not transparent thats black, you have to change the opacity to 0
Aha! That was the problem. I heard somewhere that in .dds files, rgb 0, 0, 0 was turned invisible. Thanks!
Worth noting is that .dds files for effects in GSB turn black transparent, but not the .dds hulls.
Thanks for the confirmation 