FS Texture Converter v1.03 by Elrond Elvish
===========================================

Thank you for using FS Texture Converter.


About FS Texture Converter
--------------------------

This utility allows conversion of BMP graphics to the various DXT (DirectX
Texture) formats as used by Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002.  It has the ability
to merge a base BMP file with an 256 color Alpha BMP mask to create transparent
DXT textures for FS.  This is useful for enabling ground textures to have the
transparent water features as built into Flight Simulator.  It may also be used
to create transparency for models in FS as well (DXT1 and possibly other DXT
and/or Extended BMP formats).

FS Texture Converter supports conversion from Windows Bitmap (BMP) format to any
of these texture formats:

DXT1 with Alpha (2 Methods)
DXT1 Opaque
DXT3 with Alpha
DXT5 with Alpha
Extended 16-bit Opaque (0-565)
Extended 16-bit with Alpha (4-444)
Extended 16-bit with Alpha (1-555)
Extended 32-bit with Alpha (8-888)

Some of these formats may not be supported by Flight Simulator 2002 at this
time.  For instance, the Extended 32-bit with Alpha (8-888) does seem to work in
FS, but does not seem to allow the 256 shades of transparency stored in its
Alpha channel.  There are also two methods to creating the stock FS supported
DXT1 with Alpha textures: an FS2K2 method and a direct implementation of the
standard NVidia method.  Overall, the FS2K2 method is much more reliable in most
cases, but there may be times you wish to use the NVidia method if a texture
doesn't turn out the way you wish.  Both of these methods create exactly the
same DXT1 with Alpha format textures, they just use different methods to arrive
at that point.  The NVidia method, for instance, has some problems creating some
types of textures, and thus may leave some textures unconverted (the utility
will warn you of this when it happens).  Overall, the best method for converting
to DXT1 with Alpha will be the FS2K2 method.


Installation
------------

Since you have already extracted the zip this Readme came in, you also have the
Setup.exe file now.  Simply double-click Setup.exe and follow the on screen
prompts.  Do NOT install this utility into your Windows/System or
Windows/System32 folders however.  Once installed, you'll find a shortcut to the
utility in your Start menu.


***REQUIRED COMPONENT***
------------------------

FS Texture Converter absolutely depends on the latest version of Martin Wright's
wonderful MWDDS.DLL and MWGFX.DLL to accomplish its work.  This utility is
completely useless without Martin's DLL package as listed below.  You may obtain
this package by clicking within the Setup.exe program upon installation, or from
this url (copy and paste it into your web browser):

http://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.uk/download/mwgfxdll.EXE

You can freely install and run FS Texture Converter without Martin's DLL package
installed, but no conversions will take place until this is rectified.  Many,
many thanks to Martin for his wonderful work not only in this case, but for all
he has done and continues to do for the FS and Graphics communities!  Please
visit his site and check out the wonderful work Martin has available:

http://fly.to/mwgfx


How to use FS Texture Converter
-------------------------------

FS Texture Converter is very easy to use.  Simply run the exe and its dialog
will display.  There are two mandatory fields to fill in, one optional field and
a conversion type to select:

Base Texture Folder [REQUIRED]
  This is the folder where your BMP files (non-Alpha masked) to be converted
should reside.

Output Folder [REQUIRED]
  This is the folder where the converted textures will be created.

Alpha Mask Folder [OPTIONAL]
  This is the folder where your BMP files (256 color Alpha masks) which will be
used to alpha mask the BMP files above should reside.

Convert To Type
  This dropdown box allows you to select the type of texture you wish to convert
to.

If you do not provide the Alpha Mask Folder location in the dialog, the textures
will simply be converted without any Alpha information added, even if one of the
Alpha texture formats is selected as the type (the results will simply be
opaque).  Once you have selected your Base, Output and optional Alpha folders,
simply click the Convert Textures button to begin the conversions.

A preview of each texture (with any Alpha areas shown as Blue) will be displayed
as the textures are converted.  A count of total textures and the number being
worked on will also be displayed.  If you wish to stop or cancel the conversion
at any time, simply click the "Cancel Conversions" button.


Commandline Interface
---------------------

You can optionally use FS Texture Converter as a commandline driven utility.  In
this mode, FS Texture Converter will process the textures automatically and
without user interaction.  The interface may be displayed or hidden in this mode
as well.  Upon successful conversions, the utility will automatically exit and
provide an ExitCode so you know what has occurred.  To use this mode, call FS
Texture Converter with these arguments (you can use either - or / when
specifying the arguments and case is not important for the arguments specifers):

FSTexConvert.exe -b:"Base Texture Path" -o:"Output Texture Path" [-a:"Alpha
Texture Path"] [-t:1..9] [-v:y or n]

Commandline argument details:

-b:"Base Texture Path" [REQUIRED]
  - Provide the existing path to the base textures.  Path and textures must
exist.

-o:"Output Texture Path" [REQUIRED]
  - Provide the path to create the converted textures in.  Path will be created
if does not exist.

-a:"Alpha Texture Path" [OPTIONAL]
  - Provide the existing path to the alpha textures.  If provided, path and
textures must exist.

-t:1..9 [OPTIONAL]
  - Specifies the type of texture format to convert to.  If not supplied, will
default to DXT1 with Alpha (FS2K2 Method).  The conversion format can be any of
these types (specified by the preceding number):

    1: DXT1 with Alpha (FS2K2 Method)
    2: DXT1 with Alpha (NVidia Method)
    3: DXT1 Opaque
    4: DXT3 with Alpha
    5: DXT5 with Alpha
    6: Extended 16-bit Opaque (0-565)
    7: Extended 16-bit with Alpha (4-444)
    8: Extended 16-bit with Alpha (1-555)
    9: Extended 32-bit with Alpha (8-888)

-v:y or n [OPTIONAL]
  - Specifies whether the interface is visible or not.  Y to for visible, N for
invisible.  Defaults to Y if argument is not provided.

-?
  - Displays this list of Commandline argument details.


Commandline example:

FSTexConvert.exe -b:"C:\Temp\Base Textures" -o:"C:\Temp\Output" -t:5


Commandline Error Codes
-----------------------

If this utility is run in commandline mode as described above, it will exit with
a specific code depending on successful completion or any errors encountered.
Here are the specific error codes you may trap for from within you batch file or
otherwise:

  0 - No Errors Encountered.

100 - Operation complete.  Some textures left unconverted.
101 - Conversion was canceled before completion.
102 - Not enough or invalid parameters specified.
201 - Library file: "MWDDS.DLL" could not be found.
202 - Missing function or outdated MWDDS.DLL file.
301 - No base textures found for conversion.
302 - Could not create or access output folder.
401 - An invalid conversion type was selected.
402 - An existing output texture found read-only, cannot replace.
999 - Unspecified error occurred.

There is a sample batch file (sample.bat) included in this package.  Please see
this file for an example of use.


Version History
---------------

  - 1.03 - Aug. 5, 2002
    - Updated to use newer version of Martin Wrights mwgfx DLLs.
    - Newer DLLs fix the memory leak with lots of texture conversions.

  - 1.02 - Feb. 19, 2002
    + Added -? commandline specifier to display commandline arguments to user.
    - Fixed commandline mode to default to DXT1 FS2K2 method if -t not
specified.
    - Removed WinXP Style widget use as there were problems on Win98 systems.

  - 1.01 - Feb. 13, 2002
    + Added Error Codes upon exit in commandline mode.
    + Updated Setup file to inform users to download MWDDS.DLL package.
    - Suppressed certain dialogs displayed in commandline mode.
    - Removed MWDDS.DLL from provided Setup package.

  - 1.0 - Feb. 11, 2002
    + Added commandline options
    - First Public Release

  - 0.92 Beta 2 - Dec. 11, 2001
    + Added DXT1 FS2K2 method to existing DXT1 NVidia method

  - 0.90 Beta 1 - Dec. 08, 2001
    - Initial beta release


Contact Information
-------------------

The best way to contact me concerning this utility is through the AVSIM
TerraBuilder forum.  While I do try and keep up with my email, this can be a
problem for me depending on my job, health and travel requirements.  Feel free
to contact me by email but be aware that you'll probably get a faster response
by posting to the AVSIM forum listed below.  I try to check the forum at least
once a day, most days.

AVSIM TerraBuilder Forum:
www.avsim.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=list&forum=DCForumID71&conf=DCConfI
D4

Email:
[email protected]


Copyright and License
---------------------

FS Texture Converter is Copyright (c) 2002 by Elrond Elvish
<[email protected]>.  All rights reserved.

FS Texture Converter is released as Freeware under the following license:

Redistribution and use in binary form, without modification, is permitted
provided that the following four conditions are met:

1. Redistributions are only authorized in binary form and must keep intact the
full and unmodified original zip archive, unless otherwise consented to in
written form from the above author(s).

2. This copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
in the documentation and/or other license materials must not be modified from
this original form as received.

3. This software may only be distributed without charge and without 3rd party
attached license, except in the case of a nominal distribution fee [b]if
requested and consented to in writting from the above author(s)[/b].

4. You may not charge for or distribute this software in conjunction with
commercial software, in whole or in part, without prior written consent from the
above author(s).

5. You may not reverse engineer or decompile the provided executable without
prior written consent from the above author(s).

NO WARRENTY:

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR(S) AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND ANY
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.