Here's something I found out about custom BLPs.

I don't know if anyone knows this, but since everyone is talking about converting TGA files into BLPs for custom icons, I'm just gonna spit it out.

You do not need to convert it to BLP.

I've only tried it for custom icons. I just upload my icons in TGA format, set the pathnames to them in the unit editor, and it appears correctly ingame. The compressions I got when I uploaded it into the map with WinMPQ range from 72% to 94%.

Here's how I did it. Just make your 64x64 custom icon, and save it as a 24bit uncompressed TGA file. Now to get the file a higher compression, reduce the bit depth to 256 colors (8bit), then revert it back to 24bit without undoing it. Then save it again. Now just edit your spell or unit, or whatever to point to your icon. Save your map, upload it into your map, and you're done.

Hopefully this has been clear enough for people to understand. If someone already posted something like this, thats great! If it hasn't, I hope this will encourage more people to make some great custom icons!

Oh, and here's a picture from WinMPQ.

*Smacks forehead*

Time to stop using image extractor ;)

This is somewhat old news actually, though I get the sense it's also little-known. The main disadvantage to keeping things as tga's is the size - they take up somewhat more space than blp's of the same image. I suppose for a few icons it doesn't matter much, but for many of them, and for skins, it becomes a bigger issue.

Actually, TGA files are compressed more when uploaded into the map, so it really takes up less space than BLP files. The scary thought is that I figured that out by myself. O_o

ya but for skinning the model sais that it uses *blah blah blah*.blp

Something does not compute. If tgas are smaller than the corresponding blp and simpler to create (since they need at least one fewer step to implant) then why would anyone use blp's?

I remember Brett Wood a long time ago said that don't need blps. But they look smaller to me, than tgas, so that's why I use blps.

blp is blizzard's own format thats why they use it... no need to CnP from others lol.

and also compression isn't nessesarily 'better' or 'worse' a certain compression algorithm may work better with file A and worse with file B

OK, I've started paying attention to filesize over the last few days of playing with images (usually I more or less ignore it). I'd look silly saying that tga's are always larger than the corresponding blp, but in my experience over the last few days, I've observed that a given tga is 4-5 *times* larger than its corresponding blp. Granted, I've been working with skins, which have alpha layers. Perhaps with icons, which don't, there is less significant a difference. But I have yet to see a blp that even comes close to the size of its "parent" tga file, let alone one that's larger. So I'll stand by what I said above - blps may take more steps to make, but clearly there's a reason blizzard uses them.

There are 2 types of BLPs: 256 colors palleted BLPs and JPEG based blps. Usually BLPs get smaller coz they´re JPEG compressed.

I've been importing .tgas instead of their .blp counterparts since TFT and I've only come across one problem: Obviously, if you import a .tga graphic, say ReplaceableTextures/CommandButtons/BasicStruct.tga, it will not overwrite the .blp. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem, because normally you can edit the interface and set "Basic Structure" (btw, this is the Orc's Build Icon) to the imported .tga file. It shows up changed in the editor, but when you start the game, it reverts back to the normal graphic. In order to get it to work, you must replace the .blp. So far, this is the only problem I've had using .tgas instead of .blps.