What file types for what maps ?

HashBrownHamish

Hello everyone o/

I have a quick question about maps. When i import maps into engines, is there a preferred format (targa, png, jpg etc..) ?

I'm a novice when it comes to these things so i'm not quick sure which is best for each map (normal, diffuse, spec etc...).
So basically what i have been doing is converting all to TGA (even tho i have no idea what differentiates it from the others).

EarthQuake

Generally TGA is used, PNG is used sometimes if you want to save size on disk but it doesn't help in terms of memory use in game. For the most part, all textures will be compressed to DXT for the actual game. You don't need a different format for diffuse vs normal or anything like that.

Never jpeg or any other lossy compression for importing into a game engine.

HashBrownHamish

Awesome thanks for info