So it’s possible to edit the graphic files in Zwift! The question is how?
I changed the .ztx extension to various known graphic extensions (jpg, psd, dds, png, etc.,) but can’t find the right extension!
Anyone know?
Looks like a variation of TGA-X
Anyone?
Hello… I want to create a tshirt of my team, but a can´t edit the file. I try to open the .wad file, but don´t open with “wally” software used to edit texture packs. Can you open the ztx file?
Thanks!
seems to be impossible with 3rd party apps
There’s a mod published on Zwiftinsider where someone changed the Road textures. So it should definitely be possible. They don’t say which tool they used though.
edit: The program “C.a.R” mentions .ztx files. I can’t insert a link here.
In windows version (and probably mac) just convert ztx to standard dds with this tool ( textures hacked · ursoft/zwift-offline@3508621 · GitHub ) then edit dds and finally convert dds back to ztx/tgax
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Wait- does that mean you could theoretically go in and change what you (not necessarily others) see as world graphics? Like insert a giant cube in the side of Alpe du Zwift just for fun?
Also, I’m hardly versed in file stuff like this, but couldn’t you just take the ztx as a .txt file, figure out how to change the ztx file itself, and then just put it back in the place of the original ztx?
No.
DDS is just a texture format, 2 dimensional - not a 3D mesh. You can only change the textures, the graphics that give the 3D model detail, eg the logos on a team jersey or the Cervelo logotype on the side of a bike.
It would be interesting to try and see if I could paint up the S5 2020 and give it Team Sunweb colours to match my real S5.
(nods sagely)
I should probably know what I’m talking about first 
. I thought DDS was an image file, like jpg, png. Though it makes sense that Zwift graphics would need something more powerful, more textured in order to look not like walls of simple images.
It is an image file:
But the DDS is mapped onto a 3D mesh using some form of 3D software, ie, 3D Studio Max, Maya, or even Blender.
In previous games I’ve worked on we had an export toolkit in 3D Studio Max to export the 3D models into the game specific format and we used a conversion plugin to convert our Photoshop texture files into the required DDS format.
Unfortunately I don’t have the examples on this new computer otherwise I could show you.
Edit: Actually I do:
You need a model like that to which you map the textures onto it, logos, etc. Then you finish with something like this:
In 3DSMax you ‘unwrap’ the model so that surfaces map to your 2D texture file which has all the patterns and logos. You have to do this quite carefully when you have patterns that must line up or racing numbers that wrap over complicated surfaces like the nose section of a Porsche 956C or 962C.
You can see the rear wheel arch is not in 3D - it’s 2D. That’s handled by alpha-channel transparency so in game it renders totally transparent. That saves precious polygons. If you have too many then with 30+ cars on the grid you end up with a slideshow on the computers and GPUs of those times.
That’s also why doing new jerseys or kit in Zwift isn’t the work of a moment because the textures will need to be arranged properly, especially if there are patterns that must line up on the front/sides/back of the jersey.
That was done by me way back in the day… It’s pretty crude by today’s photo realistic standards but our computers then were potatoes as well.
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I think I get it now, thanks!
Things were so much simpler in 1998 when we could create Quake 2 skins just by editing a flat PCX file! 
This was my clan skin. Anyone who’s familiar with 2000AD will probably recognise the clan theme. =)
Zarjaz!
8char
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Yeah it was. Textures were in my time 1024x1024 or less. Now they are huge.
Today the gold standard is Microsoft Flight Sim 2020, you cannot believe how real that looks. If you use VR it’s incredible. I tried one of the new helicopters in Megeve with current weather, so there was snow everywhere. It was so immersive and beautiful. And the airliners look real, some of them fly like that too. Just how far computer graphics technology has gone forward
My flight sim machine has a Radeon Pro W6800X with 32GB video ram and that sim will sometimes gobble up 18GB of that. 
I think I read someone mentioning VR was tried for Zwift and was quite immersive, although it would never work out in the end, far too hot! I would still love to try it once.
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Still less than Zwift 
BooX
It’s not that difficult doin Jerseys and Bikes - I’ve done it for the old TacxVR software many times and also for the new CadeSport software.
Now to try and make sense of the GitBub script to changethe textures…