Formerly when you wanted to add icons to the Graphics User Interface (GUI) in Space Engineers (SE), you had to use the same DirectDraw Surface (DDS) file type that is normally used for surfaces on 3D models. The DDS file type has generally not been natively supported by most art programs and especially not in the exact format that SE requires.


Because of this, for a while, Keen included a converter that allowed for the conversion of various commonly used file types into DDS files. Yet as of SE v1.179.x, the converting exe files were no longer included in the SE SDK or regular SE game package. Apparently, some time before the end of this year (2019) with the current version being 1.193.x, they have started including the conversion files again so that somewhat obsoletes the purpose of this guide as knowing that you're even supposed to use them, where to get them, and what parameters to use with them were really the largest obstacles.

That's assuming you're using a DDS file at all. PNGs take that and throw it out the window.


Although Keen has now re-included the primary EXE file that you need to add transparency, what makes things super easy is that that SE now natively supports PNG files with transparency so you don't even have to convert your PNGs into DDS to begin with.


But a need still might arise in the future where you need to convert DDS files between different formats. Whether Keen decides to stop supporting PNG files (not impossible) to optimize the code or whether you're working on an entirely different DDS project, this guide should help you make DDS files and then remake them into another form of DDS files. Yay!

Use PNG files.

Side Note: "Paint dot Net" gets incorrectly auto-formatted by Steam into a hyperlink: Paint.Net -- this cannot be avoided -- and as the domain "paint.net" is not actually affiliated with the makers of Paint.Net, I will call it "Paint .Net" as a workaround for this guide.


If you're using PNGs, you should keep on using whatever you're using and you may ignore this guide. If you need to work with DDS files for SE for any reason, before you begin you should decide which art program you want to use.

If you don't have either program and you just need to convert files, use Paint .Net. It's much more user friendly. If you're actually going to need to do a lot of image editing, it would probably be a better idea to learn GIMP.

Other Notes:

• I last tested GIMP v2.10.6 , version 2.10.14 was the most recent when writing this article.
  
• I last tested Paint .Net v4.2.5 , which was the most recent version when writing this article.
  
• As of writing this (2019), the DDS plugins for both had not been changed AFAIK since 2017, so versions shouldn't really matter for those.

Paint .Net is a little easier to use than GIMP and feels like a much lighter program than GIMP. If all you're doing is converting files, I suggest just using this one.

• BC3 (Linear, DXT5)
  
• Error Metric: Uniform
  
• Cube Map: False
  
• Generate Mip Maps: True ... w/ Super Sampling works for me.
  

If you're actually making your own custom images, you probably already are using GIMP.

• Compression: BC3 / DXT5
  
• Mipmaps: Generate Mipmaps
  

For some reason, none of the DDS plugins above output a file that allows SE to automatically recognize the alpha (transparency) layer. That's probably why Keen (usually) includes the utility "texconv.exe" with their game.

• The name doesn't really matter as long as there are no spaces. I ran mine in the folder: "D:\Development\SE\texcon".
  
• (Having spaces in any folder such as a parent folder "SE Modding", for instance, might make it not work. For some reason when I tested this program wouldn't work for me even when I used quotation marks.)

• The names are up to you, but you'll have to change references to them in steps 9 and 10 below if you use anything else.

• You should already have this program on your computer:
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SpaceEngineers\Tools\TexturePacking\Tools
  You can leave "texassemble.exe" there, we won't need it.
  
  
• Visit this link to download texdiag.exe and get texconv.exe if you don't have it on your computer already:
  https://github.com/DranKof/DirectX-Texture-Converter-2017/releases
  The program "texdiag.exe" is useful for troubleshooting (see below).
  
  
• Here is the manual (official Wiki) if you like reading:
  https://github.com/Microsoft/DirectXTex/wiki/Texconv
  
  
• OPTIONAL
  You can get the most updated versions of any of these by looking REALLY hard here (I wouldn't bother, though):
  https://github.com/Microsoft/DirectXTex/releases

• 9b) Rename folders "Textures" and "TexturesOut" if you used something else.

• 10b) Rename folders "Textures" and "TexturesOut" if you used something else.

• It will display text telling you that it's working, if you see nothing at all (or an error message like, file not found), leave a comment!

• Example: "{your mod}\Textures\GUI\Icons"

Different problems have different solutions. These are the most obvious ones I can think of.


The "analyze.bat" file that I included in the process above should help you confirm that the files have been converted properly. If you didn't get it earlier, you can get the program texdiag.exe here[github.com].

When you run it, you should see this:

Anything else probably won't display quite right in SE.
If you have different values, double-check your command or export method and try again.



Double check the file paths.



Carefully read the error in detail and hopefully you'll know how to act accordingly.

Speaking of custom mods, below is one that you can compare with to see how I used this information.

I mostly made this guide for myself because every 3-9 months, whenever I come back to my mod I forget how to do things, and the problem of the texture converter having gone missing almost made me give up on updating it entirely.

If you want to download a mod that uses custom textures to see how they are implemented, you can download (by hitting "subscribe") a mod I made called "Better Stone":
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=406244471
I am happy for you to modify and test it to your heart's content, you can even re-upload it if you like, just be sure to change the name!

(After you subscribe, Steam should download the mod, if it doesn't, make sure the game is closed, unsubscribe, and subscribe again. If it still doesn't, start up a game world with the mod enabled and SE will downloaded it if it hadn't already.)

Use 7-Zip[www.7-zip.org] to open the file: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\244850\406244471\942833257750452932_legacy.bin
(The exact path may vary depending on where you installed Steam on your computer. -- The exact name of the .bin file might change with updates, but it should be the only file in that folder.)

Feel free to unpack, explore and learn how to make your own textures or new in-game items!

Special thanks go out to the following people:

@NorcaSystems for letting me know that an update on Space Engineers moved the mod folder to a new directory in the Steam Program Files folder.
@Gopher for letting me know that PNGs were natively supported by SE now.
@playhard45 for letting me know that Paint .Net has a DDS plugin that works even better.
@Digi for letting me know that Microsoft's GitHub link became a horrible mess and that Keen was re-including the executables with recent updates.
@Snow~ Thanks for the heads-up:
There is a .dds mod for Photoshop CC that also allows you to do Part 1 yet a 3rd method:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/76482/
If Photoshop CC is your thing (I haven't tested yet), this should work, too! Thanks for the info and I will try to keep track of this method, too.


If you see anything else, let me know, I will try to update! (Sorry if it takes me something like 3 months to respond...*cough cough sorry great tip though Gopher cough*.)
If you think I skipped over anything that really needs more explanation, let me know about that, too.
Thank you very much for reading this guide.