[FIXED] Adding "Sign_2" corrupts the whole YTD, the “quick” & “my Desktop is a car crash” fix I figured this out, and it was painfully simple, it just took me a week to prove it. If you can replace textures in OpenIV, fine, but the moment you add a second livery texture (e.g. charger_sign_2), your YTD turns into pixel soup. This is what worked for me. Is this for you? IF: YOU CAN'T ADD A 2nd LIVERY/SIGN IN YTD WITHOUT ALL THE OTHER FILES BECOMING CORRUPT. THIS IS FOR YOU! Option A: Quick fix (fast, dirty, works - no headaches or late nights - may slightly change quality)Export everything from the unchanged YTD as PNG. Create a new YTD in OpenIV. Import all PNGs back in using Auto (or keep changing compression and retrying, lowering compression usually makes it behave). Add *_sign_2. Save. This works because it forces textures into a consistent format instead of leaving a couple of “weird” ones in there that poison the rebuild. Key (what I mean when I say things)FilesYTD = .ytd texture dictionary If I say "TXD", I mean YTD YFT = .yft model file (used for preview) If I say "MODEL", I mean YFT DDS / PNG = exported textures Folders (in the order you create them)EXPORT_ORIG (1) = all textures exported from the original YTD, unchanged EXPORT_TARGET (2) = copy of EXPORT_ORIG (1), plus your new *_sign_2 (so it contains both sign_1 and sign_2) WORKSPACE (3) = random empty place to drag test files into OpenIV without clutter, optional but keeps you sane EXPORT_SURVIVORS (4) = export from the “Folder2YTD-built” YTD (the one where stuff mysteriously vanishes, but it doesn’t corrupt) QUARANTINE (5) = where you separate “known good” from “suspects” IN (5a) = a folder inside QUARANTINE, this is your “these are safe” pile OFFENDERS_PNG (6) = where you export the problem DDS from QUARANTINE as PNG so you can re-import cleanly Option B: Long fix (keeps quality, finds the actual offender textures)0) Back up firstBack up the whole dlcpack, including data. Mine got corrupted a couple of times, only the pack I was actively working on. GENERAL RULE: EXPORT TO DDS UNLESS A SPECIFIC STEP SAYS PNG1) Clone the sign properlyReplace sign_1 with your sign_2 artwork so it inherits the same settings, then export it as DDS somewhere obvious. THEN CANCEL, DON'T SAVE! 2) Make EXPORT_ORIG (1)Export all textures from the original YTD into EXPORT_ORIG (1). While you’re in OpenIV, count how many textures are in the YTD before adding sign 2. (It's in the background at the bottom of the list) Example: mine was 136, so with sign_2 It should be 137. Write that number down. Notepad. Trust me, Notepad becomes your co-driver for the rest of this nightmare. 3) Make EXPORT_TARGET (2)Copy EXPORT_ORIG (1) to EXPORT_TARGET (2). Drop your *_sign_2.dds into EXPORT_TARGET. Now, EXPORT_TARGET is the “ideal world” folder, both signs included. 4) Run a "YTD Maker" app on EXPORT_TARGET (and use “Highest”) - I used Folder2YTDUse Folder2YTD on EXPORT_TARGET (2). Set compression/quality to Highest. Let it build a new YTD. It might crash. Mine did. Just reopen and do it again until you get an output. - DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE TO Highest Important bit: keep that YTD. This is your “baseline” YTD that doesn’t corrupt, even if it silently drops textures. You’re going to build off this. 5) Make WORKSPACE (3) so you can focusFind a place in OpenIV with no other YTD/YFTs, it helps you focus and stops you fat-fingering the wrong file. - I used my addon packs data folder that just had the meta, so anything I added, like YTD/YTF, stood out. I also copied the vehicle’s YFT and made a new empty YTD to Desktop and made “blank” versions (same extensions, empty names) so I could rename them quickly during testing. Totally optional, but it kept me from losing my mind. .yft with no name - CAR MODEL I WAS USING .ytd with no name - EMPTY YTD 6) Spot the missing textures, export the survivorsOpen the Folder2YTD-built YTD in OpenIV and scroll through the texture list. In my case: Expected: 137 textures Reality: about 108 textures Both sign_1 and sign_2 existed A chunk of textures had just… vanished Now export that YTD’s textures as DDS into EXPORT_SURVIVORS (4). So: EXPORT_TARGET (2) = everything you want EXPORT_SURVIVORS (4) = everything that survived a rebuild without corruption 7) Generate file lists (welcome to the Matrix)Right, now you need a list of files from both folders. This is the part where we need the "command terminal" (you know the thing you see in the movies with hackers - DONT WORRY YOU DONT NEED TO BE A CODER or know anything) Time to pretend we’re in a hacker movie. Open EXPORT_TARGET (2), then EXPORT_SURVIVORS (4), and for each one do this: Open the folder in Windows Explorer Click the address bar (the bit that shows the path, e.g., D:\Desktop\FolderName) Type cmd and hit Enter A scary black panel appears (Don't worry), excellent. Now type: dir /b > dirlist.txtDo this for both folders. EXPORT_TARGET (2) and EXPORT_SURVIVORS (4). And just like that, you’ve summoned a neat file list called dirlist.txt into that folder. Mwahaha. Open both dirlist.txt files and compare them to create your "shopping list" of missing textures. If you’re lazy (same), paste both lists into ChatGPT or use an online list compare tool. Also, do yourself a favour: keep a Notepad file open and start writing things down in order. You’ll thank yourself later when you’re 40 imports deep and can’t remember what you’ve tested. Finally, sort your shopping list. In Notepad++: Edit → Line Operations → Sort Lines Lex. Ascending (Ignore Case) Organisation now saves you hours. ONE OR MORE OF THESE FILES WILL BE THE ISSUE! 8) QUARANTINE time (5), you thought we were done making folders... Wooo 5th folder time BABY!! Almost there!Create QUARANTINE (5), and inside it create IN (5a). Now: Copy everything (the DDSs) from EXPORT_SURVIVORS (5) into IN (5a) These are your confirmed safe files. Go back to EXPORT_TARGET (2) and grab the missing textures from your shopping list, put those into QUARANTINE (5) (NOT inside IN) Tip that saved my life: in EXPORT_TARGET (2), use View → Details, then click the Name column to sort A–Z. Now you can walk down your shopping list and grab files in order without playing “Where’s Wally” for each filename. At this point QUARANTINE contains: IN (5a) = safe textures (the folder2ytd MINUS the shoping list) QUARANTINE root = suspect textures that cause trouble (the shopping list) At this point, QUARANTINE (5) should contain exactly the same number of files as your shopping list (the ones missing from EXPORT_SURVIVORS (4)). Example: if your shopping list has 30 files, QUARANTINE (5) should show 30 files. Windows Explorer shows the count in the bottom-left. 9) Import suspects back into the “safe” YTD in chunksBack in OpenIV, open the Folder2YTD-built YTD (the one that loads fine but is missing stuff - THE ONE MADE IN STEP 4). Now import the suspect files that are in the QUARANTINE folder in chunks. I did 5 at a time. Critical rule: Import chunk of files → Save → go back and REOPEN the YTD texture list → scroll through EVERYTHING and view each file. Do not just look at the MODEL YFT preview and assume it’s fine. Once you have hit save and checked, move those X number of files you've just moved into the YTD into the "IN (5a)" folder. (Only move the ones that actually work. If you imported 5 and it corrupted, drop to 1 at a time. If the YTD corrupts after a chunk: Put back your baseline YTD (the Folder2YTD-built one you kept - STEP 4) Open the "IN (5a)" folder and move them all in again. Save and check. THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T BACKUP THE YTD AFTER EACH CHUNK - The "IN (5a)" folder does that for you. Retry with smaller chunks, half it, then 1-by-1 if needed Example: you try 5, and 3 are fine, 2 break it. Move the 3 good ones into IN (5a). Now test the remaining 2 one-by-one: import 1, save, re-open the YTD and scroll-check every texture. If it breaks, restore your baseline YTD, then re-import everything that’s already parked safely in IN (5a) so you’re back to the last known-good state.) Also, keep your shopping list open in Notepad and tick off what you’ve tested. Future-you will thank you. I made a line break under (gap) every 5. And put an X next to the broken one. By the end, you’ll have: A bunch of suspects that are actually fine One or more files that reliably “poison” the YTD rebuild left in QUARANTINE that you haven't moved into "IN (5a") 10) Now... you'll never guess... BOOM! Suddenly a 6th FOLDER! Fix the offenders.Create OFFENDERS_PNG (6). Make a new blank YTD in OpenIV. Import ONLY the offender DDS files into it. (Still in QUARANTINE) Export them back out as PNG into OFFENDERS_PNG (6). Now re-import those PNG versions into your working YTD (the one you’ve been rebuilding) using Auto. (or whatever quality/compression setting you want to try.) That’s the magic part. The offenders get standardised and stop breaking everything. Result: your final YTD ends up with the original texture count plus sign_2, without corruption. Compression notes (what I tested)I tested importing PNG with: OpenIV Auto BC7 DXT5 A8R8G8B8 Folder2YTD auto DDS What I saw: DXT5 and Auto in OpenIV felt basically the same. Folder2YTD is great at upping quality, but it can still guess wrong sometimes and produce a bad format that breaks again. A8R8G8B8 is "NO COMPRESSION", so the highest quality. But I think that's what caused the problem sometimes. But not every A8R8G8B8 is an issue. In my case, I had 1 A8R8G8B8 texture and 1 DTX5, so don't judge all because you think you found 1. Don't judge a broken texture by it's pixalated cover! BC7 looked best to me, but it’s heavier and is very, very resource and hardware hungry and bigger in size too Basically, most look similar except for the extremes, BC7 (high) and DXT1 (low). If you want to compare variants in-gameIf you’re making multiple versions to compare quality, don’t forget you’ll need to add the new names into: vehicles.meta carvariations.meta Then spawn and compare in-game. If this saves one person from staring at a corrupted YTD at 3 am and questioning their life choices, then at least my desktop full of folders had a purpose. As I sit here writing this at 1 pm after doing all this importing and exporting over 200 files, and like 50 Google searches later since 9 pm. Imma go sleep now😂. PS.... I hope I've broken no rules when it comes to posting. With all the work I've put into this, can you LMK by texting me, and I can edit it before you remove it! ❤
