[Russell Sobie]

My steps to ensure getting under 10MB are similar to Robin's suggestions. Unfortunately the version of Photoshop I have doesn't play nice with nVidia's plugin, so I'm using the one from Intel Graphics... and there are fewer options on that plugin.

Nuking the alpha layer on your main body skin is certainly a way to save some space. You don't even need to set your nVidia/Intel graphics plugin to ignore Alpha channels if one isn't there (just go into Channels and send that thing to the trashcan).

I typically work in 4096x4096 resolution when creating the skin, but I downscale it in Photoshop to 2048x with a custom Action. You'd be hard pressed to see the difference in game unless you are in a showroom zooming in on a bumper or something. Similar with doing custom tires or rims... you can usually get away with VERY small texture sizes on those and no one will notice.

If that doesn't get the whole thing under 10MB, I start cutting additional stuff. Does it really need custom tires or rims? How about that replacement banner on the windshield? Are you okay with it saying "Porsche" in red on black, or do you HAVE to have your name up there?

And if all of that fails and you are still struggling to get your stuff under 10MB, I will gladly take what you have and tweak it to get there. Just attach the files to a post in the Paint Shop subforum and I'll have a look.