How to make a lite version of your mod: what to cut, resizing textures with texconv, testing and publishing both

24 Oct 2026 · 3 min read · ModsDrop

Pictured: Dodge Ram 2015 – RAM 1500 to 4500 Truck Configurations, from the ModsDrop library.

A lite version is the same mod with a smaller footprint, and for large files it is often the version most people download. Making one is mostly mechanical once you have a workflow. Here is that workflow, from deciding what to cut to publishing both versions side by side.

Decide what “lite” means for this mod

Textures at half resolution: the main saving, usually half to three quarters of the file. 4K maps become 2K, 2K become 1K.
Fewer configurations or skins: keep the most popular ones; the parts stay, so players can rebuild the rest.
Optional extras removed: alternative interiors, rarely used body kits, high-detail engine internals.
Not touched: the model’s shape, the physics and the core parts. A lite version should drive and crash exactly like the full one.

Step 1: work on a copy

Duplicate your whole mod folder and rename the copy. Never build the lite version inside your working project; one slip and the full version loses its 4K textures too.

Step 2: find the big textures

Sort the texture folder by size. Typically a handful of files make up most of the weight: exterior colour, normal and roughness maps at 4K. Those are the ones to resize. Small textures (under about 1 MB) are not worth touching; resizing them saves little and can blur UI elements and decals.

Step 3: resize from the source if you can

Export the lite textures from your original PNG or TGA sources at the lower resolution, with the same format and the same file names as the full version. If you only have DDS files, texconv resizes and recompresses them in one go; for example, for colour maps in BC7:

texconv -w 2048 -h 2048 -m 0 -f BC7_UNORM_SRGB -y -o lite\textures textures\body_color.dds

Here -m 0 generates the full mipmap chain, -y overwrites, and -o sets the output folder. Use the format the original used (check it with a DDS viewer or texconv’s info output): BC5_UNORM for two-channel normal maps, a non-sRGB format for data maps. Point texconv at a whole folder with wildcards to process everything in one command.

Step 4: keep names, keep paths

The mod’s materials and definitions reference textures by name and path. If the lite textures keep exactly the same names and paths, nothing else needs editing. Renaming a file means editing every material that points at it, which is how lite versions end up with missing textures.

Step 5: trim content

If you remove configurations, delete their files (BeamNG .pc files and previews, truck-game paint job definitions, FS store items) and check that nothing else references them. A configuration that points at a removed part fails to load and fills the log with errors.

Step 6: test it like a release

Install the lite zip, not the folder, in a clean game: Safe Mode in BeamNG, a test profile in the truck games, a test savegame in FS25. Spawn every remaining configuration, look at it up close and at a distance, read the log for errors. The release checklist has the full list.

Step 7: name and describe both

Title: “Mod name – Lite” and “Mod name“, or the reverse with “Full”.
First line of the description: what the lite version changes, in one sentence. “2K textures instead of 4K, 8 of the 20 configurations, otherwise identical.”
Note that the two cannot be active at the same time. They share internal names, so the game sees a duplicate.

Keep them in step

When you update the mod, update both. A lite version that lags two releases behind is a support burden: players report bugs you fixed long ago. If keeping both current is too much work, make the lite version the only version; most players will never miss the 4K textures.

What you gain

A file a quarter of the size finishes downloading on connections where the full one fails, runs on 8 GB graphics cards without stutter, and loads faster. On ModsDrop the uploader’s share is paid on finished downloads, and on most large mods the lite version is the one that gets finished. Textures 101 explains why the saving is so large.