Problem with Alpha channels

[reahad]

I recently had to reinstall photoshop cs2, after which i decided to change all the egyptian rebel units to nubians. so i copy the body from the nubian spearmen and paste it onto the body of the rebel egyptian peasant. I didn't touch alpha channels at this point. When i load them up in RTW, there is that black thing between the prongs of their tridents. So, i went back to photoshop and redid the alpha channel by hand. Retry, same problem. I then tried copying the alpha channel from the original, still nothing. Every time I load up the unit in RTW the alpha channel goes blank. Anyone know what I'm talking about that can help?

[Bwian]

Beware the stock Photoshop settings!

When you are saving the texture, look at the values, and make sure you are saving the alpha as well. I got caught this way with TGA files...the default was to have the 'ignore alpha' checked.

When you are saving the DDS, make sure it does not have a tick in the 'exclude Alpha Channels' box. Then make sure you are saving to DXT3 or DXT5 ( can't remember which....think I usually have DXT3 ) DXT1 has no alpha channel data.

These options should make sure you are actually saving the alpha channel you have made when the texture is saved.