Nova Engine Update Failed with System.ArgumentException: Crunched Texture2dArray is not supported

[Drunk3n-P1nky]

Please, let me know whether ETC2 Crunched type of compression is not supported for SpriteAtlases. I've already encountered this issue twice. Reassembling sprite atlas with exactly the same settings helped to solve this in both cases. Wonder to know what the root of the problem is...

[Drunk3n-P1nky]

I haven't find any info here: https://novaui.io/manual/Compatibility.html

[dkonik]

A couple of follow up questions:

1. Is this error happening in editor, or in a build?
2. Which platform (or if it's in editor, what is your platform set to)?
3. Which version of Unity are you using?

[dkonik]

We've managed to reproduce this issue, thanks for the additional info. As the call stack you posted suggests, crunched formats are not supported when using Texture2DArray, which is how Packed images work. So you can still use the format, just not with Packed images.

We'll be sure to include the check for this in the next release to prevent this from throwing an exception. In the meantime, you have two options:

1. Set the ImagePackMode on all of the UIBlock2Ds in question to Unpacked
2. Change line 188 of ImageTracker.cs to formatDescriptor.IsSupportedStatic = SystemInfo.SupportsTextureFormat(tex2D.format) && !GraphicsFormatUtility.IsCrunchFormat(tex2D.format);, so that full if block would look like:

if (texture is Texture2D tex2D)
{   
    formatDescriptor.IsSupportedStatic = SystemInfo.SupportsTextureFormat(tex2D.format) && !GraphicsFormatUtility.IsCrunchFormat(tex2D.format);
    formatDescriptor.TextureFormat = tex2D.format;
}

[Drunk3n-P1nky]

Am I correct to understand that if I choose "Unpacked" ImagePackMode or formatDescriptor's IsSupportedStatic boolean flag is false, the amount of draw calls is increased by the amount of unpacked images? To have less draw calls, I have no other option but to change type of compression?

[Drunk3n-P1nky]

@dkonik , According to documentation on ImagePackMode, Nova Engine attempts to batch textures itself. So, I guess it doesn't make sense to have spriteatlas and ImagePackMode - "packed" at the same time? If you have some time, could you elaborate on this topic. I'm a bit confused :)
In the meantime, I'll try to figure out this from the source code.
Thank you very much in advance!

[dkonik]

If you are using the same texture between multiple UIBlock2Ds, Nova will still attempt to batch those regardless of their ImagePackMode setting. So, in the case of a SpriteAtlas (which, under the hood, has a single backing texture), all UIBlock2Ds using a sprite from that atlas will attempt to be batched even if their mode is set to Unpacked.

If each UIBlock2D has it's own, unique texture, that's where Packed images could have a bigger effect (for example, say you were downloading user profile pictures and getting each one back as a single texture, having them be packed would allow all of the profile images to be drawn in a single draw call).

And the same applies to multiple sprite atlases. If ImagePackMode is set to Unpacked, two UIBlock2Ds using different sprite atlases will never be batched. However, if it is set to Packed, Nova will attempt to batch them.

Note that there are a number of criteria required for batching beyond just the ImagePackMode, some of which you can read about here, some pertain to the textures in the case of packed images (e.g., must be the same format and dimensions), and others are related to the features being used on the UIBlock2D (for example, a UIBlock2D with a border won't be in the same draw call as a UIBlock2D without a border).

[Drunk3n-P1nky]

Thank you very much for your time!