Index: src/game_config.h
===================================================================
--- src/game_config.h	(revision 197)
+++ src/game_config.h	(working copy)
@@ -198,6 +198,10 @@
 
 PROTO_PARAM_BOOL( disable_background );
 
+PROTO_PARAM_INT( max_texture_size );
+
+PROTO_PARAM_INT( compressed_texture_size );
+
 PROTO_PARAM_STRING( ui_language );
 
 
Index: src/game_config.cpp
===================================================================
--- src/game_config.cpp	(revision 197)
+++ src/game_config.cpp	(working copy)
@@ -472,6 +472,8 @@
 	struct param ui_language;
 	struct param disable_videomode_autodetection;			
 	struct param disable_background;
+    struct param max_texture_size;
+    struct param compressed_texture_size;
 };
 
 static struct params Params;
@@ -831,7 +833,23 @@
 	disable_background, false,
 	"# Set this to completely remove the background (skybox)\n"
 	"# This option would improve the performance." );
+
+	INIT_PARAM_INT(
+	max_texture_size, 0,
+	"# Maximum texture size, larger textures will be scaled down\n"
+	"# to this size. This may improve performance if you are limited\n"
+	"# by graphics memory capacity or bandwidth, at the expense of\n"
+	"# lower image quality.\n"
+	"# Values must be powers of 2, e.g. 512 or 256.\n"
+	"# The default value of 0 means the graphics card maximum\n"
+	"# texture size will be the limit." );
 	
+	INIT_PARAM_INT(
+	compressed_texture_size, 0,
+	"# Try to use texture compression for textures this size or larger.\n"
+	"# May improve performance, at the expense of reduced image quality.\n"
+	"# Default value of 0 disables texture compression." );
+	
 	INIT_PARAM_STRING( 
 	ui_language, "en_GB" ,
 	"# set the language for the ui"
@@ -921,6 +939,8 @@
 FN_PARAM_BOOL( disable_collision_detection )
 FN_PARAM_BOOL( disable_videomode_autodetection )
 FN_PARAM_BOOL( disable_background )
+FN_PARAM_INT( max_texture_size )
+FN_PARAM_INT( compressed_texture_size )
 
 FN_PARAM_STRING( ui_language )
 
Index: src/textures.cpp
===================================================================
--- src/textures.cpp	(revision 197)
+++ src/textures.cpp	(working copy)
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@
 	
     texture_node_t *tex;
     int max_texture_size;
+    GLint internal_format;
+    const GLubyte *exts;
 
 
     print_debug(DEBUG_TEXTURE, "Loading texture %s from file: %s", 
@@ -120,6 +122,12 @@
 		
     /* Check if we need to scale image */
     glGetIntegerv( GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE, (GLint*) &max_texture_size );
+    
+    if ( getparam_max_texture_size() > 0 )
+    {
+	max_texture_size = std::min( max_texture_size, getparam_max_texture_size() );
+    }
+    
     if ( texImage->width > max_texture_size ||
 	 texImage->height > max_texture_size ) 
     {
@@ -129,9 +137,13 @@
 
 	check_assertion( newdata != NULL, "out of memory" );
 
-	print_debug( DEBUG_TEXTURE, "Texture `%s' too large -- scaling to "
-		     "maximum allowed size",
-		     filename );
+	print_debug( DEBUG_TEXTURE, "Texture `%s' %dx%d -- scaling to "
+		     "%dx%d",
+		     filename,
+		     texImage->width,
+		     texImage->height,
+		     max_texture_size,
+		     max_texture_size );
 
 	/* In the case of large- or small-aspect ratio textures, this
            could end up using *more* space... oh well. */
@@ -149,7 +161,49 @@
 	texImage->height = max_texture_size;
     }
 
-    gluBuild2DMipmaps( GL_TEXTURE_2D, texImage->depth, texImage->width,
+    max_texture_size = getparam_compressed_texture_size();
+    if ( (max_texture_size > 0) &&
+         (texImage->width >= max_texture_size ||
+         texImage->height >= max_texture_size) )
+    {
+    	exts = glGetString( GL_EXTENSIONS );
+    	
+    	/* you need to have libtxc_dxtn for S3TC with mesa */
+        if ( gluCheckExtension( (const GLubyte*)"GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc", exts ) == GL_TRUE )
+        {
+            print_debug( DEBUG_TEXTURE,
+                         "Using S3TC for %s",
+                         filename );
+            internal_format = texImage->depth == 3 ? GL_COMPRESSED_RGB_S3TC_DXT1_EXT : GL_COMPRESSED_RGBA_S3TC_DXT5_EXT;
+        }
+        else if ( gluCheckExtension( (const GLubyte*)"GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1", exts ) == GL_TRUE )
+        {
+            print_debug( DEBUG_TEXTURE,
+                         "Using 3DFX FXT1 for %s",
+                         filename );
+            internal_format = texImage->depth == 3 ? GL_COMPRESSED_RGB_FXT1_3DFX : GL_COMPRESSED_RGBA_FXT1_3DFX;
+        }
+        else if ( gluCheckExtension( (const GLubyte*)"GL_ARB_texture_compression", exts ) == GL_TRUE )
+        {
+            /* this probably won't actually do any compression */
+            print_debug( DEBUG_TEXTURE,
+                         "Trying ARB texture compression for %s",
+                         filename );
+            internal_format = texImage->depth == 3 ? GL_COMPRESSED_RGB_ARB : GL_COMPRESSED_RGBA_ARB;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            print_debug( DEBUG_TEXTURE,
+                         "Could not find any compressed texture format for %s",
+                         filename );
+            internal_format = texImage->depth;
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        internal_format = texImage->depth;
+    }
+    gluBuild2DMipmaps( GL_TEXTURE_2D, internal_format, texImage->width,
 		       texImage->height, texImage->depth == 3 ? GL_RGB : GL_RGBA, 
 		       GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, texImage->data );