Wow...saving the target ring without any MIP maps seems to work better than trying to save it
with MIP maps.
Here's what I get with the different options:
1. "No" to view MIPs upon file open, saved w/ "Generate MIP maps"
(Fine up close, but from farther away, there are lines radiating out from the center)
2. "No" to view MIPs upon file open, saved w/ "Use existing MIP maps"
(Totally distorted; it seems to have cut the single image into MIP maps, which was Not a Good Idea)
3. "Yes" to view MIPs upon file open, saved w/ "Generate MIP maps"
(All of the old MIP maps translated into a single image)
4. "Yes" to view MIPs upon file open, saved w/ "Use existing MIP maps"
(Fine up close, but disappears totally after moving a short distance away)
Using GM9's suggestion, I saved with no MIP maps...this is what I got:
...Which definitely beats all the other attempts to date with a stick.
It does seem that viewing the ring from farther away makes the edges seem a bit rough, but I can live with that.
BTW, it's incredibly tedious to test these ring graphics...I guess the new graphics files aren't changed with /loadui, so the only way I've successfully been able to load the updated images is to relog. :-/ Pain in the backside!! It would be great if /loadui covered the graphics too, but that might be too much of a resource hog.