It looks like you all have carried on in my absence! I have been working on music a lot lately (www.soundcloud.com/drfrozenfire) and dealing with IRL stuff.... but I miss minecraft. I may be getting some free time soon due to me moving, so I thought I'd stop by and check things out. I'm glad to see things still happening here!
I have a lot to learn about the updates that have occurred since I last created a texture pack, so if I decide to take the time (which I may have soon) I may go about bringing back Synthetic Reality texture pack or I may make a new one.
-Drfrozenfire
Hiya! Awesome music you got there! I like the genre mix. Did you do the vocals as well?
I'm sure the folks left on this thread will be happy to get you up to speed on the changes that have happened. You can also refer to markacashion's All-Inclusive Guide to Texturing for info... it's a good hub to find other tutorial threads from.
I think there's a few people around here (myself included) who are wanting some changes done to the TAU's original post and/or making a new thread. There was some talks about making a new TAU thread several months ago, but they fizzled out. At any rate, we've been running under the assumption that there's not really a "union" to speak of anymore, and artists have been free to seek advice on this thread without needing to become a 'member', even though the OP still says otherwise.
I have a lot to learn about the updates that have occurred since I last created a texture pack, so if I decide to take the time (which I may have soon) I may go about bringing back Synthetic Reality texture pack or I may make a new one.
-Drfrozenfire
I'm not sure when you left, but I think you were at lest somewhat active for the texturepack-->resourcepack change (right? no more atlas, sounds, animations, and language files?) so 2 major things that come to my mind.
1. Custom models. It's pretty awesome it about all I can say. Custom block and item meshes, now you aren't restricted to pure cubes and extruded item sprites anymore. Still a little clunky though, and the devs have imposed their strict vision of the game so far that you can't even do multiple rotations (but models with hundreds or thousands of cubes are just fine apparently, you're just outta luck if you want a minimal but beautiful mesh). Some stuff isn't possible (like controlling or adding specific recolors, models based on nbt like for spawn eggs/potions, good projectile models etc).
Here's mine which I'm quite proud of (didn't really help my pack, even though I was doing models since it was possible) to give you an idea of what you can do:
They're also broken in 1.9 because display settings have changed, I'd have to sift through over 300 files and fix everything by hand
Also, I made a tutorial if you want to make simple stuff like this by hand. If you want to try an editor, there's Opl's Model Creator or MrCrayfish's Model Creator. Though they aren't perfect TBH, you'll likely need to go in and do some stuff by hand (like display settings).
2. Kahr (the maker of MCpathcer) has been inactive since June 2015 (no update to 1.9 or even 1.8.9), however Optifine's pack support has been improved to be mostly on-par with MCpatcher... there's only a few things missing (betterglass and innerSeams?) but Optifine also gives performance AND has had the shaders mod integrated into it!
Unrelated note: I don't suppose another TAU server will be a thing again?
The 'Our Mission' section of the OP gives you a very clear definition of why the TAU (and subsequently this thread) exists.
The thread is also a great place to get feedback on your textures as it is in the 'Texture Discussion' section of this forum.
Also, you do not need to be a member of the TAU to receive feedback. Why not post some of your work and get a feel for what it is like here? Then you will know for sure that you want (or do not want :() to join us.
On a different note, I've talked with the other Union Admins and we have agreed that we would like you to have some more work done before we accept you as a member. You are still welcome to talk with us here, and ask for feedback, until that moment, so don't worry
I don't think the Union has really DONE much, but the theory is that the high-ranking members and presence of us as a group will allow certain leverage. Like if we could contact Mojang and have suggestions on improvements to resource packs, specifically arbitrary limitations. Also anything specific members can do (hosting, reviews, contests, collabs, etc).
However it likely has more benefit because of our numbers, such as taking down reposts of our packs (I have seen this work with PMC at least), or members being moderators on sites to do the same thing.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I'm an outsider by choice, but not truly.
It’s the unpleasantness of the system that keeps me out.
I’d rather be in, in a good system. That’s where my discontent comes from:
being forced to choose to stay outside.
My advice: Just keep movin’ straight ahead.
Every now and then you find yourself in a different place."
-George Carlin
I'm not sure when you left, but I think you were at lest somewhat active for the texturepack-->resourcepack change (right? no more atlas, sounds, animations, and language files?) so 2 major things that come to my mind.
1. Custom models. It's pretty awesome it about all I can say. Custom block and item meshes, now you aren't restricted to pure cubes and extruded item sprites anymore. Still a little clunky though, and the devs have imposed their strict vision of the game so far that you can't even do multiple rotations (but models with hundreds or thousands of cubes are just fine apparently, you're just outta luck if you want a minimal but beautiful mesh). Some stuff isn't possible (like controlling or adding specific recolors, models based on nbt like for spawn eggs/potions, good projectile models etc).
Here's mine which I'm quite proud of (didn't really help my pack, even though I was doing models since it was possible) to give you an idea of what you can do:
They're also broken in 1.9 because display settings have changed, I'd have to sift through over 300 files and fix everything by hand
Also, I made a tutorial if you want to make simple stuff like this by hand. If you want to try an editor, there's Opl's Model Creator or MrCrayfish's Model Creator. Though they aren't perfect TBH, you'll likely need to go in and do some stuff by hand (like display settings).
2. Kahr (the maker of MCpathcer) has been inactive since June 2015 (no update to 1.9 or even 1.8.9), however Optifine's pack support has been improved to be mostly on-par with MCpatcher... there's only a few things missing (betterglass and innerSeams?) but Optifine also gives performance AND has had the shaders mod integrated into it!
Where does it say that? There's this in the 'guidelines' section (which is worded in a non-member specific way)
Also, being an old member here, I don't ever remember it being required. Searches resulting in TAU admins from 2012:
I don't think the Union has really DONE much, but the theory is that the high-ranking members and presence of us as a group will allow certain leverage. Like if we could contact Mojang and have suggestions on improvements to resource packs, specifically arbitrary limitations.
However it likely has more benefit because of our numbers, such as taking down reposts of our packs (I have seen this work with PMC at least), or members being moderators on sites to do the same thing.
Hiya! Awesome music you got there! I like the genre mix. Did you do the vocals as well?
I'm sure the folks left on this thread will be happy to get you up to speed on the changes that have happened. You can also refer to markacashion's All-Inclusive Guide to Texturing for info... it's a good hub to find other tutorial threads from.
I think there's a few people around here (myself included) who are wanting some changes done to the TAU's original post and/or making a new thread. There was some talks about making a new TAU thread several months ago, but they fizzled out. At any rate, we've been running under the assumption that there's not really a "union" to speak of anymore, and artists have been free to seek advice on this thread without needing to become a 'member', even though the OP still says otherwise.
Thanks for the kind words! I did indeed do everything including vocals. Thanks for the guides. I was around for the texture pack - resource pack change and launched Synthetic Reality II around that time. I might just pick back up on that and flesh it out a bit if I end up getting the free time I think that is coming to me. also..... LEMON! Whatup man, long time no see. Thanks for holding down the fort
What changes to the OP (other than the broken code) were you thinking?
Where does it say that? There's this in the 'guidelines' section (which is worded in a non-member specific way)
Also, being an old member here, I don't ever remember it being required. Searches resulting in TAU admins from 2012:
I don't think the Union has really DONE much, but the theory is that the high-ranking members and presence of us as a group will allow certain leverage. Like if we could contact Mojang and have suggestions on improvements to resource packs, specifically arbitrary limitations. Also anything specific members can do (hosting, reviews, contests, collabs, etc).
However it likely has more benefit because of our numbers, such as taking down reposts of our packs (I have seen this work with PMC at least), or members being moderators on sites to do the same thing.
Oh, my mistake... I had memories of new members asking wether or not they needed membership to post... it's always been in my head that there was such a restriction. Guess I haven't read the OP any more thoroughly than they had.
I'm a bit curious now... have there been any specific examples of the TAU 'taking action' against an issue and winning? Like what was the PMC thing you mentioned?
Oh, my mistake... I had memories of new members asking wether or not they needed membership to post... it's always been in my head that there was such a restriction. Guess I haven't read the OP any more thoroughly than they had.
New Artists routinely get that impression from the original post. At best it is super long, and irrelevant. In any practical sense of the words there has been no "membership" of TAU nor any TAU for at least three years.
.
I'm a bit curious now... have there been any specific examples of the TAU 'taking action' against an issue and winning? Like what was the PMC thing you mentioned?
I've never gotten the impression that it was hard to get obvious copys taken down from PMC. It hasn't happened to me, but, i can recall several instances were it was pretty straightforward.
Everytime there is a no snapshot for a new version of Minecraft, I have to see what new stuff is being added, changed & removed so that I can keep the Texturing Guide up to date. I might do it for every new version & not the snapshots. I don't know yet though.
Oh drfrozenfire, Steelfeathers stop updating her "The All-Inclusive Guide to Texturing" thread, but I have updated it. You can find the link in my signature. So if you want some info on how some things work, then just have a look.
I might just pick back up on that and flesh it out a bit if I end up getting the free time I think that is coming to me.
Hey, I have a camera now (Pentax K-50) I could probably take some pictures for you to use (I might be limited on what I can take pictures of, though). Plus I can do macro/almost-macro. Examples:
I'm a bit curious now... have there been any specific examples of the TAU 'taking action' against an issue and winning? Like what was the PMC thing you mentioned?
If you do a search (green button top right, search>search this thread) you'll find A LOT (22 pages!).
Need the union's help reporting a stolen pack on PMC. They usually go down no more than 30 minutes after I report them, but this one has been up for a day now, and is getting a lot of downloads.
Everyone, go report this guy'stexture packs, they are ALL stolen. Didn't even rename the download files.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I'm an outsider by choice, but not truly.
It’s the unpleasantness of the system that keeps me out.
I’d rather be in, in a good system. That’s where my discontent comes from:
being forced to choose to stay outside.
My advice: Just keep movin’ straight ahead.
Every now and then you find yourself in a different place."
-George Carlin
If you do a search (green button top right, search>search this thread) you'll find A LOT (22 pages!).
Here's some examples:
.....
Do you have any reason to belive that TAU had any significant part to play in getting those taken down?
Does PMC have a history of *not* taking down obviously stolen packs when informed of them?
Also 22 pages of posts with the word "stolen" in it, is quite a different thing from proof that TAU as a formal organization helped solve the problem. Obviously people came here and found out who to contact, but that works just as well with TAU as an informal hangout.
TAU is the place I go if I am unsure about a texture and just need someone else to tell me that it should probably be reworked. And to marvel at how great all the other artists who post there are, which makes you question if you should even post your art to begin with.
Amongst the things that mysteriously vanished from my pack were my skyboxes. So I re-drew my mountains and made the night sky brighter. The stars twinkle, and around midnight, the Northern Lights appear.
If you don't mind some constructive criticism, I'd say they do look a bit flat, like they came from an info-graphic or something (A map of color coded ski slopes comes to mind). You might want to add a layer with some harsher shadows and accentuate them with some clouds perhaps?
Oh yeah. The clouds are gonna be more sublte, and I'm probably gonna add more haze to the mountains to make them seem more distant. One of the things I want to do is play with timing and multiple variations to have sunrise and sunsest glow on them, which is why they're unshaded right now.
Does PMC have a history of *not* taking down obviously stolen packs when informed of them?
If a pack is reported with proof that it's stolen, then it will always get taken down when the mods get to it, unless there's a moderator who doesn't know what they're doing. The staff team is very good when it comes to these things. Often times, they'll have hundreds of reports and with 21 site mods reports can be in the queue for several days. If a legitimate report ever gets ignored (the red flag won't be red anymore), then PM a super mod. Having people mass report a submission won't do anything, and they'd prefer it if you didn't.
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So I realized that I haven't quite been using the high resolution I've chosen to it's fullest potential. I messed with my cobble texture, went back and added more detailing and shading and this is what I got. I tried not to break the theme of the pack and I think I managed it and it looks pretty good. I'll probably go back and do this to the rest of my textures I feel need it. Here's a before and after, let me know how it looks.
How is Curse doing these days? I'm considering having a mirror for Triton on Curse, simply because it seems like a slightly better aggregator for packs (don't have to 'bump' a post to keep my pack visible) and because of all the stink adf.ly has been causing. Of course, Curse is a bit dodgy as well, but I feel as if it's time that I offer other options to people downloading my pack.
Looks like each project is stuck with a single resolution category (i.e. 16x, 32x...): Does that mean I need to start four different projects for each of Triton's resolutions?
How is Curse doing these days? I'm considering having a mirror for Triton on Curse, simply because it seems like a slightly better aggregator for packs (don't have to 'bump' a post to keep my pack visible) and because of all the stink adf.ly has been causing. Of course, Curse is a bit dodgy as well, but I feel as if it's time that I offer other options to people downloading my pack.
Looks like each project is stuck with a single resolution category (i.e. 16x, 32x...): Does that mean I need to start four different projects for each of Triton's resolutions?
I get a $10 Amazon card every now and then, so my packs are making some money. And PMC now allows you to link to your Curse project, where they didn't before. And most of my traffic definitely seems to come from PMC.
But yes, you would have to have multiple projects for different resolutions. It's kind of irritating, and part of why I sort of let my side packs slide into oblivion. But at the same time, I'd rather put up with that and monetise through Curse than send people to adf.ly.
How is Curse doing these days? I'm considering having a mirror for Triton on Curse, simply because it seems like a slightly better aggregator for packs (don't have to 'bump' a post to keep my pack visible) and because of all the stink adf.ly has been causing. Of course, Curse is a bit dodgy as well, but I feel as if it's time that I offer other options to people downloading my pack.
Looks like each project is stuck with a single resolution category (i.e. 16x, 32x...): Does that mean I need to start four different projects for each of Triton's resolutions?
I get $50 from curse multiple times a year, and all my download go through them. Negligable compared to the time I put in, but not nothing.
I find it is a much more consistent source of traffic than PMC, which spikes after updates, and then quickly drops off.
As for dogey, I don't know what you mean. A couple years back I used to routinely have issues with uploads, but that hasn't happened in ages, and in my experience the tech people are pretty responsive to having issued pointed out.
The amount of pay-out is not dirrectly related to the number of downloads, but some sort of sliding scale proportional to the totally downloads that day. If your downloads double due to a popular update, the points you earn will be far less than doubled.
Curse has been pretty good to me as well, had no real issues with it in terms of uploading and reliability and I check back every few months and usually have enough for a $50 or $100 paypal payout so I can't really complain about that either. I've never had anybody complain about it either and it's a very obvious download link if you use the widget in your OP too so it's a win win there too as far as I'm concerned.
stuff in the back ground are
Jingle bells, decay and fails
The adventurers all died of fright.
Dungeons night, was never right
When the lich came in a sleigh.
By Sileo_Vulpes
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Curse PremiumHiya! Awesome music you got there! I like the genre mix. Did you do the vocals as well?
I'm sure the folks left on this thread will be happy to get you up to speed on the changes that have happened. You can also refer to markacashion's All-Inclusive Guide to Texturing for info... it's a good hub to find other tutorial threads from.
I think there's a few people around here (myself included) who are wanting some changes done to the TAU's original post and/or making a new thread. There was some talks about making a new TAU thread several months ago, but they fizzled out. At any rate, we've been running under the assumption that there's not really a "union" to speak of anymore, and artists have been free to seek advice on this thread without needing to become a 'member', even though the OP still says otherwise.
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Retired StaffI'm not sure when you left, but I think you were at lest somewhat active for the texturepack-->resourcepack change (right? no more atlas, sounds, animations, and language files?) so 2 major things that come to my mind.
1. Custom models. It's pretty awesome it about all I can say. Custom block and item meshes, now you aren't restricted to pure cubes and extruded item sprites anymore. Still a little clunky though, and the devs have imposed their strict vision of the game so far that you can't even do multiple rotations (but models with hundreds or thousands of cubes are just fine apparently, you're just outta luck if you want a minimal but beautiful mesh). Some stuff isn't possible (like controlling or adding specific recolors, models based on nbt like for spawn eggs/potions, good projectile models etc).
Here's mine which I'm quite proud of (didn't really help my pack, even though I was doing models since it was possible) to give you an idea of what you can do:
They're also broken in 1.9 because display settings have changed, I'd have to sift through over 300 files and fix everything by hand
Also, I made a tutorial if you want to make simple stuff like this by hand. If you want to try an editor, there's Opl's Model Creator or MrCrayfish's Model Creator. Though they aren't perfect TBH, you'll likely need to go in and do some stuff by hand (like display settings).
2. Kahr (the maker of MCpathcer) has been inactive since June 2015 (no update to 1.9 or even 1.8.9), however Optifine's pack support has been improved to be mostly on-par with MCpatcher... there's only a few things missing (betterglass and innerSeams?) but Optifine also gives performance AND has had the shaders mod integrated into it!
Unrelated note: I don't suppose another TAU server will be a thing again?
Where does it say that? There's this in the 'guidelines' section (which is worded in a non-member specific way)
Also, being an old member here, I don't ever remember it being required. Searches resulting in TAU admins from 2012:
I don't think the Union has really DONE much, but the theory is that the high-ranking members and presence of us as a group will allow certain leverage. Like if we could contact Mojang and have suggestions on improvements to resource packs, specifically arbitrary limitations. Also anything specific members can do (hosting, reviews, contests, collabs, etc).
However it likely has more benefit because of our numbers, such as taking down reposts of our packs (I have seen this work with PMC at least), or members being moderators on sites to do the same thing.
"I'm an outsider by choice, but not truly.
It’s the unpleasantness of the system that keeps me out.
I’d rather be in, in a good system. That’s where my discontent comes from:
being forced to choose to stay outside.
My advice: Just keep movin’ straight ahead.
Every now and then you find yourself in a different place."
-George Carlin
Thanks for the kind words! I did indeed do everything including vocals. Thanks for the guides. I was around for the texture pack - resource pack change and launched Synthetic Reality II around that time. I might just pick back up on that and flesh it out a bit if I end up getting the free time I think that is coming to me. also..... LEMON! Whatup man, long time no see. Thanks for holding down the fort
What changes to the OP (other than the broken code) were you thinking?
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Curse PremiumOh, my mistake... I had memories of new members asking wether or not they needed membership to post... it's always been in my head that there was such a restriction. Guess I haven't read the OP any more thoroughly than they had.
I'm a bit curious now... have there been any specific examples of the TAU 'taking action' against an issue and winning? Like what was the PMC thing you mentioned?
Back in my day we got a bunch of stolen packs off PMC, including some of my packs that were stolen. We banded together and made it happen!
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Curse PremiumNew Artists routinely get that impression from the original post. At best it is super long, and irrelevant. In any practical sense of the words there has been no "membership" of TAU nor any TAU for at least three years.
.
I've never gotten the impression that it was hard to get obvious copys taken down from PMC. It hasn't happened to me, but, i can recall several instances were it was pretty straightforward.
• Follow Lithos on Twitter for release announcments
* Join the Lithos Discord for previews and to help
Everytime there is a no snapshot for a new version of Minecraft, I have to see what new stuff is being added, changed & removed so that I can keep the Texturing Guide up to date. I might do it for every new version & not the snapshots. I don't know yet though.
Oh drfrozenfire, Steelfeathers stop updating her "The All-Inclusive Guide to Texturing" thread, but I have updated it. You can find the link in my signature. So if you want some info on how some things work, then just have a look.
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Retired StaffHey, I have a camera now (Pentax K-50) I could probably take some pictures for you to use (I might be limited on what I can take pictures of, though). Plus I can do macro/almost-macro. Examples:
If you do a search (green button top right, search>search this thread) you'll find A LOT (22 pages!).
Here's some examples:
"I'm an outsider by choice, but not truly.
It’s the unpleasantness of the system that keeps me out.
I’d rather be in, in a good system. That’s where my discontent comes from:
being forced to choose to stay outside.
My advice: Just keep movin’ straight ahead.
Every now and then you find yourself in a different place."
-George Carlin
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Curse PremiumDo you have any reason to belive that TAU had any significant part to play in getting those taken down?
Does PMC have a history of *not* taking down obviously stolen packs when informed of them?
Also 22 pages of posts with the word "stolen" in it, is quite a different thing from proof that TAU as a formal organization helped solve the problem. Obviously people came here and found out who to contact, but that works just as well with TAU as an informal hangout.
• Follow Lithos on Twitter for release announcments
* Join the Lithos Discord for previews and to help
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Curse PremiumTAU is the place I go if I am unsure about a texture and just need someone else to tell me that it should probably be reworked. And to marvel at how great all the other artists who post there are, which makes you question if you should even post your art to begin with.
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Curse PremiumAmongst the things that mysteriously vanished from my pack were my skyboxes. So I re-drew my mountains and made the night sky brighter. The stars twinkle, and around midnight, the Northern Lights appear.
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Curse PremiumOh yeah. The clouds are gonna be more sublte, and I'm probably gonna add more haze to the mountains to make them seem more distant. One of the things I want to do is play with timing and multiple variations to have sunrise and sunsest glow on them, which is why they're unshaded right now.
If a pack is reported with proof that it's stolen, then it will always get taken down when the mods get to it, unless there's a moderator who doesn't know what they're doing. The staff team is very good when it comes to these things. Often times, they'll have hundreds of reports and with 21 site mods reports can be in the queue for several days. If a legitimate report ever gets ignored (the red flag won't be red anymore), then PM a super mod. Having people mass report a submission won't do anything, and they'd prefer it if you didn't.
source: used to be really active on PMC
So I realized that I haven't quite been using the high resolution I've chosen to it's fullest potential. I messed with my cobble texture, went back and added more detailing and shading and this is what I got. I tried not to break the theme of the pack and I think I managed it and it looks pretty good. I'll probably go back and do this to the rest of my textures I feel need it. Here's a before and after, let me know how it looks.
EDIT: Actually its an after and before. Oops
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Curse PremiumHow is Curse doing these days? I'm considering having a mirror for Triton on Curse, simply because it seems like a slightly better aggregator for packs (don't have to 'bump' a post to keep my pack visible) and because of all the stink adf.ly has been causing. Of course, Curse is a bit dodgy as well, but I feel as if it's time that I offer other options to people downloading my pack.
Looks like each project is stuck with a single resolution category (i.e. 16x, 32x...): Does that mean I need to start four different projects for each of Triton's resolutions?
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Curse PremiumI get a $10 Amazon card every now and then, so my packs are making some money. And PMC now allows you to link to your Curse project, where they didn't before. And most of my traffic definitely seems to come from PMC.
But yes, you would have to have multiple projects for different resolutions. It's kind of irritating, and part of why I sort of let my side packs slide into oblivion. But at the same time, I'd rather put up with that and monetise through Curse than send people to adf.ly.
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Curse PremiumI get $50 from curse multiple times a year, and all my download go through them. Negligable compared to the time I put in, but not nothing.
I find it is a much more consistent source of traffic than PMC, which spikes after updates, and then quickly drops off.
As for dogey, I don't know what you mean. A couple years back I used to routinely have issues with uploads, but that hasn't happened in ages, and in my experience the tech people are pretty responsive to having issued pointed out.
The amount of pay-out is not dirrectly related to the number of downloads, but some sort of sliding scale proportional to the totally downloads that day. If your downloads double due to a popular update, the points you earn will be far less than doubled.
• Follow Lithos on Twitter for release announcments
* Join the Lithos Discord for previews and to help
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Curse PremiumCurse has been pretty good to me as well, had no real issues with it in terms of uploading and reliability and I check back every few months and usually have enough for a $50 or $100 paypal payout so I can't really complain about that either. I've never had anybody complain about it either and it's a very obvious download link if you use the widget in your OP too so it's a win win there too as far as I'm concerned.
All I have is grass
Jingle bells, decay and fails
The adventurers all died of fright.
Dungeons night, was never right
When the lich came in a sleigh.
By Sileo_Vulpes