I'm still not a fan of the realistic wood style, even though the newer version of it might be a bit better...... I personally vote "no" for it being in the default pack. It just doesn't mesh/fit well with the rest of the theme of your pack, like your original brighter wood style does. It's one of the aspects that makes this pack unique from about 99% of the other texture packs in this forum.
I say go on what you feel, and don't take too much of the feedback to heart... most of us here like the direction you've been going from the start..... keep your original vision of this pack going I say!
About complaints of the wood, there seems to be three groups of feedback.... one which like it how it is (which is probably most people), another which want a slight color change to differentiate a bit more from other blocks, and a group that just want the wood to look like the wood you see exactly in minecraft default and in most of the other texture packs (which is not what the purpose of your pack is, is it?).
I probably fall somewhat in the second group, since I added some more yellow to the wood to contrast it a bit more from sand... so it makes is fall somewhere between gold and sand, which to me makes sense. I also made tree leaves and catcus just a bit darker to make it a bit more unique from the grass....
But I can definitively see where you are coming from when you want the color palette limited, since I can tell with my color changes, even though the leaves/wood changes I made only darkened them just a bit, it sacrifices a bit of the brightness/life out of the theme. But to me the little bit of extra variety that "I" personally wanted, makes it just barely enough worth the sacrifice.
I would just add that I love this pack. Taken individually, I love the color of the sand. I love the color of the wood. I tried not to be too specific with my suggestion -- just saying "variation" instead of suggesting anything specific -- because you've totally earned my trust with this thing. It's your pack, and your instincts are obviously excellent. I'll be happy with whatever you decide to do, or not to do.
I'll try out the new wood tomorrow, and post some before and after screenshots. I hope you don't mind us playing with things a little bit... I might take the new color scheme for the wood, and instead use it to re-color the sand to see what that looks like.
i really dug [haha] the "squared off" version of the cobblestone:
what was it that made you change to the circle pattern? imo the original seemed to add some more texture while actually feeling cleaner than the current version. was it just too modern or busy?
I think the square cobblestone has a place, but that iteration of it was too busy. I think I'm going to let people customize their skins a bit, so no harm in my creating a bunch of alternatives later. (IE, if you're a light wood purist or dig the old cobblestone, there is hope for you).
Starting the mobs. Creeper so far. (Do not try to use this in-game, it's a blown-up screengrab, not the final image.)
I think adding the warmer hue, darker value to the sand darkens the game up too much. Neat comparisons. Super helpful.
After seeing those, I just compromised a bit and changed the wood in the default terrain.png (not my dark wood alternate) to something warmer but still light in value. I think it is the best of both worlds. Bright and more wood-like. I will provide the darker wood you just tested and the original super pale wood as alternates.
I agree with Freden, this is a vibrant theme and the sand has to stay bright to match the brightness of the grass and other stuff... otherwise the sand starts to look more like dirt. Sand should have the bright/sunny refreshing feel in this kind of theme (I'd say this for default minecraft too....sand usually means an ocean is nearby which can sort of be a safe escape route against certain creatures)
Also, darkening some bright textures , is just gonna make gravel way too awkwardly brighter than everything else. For my personal feel, I felt wood just needed a bit more color difference compared to sand, so I added some yellow to the wood (though maybe a tad too much, might need to tone the change down a bit) and it doesn't really end up darkening the wood. I just don't think we need more brown, there is enough dirt in the minecraft world as is... why anyone would want to add brown to this style of theme just perplexes me...
I was thinking that one of the original ideas Freden had for this pack, to remove the already excess of brown in minecraft default?
I started the pack with the slate of colors I was going to use in mind before anything else. So, yeah, I had a few harmonies planned. No biggie -- giving people options is fine with me. My tastes are that, mine, who am I to judge if you want more brown? Heh.
Redid the cow. She'll come in brown (jersey), black, and spotted (for the people who have never seen what 99% of actual cows look like, lol).
I missed the post stating that you updated your darker wood once again..... I can no longer say it's dark now! I think it's safe to say you've probably hit it right on the money with this last tweak! It will please everyone now.
I say go on what you feel, and don't take too much of the feedback to heart... most of us here like the direction you've been going from the start..... keep your original vision of this pack going I say!
About complaints of the wood, there seems to be three groups of feedback.... one which like it how it is (which is probably most people), another which want a slight color change to differentiate a bit more from other blocks, and a group that just want the wood to look like the wood you see exactly in minecraft default and in most of the other texture packs (which is not what the purpose of your pack is, is it?).
I probably fall somewhat in the second group, since I added some more yellow to the wood to contrast it a bit more from sand... so it makes is fall somewhere between gold and sand, which to me makes sense. I also made tree leaves and catcus just a bit darker to make it a bit more unique from the grass....
But I can definitively see where you are coming from when you want the color palette limited, since I can tell with my color changes, even though the leaves/wood changes I made only darkened them just a bit, it sacrifices a bit of the brightness/life out of the theme. But to me the little bit of extra variety that "I" personally wanted, makes it just barely enough worth the sacrifice.
I'll try out the new wood tomorrow, and post some before and after screenshots. I hope you don't mind us playing with things a little bit... I might take the new color scheme for the wood, and instead use it to re-color the sand to see what that looks like.
what was it that made you change to the circle pattern? imo the original seemed to add some more texture while actually feeling cleaner than the current version. was it just too modern or busy?
Starting the mobs. Creeper so far. (Do not try to use this in-game, it's a blown-up screengrab, not the final image.)
Anyone know of a good skin template that explains the planes of the cow and chicken? I have guides for everything else.
http://i.imgur.com/XKXFy.png
http://i.imgur.com/agH0f.png
http://i.imgur.com/l1R0Q.png
http://i.imgur.com/6oDg4.png
Here I experimented with the sand by applying the new, warmer wood color to the sand and keeping the original wood...
http://i.imgur.com/77J4C.png
http://i.imgur.com/KpNW9.png
http://i.imgur.com/Ew8m9.png
http://i.imgur.com/MiVTp.png
http://i.imgur.com/yN1Th.png
http://i.imgur.com/YxIqJ.png
After seeing those, I just compromised a bit and changed the wood in the default terrain.png (not my dark wood alternate) to something warmer but still light in value. I think it is the best of both worlds. Bright and more wood-like. I will provide the darker wood you just tested and the original super pale wood as alternates.
Also, darkening some bright textures , is just gonna make gravel way too awkwardly brighter than everything else. For my personal feel, I felt wood just needed a bit more color difference compared to sand, so I added some yellow to the wood (though maybe a tad too much, might need to tone the change down a bit) and it doesn't really end up darkening the wood. I just don't think we need more brown, there is enough dirt in the minecraft world as is... why anyone would want to add brown to this style of theme just perplexes me...
I was thinking that one of the original ideas Freden had for this pack, to remove the already excess of brown in minecraft default?
Redid the cow. She'll come in brown (jersey), black, and spotted (for the people who have never seen what 99% of actual cows look like, lol).
Spotted to come.
Biggest change: no beard. Instead, gaping mouth.
I missed the post stating that you updated your darker wood once again..... I can no longer say it's dark now! I think it's safe to say you've probably hit it right on the money with this last tweak! It will please everyone now.