OK, that is totally weird... since they re-loaded the member database, the username "Blackwolf67" is now showing as "xXSypherXx". I have no idea where that came from or if it means someone else is now using that login, but I sure didn't choose it.
Glad my original username is working again!
Heh, guess these new forums still have a few kinks that need ironing out!
Anyway, how goes the pack? Are you making good progress? :smile.gif:
I haven't made any progress in the last few days. I can only really dedicate the time I need on my days off. So maybe something this weekend, or during the coming week.
A lot of work for the time being will be "under the hood" - that is to say, making a list of what I feel needs to be changed to fit the theme (and how I want the changes to look) and prioritizing those changes.
While my obvious main priority is to finish the terrain.png first, if anything else happens to develop in the meantime I'll toss that in. I can probably bang out the 64x gui and background sooner, rather than later.
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"Don't know why you should feel that there's something to learn... it's just a game that you play."
Worked on some preliminary ore textures today - some came out better than I expected, others will surely be improved as time goes on. But I'm picking up some of the necessary techniques.
To save bandwidth, I've removed the old ore textures from this post and will update later in the thread.
Emeralds are slated to take the place of diamond, as they are more common in South and Central America.
Turquoise replaces Lapis Lazuli for thematic reasons.
The first attempt at gold ore came out with a nice, unexpected gleaming effect... practically glowing! I think I have recaptured it to a realistic degree.
Feedback, advice and constructive criticism are welcomed. I hope you enjoy the glimpses of my progress!
Ores are looking great. One bit of critique would be that the gold seems to be lacking the definition that the other ores have. It just doesn't seem to pop out or be embedded.
Coal, as you said, needs a bit of texture.
I'm trying to venture out of my thread once in a while. Apparently 94% of my posts are in that thread. :blink.gif:
Thanks for the feedback, Scuttles! That's exactly the sort of information I'm looking for.
Basically, I've been toying with the layer properties (burn, multiply, dodge etc.) as well as the outline tool, the dent tool and a few others in Paint.NET. Ideally I'd like to have the ores look a little more three-dimensional and embedded into the stone or sticking out of it... at least as far as is possible without some kind of shaders.
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"Don't know why you should feel that there's something to learn... it's just a game that you play."
After a second glance I noticed that you have a dark line in your stone texture which makes it tile a bit obviously.
As for the embedding, I'd try burning the stone around the outside of the ores. If it's subtle enough it may just be that pop that you've been looking for.
I rather like what you did with the noise effect on the emeralds. ^^
I was very fortunate that the noise made the emeralds look more gem-like. Much of it has been luck, honestly.
The stone is a texture that Grugsy donated to me, downsized for use in this pack. The lines are on the original texture but a little time with the clone stamp cleaned them up pretty well and I think that it will look better for it now.
(EDIT: The main post has a shot of the fixed ore textures on the fixed stone - even the small dark line at the very top is gone).
I can't seem to get the burn tool in Paint.NET to do what I want in regards to edging the ores - it always seems to change the color of the ores as well, rather than just bordering it. I'm guessing I'm just not using it properly, but the documentation isn't particularly helpful in that regard. Any advice?
I did, however, rework the coal and gold textures and I think the new ones look a lot better than before.
I was very fortunate that the noise made the emeralds look more gem-like. Much of it has been luck, honestly.
I see the line you mention on the stone, up near the top on both sides. It's a texture that Grugsy donated to me, downsized for use in this pack. The lines are on the original texture but a little time with the clone stamp cleaned them up pretty well and I think that it will look better for it now.
(EDIT: The main post has a shot of the fixed ore textures on the fixed stone - even the small dark line at the very top is gone, unlike in the pictures below).
I can't seem to get the burn tool in Paint.NET to do what I want in regards to edging the ores - it always seems to change the color of the ores as well, rather than just bordering it. I'm guessing I'm just not using it properly, but the documentation isn't particularly helpful in that regard. Any advice?
I did, however, rework the coal and gold textures and I think the new ones look a lot better than before:
-snip-
What do you think?
I think this is coming along very nicely! :biggrin.gif:
I do think that the gold (the latest one) has lost a bit of its gleam though! The actual ore looks nice but I think the gleam should be re-added.
The coal looks a lot better too!
As for the burn tool in paint.net, select all the ore pixels (the actual ore, not the surrounding rock) and then hold ctrl + right mouse button over one of the corners for the whole block. Drag this over to the other side of the block (so it should cover the whole 64x64 texture) and it will select all the rock, but deselect the ores. This means what you paint/burn/erase won't affect the deselected areas!
That's the only way I can think of at the moment and it is kinda slow, but it is very effective.
Hope that helped, and keep up the great work! :biggrin.gif:
I'm not sure how to get that gleam back - it was a fortunate accident the first time, I'm not sure what caused it. However, the burn I applied to the new texture seems to have diminished the gleam. I'll try and recover it, but if I have to choose one or the other, I'm satisfied enough for the moment.
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"Don't know why you should feel that there's something to learn... it's just a game that you play."
At the risk of sounding like an art teacher, could i make a suggestion about some of the ores that follows on from what Scuttles and XSSheep have mentioned? Just ignore if you feel I'm being pompous or anything:
If you wish to create some more depth to the textures, try to decide on an angle the light would fall on each of the 'nuggets'. I know light sources in the game are many and varied, but it does no harm to help it along. I usually pretend there's a light source coming from above and slightly off to one side. Therefore, adding a bit of sparkle (like you did with the emeralds) on the top side of each projecting piece of ore catching the light, and a corresponding touch of shadow on the opposite underside.
Vary the sharpness of the sparkle depending on the shineyness(?) of the material. So gold and gems would have more pixels of reflected light on the top sides than say iron ore and coal which would have more of a sheen, but you'd have to experiment and look at as many reference images on Google as it takes, to get an impression of the material. Some things you just have to guess at because they don't exist in that form in the real world.
Bear in mind this imaginary source of light for everything if you want things to pop out and especially with this theme, consisting of many relief carved blocks and strong sunlight outside
You are doing great with this so far, so I hope any rubbish I come out with doesn't put you off in any way. Keep up the excellent work, mate. :smile.gif:
Awesome. I appreciate all of the feedback! It's a long road to release but I'm sure that I'll be able to address all of those issues in the weeks to come.
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"Don't know why you should feel that there's something to learn... it's just a game that you play."
I still plan to tweak the lighting to add a little directional "glimmar" to the textures but that will take a while as I'll be editing individual pixels.
I think that I've gotten the ores to pop, yet still look embedded in the stone. They've also got some more texture and definition, and the gems and gold shine better now.
Looking fantastic. As someone that can't not make a bunch of meso-american buildings on each map they play on, I'm really excited for this.
I leave you this song for inspiration:
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Java is bulky, slow, hogs resources, passes out from exhaustion, and although it was big in the 90's is now typically only found on poorly designed websites. Much like Harry Knowles. So any time Minecraft crashes, blame Java.
I'm just nitpicking here, but the redstone looks slightly plain compared to the rest - I personally think it could use a bit more sparkle/depth similar to what you've applied to the gems.
Aye, I've got to find something to give it texture and definition. I think the biggest problem is that it doesn't have a real-life analogue - the closest thing would be copper, and it might be hard indeed to distinguish that from iron ore. Once I decide what I see it as, it'll start to shape up.
It's really a minor thing, and I'm only noticing it because I'm looking for flaws though!
Maybe redden the gold ever so slightly? It may add something to it - I'm not sure. Maybe try it out (if you want to, obviously) and see.
I had a nice effect like that on one of the layers - but I haven't been able to keep the glimmer and the little bit of red-orange that you mention. But I'm learning more about using Paint.NET each day, so I'm sure it'll come out eventually.
That smoothstone is still bugging me, tiling apart - I think it's because it looks a bit photo-ey while the ores are very much not.
Yeah - I'm noticing that as well. The stone texture looks nice but the ores don't look quite right on it to me, either. And the ore effects are coming out nicely, so I may need to find a different stone to use. I think XSSheep said he had one I could try from his pack, I'll give it a go.
Also, any thoughts on the ore density? I basically used the default tiles as a guide to the location and size of each nugget, but I'm wondering it things look too busy. Should I remove some of the nuggets, or change the layout entirely? Or is it OK and I'm just being too critical?
Thank you, and everyone else, for your feedback, encouragement and enthusiasm! It's what's keeping me working.
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"Don't know why you should feel that there's something to learn... it's just a game that you play."
UPDATE: Added in the new splash screen as well as an image of the background and the pack icon and text. See the original post.
ADDITIONAL: I have tweaked the ores once again. They are now on XSSheep's stone texture that he has graciously allowed me to use. I think it will solve the issue of the way the "handpainted" ores looked on a photo-realistic background. I like both stone textures, but this one matches better and looks suitably "rocky".
I've tried to add the desired red tinge to the recesses of the gold without losing too much gleam - I hope I've managed that.
I want the redstone wiring to ultimately look like a blood trail, so I modified the redstone to look more like blood. I think it adds some definition and helps it to "pop" better.
I used a similar method on the iron - still nice and rusty but now it has a LOT more definition to the texture.
The coal and gems are unchanged from last time, except on the new stone.
I'm going to experiment with removing some of the nuggets from the gold, iron and redstone. Should I keep the smaller ones in, and remove some of the larger ones? Should it differ from ore to ore for variety?
Next thing I want to tackle is adding some depth to the dispenser textures and the gold block (and tinting the front of Sheep's furnace texture to match). Anyone got some advice on how to do that in Paint.NET?
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"Don't know why you should feel that there's something to learn... it's just a game that you play."
LOL! I'm hardly an expert, but I appreciate the advice. I agree that differing from ore to ore is a good idea - the more precious ores might have more of the smaller nuggets, while the more common ores like iron would have the larger veins but not so many small ones.
That will probably be my next thing on the to-do list, then.
I gave some thought to what you said about the dispenser texture looking too flat, and I enhanced the textures on it and the gold block for depth.
I had wanted to use XSSheep's furnace but I couldn't get the color to match up, so I had a slightly crazy notion. What if the furnace was a vessel for burnt offerings to their gods?
I may need to do a little work around the eyelids, nose and lips but I think the idea is an interesting one. Thoughts?
Are all of the images displaying OK? I can only see some of them - others still say "bandwidth exceeded" despite that I have upgraded to Pro. Wondering if it's just on my end - though I have cleared my cache and even restarted the machine.
EDIT: It's odd - seems like it will display an image just fine if it needs to resize it. I think the forum may be the culprit.
Are all of the images displaying OK? I can only see some of them - others still say "bandwidth exceeded" despite that I have upgraded to Pro. Wondering if it's just on my end - though I have cleared my cache and even restarted the machine.
EDIT: It's odd - seems like it will display an image just fine if it needs to resize it. I think the forum may be the culprit.
Most of them still say bandwidth exceeded, which is what I was just about to comment in order to say. Worst comes to worst, you can simply re-up everything to your photobucket account and replace the urls in the image tags.
As for redstone, the best analogy I can think of is Cinnabar. Personally, I think redstone should be treated as it was imagined: A red stone that transmits current when laid on the ground as a powder. Cinnabar is red, and a stone, and in the real world a source of mercury, which is the only liquid metal and transmits current.
Please don't change the color of Lapis. I love that deep blue, and it would look gorgeous next to gold blocks.
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"That's not how things work. You stand up for what you believe in. You don't just silently choose the easy road." -Notch, on twitter.
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Curse PremiumHeh, guess these new forums still have a few kinks that need ironing out!
Anyway, how goes the pack? Are you making good progress? :smile.gif:
A lot of work for the time being will be "under the hood" - that is to say, making a list of what I feel needs to be changed to fit the theme (and how I want the changes to look) and prioritizing those changes.
While my obvious main priority is to finish the terrain.png first, if anything else happens to develop in the meantime I'll toss that in. I can probably bang out the 64x gui and background sooner, rather than later.
if you didn't notice i leik pokemon
To save bandwidth, I've removed the old ore textures from this post and will update later in the thread.
Emeralds are slated to take the place of diamond, as they are more common in South and Central America.
Turquoise replaces Lapis Lazuli for thematic reasons.
The first attempt at gold ore came out with a nice, unexpected gleaming effect... practically glowing! I think I have recaptured it to a realistic degree.
Feedback, advice and constructive criticism are welcomed. I hope you enjoy the glimpses of my progress!
Coal, as you said, needs a bit of texture.
I'm trying to venture out of my thread once in a while. Apparently 94% of my posts are in that thread. :blink.gif:
Basically, I've been toying with the layer properties (burn, multiply, dodge etc.) as well as the outline tool, the dent tool and a few others in Paint.NET. Ideally I'd like to have the ores look a little more three-dimensional and embedded into the stone or sticking out of it... at least as far as is possible without some kind of shaders.
After a second glance I noticed that you have a dark line in your stone texture which makes it tile a bit obviously.
As for the embedding, I'd try burning the stone around the outside of the ores. If it's subtle enough it may just be that pop that you've been looking for.
I rather like what you did with the noise effect on the emeralds. ^^
The stone is a texture that Grugsy donated to me, downsized for use in this pack. The lines are on the original texture but a little time with the clone stamp cleaned them up pretty well and I think that it will look better for it now.
(EDIT: The main post has a shot of the fixed ore textures on the fixed stone - even the small dark line at the very top is gone).
I can't seem to get the burn tool in Paint.NET to do what I want in regards to edging the ores - it always seems to change the color of the ores as well, rather than just bordering it. I'm guessing I'm just not using it properly, but the documentation isn't particularly helpful in that regard. Any advice?
I did, however, rework the coal and gold textures and I think the new ones look a lot better than before.
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Curse PremiumI think this is coming along very nicely! :biggrin.gif:
I do think that the gold (the latest one) has lost a bit of its gleam though! The actual ore looks nice but I think the gleam should be re-added.
The coal looks a lot better too!
As for the burn tool in paint.net, select all the ore pixels (the actual ore, not the surrounding rock) and then hold ctrl + right mouse button over one of the corners for the whole block. Drag this over to the other side of the block (so it should cover the whole 64x64 texture) and it will select all the rock, but deselect the ores. This means what you paint/burn/erase won't affect the deselected areas!
That's the only way I can think of at the moment and it is kinda slow, but it is very effective.
Hope that helped, and keep up the great work! :biggrin.gif:
I'm not sure how to get that gleam back - it was a fortunate accident the first time, I'm not sure what caused it. However, the burn I applied to the new texture seems to have diminished the gleam. I'll try and recover it, but if I have to choose one or the other, I'm satisfied enough for the moment.
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Curse PremiumAt the risk of sounding like an art teacher, could i make a suggestion about some of the ores that follows on from what Scuttles and XSSheep have mentioned? Just ignore if you feel I'm being pompous or anything:
If you wish to create some more depth to the textures, try to decide on an angle the light would fall on each of the 'nuggets'. I know light sources in the game are many and varied, but it does no harm to help it along. I usually pretend there's a light source coming from above and slightly off to one side. Therefore, adding a bit of sparkle (like you did with the emeralds) on the top side of each projecting piece of ore catching the light, and a corresponding touch of shadow on the opposite underside.
Vary the sharpness of the sparkle depending on the shineyness(?) of the material. So gold and gems would have more pixels of reflected light on the top sides than say iron ore and coal which would have more of a sheen, but you'd have to experiment and look at as many reference images on Google as it takes, to get an impression of the material. Some things you just have to guess at because they don't exist in that form in the real world.
Bear in mind this imaginary source of light for everything if you want things to pop out and especially with this theme, consisting of many relief carved blocks and strong sunlight outside
You are doing great with this so far, so I hope any rubbish I come out with doesn't put you off in any way. Keep up the excellent work, mate. :smile.gif:
I still plan to tweak the lighting to add a little directional "glimmar" to the textures but that will take a while as I'll be editing individual pixels.
I think that I've gotten the ores to pop, yet still look embedded in the stone. They've also got some more texture and definition, and the gems and gold shine better now.
I leave you this song for inspiration:
Aye, I've got to find something to give it texture and definition. I think the biggest problem is that it doesn't have a real-life analogue - the closest thing would be copper, and it might be hard indeed to distinguish that from iron ore. Once I decide what I see it as, it'll start to shape up.
It's really a minor thing, and I'm only noticing it because I'm looking for flaws though!
I had a nice effect like that on one of the layers - but I haven't been able to keep the glimmer and the little bit of red-orange that you mention. But I'm learning more about using Paint.NET each day, so I'm sure it'll come out eventually.
Yeah - I'm noticing that as well. The stone texture looks nice but the ores don't look quite right on it to me, either. And the ore effects are coming out nicely, so I may need to find a different stone to use. I think XSSheep said he had one I could try from his pack, I'll give it a go.
Also, any thoughts on the ore density? I basically used the default tiles as a guide to the location and size of each nugget, but I'm wondering it things look too busy. Should I remove some of the nuggets, or change the layout entirely? Or is it OK and I'm just being too critical?
Thank you, and everyone else, for your feedback, encouragement and enthusiasm! It's what's keeping me working.
ADDITIONAL: I have tweaked the ores once again. They are now on XSSheep's stone texture that he has graciously allowed me to use. I think it will solve the issue of the way the "handpainted" ores looked on a photo-realistic background. I like both stone textures, but this one matches better and looks suitably "rocky".
I've tried to add the desired red tinge to the recesses of the gold without losing too much gleam - I hope I've managed that.
I want the redstone wiring to ultimately look like a blood trail, so I modified the redstone to look more like blood. I think it adds some definition and helps it to "pop" better.
I used a similar method on the iron - still nice and rusty but now it has a LOT more definition to the texture.
The coal and gems are unchanged from last time, except on the new stone.
Hope you like!
Next thing I want to tackle is adding some depth to the dispenser textures and the gold block (and tinting the front of Sheep's furnace texture to match). Anyone got some advice on how to do that in Paint.NET?
That will probably be my next thing on the to-do list, then.
I gave some thought to what you said about the dispenser texture looking too flat, and I enhanced the textures on it and the gold block for depth.
I had wanted to use XSSheep's furnace but I couldn't get the color to match up, so I had a slightly crazy notion. What if the furnace was a vessel for burnt offerings to their gods?
I may need to do a little work around the eyelids, nose and lips but I think the idea is an interesting one. Thoughts?
EDIT: It's odd - seems like it will display an image just fine if it needs to resize it. I think the forum may be the culprit.
Most of them still say bandwidth exceeded, which is what I was just about to comment in order to say. Worst comes to worst, you can simply re-up everything to your photobucket account and replace the urls in the image tags.
As for redstone, the best analogy I can think of is Cinnabar. Personally, I think redstone should be treated as it was imagined: A red stone that transmits current when laid on the ground as a powder. Cinnabar is red, and a stone, and in the real world a source of mercury, which is the only liquid metal and transmits current.
Please don't change the color of Lapis. I love that deep blue, and it would look gorgeous next to gold blocks.