After observing a lot of frustration on the part of amateur texture pack makers (including me) whose work--however good-- goes unnoticed, I'm compelled to ask: What do you look for in a texture pack?
16x or HD (32x and above)?
Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
Remixes? Total originality?
What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
Natural cobble or brick?
Dark wood or light?
Etc, etc, etc.
Sound off! Here's the perfect place to air all the pet-peeves you have about texture packs.
Well, first it must be said that any high quality texture pack that uses original textures, has a fair bit of care put into it and that has a first post where I can tell the OP has put some thought and time into it, will always draw my attention for a closer look and can easily trump any of my otherwise normal preferences. The only ones that almost never get trumped are that I almost never use 16x packs and I dont download remixes. Having said that, my usual preferences are:
What do you look for in a texture pack? Mainly that the textures were designed to go together, in terms of overall range of hue, detail level, style and color.
Resolution: 32x-64x (sometimes 128x) Style: Semi-cartoony / semi-realistic Detail level: Middle Originality: Completely original Completeness: Relatively complete (ie, more than just a terrain.png) Themes: RPG, fantasy, historical and occasionally some sci-fi Block preferences: Natural cobblestone, dark wood, slightly desaturated overall, slightly dark overall.
Well, first it must be said that any high quality texture pack that uses original textures, has a fair bit of care put into it and that has a first post where I can tell the OP has put some thought and time into it, will always draw my attention for a closer look and can easily trump any of my otherwise normal preferences. The only ones that almost never get trumped are that I almost never use 16x packs and I dont use remixes. Having said that, my usual preferences are:
32x-64x (sometimes 128x)
Semi-cartoony
Detailed
Completely original
RPG, fantasy, historical and some sci-fi
Natural
Dark wood
Relatively complete (ie, more than just a terrain.png)
So you won't reply or download unless more than just the terrain is available?
Also, what draws you in more-- landscape shots, or super-cool build shots that make you go 'wow'?
I use anything 32x and under since HD in minecraft looks off, and ruins the art style of the game IMO.
I usually use something like doku or frenden. A really good texture pack will either look really fun
similar to frenden(but be original of course), I also like RPG style texture packs.
Let's see..
LD (16x and below) or HD (32x and above)?
8x and 4x (and any other resolutions that might be made) are too plain and boring to me. I prefer 16x or 32x texture packs. 32x is HD by definition, but it's not too HD, and, if properly made, it has the advantages of having more pixels to work on (more detail) yet contiunes to have the 'blockiness' effect that makes Minecraft what it is. Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
I prefer a step between semi-cartoony texture packs and realistic ones. One texture pack I really liked was Quandary, but I stopped using it when Beta 1.6.6 came out and some blocks were invisible (the texturepack isn't updated yet) Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
Too much detail can make it look noisy and heavy. Too smooth and it will look cartoony. A nice 'middle-zone' between the two is the best choice for me.
Remixes? Total originality?
I'm all against pure remixes, but inspiration and maybe borrowing a block or two (with permisson, obviously) isn't that bad. What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci-fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
Dark, RPG themes are my style, if not, any texture-pack with some 'default' touch is attractive to me. (Quandary as example)
Themes I don't like are most futuristic ones (LAST DAYS is one I exclude from this list, as it really attracts me) and simple (8x, 4x, 16x with plain colours) texture-packs.
Game-themed texturepacks are other theme I don't like, because in most cases this changes the whole architecture completely,
Natural cobble or brick?
I usually prefer brick cobblestone, but if the natural cobblestone is appealing enough, I'll choose it over the brick cobblestone.
Dark wood or light wood?
Not too dark, not too light.
What texture-pack do you use the most?
Right now, I'm using DokuCraft 2.1 (Light) or Default.
What WIP texture-pack(s) are you waiting for? ASHENCRAFT and I'm also waiting for Quandary to be updated.
(Yes, I added two more questions for the sake of it :biggrin.gif:)
As a newbie texture pack maker as well, I ask these questions myself and I think I've found the answer:
People like packs that have work put into them. At first (before I started making my own pack) I had no one taste in packs that I preferred. I have some 16x packs for days when I feel like I want a "cutesy" world or a world that really feels like good ol' Minecraft. I have days when I feel like I want a world that looks amazingly drawn out (32x) and then I have days when I want a realistic Minecraft experience (64x+). I think, for me, those are my three categories.
But what I look for in each category, and in each pack, is work and thought put into a texture. We can all tell when 1-2 hours is all that was spent working on a pack, or when it's just a regurgitated version of an already popular pack. It doesn't take a lot of brain power or a PHD in Rocket Science to see.
Packs that I've downloaded and use regularly include Dokucraft, Jolicraft, Ornate, JohnSmith, and Misa's Realistic. I would gladly download a pack that I thought was being worked on steadily and passionately and had its own identity. That's what I tried to give my own pack - a reason for being other than "I liked the way XPack looked so I'm making my own pack like it". Why would people download your pack if there's already another pack, that you (the creator) admit is like your own pack? Getting inspiration from other packs is great! But give your pack its own breath of life that doesn't heavily rely on another person's texture pack.
Ex: I liked Dokucraft, JohnSmith, and Ornate but there were things in each of them that I did not like so I decided to create my own and was inspired to do so by those packs.
Bad - Saying I liked Dokucraft, JohnSmith, and Ornate so I want to make a pack that's like those packs but darker.
Good - Saying I want a dark pack that has a generic Minecraft feel with a little ornate flair.
Now you may be saying "But those are just words." Well, yes, but words are strong! Telling yourself that you're making an original pack might actually influence the way you create your pack, not to mention people who read your post will feel better about downloading an original pack versus downloading a pack that's basically going to be what's already out there with a few minor tweaks.
But of course, people like good artwork. This is where I think a lot of people struggle. Pixel art is stupid hard and frankly, I use my brush tool more than my pencil tool. If I didn't have Photoshop + a tablet I probably would be in the dirt crying at how hard it is to paint pixel by pixel with a mouse. Particularly the higher resolution textures are what's difficult. But that aside, actually looking at what you're drawing is a huge help. Drawing grass? Google pictures of grass. Drawing cobblestone? Google that. Working in such a small space means that you have to divide your space smartly. You will not be able to include every little detail and if you try, you'll make a mess of things. You have to know what's important to keep and what's not.
Draw what you see, not what you know is there.
Take cobblestone for instance, since a lot of people end up having trouble here. I see many packs where someone takes black and makes a 1x1 line around each stone in their cobblestone. This usually ends up looking pretty messy. Instead of doing an entire border around each individual stone with stark black, it might be a better idea to take a slightly darker grey than the rest of the stone and only surround the bottom of each stone to show that there's shadow there. As stated in the previous bolded comment, I know that there's a line around each individual cobblestone that's black inside but I cannot see it. I can only see the shadows.
Woo. Sorry for that novel-length post, but I've been considering making a tutorial post on an introduction to painting textures.
16x or HD (32x and above)?
16x. 32x is sometimes an exception. Depends on how it's executed. Higher-res packs look kinda odd in my opinion. Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
Semi-cartoony like my Fiftyninecraft texture pack. Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
Something inbetween. Enough detail to look good while looking smooth and clean at the same time. Remixes? Total originality?
I. Hate. Remixes. I prefer packs that are creative and nice. What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
Themes are kinda pointless. Your grass is going to look like grass, your stone is gonna look like stone, etc. I just like any kind of pack. Natural cobble or brick?
Brick has gotten unoriginal. A nice clean cobble texture is great to see. =) Dark wood or light?
Whatever looks better in the pack. Etc, etc, etc.
I don't know, lol. =P
As a newbie texture pack maker as well, I ask these questions myself and I think I've found the answer:
People like packs that have work put into them. At first (before I started making my own pack) I had no one taste in packs that I preferred. I have some 16x packs for days when I feel like I want a "cutesy" world or a world that really feels like good ol' Minecraft. I have days when I feel like I want a world that looks amazingly drawn out (32x) and then I have days when I want a realistic Minecraft experience (64x+). I think, for me, those are my three categories.
But what I look for in each category, and in each pack, is work and thought put into a texture. We can all tell when 1-2 hours is all that was spent working on a pack, or when it's just a regurgitated version of an already popular pack. It doesn't take a lot of brain power or a PHD in Rocket Science to see.
Packs that I've downloaded and use regularly include Dokucraft, Jolicraft, Ornate, JohnSmith, and Misa's Realistic. I would gladly download a pack that I thought was being worked on steadily and passionately and had its own identity. That's what I tried to give my own pack - a reason for being other than "I liked the way XPack looked so I'm making my own pack like it". Why would people download your pack if there's already another pack, that you (the creator) admit is like your own pack? Getting inspiration from other packs is great! But give your pack its own breath of life that doesn't heavily rely on another person's texture pack.
Ex: I liked Dokucraft, JohnSmith, and Ornate but there were things in each of them that I did not like so I decided to create my own and was inspired to do so by those packs.
Bad - Saying I liked Dokucraft, JohnSmith, and Ornate so I want to make a pack that's like those packs but darker.
Good - Saying I want a dark pack that has a generic Minecraft feel with a little ornate flair.
Now you may be saying "But those are just words." Well, yes, but words are strong! Telling yourself that you're making an original pack might actually influence the way you create your pack, not to mention people who read your post will feel better about downloading an original pack versus downloading a pack that's basically going to be what's already out there with a few minor tweaks.
But of course, people like good artwork. This is where I think a lot of people struggle. Pixel art is stupid hard and frankly, I use my brush tool more than my pencil tool. If I didn't have Photoshop + a tablet I probably would be in the dirt crying at how hard it is to paint pixel by pixel with a mouse. Particularly the higher resolution textures are what's difficult. But that aside, actually looking at what you're drawing is a huge help. Drawing grass? Google pictures of grass. Drawing cobblestone? Google that. Working in such a small space means that you have to divide your space smartly. You will not be able to include every little detail and if you try, you'll make a mess of things. You have to know what's important to keep and what's not.
Draw what you see, not what you know is there.
Take cobblestone for instance, since a lot of people end up having trouble here. I see many packs where someone takes black and makes a 1x1 line around each stone in their cobblestone. This usually ends up looking pretty messy. Instead of doing an entire border around each individual stone with stark black, it might be a better idea to take a slightly darker grey than the rest of the stone and only surround the bottom of each stone to show that there's shadow there. As stated in the previous bolded comment, I know that there's a line around each individual cobblestone that's black inside but I cannot see it. I can only see the shadows.
Woo. Sorry for that novel-length post, but I've been considering making a tutorial post on an introduction to painting textures.
Anyway, hope that helps!
Could you take a look at my latest pack and see if all that stuff applies? Everyone who actually looks at it thinks it's good, but I can't seem to get many people to look at it...
Could you take a look at my latest pack and see if all that stuff applies? Everyone who actually looks at it thinks it's good, but I can't seem to get many people to look at it...
I think your pack is beautiful and it's very detailed, you can tell that you spent a great deal of time creating each piece. There are several unique ideas in it and it's all very well done. :smile.gif:
I think the issue with your pack (and I should've included this in my last post) is that it's catering to a specific taste. It's not generic Minecraft, and sometimes people may not prefer to play on something that doesn't feel like Minecraft. If that makes any sense. Your texture pack is only reaching out to a certain audience that likes that style of culture. It seems more like a novelty pack or a pack that would be used sparingly rather than a pack that would be seen as an every day pack.
You'll have people who love that sort of look and use it all the time I'm sure. But then there are people who don't like Indiana Jones (or that sort of style) may not download your pack at all. I think that it's a great pack and you shouldn't change it for the world, I just wouldn't expect it to be something that it's not. It's not a generic pack that's basically Minecraft with a different texture. It's a very specific pack.
If none of that made any sense I'll be sure to reiterate. :biggrin.gif:
16x or HD (32x and above)?
My two favorite sizes are 32x and 16x, mostly for performance issues (my comp is/was going on 10 years old.), but also because the smaller sizes tend to force texture artists into a stylistic choice rather than just copying and pasting real life textures with minimal editing to make them tile.
Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
Cartoony, semi-realistic, or super realistic... doesn't matter. What I care about is the texture pack having a style unique to that artist/pack (artistic, not necessarily thematic). Because of that, I do tend to like the more cartoony and/or clean designs. I have yet to find a "realistic" HD pack that I like in game (some are very well done, though) - but I'm not ruling it out.
Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
I like them both equally; just depends on my mood and the world I'm currently playing. I've enjoyed packs as simple as Tronic, and packs with plenty of detail such as John Smith's.
Remixes? Total originality?
Total originality. I can and will make my own remixes or create my own texture here and there if I'm not completely happy with a pack.
What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
Theme isn't terribly important to me. However, I've found I'm not a huge fan of super industrialized or sci fi, so far. That could change if I ever base a world around those themes though. :smile.gif:
Natural cobble or brick?
Natural. I love, love, LOVE the brick cobble textures many people create, but because of that, I end up using way too much cobble. I like to keep my worlds looking decent with the game's default texture, so I try to restrict myself to cobble that looks more similar to MC's cobble. So when I'm doing some major building, I always switch to a natural version or even to the default texture pack. I would KILL for a natural looking cobble (based on the default texture) that actually looks really good.
Dark wood or light?
Depends on the rest of the pack and the color palette used.
A few things that turn me off of a texture pack completely:
poor tiling - poor tiling means the pack gets no download or is deleted immediately
mismatched texture styles - 95% of the remixes I've seen, as well as the reason I've never made my own full pack; I can't stick with a single style. :sad.gif:
muddy look with little to no contrast/color/sharpness - A lot of artists will use the smudge tool like a paint brush - tends to look terrible. Others fall victim to to the "Desaturated browns and grays look gritty and real!" mistake that so many "realistic" video games deal with.)
Poor artistic skill - Some people have a lot of potential and creativity, but just need a bit more practice with getting their ideas down. I always like to see their progression though!
I think your pack is beautiful and it's very detailed, you can tell that you spent a great deal of time creating each piece. There are several unique ideas in it and it's all very well done. :smile.gif:
I think the issue with your pack (and I should've included this in my last post) is that it's catering to a specific taste. It's not generic Minecraft, and sometimes people may not prefer to play on something that doesn't feel like Minecraft. If that makes any sense. Your texture pack is only reaching out to a certain audience that likes that style of culture. It seems more like a novelty pack or a pack that would be used sparingly rather than a pack that would be seen as an every day pack.
You'll have people who love that sort of look and use it all the time I'm sure. But then there are people who don't like Indiana Jones (or that sort of style) may not download your pack at all. I think that it's a great pack and you shouldn't change it for the world, I just wouldn't expect it to be something that it's not. It's not a generic pack that's basically Minecraft with a different texture. It's a very specific pack.
If none of that made any sense I'll be sure to reiterate. :biggrin.gif:
That actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks for shedding some light on the hair-pulling frustration I've been feeling. It still sucks, but at least I know WHY now.
So you won't reply or download unless more than just the terrain is available?
Well, no. I didnt mean to sound black & white. If something about the texture pack or the op draws me in, like I said my preferences can be trumped and I might get it anyway. The only preferences that are almost never trumped is I do not really use 16x packs and I dont generally favor remix packs.
If the pack only offers the terrain.png, I might get it, I might not, becuase this means I'll need to pull together the other pieces, such as items etc, myself from other complete packs of the same resolution that I have downloaded.
Replying is different. Words of encouragement and praise, or helpful criticism, arent limited by my preferences. I could, and should, reply more often in support of various original pack artists, as I feel they deserve it. I've commented on a few incomplete packs but should and will do more.
Also, what draws you in more-- landscape shots, or super-cool build shots that make you go 'wow'?
Both or neither? Honestly, I make my choice based on a picture of the terrain.png and the items.png, if those are supplied in the OP's post. I can tell from that if I am going to like it or not. Landscapes and builds certainly do not hurt though. Hard to pick one or the other as you usually need at least one of each to show all or most of the blocks. Have to admit of course, it nicest to have an OP post that shows the terrain.png, the items.png and then a screenshot or two as well.
Myself, I dont watch videos. Takes time, usually has music that doesnt work for me for the pack where maybe it works for other people. It can be nice, as you see the blocks more as they might be in game, but most of the time I dont watch them. That's just me though. I like pictures. I can assess things quicker.
16x or HD (32x and above)?
I have no actual preference but I haven't really seen any 16x packs that I liked enough to use.
Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
No actual preference again, but I've mostly only seen "semi-cartoony" packs that I've liked.
Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
Highly detailed. Some simple things are okay but minimalist textures make the game less interesting for me, feels like playing an unfinished game (in all situations I've tried so far).
Remixes? Total originality?
Remixes are okay if it adds things to an unfinished pack to complete it. If it's just someone taking random textures and combining them, I usually think those turn out poor because the textures aren't manually worked to look like they belong together.
What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
I like "RPG", fantasy, old-world, and others that are plausible for Minecraft's game content. Sci-fi and modern don't appeal to me because it doesn't make sense to have "technology" or things that appear to be made using machinery that doesn't actually exist in Minecraft.
Natural cobble or brick?
No preference, depends on if it fits with the pack or not.
Dark wood or light?
No preference, depends on if it fits with the pack or not.
Resolution: 32x-64x Style: Cartoon Detail level: Reasonable amount of detail, but not noisy. Originality: Completely original Completeness: As complete as possible. Usually terrain and items would be enough, but mobs and guis are nice. Themes: Not so much a preference here, though since I use my own pack, I like the Japanese theme. Block preferences: Natural cobblestone, light wood, generally, I like things to appear as they are named in game (for the most part). For example, if it says "Cobblestone", I like it to look like cobbles, not bricks.
Personally Im looking for a good Pixel Art Texture Pack.
I'm actually feeling the need to make a texture pack that is purely Pixel Art after how well my cobble turned out! (all pixel art)
This is a very interesting thread. I did always wonder how my pack originally got popular when there were so many (in my opinion) better packs out there at the time!
It does get a lot easier when your pack gets established and more well known, but getting to that stage...
Right at the start of my pack I didn't really have a theme so it was actually quite similar to default but with a whole bunch of different textures. Maybe people do just like packs that don't stray too far from default? Although... that being said, my Japanese pack is doing well and my variants for my main pack are proving to be quite popular as well... Could just be because the newer variants (the more thematic ones) have better quality textures because I improved a tonne while making older versions of the pack... I dunno! It's all so confusing! :unsure.gif:
I'm actually feeling the need to make a texture pack that is purely Pixel Art after how well my cobble turned out! (all pixel art)
Pixel art can be very good if done well. If you want to truly master pixel art, I suggest looking in the spriting dictionary the Spriter's Resource. There are some excellent bits and pieces of information and, while not so much about textures as pixel art in general, they can be extremely helpful.
Pixel art can be very good if done well. If you want to truly master pixel art, I suggest looking in the spriting dictionary the Spriter's Resource. There are some excellent bits and pieces of information and, while not so much about textures as pixel art in general, they can be extremely helpful.
Yea, I've had a look at quite a few guides and examples of good pixel arting. (secret of mana 3 anyone?)
There are some really great website guides out there! They've really helped improve my skills. I think I'm not too shabby now either if I may say so myself! :tongue.gif:
Yea, I've had a look at quite a few guides and examples of good pixel arting. (secret of mana 3 anyone?)
There are some really great website guides out there! They've really helped improve my skills. I think I'm not too shabby now either if I may say so myself! :tongue.gif:
In my opinion, TSR is the be all and end all of pixel art out there. If you can impress them, your art is good. They can be a little harsh though. Especially if you try to avoid constructive criticisms.
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Retired StaffAfter observing a lot of frustration on the part of amateur texture pack makers (including me) whose work--however good-- goes unnoticed, I'm compelled to ask: What do you look for in a texture pack?
16x or HD (32x and above)?
Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
Remixes? Total originality?
What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
Natural cobble or brick?
Dark wood or light?
Etc, etc, etc.
Sound off! Here's the perfect place to air all the pet-peeves you have about texture packs.
What do you look for in a texture pack? Mainly that the textures were designed to go together, in terms of overall range of hue, detail level, style and color.
Resolution: 32x-64x (sometimes 128x)
Style: Semi-cartoony / semi-realistic
Detail level: Middle
Originality: Completely original
Completeness: Relatively complete (ie, more than just a terrain.png)
Themes: RPG, fantasy, historical and occasionally some sci-fi
Block preferences: Natural cobblestone, dark wood, slightly desaturated overall, slightly dark overall.
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Retired StaffSo you won't reply or download unless more than just the terrain is available?
Also, what draws you in more-- landscape shots, or super-cool build shots that make you go 'wow'?
I usually use something like doku or frenden. A really good texture pack will either look really fun
similar to frenden(but be original of course), I also like RPG style texture packs.
LD (16x and below) or HD (32x and above)?
8x and 4x (and any other resolutions that might be made) are too plain and boring to me. I prefer 16x or 32x texture packs. 32x is HD by definition, but it's not too HD, and, if properly made, it has the advantages of having more pixels to work on (more detail) yet contiunes to have the 'blockiness' effect that makes Minecraft what it is.
Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
I prefer a step between semi-cartoony texture packs and realistic ones. One texture pack I really liked was Quandary, but I stopped using it when Beta 1.6.6 came out and some blocks were invisible (the texturepack isn't updated yet)
Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
Too much detail can make it look noisy and heavy. Too smooth and it will look cartoony. A nice 'middle-zone' between the two is the best choice for me.
Remixes? Total originality?
I'm all against pure remixes, but inspiration and maybe borrowing a block or two (with permisson, obviously) isn't that bad.
What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci-fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
Dark, RPG themes are my style, if not, any texture-pack with some 'default' touch is attractive to me. (Quandary as example)
Themes I don't like are most futuristic ones (LAST DAYS is one I exclude from this list, as it really attracts me) and simple (8x, 4x, 16x with plain colours) texture-packs.
Game-themed texturepacks are other theme I don't like, because in most cases this changes the whole architecture completely,
Natural cobble or brick?
I usually prefer brick cobblestone, but if the natural cobblestone is appealing enough, I'll choose it over the brick cobblestone.
Dark wood or light wood?
Not too dark, not too light.
What texture-pack do you use the most?
Right now, I'm using DokuCraft 2.1 (Light) or Default.
What WIP texture-pack(s) are you waiting for?
ASHENCRAFT and I'm also waiting for Quandary to be updated.
(Yes, I added two more questions for the sake of it :biggrin.gif:)
People like packs that have work put into them. At first (before I started making my own pack) I had no one taste in packs that I preferred. I have some 16x packs for days when I feel like I want a "cutesy" world or a world that really feels like good ol' Minecraft. I have days when I feel like I want a world that looks amazingly drawn out (32x) and then I have days when I want a realistic Minecraft experience (64x+). I think, for me, those are my three categories.
But what I look for in each category, and in each pack, is work and thought put into a texture. We can all tell when 1-2 hours is all that was spent working on a pack, or when it's just a regurgitated version of an already popular pack. It doesn't take a lot of brain power or a PHD in Rocket Science to see.
Packs that I've downloaded and use regularly include Dokucraft, Jolicraft, Ornate, JohnSmith, and Misa's Realistic. I would gladly download a pack that I thought was being worked on steadily and passionately and had its own identity. That's what I tried to give my own pack - a reason for being other than "I liked the way XPack looked so I'm making my own pack like it". Why would people download your pack if there's already another pack, that you (the creator) admit is like your own pack? Getting inspiration from other packs is great! But give your pack its own breath of life that doesn't heavily rely on another person's texture pack.
Ex: I liked Dokucraft, JohnSmith, and Ornate but there were things in each of them that I did not like so I decided to create my own and was inspired to do so by those packs.
Bad - Saying I liked Dokucraft, JohnSmith, and Ornate so I want to make a pack that's like those packs but darker.
Good - Saying I want a dark pack that has a generic Minecraft feel with a little ornate flair.
Now you may be saying "But those are just words." Well, yes, but words are strong! Telling yourself that you're making an original pack might actually influence the way you create your pack, not to mention people who read your post will feel better about downloading an original pack versus downloading a pack that's basically going to be what's already out there with a few minor tweaks.
But of course, people like good artwork. This is where I think a lot of people struggle. Pixel art is stupid hard and frankly, I use my brush tool more than my pencil tool. If I didn't have Photoshop + a tablet I probably would be in the dirt crying at how hard it is to paint pixel by pixel with a mouse. Particularly the higher resolution textures are what's difficult. But that aside, actually looking at what you're drawing is a huge help. Drawing grass? Google pictures of grass. Drawing cobblestone? Google that. Working in such a small space means that you have to divide your space smartly. You will not be able to include every little detail and if you try, you'll make a mess of things. You have to know what's important to keep and what's not.
Draw what you see, not what you know is there.
Take cobblestone for instance, since a lot of people end up having trouble here. I see many packs where someone takes black and makes a 1x1 line around each stone in their cobblestone. This usually ends up looking pretty messy. Instead of doing an entire border around each individual stone with stark black, it might be a better idea to take a slightly darker grey than the rest of the stone and only surround the bottom of each stone to show that there's shadow there. As stated in the previous bolded comment, I know that there's a line around each individual cobblestone that's black inside but I cannot see it. I can only see the shadows.
Woo. Sorry for that novel-length post, but I've been considering making a tutorial post on an introduction to painting textures.
Anyway, hope that helps!
16x. 32x is sometimes an exception. Depends on how it's executed. Higher-res packs look kinda odd in my opinion.
Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
Semi-cartoony like my Fiftyninecraft texture pack.
Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
Something inbetween. Enough detail to look good while looking smooth and clean at the same time.
Remixes? Total originality?
I. Hate. Remixes. I prefer packs that are creative and nice.
What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
Themes are kinda pointless. Your grass is going to look like grass, your stone is gonna look like stone, etc. I just like any kind of pack.
Natural cobble or brick?
Brick has gotten unoriginal. A nice clean cobble texture is great to see. =)
Dark wood or light?
Whatever looks better in the pack.
Etc, etc, etc.
I don't know, lol. =P
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Retired StaffCould you take a look at my latest pack and see if all that stuff applies? Everyone who actually looks at it thinks it's good, but I can't seem to get many people to look at it...
http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/368366-32x16-lost-valley-wip-now-with-maize/page__gopid__5278186#entry5278186
I think your pack is beautiful and it's very detailed, you can tell that you spent a great deal of time creating each piece. There are several unique ideas in it and it's all very well done. :smile.gif:
I think the issue with your pack (and I should've included this in my last post) is that it's catering to a specific taste. It's not generic Minecraft, and sometimes people may not prefer to play on something that doesn't feel like Minecraft. If that makes any sense. Your texture pack is only reaching out to a certain audience that likes that style of culture. It seems more like a novelty pack or a pack that would be used sparingly rather than a pack that would be seen as an every day pack.
You'll have people who love that sort of look and use it all the time I'm sure. But then there are people who don't like Indiana Jones (or that sort of style) may not download your pack at all. I think that it's a great pack and you shouldn't change it for the world, I just wouldn't expect it to be something that it's not. It's not a generic pack that's basically Minecraft with a different texture. It's a very specific pack.
If none of that made any sense I'll be sure to reiterate. :biggrin.gif:
My two favorite sizes are 32x and 16x, mostly for performance issues (my comp is/was going on 10 years old.), but also because the smaller sizes tend to force texture artists into a stylistic choice rather than just copying and pasting real life textures with minimal editing to make them tile.
Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
Cartoony, semi-realistic, or super realistic... doesn't matter. What I care about is the texture pack having a style unique to that artist/pack (artistic, not necessarily thematic). Because of that, I do tend to like the more cartoony and/or clean designs. I have yet to find a "realistic" HD pack that I like in game (some are very well done, though) - but I'm not ruling it out.
Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
I like them both equally; just depends on my mood and the world I'm currently playing. I've enjoyed packs as simple as Tronic, and packs with plenty of detail such as John Smith's.
Remixes? Total originality?
Total originality. I can and will make my own remixes or create my own texture here and there if I'm not completely happy with a pack.
What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
Theme isn't terribly important to me. However, I've found I'm not a huge fan of super industrialized or sci fi, so far. That could change if I ever base a world around those themes though. :smile.gif:
Natural cobble or brick?
Natural. I love, love, LOVE the brick cobble textures many people create, but because of that, I end up using way too much cobble. I like to keep my worlds looking decent with the game's default texture, so I try to restrict myself to cobble that looks more similar to MC's cobble. So when I'm doing some major building, I always switch to a natural version or even to the default texture pack. I would KILL for a natural looking cobble (based on the default texture) that actually looks really good.
Dark wood or light?
Depends on the rest of the pack and the color palette used.
A few things that turn me off of a texture pack completely:
Contest hosted for Steelfeathers' Enchanted Pack
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Retired StaffThat actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks for shedding some light on the hair-pulling frustration I've been feeling. It still sucks, but at least I know WHY now.
Well, no. I didnt mean to sound black & white. If something about the texture pack or the op draws me in, like I said my preferences can be trumped and I might get it anyway. The only preferences that are almost never trumped is I do not really use 16x packs and I dont generally favor remix packs.
If the pack only offers the terrain.png, I might get it, I might not, becuase this means I'll need to pull together the other pieces, such as items etc, myself from other complete packs of the same resolution that I have downloaded.
Replying is different. Words of encouragement and praise, or helpful criticism, arent limited by my preferences. I could, and should, reply more often in support of various original pack artists, as I feel they deserve it. I've commented on a few incomplete packs but should and will do more.
Both or neither? Honestly, I make my choice based on a picture of the terrain.png and the items.png, if those are supplied in the OP's post. I can tell from that if I am going to like it or not. Landscapes and builds certainly do not hurt though. Hard to pick one or the other as you usually need at least one of each to show all or most of the blocks. Have to admit of course, it nicest to have an OP post that shows the terrain.png, the items.png and then a screenshot or two as well.
Myself, I dont watch videos. Takes time, usually has music that doesnt work for me for the pack where maybe it works for other people. It can be nice, as you see the blocks more as they might be in game, but most of the time I dont watch them. That's just me though. I like pictures. I can assess things quicker.
I have no actual preference but I haven't really seen any 16x packs that I liked enough to use.
Super-cartoony (Frenden), semi-cartoony (Doku), or realistic?
No actual preference again, but I've mostly only seen "semi-cartoony" packs that I've liked.
Highly detailed, or simple and 'smooth'?
Highly detailed. Some simple things are okay but minimalist textures make the game less interesting for me, feels like playing an unfinished game (in all situations I've tried so far).
Remixes? Total originality?
Remixes are okay if it adds things to an unfinished pack to complete it. If it's just someone taking random textures and combining them, I usually think those turn out poor because the textures aren't manually worked to look like they belong together.
What kind of themes are you interested in? RPG, fantasy, sci fi, old-world, other themes I can't think of at the moment? Do you not like themes?
I like "RPG", fantasy, old-world, and others that are plausible for Minecraft's game content. Sci-fi and modern don't appeal to me because it doesn't make sense to have "technology" or things that appear to be made using machinery that doesn't actually exist in Minecraft.
Natural cobble or brick?
No preference, depends on if it fits with the pack or not.
Dark wood or light?
No preference, depends on if it fits with the pack or not.
Style: Cartoon
Detail level: Reasonable amount of detail, but not noisy.
Originality: Completely original
Completeness: As complete as possible. Usually terrain and items would be enough, but mobs and guis are nice.
Themes: Not so much a preference here, though since I use my own pack, I like the Japanese theme.
Block preferences: Natural cobblestone, light wood, generally, I like things to appear as they are named in game (for the most part). For example, if it says "Cobblestone", I like it to look like cobbles, not bricks.
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Curse PremiumI'm actually feeling the need to make a texture pack that is purely Pixel Art after how well my cobble turned out! (all pixel art)
This is a very interesting thread. I did always wonder how my pack originally got popular when there were so many (in my opinion) better packs out there at the time!
It does get a lot easier when your pack gets established and more well known, but getting to that stage...
Right at the start of my pack I didn't really have a theme so it was actually quite similar to default but with a whole bunch of different textures. Maybe people do just like packs that don't stray too far from default? Although... that being said, my Japanese pack is doing well and my variants for my main pack are proving to be quite popular as well... Could just be because the newer variants (the more thematic ones) have better quality textures because I improved a tonne while making older versions of the pack... I dunno! It's all so confusing! :unsure.gif:
Pixel art can be very good if done well. If you want to truly master pixel art, I suggest looking in the spriting dictionary the Spriter's Resource. There are some excellent bits and pieces of information and, while not so much about textures as pixel art in general, they can be extremely helpful.
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Curse PremiumYea, I've had a look at quite a few guides and examples of good pixel arting. (secret of mana 3 anyone?)
There are some really great website guides out there! They've really helped improve my skills. I think I'm not too shabby now either if I may say so myself! :tongue.gif:
In my opinion, TSR is the be all and end all of pixel art out there. If you can impress them, your art is good. They can be a little harsh though. Especially if you try to avoid constructive criticisms.