You've given me so much feedback, it only seemed fair to return the favor.
First and foremost: MOAR TEXTURES. Must...see...more...
Okay, on to the serious review.
I like the dark, slightly whimsical mood your pack sets up. The fine details on the doors, chests, and ladder really go a long way towards accentuating it. While I wouldn't recommend putting wrought iron details on everything (as, yes, it IS possible to have too much of a good thing), I would say that you should work towards the Grimm fairy-tale aspect these accents inspire.
Your smooth stone and dirt work really well together, especially in the sides of cliffs. When you get around to it, though, I'd suggest editing the grasscolor png to darken up some of the especially lush biome colors. Because I must admit, lime-green grass on top of moody gray dirt just does not look right.
EDIT: On that note, I should also point out that the grass has some tiling issues. I love how long and smooth it is, but there are a few clumps that form strange patterns when looking out over a field.
I like the cobble bricks, but the mortar seems just a little too sharp and unnatural to me. Maybe roughen it up a bit.
Your ores are all interestingly shaped and well shaded, but some of them (especially the gold) are just a little too blurry around the edges. I would suggest going back with a pencil tool and doing some sharpening to give them a more polished, clean look.
I have mixed feelings about your wood planks. I love their uniqueness, coloration and detailed shading-- and I adore the little accents in the corners that add interest to wooden floors-- but I personally think the planks are a bit too thin. From a distance, I am overwhelmed by the shear number of them, and they can at times resembled logs. Again, this is just my opinion-- I'm certain others think differently.
Your foliage looks good, but could stand for some touches of even darker green in the background. At the moment, the contrast is a bit too low.
EDIT: All of your bark types look awesome. The pine in particular is very original.
Oh, and have I mentioned how much I love your chests? No? Well, I do. They are fantastic. Definitely one of the best pieces of this pack.
Just one last thing: When I saw your yellow flowers, I thought I'd entered into the twilight zone. They look so very much like mine, I can't help but wonder if I was subconsciously leeching from you. If I was, it was by no means intentional. (I also only saw them up close for the first time a minute ago,which deepens the mystery).
Overall, I really like your pack and the feeling it evokes, and I think you should keep on truckin'!
my god, yes. I see your points.
if you use John smiths grass color with it I almost thing its perfect, Im very tempted to ask If I may add it to my pack till I find the time to make my own.
never fear about the cobble, the new version shits all over that one to be quite blunt, and I love it.
as for the grass, yeah that does need a revist, so i will look over that in one of the updates before i hit 1.0.
THANKYOU for the tips on foliage, I love it, but you are right, it needs more depth to it!
ores I will tidy up very soon, especially gold, they were a bit rushed to work on the new stone and other than diamond (my god i love my diamond hahaha) I will rework all the ores from a fresh start. and Highlight gold better. I think I rushed that out and actually forgot to highlight it.
thanks for the confidence in my bar. I loved how unique my trees were and to me, my pine is closer to a pine tree than most hahah. but im sure I will add an alternate for those who have structures built expecting pine to be a dark wood.
and yes, i am awful proud of my chests, only took me 5 different designs to get it right hahahaha.
oh and I like your flowers better. I really want an Iris flower for my yellow ones anyway (of course colouring some indigo and deep blues instead, so I may roll with that later on.
THANK YOU for the feed back, I have been needing this for a long time, and welcome it thoroughly.
GREAT PACK, but I will not use it till it's in at LEAST it's Beta stage where maybe half of the stuff is done.
Best stone Ive ever seen though.
Bookmarked.
Cheers mate. I think the next release I will tag as alpha still and then when the terrain is 95% done I will move this pack into a beta where I can get my terrain up to the scratch of the rest of the talent on these forums.
GET EXCITED!
0.7 is not too far away (tonight or tomorrow)
nether!
general scenery
ore, stone, dirt and lightstone.
glass, iron doors, ladders, and more!
my BEDroom
a place to store ideas
my cavern garden
yes that is water you see, but it is just a still texture.
the new gallery of screens is up in the OP.
coming in 0.7
bookshelves, nether textures (not lava), still water!, new tall grass, beds (yes there is stray pixels and I will fix those), tweaked planks, other tweaks and possibly some things i forgot.
also hoping to get, rails (all types) and maybe pistons done.
I've been watching this thread for a while now, and I think it's about time that I give you some of my opinions and such! To start off, I like it. Your art style is unique to this pack, and it's going to look very nice once it's finished.
I'm going to share some things I like and dislike, because otherwise I'll write a paragraph that you won't want to read simply because of how messily I might put it together. Don't be discouraged that I have more dislikes than likes, these are my opinions and you don't have to agree with all of them!
Likes:
-I like the realism that you put into this pack while keeping the resolution at 32x!
-I like cobblestone and the crafting table specifically, they're my favorite blocks from this pack.
-I like the dark feel to the texture pack, it'll go great on the lowest light in the next MC update!
-I like that the pack makes blocks look good from a distance. Hard to do that sometimes.
Dislikes:
-I dislike that some blocks seem blurry compared to others. For instance: Glowstone, glass, and iron doors don't seem to be in the same art style as the cobblestone or the wood although they fit the same theme. The ores are too blurry, and they look as if they were drawn on top of the stone block (Which is typical, but I think you can make it look a whole lot better. I know you're already tackling this issue as well, so it's no big deal.)
-I also don't like that the fancy leaf blocks don't wrap around the corners, but that's just personal preference. They still look good, and I use the fast setting anyway.
-Biomes don't work well in this pack, you're either going to have to fix that or kill the biome coloring all-together. So what if biome coloring doesn't work anymore? At least the grass top matches the sides now! :wink.gif:
-Wool doesn't seem fabric-like. I don't know, personal preference again probably.
-The glowstone isn't going to look right in the nether. You should at least consider an alternate with a more organic or stone-like version that will look like it belongs in the nether. And last but not least...
-The top of sandstone looks like the portal companion cube, and therefore needs a pink heart! :biggrin.gif: (That last bit was a joke, but if you really did that it would be awesome and everyone would lol)
Anyway, good luck! This pack has a lot of potential. I'll keep a good eye on it for when it's finished!
I've been watching this thread for a while now, and I think it's about time that I give you some of my opinions and such! To start off, I like it. Your art style is unique to this pack, and it's going to look very nice once it's finished.
I'm going to share some things I like and dislike, because otherwise I'll write a paragraph that you won't want to read simply because of how messily I might put it together. Don't be discouraged that I have more dislikes than likes, these are my opinions and you don't have to agree with all of them!
Likes:
-I like the realism that you put into this pack while keeping the resolution at 32x!
-I like cobblestone and the crafting table specifically, they're my favorite blocks from this pack.
-I like the dark feel to the texture pack, it'll go great on the lowest light in the next MC update!
-I like that the pack makes blocks look good from a distance. Hard to do that sometimes.
Dislikes:
-I dislike that some blocks seem blurry compared to others. For instance: Glowstone, glass, and iron doors don't seem to be in the same art style as the cobblestone or the wood although they fit the same theme. The ores are too blurry, and they look as if they were drawn on top of the stone block (Which is typical, but I think you can make it look a whole lot better. I know you're already tackling this issue as well, so it's no big deal.)
-I also don't like that the fancy leaf blocks don't wrap around the corners, but that's just personal preference. They still look good, and I use the fast setting anyway.
-Biomes don't work well in this pack, you're either going to have to fix that or kill the biome coloring all-together. So what if biome coloring doesn't work anymore? At least the grass top matches the sides now! :wink.gif:
-Wool doesn't seem fabric-like. I don't know, personal preference again probably.
-The glowstone isn't going to look right in the nether. You should at least consider an alternate with a more organic or stone-like version that will look like it belongs in the nether. And last but not least...
-The top of sandstone looks like the portal companion cube, and therefore needs a pink heart! :biggrin.gif: (That last bit was a joke, but if you really did that it would be awesome and everyone would lol)
Anyway, good luck! This pack has a lot of potential. I'll keep a good eye on it for when it's finished!
mate all brilliant points. ores is definitely on my list of things to do (i will redo most, other than diamond which I will just tweak a bit.)
the foliage needs work indeed, i agree. Wool will stay fairly plain, I may do a few for carpet or such, and perhaps a few as decorative blocks (really want a thatched roof for yellow wool)
organic glowstone alternate, yes i agree, i may do that sometime. I will also look into refining glowstone even more to make it fit in as you say.
I dont see the blurry in the iron doors, but I will go have a hard look in a lot of different lights and see if i can fix that if there is a problem.
oh and perhaps in one download I may just add a companion cube easter egg hahahaha. subconsciously its probably where I got the shape from.
I dont see the blurry in the iron doors, but I will go have a hard look in a lot of different lights and see if i can fix that if there is a problem.
Sorry, my bad. I meant that they look extremely sharp compared to the other blocks, if you compare them to blocks like cobblestone or dirt, the cobblestone or dirt look really blurry. I knew I was going to screw something up in my post! :dry.gif:
That would be awesome, simply because I always wanted a thatched roof + I hate yellow! :biggrin.gif:
And on a side note, glad you're one of those people that can actually take criticism, I hate when I share my side of something and the OP yells at me. :happy.gif:
Also, I can't wait until you work on the mobs. You're planning some clever stuff for them, I assume?
Sorry, my bad. I meant that they look extremely sharp compared to the other blocks, if you compare them to blocks like cobblestone or dirt, the cobblestone or dirt look really blurry. I knew I was going to screw something up in my post! :dry.gif:
That would be awesome, simply because I always wanted a thatched roof + I hate yellow! :biggrin.gif:
And on a side note, glad you're one of those people that can actually take criticism, I hate when I share my side of something and the OP yells at me. :happy.gif:
Also, I can't wait until you work on the mobs. You're planning some clever stuff for them, I assume?
hahaha, this my friend is cause i am not 12, I like critique, its the only way to improve. and Improve I must, as this is my first pixel and digital art as well as using a tablet, so its a whirlwind of new experiences.
ah yes, they are sharp, but i love the design too much to change it (iron doors) I will look into lightstone for you though.
oh and dont get me started on mobs hahah, my brain will overload with ideas. I do want to keep to the original mob Ideas still (so not changing what mob they are) but perhaps my own take on them all.
Maybe offtopic but why is there so much yellow in your avatar when you hate it? ^^
...*cough*, you got me. But it's paired with Black, and Tron, and stuff...
As for your ores, Dorian, I think you should try making more of a shiny ore, and then work with the shading to make it look like it's actually inside the block. There doesn't need to be any sort of glow to the block, in fact glow usually makes an ore look quite messy! :wink.gif:
I'd do a quick edit to show you, but I'm far too busy trying to set stuff up to release my own texture pack relatively soon as well. Basically drop the glowing, and focus on making it look inside the block itself!
Redstone, iron, lapis and even gold are very "clean". Sometimes they just look like color blobs on the wall.
There is to less depth for me. To less uglyness. To less reflection.
But a big plus point is that your lapis looks a little like fluid blubber to me. ^^ I would love if having it flowing down my walls ^^
But that idea could be difficult to realize as there is not clear top on bottom side for ore blocks.
...*cough*, you got me. But it's paired with Black, and Tron, and stuff...
As for your ores, Dorian, I think you should try making more of a shiny ore, and then work with the shading to make it look like it's actually inside the block. There doesn't need to be any sort of glow to the block, in fact glow usually makes an ore look quite messy! :wink.gif:
I'd do a quick edit to show you, but I'm far too busy trying to set stuff up to release my own texture pack relatively soon as well. Basically drop the glowing, and focus on making it look inside the block itself!
ah yes, so what I was thinking along the lines of. I will work on them tomorrow before I release the next update, just for you guys. thanks for the critique!
Hmmmm, I was playing around with this again today and I think that a little bit of shading on the dirt underneath the sidegrass would look great.
The dirt is so detailed and awesome but at the moment it looks like the grass is just painted on. (which it basically is, but that's not the point :tongue.gif:)
Hmmmm, I was playing around with this again today and I think that a little bit of shading on the dirt underneath the sidegrass would look great.
The dirt is so detailed and awesome but at the moment it looks like the grass is just painted on. (which it basically is, but that's not the point :tongue.gif:)
Can't wait for 0.7 nonetheless!
I can agree. Lots of shading in the pack would help, in some places. Don't worry about your cobblestone, glass, ladders or workbench though! I love them. :biggrin.gif:
I can agree. Lots of shading in the pack would help, in some places. Don't worry about your cobblestone, glass, ladders or workbench though! I love them. :biggrin.gif:
ahhhh yes i was musing on this today and realised I should fix it. Soon, I shall.
Photobucket fail again. :/ also any chance of uploading the map you have been using for the screenies? :ohmy.gif:
yeh I could not be bothered replacing the photobucket shots in the thread, only in the OP, so that should all be working again. Also there is 2 maps im using, one is a MP server I run with my house mate, and the other is my freshly started SP work in the last week. When I get more done I may think about releasing my sp one.
oh... god.... I was hoping to get rails and pistons done but I have not found the time this weekend. How would people be having me release 0.7 as it is?
and that way hopefully (being that Im taking my pc on holiday with me) I will be able to get a heap done this week to show for you guys.
my god, yes. I see your points.
if you use John smiths grass color with it I almost thing its perfect, Im very tempted to ask If I may add it to my pack till I find the time to make my own.
never fear about the cobble, the new version shits all over that one to be quite blunt, and I love it.
as for the grass, yeah that does need a revist, so i will look over that in one of the updates before i hit 1.0.
THANKYOU for the tips on foliage, I love it, but you are right, it needs more depth to it!
ores I will tidy up very soon, especially gold, they were a bit rushed to work on the new stone and other than diamond (my god i love my diamond hahaha) I will rework all the ores from a fresh start. and Highlight gold better. I think I rushed that out and actually forgot to highlight it.
thanks for the confidence in my bar. I loved how unique my trees were and to me, my pine is closer to a pine tree than most hahah. but im sure I will add an alternate for those who have structures built expecting pine to be a dark wood.
and yes, i am awful proud of my chests, only took me 5 different designs to get it right hahahaha.
oh and I like your flowers better. I really want an Iris flower for my yellow ones anyway (of course colouring some indigo and deep blues instead, so I may roll with that later on.
THANK YOU for the feed back, I have been needing this for a long time, and welcome it thoroughly.
Cheers mate. I think the next release I will tag as alpha still and then when the terrain is 95% done I will move this pack into a beta where I can get my terrain up to the scratch of the rest of the talent on these forums.
thans for the support guys.
0.7 is not too far away (tonight or tomorrow)
nether!
general scenery
ore, stone, dirt and lightstone.
glass, iron doors, ladders, and more!
my BEDroom
a place to store ideas
my cavern garden
yes that is water you see, but it is just a still texture.
the new gallery of screens is up in the OP.
coming in 0.7
bookshelves, nether textures (not lava), still water!, new tall grass, beds (yes there is stray pixels and I will fix those), tweaked planks, other tweaks and possibly some things i forgot.
also hoping to get, rails (all types) and maybe pistons done.
I'm going to share some things I like and dislike, because otherwise I'll write a paragraph that you won't want to read simply because of how messily I might put it together. Don't be discouraged that I have more dislikes than likes, these are my opinions and you don't have to agree with all of them!
Likes:
-I like the realism that you put into this pack while keeping the resolution at 32x!
-I like cobblestone and the crafting table specifically, they're my favorite blocks from this pack.
-I like the dark feel to the texture pack, it'll go great on the lowest light in the next MC update!
-I like that the pack makes blocks look good from a distance. Hard to do that sometimes.
Dislikes:
-I dislike that some blocks seem blurry compared to others. For instance: Glowstone, glass, and iron doors don't seem to be in the same art style as the cobblestone or the wood although they fit the same theme. The ores are too blurry, and they look as if they were drawn on top of the stone block (Which is typical, but I think you can make it look a whole lot better. I know you're already tackling this issue as well, so it's no big deal.)
-I also don't like that the fancy leaf blocks don't wrap around the corners, but that's just personal preference. They still look good, and I use the fast setting anyway.
-Biomes don't work well in this pack, you're either going to have to fix that or kill the biome coloring all-together. So what if biome coloring doesn't work anymore? At least the grass top matches the sides now! :wink.gif:
-Wool doesn't seem fabric-like. I don't know, personal preference again probably.
-The glowstone isn't going to look right in the nether. You should at least consider an alternate with a more organic or stone-like version that will look like it belongs in the nether.
And last but not least...
-The top of sandstone looks like the portal companion cube, and therefore needs a pink heart! :biggrin.gif:
(That last bit was a joke, but if you really did that it would be awesome and everyone would lol)
Anyway, good luck! This pack has a lot of potential. I'll keep a good eye on it for when it's finished!
mate all brilliant points. ores is definitely on my list of things to do (i will redo most, other than diamond which I will just tweak a bit.)
the foliage needs work indeed, i agree. Wool will stay fairly plain, I may do a few for carpet or such, and perhaps a few as decorative blocks (really want a thatched roof for yellow wool)
organic glowstone alternate, yes i agree, i may do that sometime. I will also look into refining glowstone even more to make it fit in as you say.
I dont see the blurry in the iron doors, but I will go have a hard look in a lot of different lights and see if i can fix that if there is a problem.
oh and perhaps in one download I may just add a companion cube easter egg hahahaha. subconsciously its probably where I got the shape from.
oh and biome colouring is on the cards indeed. I apologise cause I forget I myself am not using the default colours when viewing the pack. (quick tip for people, head here http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/26727-johnsmith-texture-pack-v74-32x32-17x-with-customizer/page__st__2140__p__6182410__hl__john smith__fromsearch__1#entry6182410 and insert his amazing biome colours into my pack when you use it)
Sorry, my bad. I meant that they look extremely sharp compared to the other blocks, if you compare them to blocks like cobblestone or dirt, the cobblestone or dirt look really blurry. I knew I was going to screw something up in my post! :dry.gif:
That would be awesome, simply because I always wanted a thatched roof + I hate yellow! :biggrin.gif:
And on a side note, glad you're one of those people that can actually take criticism, I hate when I share my side of something and the OP yells at me. :happy.gif:
Also, I can't wait until you work on the mobs. You're planning some clever stuff for them, I assume?
hahaha, this my friend is cause i am not 12, I like critique, its the only way to improve. and Improve I must, as this is my first pixel and digital art as well as using a tablet, so its a whirlwind of new experiences.
ah yes, they are sharp, but i love the design too much to change it (iron doors) I will look into lightstone for you though.
oh and dont get me started on mobs hahah, my brain will overload with ideas. I do want to keep to the original mob Ideas still (so not changing what mob they are) but perhaps my own take on them all.
What can I do to please you more with my ores? I need some ideas hahaha.
...*cough*, you got me. But it's paired with Black, and Tron, and stuff...
As for your ores, Dorian, I think you should try making more of a shiny ore, and then work with the shading to make it look like it's actually inside the block. There doesn't need to be any sort of glow to the block, in fact glow usually makes an ore look quite messy! :wink.gif:
I'd do a quick edit to show you, but I'm far too busy trying to set stuff up to release my own texture pack relatively soon as well. Basically drop the glowing, and focus on making it look inside the block itself!
ah yes, so what I was thinking along the lines of. I will work on them tomorrow before I release the next update, just for you guys. thanks for the critique!
The dirt is so detailed and awesome but at the moment it looks like the grass is just painted on. (which it basically is, but that's not the point :tongue.gif:)
Can't wait for 0.7 nonetheless!
I can agree. Lots of shading in the pack would help, in some places. Don't worry about your cobblestone, glass, ladders or workbench though! I love them. :biggrin.gif:
ahhhh yes i was musing on this today and realised I should fix it. Soon, I shall.
oh dear. 0.7 wont be up till tommorrow :smile.gif:
Can't wait to see the finished product! :biggrin.gif:
Thank you so much sir!
*vibrates from excitement*
yeh I could not be bothered replacing the photobucket shots in the thread, only in the OP, so that should all be working again. Also there is 2 maps im using, one is a MP server I run with my house mate, and the other is my freshly started SP work in the last week. When I get more done I may think about releasing my sp one.
oh... god.... I was hoping to get rails and pistons done but I have not found the time this weekend. How would people be having me release 0.7 as it is?
and that way hopefully (being that Im taking my pc on holiday with me) I will be able to get a heap done this week to show for you guys.
Cheers Guys.