I've recently received a great deal of PM's from people asking me to review their textures, so to help unclog my inbox I've decided to start this thread for the purpose of taking requests for texture pack reviews.
What this means:
I intend for this to be a serious, professional thread dedicated to helping newcomers and old-hats alike get constructive feedback on their work. I firmly believe that anyone can make a good pack with patience, a hearty dose of effort, and the right skill set, and I want to use this thread to help the community as a whole raise the bar on its standards.
We're not just making textures, people. We're making art. Let's start treating it that way.
Credentials(My qualifications for reviewing your pack in the first place):
-I have been an active participant in the minecraft community for over six months, and in that time I have downloaded and used upwards of a hundred different packs.
-Although I am currently an engineering student, I spent four years attending a private art school for painting and drawing
-I have made four texture packs, three of which are 32x and one which is 16x. Pursue them at your leisure for verification that I (for the most part) know what I'm talking about.
For my reviews, I will first download your thread and spend a hearty chunk of time playing around with it, as that's really the best way to get the 'feel' of any pack.
The review itself will be posted to this thread when completed, and will consist of at least three parts: 1)High points of the pack, 2) Things that need improvement, 3)Overall impressions. Please note that I do not intend to have each of the sections be a list of blocks that I liked and didn't like-- each section will be filled with lengthy notes and explanations, and occasionally screenshots where I feel they would be beneficial.
Requirements:
1)I can review any texture up to and including 64x. EDIT: Thanks to the miracle that is Optifine, I can now run 128x with no problem. Although I am physically able to review a 128x pack, I won't be able to give much feedback on the panoramic appeal due to the fact that I'll have to have the fog turned all the way up to play. Sadly, 256x and 512x are out of the question.
2)Your pack must have at least half of the terrain png done (see exception below). While I encourage artists to post their in-progress packs for review, I won't be able to get a good sense of what your pack is supposed to be all about if you've only finished three or four textures. Also, be sure to include the word apple in your reply if you've read these rules. (hehe, social experiment time)
EXCEPTION: I am happy to review mob and/or item packs as well, in which case the terrain png need not be included. The same rules of completeness still apply here, however-- I won't be able to tell you how well your mobs work together as a whole if you've only done one or two.
3)Your pack does not need to have its own thread before submitting it for review. I am happy to give you feedback on your work before you post it. Please note, however, that any any requests for reviews on packs without a thread must include two things: 1) A download link (obviously), and 2)at least one in-game screenshot to prove that I am not being directed to a virus or a troll pack.
4)Although I hate to restrict your creativity, I have a few hard and fast rules as to packs that I will not accept:
-Remixes. I'm giving feedback on how to create art, not how to arrange it.
-Remixes pretending to be original. I've been around the block a few times, kiddies-- I WILL catch you.
EXCEPTION: Placeholders are okay, so long as you have obtained permission from the original artist and the placeholders are not the focus of the pack (which would classify it as a remix, see bullet one)
-Invert packs, x-ray packs, or any other gimmick/troll pack. The emphasis here is on helping everyone to enhance their artistic ability.
-So-called '1x1' packs. The only feedback I'd be able to give you would go something along the lines of 'nice color choices, but I can't tell what anything is'.
-Packs where the only change is the removal of noise. It's fine if you pack has no noise, so long as it is YOUR pack and not Notch's textures with the noise taken out. Again, there's not much feedback I can give about that.
Queue:
List closed until I finish waiting reviews.
Below is a list of those people for whom I am doing reviews. I will go through the list top to bottom, starting with number one, and remove your name from the list when I've finished your review. It's first come first serve, people, so get your name in!
The entire purpose of me doing this, as I've said above, is to help YOU make your art better, and to improve the quality of work that we as a community produce. In light of that, please don't flame about me not taking x kind of pack; I've explained my reasoning above, and if I feel that your pack fits one of those types I will not make a review for it.
Additionally, please remember that the purpose of this is CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Yes, I will probably tell you that x part of your pack could be improved upon. But that does not mean that I hate you as a person, or that I think your pack should rot in the dust bin. Every comment I give is meant to be helpful, not disparaging.
Hi, I would be very happy if you did my up and coming LushCraft HD. It is released but there are still certain blocks to complete and I would be very grateful for advise on what blocks need improving.
dibs! I want 3rd spot. Edit, I want an honest critique too, not someone that dodges round the fact that they dont like a texture, but I know you will do that anyway :wink.gif:
Could you do mine, i have just finished the terrain and will be uploading a picture of the terrain to the OP of my pack (link is the text in my signature) and the file in about 8 hours +, i'm british and it's 11pm hear now. If you want you can copy the terrain pic and place it in your minecraft.jar (if you like).
P.S
Will it be a video or just writing, either way I don't mind! :smile.gif:
dibs! I want 3rd spot. Edit, I want an honest critique too, not someone that dodges round the fact that they dont like a texture, but I know you will do that anyway :wink.gif:
Added to the list
Oh I'll give you an honest critique alright, never fear. I'm just not a fan of telling someone 'your chests suck. Make them better'. Doesn't really motivate people, you know?
Oh I'll give you an honest critique alright, never fear. I'm just not a fan of telling someone 'your chests suck. Make them better'. Doesn't really motivate people, you know?
oh but those sort of comments are so useful! haha. best of luck with the reviews mate, take your time.
1)How long till you can start mine?
2)When finished how will I find it?
3)How long will the review be? (I don't mind, just curious)
Thanks
1) After I finish the others, so in a couple hours
2) I'll post it to this thread with your name on it-- check back later
3) Several paragraphs, more or less.
-The basic landscape textures are the real crowning achievement of this pack. Dirt, grass, sand, and stone are all wonderfully smooth and pleasing to look at, and wandering through the wilderness I definitely feel like I've downloaded one of the best 16x packs. These textures really underscore everything 16x has the capacity to be, and I think you should take them as your model for how to do the rest of your textures-- calm, serene, with just enough detail to make grass feel like grass and dirt feel like dirt without overwhelming the eye with glaring noise.
-Your title screen, buttons, and font are all very enjoyable, with a wonderfully matrix feel. They do not seem to go with the rest of the pack, however, as none of the in-game textures have a modern bent that would warrant a matrix loading screen.
-The intricate design on the stone slab is very lovely. But perhaps look into make the shading a little subtler, ie make the cracks not quite as deep?
Things that need improvement:
-The biggest problem with this pack is that it can't decide what it wants to be. Your title screen and gui say 'future', your landscapes say 'smooth and happy', and chests/windows/bookshelves say 'bright, high-contrast color'. These different elements jar with each other and make the transition from the wilderness to the interior of my house quite startling. Here's an example of what I mean:
You can, of course, pick whichever theme you wish for continuing this pack, but I would strongly suggest (as stated above), that you try to make the rest of the textures jive with the landscape textures. I think you'll have a winner if you do.
-While your nature textures are all wonderfully shaded, with subtle highlights and shadows that send me into fits of glee, you seem to have given up on trying to continue the subtlety into your crafted textures (chest, craft bench, windows, bookshelves, planks, etc). The black window panes, the solid black framing for the chest, and the black outline around the lock on the chest are unfortunately very ugly. Pro tip: Never ever ever use black. Ever. Expect for maybe coloring in the hole on the dispenser where arrows come out. Go look at objects in real life-- none of them have black outlines. You've fallen into the trap so many people do of thinking that using black is a good shortcut for making things look really dark. But black, when not used judiciously, stands out like a knife blade through the middle of your textures. It is simply too intense. If you want a very dark shade, use dark brown. Or, even better, highlight the portion of the texture that you want to be darker and lower the brightness. That way the basic hue is retained while darkening the overall color, resulting in more natural looking shading.
-Both the brick style cobble and the shattered cobble seem far too light. The brick style in particular almost resembles silver. There is also a insidious little line of red seeping through the cracks of your shattered cobble:
-Along the same lines as the chests, the coloring on the bookshelves and planks is far too intense-- try turning down the saturation a bit.
-Netherrack does not tile well. The one dark red pit stands out strangely, and there is a line of lighter red running along one side of the texture that creates a grid-like effect. If you want the netherack to seem porous, you'll need to add more pits.
-Just a little nit-pick: Most of your items don't have outlines, but the hilts of the swords are outlined in black. Again, either do away with the outlines completely (which I would strongly suggest), or make all of the tools have outlines. But like I said, don't make the outlines black!
Overall Impressions:
Judging from the landscape appeal of this pack, I believe that you can turn it into something great. But first and foremost you need to figure out what you want this pack to be, and stick with it.
And for the love of god, don't use black outlines.
I have an idea for a Lego Themed Texture Pack (HD and Non-HD version :biggrin.gif:) I think it would fit right in with the theme of mine craft in a sense and it would look pretty awesome :biggrin.gif:
First one you can get to by clicking my signature;
and second one (only if you want to review it) is here. I'm estimating by the time you get to it a lot more will be done.
First one you can get to by clicking my signature;
and second one (only if you want to review it) is here. I'm estimating by the time you get to it a lot more will be done.
Thanks. :smile.gif:
Your first pack has been added to the list.
Sorry, but I have to take other people before I come back for your second one. :smile.gif:
-Your landscape blocks-- dirt, grass, bark, sand, stone, and sandstone-- are all very quirky and fun. The multi-colored squares technique is used to great effect here, evoking shading and texture without resorting to noise. Cave-diving is especially entertaining with this pack, since the squares create the subtle impression of rocks imbedded into the stone walls without straying into doku-like bumpiness, which would not fit with the other textures.
-The chests are clean, cheery, and satisfying in their understated cleanliness.
-The wooden planks do an excellent job of incorporating the squares theme while still giving the impression of wood grain.
-I love the design of your cobble, and how you made the mortar a lighter shade than the bricks themselves. Their shape and coloration fits really well with the rest of the pack. I do have one issue with them, however, which I will touch on below.
Things that need improvement:
-Although I enjoy the differently-sized squares theme you are using for this pack, at time there seems to be an overload of squares. The pumpkin, for example, looks rather strange covered in random squares-- unlike the planks, where the squares enhance the grain of the wood, on the pumpkin they just look like warts. Or rather, they make the pumpkin look like orange stone. The same is true of the glowstone and wools-- the glowstone can be mistaken for sponge, and the wools...don't look like wools.
-In the same vein as the comment above, some of your blocks-- although greatly benefited by the squares-- could use a different arrangement of squares, or even a higher concentration of smaller squares. The sand, for instance, can easily be confused for sandstone in a desert environment-- the large size of its squares suggests large chunks of material rather than grains of sand. Same with the gravel. I would highly suggest adding a lot of little squares instead of a few big squares for both the sand and the gravel.
-I'm not sure how I feel about the leaves. On the one hand, I like the idea of having inside-out leaves (open spaces in the shape of leaves), but if that wasn't what you were going for than the leaves need a lot of work. Try using a pencil tool to rough out the shape of the leaves on an empty background, rather than filling in the background with green and trying to take out the spaces between the leaves with an eraser.
-Both your cobble and your sandstone have an issue with a double row of bricks that don't tile well. Here's what I mean:
See how the vertical spacers line up right on top of each other? This creates a very jarring effect when looking at a sandstone/cobble wall, since (most of the time) bricks aren't supposed to line up this way. Luckily, this is easy to fix-- simply move one of the vertical spacers so that the don't fall in a vertical row.
-You need to go back and clean up your long grass. At the moment, it looks like you just scribbled in some green and called it a day. The grass blades should be thinner on top than on the bottom, and they need to actually connect to their base rather than floating in the air.
-I like the shape of your wheat, but it needs to be a little brighter, especially the 'fully-grown' wheat.
-The dispenser needs to be redone. At the moment, it just looks like a block with a frown-y face drawn on it. Try going back and adding a hole in the center from the arrows to shoot from, then sketching in the face around it.
Nitpicks!
-You haven't finished coloring in your reeds-- one of them still has the original minecraft texture
-The ores should match the stone-- aka, you need to continue the squares from the stone onto the ores. Try copying and pasting the stone into the ore block position, then drawing the ores on top of it. That way, the ores will be sure to blend it with the stone, and won't stand out awkwardly in cave.
-The grass may be just a little too bright. Try turning down the saturation.
-Ice needs to be at least partially see-through! Try setting the transparency to around 70%
-Switch the snow and the white wool. At the moment, the blue shading on the white wool making it look like snow, while the gray shading on the snow makes it look like white wool.
Overall Impressions:
I like where you're going with this style, and I really wish to see it continued. Your main issue is fluctuating between an explosion of squares and no squares at all. Once you find a way to make all the textures work together, this pack will be amazing. :smile.gif:
Thanks for that in depth review. Although it was the wrong texture pack I don't mind. I did mean for you to do LushCraft HD and see where I could improve with that but thanks for doing this. I see where you mean and thanks for the little nitpicks too. I was just wondering, about the grass, I meant it to be quite bright so it has a sense of 'Lush'. But if it looks to bright that's o.k and I will change it.
Thanks for your review, much appreciated. Maybe once you have done everyone else's I might ask you to do the HD version :smile.gif:
First and foremost-- the download file MUST be a zip for it to be used in the texture pack folder. You really need to convert it, since most people won't want to go to the hassle of downloading the png and creating their own zip.
Now on to the review.
Highlights of the pack:
-The cobblestone and glass together create a wonderfully modern feel, accentuated by the C4 dynamite. I would very much like to see this enhanced, as it really made my day to see my large mansion looking so urban-esque.
-The chests are very nicely done, clean and polished and sporting just the right about of shading to create a light sheen without seeming contrived.
-I love the design of the wooden door. Very original. The shadows around the paneling should be darkened, however, since the door looks very flat until you get up close.
-The snow is very nice and subtle, with a delicious hint of icy crackle. Well done.
-I really like the design of the redstone torches, but the red jewel needs to be more vibrant-- it looks a little too washed-out at the moment.
Things that need improvement:
Before you do anything else with this pack, you need to decide what you want it to be. The C4, cobble, and glass are leaning towards modern, the torches and chest are medieval, and the herobrine head pumpkin is...crack. One of the biggest issues I have with it in its current state is that the feel of the textures clash with each other, confusing the eye as to what time period the world is supposed to be in.
Secondly, you need to go back and clean up a lot of the blocks. The blurriness of the saplings, the haphazard leaves and bark, the disjointed sheen on the iron door and ore blocks-- all of these things look rushed and unprofessional, and they don't look very good in-game.
-I like the idea behind the chunky dirt, but the lines criss-crossing the block look too clean and segmented, almost like the pillows of a quilt. The chunks need to be a good bit smaller, and the lines shouldn't be so uniform. Dirt is one of those textures you shouldn't be afraid to get messy with (as long as it tiles well).
-The grass looks like....green dirt. The 'chunk' effect does not work at all as grass. You definitely need to revamp this texture.
-The leaves don't look anything like leaves- the large stripe down the middle does not tile well, and the overall effect is (to put it as nicely as I can) a little bit ugly. I don't know how long it took you to make this texture, but at the moment it just looks like you scribbled over the square for thirty seconds and called it done. Try going outside and looking at real leaves! Look at pictures of leaves on google and try drawing them. Then come back and redo this texture.
-A bit of worldly advice: Smudging does not a good texture make. Ever. And unfortunately, your saplings appear to be nothing more than smudged versions of plain-jane minecraft saplings. My tip for the leaves applies here as well-- go look out in nature at baby trees, then come back and draw.
-While I like the idea behind the stone, it has the unfortunate tendency to look like gray wall paper covered in flowers. Here's what I mean:
Yay for pretty flowers! Sadly they don't look very good on the walls of caves. To fix this, just go back with a lighter shade and break up the pattern a bit.
Nitpicks:
-...herobrine head? Really? Pro tip: No one will take this pack seriously if the jack-o'-lanterns they have serving as street lamps become severed heads on a pole.
-Your ores are a tad too blurry, with not enough shading to make them stand out. Go back and clean up the edges with a pencil tool, and add in some highlights and shadows to make them look 3D.
-Ice shouldn't be noisy and pixelated, because it ends up resembling transparent blue wool. For this particular case, I give you permission to use the smudge tool.
-You should really think about doing more with the spawner and reeds than simply making them red and adding a creeper face (spawner) or adding white lines (reeds). People will notice and appreciate the effort you put in to making something that doesn't look like recolored default-- they are looking for a texture pack in the first place because they want to play with something that isn't default.
Overall:
Some of your textures-- such as cobble, glass, and chest-- are very nicely done, and hint at the potential of this pack. But before you'll be able to get anywhere, you need to settle on a theme, clean up the smudging and the messiness, and for the love of god ditch the herobrine head.
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Retired StaffI've recently received a great deal of PM's from people asking me to review their textures, so to help unclog my inbox I've decided to start this thread for the purpose of taking requests for texture pack reviews.
What this means:
I intend for this to be a serious, professional thread dedicated to helping newcomers and old-hats alike get constructive feedback on their work. I firmly believe that anyone can make a good pack with patience, a hearty dose of effort, and the right skill set, and I want to use this thread to help the community as a whole raise the bar on its standards.
We're not just making textures, people. We're making art. Let's start treating it that way.
Credentials(My qualifications for reviewing your pack in the first place):
-I have been an active participant in the minecraft community for over six months, and in that time I have downloaded and used upwards of a hundred different packs.
-Although I am currently an engineering student, I spent four years attending a private art school for painting and drawing
-I have made four texture packs, three of which are 32x and one which is 16x. Pursue them at your leisure for verification that I (for the most part) know what I'm talking about.
Steelfeather's Enchanted Pack(http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/479158-32x17-steelfeathers-enchanted-pack-wip-download-link-now-up/)
Lost Valley (http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/368366-32x17-lost-valley-wip-el-dorado-aether-in-the-works/page__gopid__5278186#entry5278186)
Doll House (http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/469076-16x17-doll-house-wip-aether-support/
Assassini-Costruttori (http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/268340-32x17-assassincraftrenaissancewip-pistons/)
Review format:
For my reviews, I will first download your thread and spend a hearty chunk of time playing around with it, as that's really the best way to get the 'feel' of any pack.
The review itself will be posted to this thread when completed, and will consist of at least three parts: 1)High points of the pack, 2) Things that need improvement, 3)Overall impressions. Please note that I do not intend to have each of the sections be a list of blocks that I liked and didn't like-- each section will be filled with lengthy notes and explanations, and occasionally screenshots where I feel they would be beneficial.
Requirements:
1)I can review any texture up to and including 64x. EDIT: Thanks to the miracle that is Optifine, I can now run 128x with no problem. Although I am physically able to review a 128x pack, I won't be able to give much feedback on the panoramic appeal due to the fact that I'll have to have the fog turned all the way up to play. Sadly, 256x and 512x are out of the question.
2)Your pack must have at least half of the terrain png done (see exception below). While I encourage artists to post their in-progress packs for review, I won't be able to get a good sense of what your pack is supposed to be all about if you've only finished three or four textures. Also, be sure to include the word apple in your reply if you've read these rules. (hehe, social experiment time)
EXCEPTION: I am happy to review mob and/or item packs as well, in which case the terrain png need not be included. The same rules of completeness still apply here, however-- I won't be able to tell you how well your mobs work together as a whole if you've only done one or two.
3)Your pack does not need to have its own thread before submitting it for review. I am happy to give you feedback on your work before you post it. Please note, however, that any any requests for reviews on packs without a thread must include two things: 1) A download link (obviously), and 2)at least one in-game screenshot to prove that I am not being directed to a virus or a troll pack.
4)Although I hate to restrict your creativity, I have a few hard and fast rules as to packs that I will not accept:
-Remixes. I'm giving feedback on how to create art, not how to arrange it.
-Remixes pretending to be original. I've been around the block a few times, kiddies-- I WILL catch you.
EXCEPTION: Placeholders are okay, so long as you have obtained permission from the original artist and the placeholders are not the focus of the pack (which would classify it as a remix, see bullet one)
-Invert packs, x-ray packs, or any other gimmick/troll pack. The emphasis here is on helping everyone to enhance their artistic ability.
-So-called '1x1' packs. The only feedback I'd be able to give you would go something along the lines of 'nice color choices, but I can't tell what anything is'.
-Packs where the only change is the removal of noise. It's fine if you pack has no noise, so long as it is YOUR pack and not Notch's textures with the noise taken out. Again, there's not much feedback I can give about that.
Queue:
List closed until I finish waiting reviews.
Below is a list of those people for whom I am doing reviews. I will go through the list top to bottom, starting with number one, and remove your name from the list when I've finished your review. It's first come first serve, people, so get your name in!
1)
Deadbeyond2)
sisisimoore3)
dan20984)
DorianGrey2365)
Toofifty6)
SMP7)
Calinou8)
42and199)Xamanthas
10)
Matonk11)Dirty_Christ
12)XSSheep
13)X_Paragon_X
14)NothernerSouth
15)Thefiftyniner
Final Notes:
The entire purpose of me doing this, as I've said above, is to help YOU make your art better, and to improve the quality of work that we as a community produce. In light of that, please don't flame about me not taking x kind of pack; I've explained my reasoning above, and if I feel that your pack fits one of those types I will not make a review for it.
Additionally, please remember that the purpose of this is CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Yes, I will probably tell you that x part of your pack could be improved upon. But that does not mean that I hate you as a person, or that I think your pack should rot in the dust bin. Every comment I give is meant to be helpful, not disparaging.
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Retired StaffAdded to the list
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Retired StaffJust words, sorry.
Added to the list.
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Oh I'll give you an honest critique alright, never fear. I'm just not a fan of telling someone 'your chests suck. Make them better'. Doesn't really motivate people, you know?
oh but those sort of comments are so useful! haha. best of luck with the reviews mate, take your time.
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Retired Staff1) After I finish the others, so in a couple hours
2) I'll post it to this thread with your name on it-- check back later
3) Several paragraphs, more or less.
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Retired StaffHaha, chill dude! I'm going to post DB's in a minute-- I had to go eat dinner. Good reviews take a bit of time, don't forget.
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Retired StaffHighlights of the pack:
-The basic landscape textures are the real crowning achievement of this pack. Dirt, grass, sand, and stone are all wonderfully smooth and pleasing to look at, and wandering through the wilderness I definitely feel like I've downloaded one of the best 16x packs. These textures really underscore everything 16x has the capacity to be, and I think you should take them as your model for how to do the rest of your textures-- calm, serene, with just enough detail to make grass feel like grass and dirt feel like dirt without overwhelming the eye with glaring noise.
-Your title screen, buttons, and font are all very enjoyable, with a wonderfully matrix feel. They do not seem to go with the rest of the pack, however, as none of the in-game textures have a modern bent that would warrant a matrix loading screen.
-The intricate design on the stone slab is very lovely. But perhaps look into make the shading a little subtler, ie make the cracks not quite as deep?
Things that need improvement:
-The biggest problem with this pack is that it can't decide what it wants to be. Your title screen and gui say 'future', your landscapes say 'smooth and happy', and chests/windows/bookshelves say 'bright, high-contrast color'. These different elements jar with each other and make the transition from the wilderness to the interior of my house quite startling. Here's an example of what I mean:
You can, of course, pick whichever theme you wish for continuing this pack, but I would strongly suggest (as stated above), that you try to make the rest of the textures jive with the landscape textures. I think you'll have a winner if you do.
-While your nature textures are all wonderfully shaded, with subtle highlights and shadows that send me into fits of glee, you seem to have given up on trying to continue the subtlety into your crafted textures (chest, craft bench, windows, bookshelves, planks, etc). The black window panes, the solid black framing for the chest, and the black outline around the lock on the chest are unfortunately very ugly. Pro tip: Never ever ever use black. Ever. Expect for maybe coloring in the hole on the dispenser where arrows come out. Go look at objects in real life-- none of them have black outlines. You've fallen into the trap so many people do of thinking that using black is a good shortcut for making things look really dark. But black, when not used judiciously, stands out like a knife blade through the middle of your textures. It is simply too intense. If you want a very dark shade, use dark brown. Or, even better, highlight the portion of the texture that you want to be darker and lower the brightness. That way the basic hue is retained while darkening the overall color, resulting in more natural looking shading.
-Both the brick style cobble and the shattered cobble seem far too light. The brick style in particular almost resembles silver. There is also a insidious little line of red seeping through the cracks of your shattered cobble:
-Along the same lines as the chests, the coloring on the bookshelves and planks is far too intense-- try turning down the saturation a bit.
-Netherrack does not tile well. The one dark red pit stands out strangely, and there is a line of lighter red running along one side of the texture that creates a grid-like effect. If you want the netherack to seem porous, you'll need to add more pits.
-Just a little nit-pick: Most of your items don't have outlines, but the hilts of the swords are outlined in black. Again, either do away with the outlines completely (which I would strongly suggest), or make all of the tools have outlines. But like I said, don't make the outlines black!
Overall Impressions:
Judging from the landscape appeal of this pack, I believe that you can turn it into something great. But first and foremost you need to figure out what you want this pack to be, and stick with it.
And for the love of god, don't use black outlines.
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Retired StaffFirst one you can get to by clicking my signature;
and second one (only if you want to review it) is here. I'm estimating by the time you get to it a lot more will be done.
Thanks. :smile.gif:
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Retired StaffYour first pack has been added to the list.
Sorry, but I have to take other people before I come back for your second one. :smile.gif:
I underestimated how long it would take me to do these (not factoring in needing to sleep). I'll get to you today, don't worry.
Sure thing. Added to the list.
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Retired StaffAdded to the list
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Retired StaffHighlights:
-Your landscape blocks-- dirt, grass, bark, sand, stone, and sandstone-- are all very quirky and fun. The multi-colored squares technique is used to great effect here, evoking shading and texture without resorting to noise. Cave-diving is especially entertaining with this pack, since the squares create the subtle impression of rocks imbedded into the stone walls without straying into doku-like bumpiness, which would not fit with the other textures.
-The chests are clean, cheery, and satisfying in their understated cleanliness.
-The wooden planks do an excellent job of incorporating the squares theme while still giving the impression of wood grain.
-I love the design of your cobble, and how you made the mortar a lighter shade than the bricks themselves. Their shape and coloration fits really well with the rest of the pack. I do have one issue with them, however, which I will touch on below.
Things that need improvement:
-Although I enjoy the differently-sized squares theme you are using for this pack, at time there seems to be an overload of squares. The pumpkin, for example, looks rather strange covered in random squares-- unlike the planks, where the squares enhance the grain of the wood, on the pumpkin they just look like warts. Or rather, they make the pumpkin look like orange stone. The same is true of the glowstone and wools-- the glowstone can be mistaken for sponge, and the wools...don't look like wools.
-In the same vein as the comment above, some of your blocks-- although greatly benefited by the squares-- could use a different arrangement of squares, or even a higher concentration of smaller squares. The sand, for instance, can easily be confused for sandstone in a desert environment-- the large size of its squares suggests large chunks of material rather than grains of sand. Same with the gravel. I would highly suggest adding a lot of little squares instead of a few big squares for both the sand and the gravel.
-I'm not sure how I feel about the leaves. On the one hand, I like the idea of having inside-out leaves (open spaces in the shape of leaves), but if that wasn't what you were going for than the leaves need a lot of work. Try using a pencil tool to rough out the shape of the leaves on an empty background, rather than filling in the background with green and trying to take out the spaces between the leaves with an eraser.
-Both your cobble and your sandstone have an issue with a double row of bricks that don't tile well. Here's what I mean:
See how the vertical spacers line up right on top of each other? This creates a very jarring effect when looking at a sandstone/cobble wall, since (most of the time) bricks aren't supposed to line up this way. Luckily, this is easy to fix-- simply move one of the vertical spacers so that the don't fall in a vertical row.
-You need to go back and clean up your long grass. At the moment, it looks like you just scribbled in some green and called it a day. The grass blades should be thinner on top than on the bottom, and they need to actually connect to their base rather than floating in the air.
-I like the shape of your wheat, but it needs to be a little brighter, especially the 'fully-grown' wheat.
-The dispenser needs to be redone. At the moment, it just looks like a block with a frown-y face drawn on it. Try going back and adding a hole in the center from the arrows to shoot from, then sketching in the face around it.
Nitpicks!
-You haven't finished coloring in your reeds-- one of them still has the original minecraft texture
-The ores should match the stone-- aka, you need to continue the squares from the stone onto the ores. Try copying and pasting the stone into the ore block position, then drawing the ores on top of it. That way, the ores will be sure to blend it with the stone, and won't stand out awkwardly in cave.
-The grass may be just a little too bright. Try turning down the saturation.
-Ice needs to be at least partially see-through! Try setting the transparency to around 70%
-Switch the snow and the white wool. At the moment, the blue shading on the white wool making it look like snow, while the gray shading on the snow makes it look like white wool.
Overall Impressions:
I like where you're going with this style, and I really wish to see it continued. Your main issue is fluctuating between an explosion of squares and no squares at all. Once you find a way to make all the textures work together, this pack will be amazing. :smile.gif:
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Retired Staff...oops. Sorry, I missed the HD part.
are you 12? learn some patience. Feathers is doing great reviews, if you rush him you will get less useful feedback than if you just wait.
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Retired StaffFirst and foremost-- the download file MUST be a zip for it to be used in the texture pack folder. You really need to convert it, since most people won't want to go to the hassle of downloading the png and creating their own zip.
Now on to the review.
Highlights of the pack:
-The cobblestone and glass together create a wonderfully modern feel, accentuated by the C4 dynamite. I would very much like to see this enhanced, as it really made my day to see my large mansion looking so urban-esque.
-The chests are very nicely done, clean and polished and sporting just the right about of shading to create a light sheen without seeming contrived.
-I love the design of the wooden door. Very original. The shadows around the paneling should be darkened, however, since the door looks very flat until you get up close.
-The snow is very nice and subtle, with a delicious hint of icy crackle. Well done.
-I really like the design of the redstone torches, but the red jewel needs to be more vibrant-- it looks a little too washed-out at the moment.
Things that need improvement:
Before you do anything else with this pack, you need to decide what you want it to be. The C4, cobble, and glass are leaning towards modern, the torches and chest are medieval, and the herobrine head pumpkin is...crack. One of the biggest issues I have with it in its current state is that the feel of the textures clash with each other, confusing the eye as to what time period the world is supposed to be in.
Secondly, you need to go back and clean up a lot of the blocks. The blurriness of the saplings, the haphazard leaves and bark, the disjointed sheen on the iron door and ore blocks-- all of these things look rushed and unprofessional, and they don't look very good in-game.
-I like the idea behind the chunky dirt, but the lines criss-crossing the block look too clean and segmented, almost like the pillows of a quilt. The chunks need to be a good bit smaller, and the lines shouldn't be so uniform. Dirt is one of those textures you shouldn't be afraid to get messy with (as long as it tiles well).
-The grass looks like....green dirt. The 'chunk' effect does not work at all as grass. You definitely need to revamp this texture.
-The leaves don't look anything like leaves- the large stripe down the middle does not tile well, and the overall effect is (to put it as nicely as I can) a little bit ugly. I don't know how long it took you to make this texture, but at the moment it just looks like you scribbled over the square for thirty seconds and called it done. Try going outside and looking at real leaves! Look at pictures of leaves on google and try drawing them. Then come back and redo this texture.
-A bit of worldly advice: Smudging does not a good texture make. Ever. And unfortunately, your saplings appear to be nothing more than smudged versions of plain-jane minecraft saplings. My tip for the leaves applies here as well-- go look out in nature at baby trees, then come back and draw.
-While I like the idea behind the stone, it has the unfortunate tendency to look like gray wall paper covered in flowers. Here's what I mean:
Yay for pretty flowers! Sadly they don't look very good on the walls of caves. To fix this, just go back with a lighter shade and break up the pattern a bit.
Nitpicks:
-...herobrine head? Really? Pro tip: No one will take this pack seriously if the jack-o'-lanterns they have serving as street lamps become severed heads on a pole.
-Your ores are a tad too blurry, with not enough shading to make them stand out. Go back and clean up the edges with a pencil tool, and add in some highlights and shadows to make them look 3D.
-Ice shouldn't be noisy and pixelated, because it ends up resembling transparent blue wool. For this particular case, I give you permission to use the smudge tool.
-You should really think about doing more with the spawner and reeds than simply making them red and adding a creeper face (spawner) or adding white lines (reeds). People will notice and appreciate the effort you put in to making something that doesn't look like recolored default-- they are looking for a texture pack in the first place because they want to play with something that isn't default.
Overall:
Some of your textures-- such as cobble, glass, and chest-- are very nicely done, and hint at the potential of this pack. But before you'll be able to get anywhere, you need to settle on a theme, clean up the smudging and the messiness, and for the love of god ditch the herobrine head.