I've been around this discussion forum for a while now, asking and answering questions. Always yammering on about this texture pack that I'm supposedly making, but have thus far offered no proof of. Well, I think it's time to change that.
Poll #1: In the the first poll, I asked you for your opinions on the swamp color and the water shading. Here are the results:
And for reference, here are the images:
The results were close, but the majority of you will be happy to know that the hard-shaded water is going to stay.
The second poll had a bias because I added the third option in later (hense the reason the image is in post #3 below and not in the initial posting above), but I've decided that out of all of them I like the third variation best. Considering that third option tied for first even though it got a late start, I'm going to think that most of you agree with me.
Poll #2: For the second poll, I asked for your opinions on two different sandstone textures and three obsidian variants. Here are the results... and what I've ultimately decided:
And for reference, here are the images:
The majority of you prefer the red sandstone variant, so that's the one I'll end up going with. I'll be honest, it's the one I was leaning for the entire time. I only post polls for the things I'm conflicted on, though, so I'm happy that you all agree with what my gut was telling me on this.
Which brings me to the obsidian. The VAST majority of people want the smooth variant in the middle but... the Snowflake obsidian eventually won me over. See, as I work on this pack I also play with it and tweak whatever ends up annoying me. After I played with the snowflake obsidian for a while it started to feel really natural and I missed it when I swapped it out.
Now for anyone who's ed that I'm not going with popular opinion on this, let me remind everone what my stance on popularity has always been: I'm making this because I want to... not because I want it to, or expect it to, be popular. Ultimately it's the artist's opinion of his or her own work that should matter most. I've said that on countless threads here in Texture Discussion, and suddenly caving to popular opinion rather than going with what makes me happiest would make me a HUGE hypocrite. I am many things... but I try not to let 'hypocrite' be one of them.
Poll #3: For the final poll, I asked how finished this pack should be before I released it. I got a few mixed messages on this one, so here are the results:
The most popular things people wanted were mobs and animations. The mobs are what I'm going to focus on, but given that there were folks in all camps I think I'm just going to finish the pack out before releasing it. Sorry to the twelve people who wanted me to just go ahead and release it, but you're going to have to wait.
Pack Preview
Now that you're done reading all bout my silly polls, and seeing what's been added recently, here's a load of preview images for you to feast your eyes on:
My little spawn house in my vanilla world. Kinda quaint. Please ignore the massive noob spire in the back.
A jungle bordering some mountains. The red trees, like the dark swamps, are an homage to Magic the Gathering. Don't know if I'll keep these either.
A long bridge across the treetops leading to my modest treehouse. Check out the glowstone texture.
I do my farming and ranching in these square units. I have golden stalks of wheat ready for harvest. The cattle are angus, because I like the quality of their meat. My chickens are all little red hens. Why? Childhood trauma.
The dark, gloomy swamp. The dead gray coloration is an homage to Magic the Gathering (where swamps are the home of black magic). This variation of the swamps was voted on by the Texture Discussion community in the first poll of this thread, and I'm happy to say it's going to stay an official part of the pack!
The Nether. It looks like hell... which is what I was going for. The blue nether brick was inspired by Zombie Cleo's old painterly mix.
Ores! They look like ores... or so I'm told.
The Ender Dragon will eat your soul... and your body... and your mind... and your possessions... and EVERYTHING ELSE!!!
Many shiny items. I have the items 100% complete... unless you're reading this right after a release that includes new items.
Here's a sheep for absolutely no reason.
Keep in mind I have a lot more finished than what I've shown (including 100% of the terrain, items, and GUI), so this is just a teaser to gauge how people feel about the general look I've got going. Tell me what your think, if there are specific things you like or don't like, and most importantly if you're looking forward to seeing this pack published.
Thanks everyone. I look forward to seeing what you have to say.
I must say I'm partial to the hard-colored water. The colors are so bright and vibrant, it's really nice looking. The biome-colored one is good as well, but it's certainly gloomier.
As for swamps I've always preferred green colors to make it look alive, so I'm kinda biased on this one. But maybe with the gloomy version you could 'deaden' the colors a bit more with some greys rather than the deep purples that are there now. That would probably make me like the dead one over the more lively swamp.
The rest looks really nice. I especially like the faintly different colored stones in the cobblestone, it looks great
I feel terrible. Somewhere on the forum there's a thread about a horrible 8x8 pack that's getting more attention than my labor of love.
Anyway, I took the only advice I've gotten so far and I re-did the swamps. Here's what I've gotten so far:
(Please don't pay attention to the pig or squid. They're photobombing because I haven't re-textured them yet)
I grayed out the trees, while leaving the grass a nice dark green. I wanted to get the trees darker, but if I do the purple starts to reassert itself. I could use the swampfoliagecolor thing in Custom Colors, but I'm trying to avoid using special features if I don't absolutely have to.
Also, I see on person said that he/she has to have it right now in the poll, but didn't post anything. Not sure if I have my first diehard fan or if I'm being trolled.
I especially like the faintly different colored stones in the cobblestone, it looks great
Thank you! I'm honestly surprised anyone noticed the variations in the cobble. The stone brick does the same thing, although it's a bit more uniform. I feel that it breaks up the gray a bit, and seems cheerier than just the stark monochrome most packs use for their stone-related items.
The new dead swamp looks great! Current swamps are kinda hard to tell apart from other biomes in my opinion. Had no idea you could change the biome colours.
Misa has a really good guide regarding this. You can find it HERE if you want it.
Love the detail on the stone, it is something I try to do as well but much more subtle.
I tried to strike a balance between barely noticeable and not noticeable at all. I don't plan to tone it down either, as I've gotten really attached to it. Honestly, that cobble texture is probably the one I've spent the most time on.
The new swamp is much better! I've always thought that swamps should have that dead or dying vibe, it makes them feel way gloomier. When are you thinking of releasing this?
The nether however looks great. I really like how you picked blue for the netherbrick so it stands out.
The main reason for this choice was because I needed something to rest my eyes on. My netherrack is so vibrantly red that it started to cause eyestrain. The blue was a natural choice, both because it's a very restful color but also because it makes fortresses stand out, as you so aptly put it.
I'm not sure. I don't have a whole lot left to finish, mostly mobs, so I was originally planning to just wait for it to be completed. Part of the reason for this preview is to see people's reactions. If a bunch of people really seemed to like it, I would release it sooner and update as I get things done. If the reaction wasn't particularly strong, I'd just keep going with it until I was 'finished' with it, and then release it at that time.
Darn right I have. Aang is an awesome airbender, Toph's attitude is always HILARIOUS, Saka is... wait... not the Avatar you were talking about... is it?
Actually, I had just finished watching Megamind when I designed those. Fun fact.
Some nice variety that keeps each one different but IMO the Priest and Librarian look a little too similar but they are still distinguishable. Maybe add some brown to the librarian seeing as the stereotype male librarian always wears tweed.
Wait... the librarian is male? How can you tell?
Actually, I designed the blueberries to be as gender-neutral as possible. I guess if people are still thinking they're male then I missed.
I do like the idea of making the librarian's pants brown, though, so I have changed it. Thanks for the feedback.
Definitely loving the dark swamps. As was said earlier they should be dark, gloomy and miserable places.
And the hard-colored water is also the better option. I like the soft one too but it is a bit too dull. Looking forward to seeing it moving.
I think I'm going to end up going with the mix in post #3. It's my personal favorite of the three. As for the water... right now I'm leaning toward the hard coded version. I like it better, mainly because I don't want to be dependent on Custom Colors for my water color. A lot of it will depend on what happens with Custom Stuff. It changed in 2.3.2, so there's really no reason for me to go with the biome-compliant anymore.
I prefer the mix of the two swamps, and the hard-coloured water looks great as well.
I think most people like the mixed version. The poll has a bias as I introduced that option after most of the voters had voted. I'm probably going with the hard-colored water, so I'm glad you like it.
Wait...this is 16x16? It looks much better than most other 16x16 packs I've seen.
Thank you!
Yea, a lot of artists don't seem to know how to work with the texture size restriction. I've seen a few that do it really well, but most of the 16x packs out there seem to use the size restriction as an excuse not to try hard. The ones that do put in effort usually rely on a motif or style rather than going for details and making things look natural. It's a shame because you can get really good results with 16x if you try. Fortunately, there are a few artists out there that can make it work. I hope to count myself among them.
Actually I wasn't implying your Blueberry was male, so you haven't missed. I was just stating that stereotyped librarians fall into two categories For males it's tweed jackets and bow-ties (much like the latest Doctor in Doctor Who). For females it's long skirts, fully buttoned up cardigans and round glasses.
Actually, the original design was supposed to be an homage to the typical 'sexy librarian' look, with the white button-up blouse and black skirt. The skirt was changed to pants to be the gender-neutral option (as both genders now wear pants in western society), but you'll notice the shirt was left slightly open at the top. Having tested the brown... I'm not sure if I like it. I might have to go with something else.
Where/are they you ores that you were having trouble with? At the time I thought about creating my own ore and generating it but reading the problems you had I decided to put it off until a rainy day. I've never got around to giving it a go since then.
I haven't included anything I've made with CS in the pics above. I didn't want to confuse people. As for the issues I was having, CubeX2 introduced 'simple' as a block type which fixed that issue.
People who are only here for the textures are wondering what the heck we're talking about. Sorry everyone.
I think I'm going to try your slight colour alteration on a brick texture and see how it looks at a higher resolution. Could be used to make some very nice varieties of standard brick textures.
Go for it. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Personally, I really like 64x packs and rarely look at other resolutions. Anything bigger is too detailed IMO, it takes it too far from a basic look. There are some fantastic 32x textures but I find 64x is a happy middle ground for me.
I'm of the opinion that anything above 32x ruins the pixilated look. I prefer 16x packs because it makes the feeling more uniform. Anything higher makes the player skins look low-res and ugly, and since I take some pride in having a good looking player skin this is important. I'd consider doing a 32x pack, but nothing higher.
Looking forward to seeing the finished (or near enough) results.
There are only a few more things that I intend to finish before I publish the pack. It's going to be a while before I get to them, though. Right now I'm getting ready for an appointment, after which I'm going to look into (finally) updating Stained Wood.
I honestly love this pack. And it has nothing to do with the fact that I sorta know you. Also, I never thought to ask this, but how long have you been making texture packs?
I honestly love this pack. And it has nothing to do with the fact that I sorta know you. Also, I never thought to ask this, but how long have you been making texture packs?
Thank you for saying so.
This is my first, and I've been working on it in my limited spare time for almost a year now. Yea... my spare time has been REALLY limited in the past year.
I've actually been doing texture and CG work for years, though. Mostly as a hobby, but also professionally for a small game company for a couple of years. I'm not a noob at this, even though it's my first Minecraft reskin.
I would love to see a download, but those avatar-testificates annoy me.
I like the look of them, and I disagree with your assessment that they look like avatar alien things. No stripes, spots, or perfectly braided hair on my blueberries.
If I made them a different color would that help? How about multicolor with RandomMobs?
Since we're forum friends I'll send you the download link a little in advance.
I like the look of them, and I disagree with your assessment that they look like avatar alien things. No stripes, spots, or perfectly braided hair on my blueberries.
If I made them a different color would that help? How about multicolor with RandomMobs?
Just out of curiosity, why did you name the TP "Sanity"?
Look at my user name.
Actually, I chose the name for much the same reason I chose my user name. When I bought Minecraft, I did so because I needed an easy creative release that I could tinker with without feeling pressured to make anything particularly spectacular. I needed this because my job and family life are both quite soul-crushing. This stress drives me to the brink of insanity, hence the name.
This texture pack has also been a great source of joy and stress relief over the last year for much the same reason. I don't have a lot of free time owing to the above stress, but when I have the time and energy to take a breather I love doing texturing. Tacking a huge project like skinning a normal video game would make for more stress, but a TP for MC seems to be just the right level for what I need. Hense, this texture pack has become my source of Sanity.
Hello everyone!
I've been around this discussion forum for a while now, asking and answering questions. Always yammering on about this texture pack that I'm supposedly making, but have thus far offered no proof of. Well, I think it's time to change that.
Poll #1: In the the first poll, I asked you for your opinions on the swamp color and the water shading. Here are the results:
And for reference, here are the images:
The results were close, but the majority of you will be happy to know that the hard-shaded water is going to stay.
The second poll had a bias because I added the third option in later (hense the reason the image is in post #3 below and not in the initial posting above), but I've decided that out of all of them I like the third variation best. Considering that third option tied for first even though it got a late start, I'm going to think that most of you agree with me.
Poll #2: For the second poll, I asked for your opinions on two different sandstone textures and three obsidian variants. Here are the results... and what I've ultimately decided:
And for reference, here are the images:
The majority of you prefer the red sandstone variant, so that's the one I'll end up going with. I'll be honest, it's the one I was leaning for the entire time. I only post polls for the things I'm conflicted on, though, so I'm happy that you all agree with what my gut was telling me on this.
Which brings me to the obsidian. The VAST majority of people want the smooth variant in the middle but... the Snowflake obsidian eventually won me over. See, as I work on this pack I also play with it and tweak whatever ends up annoying me. After I played with the snowflake obsidian for a while it started to feel really natural and I missed it when I swapped it out.
Now for anyone who's ed that I'm not going with popular opinion on this, let me remind everone what my stance on popularity has always been: I'm making this because I want to... not because I want it to, or expect it to, be popular. Ultimately it's the artist's opinion of his or her own work that should matter most. I've said that on countless threads here in Texture Discussion, and suddenly caving to popular opinion rather than going with what makes me happiest would make me a HUGE hypocrite. I am many things... but I try not to let 'hypocrite' be one of them.
Poll #3: For the final poll, I asked how finished this pack should be before I released it. I got a few mixed messages on this one, so here are the results:
The most popular things people wanted were mobs and animations. The mobs are what I'm going to focus on, but given that there were folks in all camps I think I'm just going to finish the pack out before releasing it. Sorry to the twelve people who wanted me to just go ahead and release it, but you're going to have to wait.
Pack Preview
Now that you're done reading all bout my silly polls, and seeing what's been added recently, here's a load of preview images for you to feast your eyes on:
My little spawn house in my vanilla world. Kinda quaint. Please ignore the massive noob spire in the back.
A jungle bordering some mountains. The red trees, like the dark swamps, are an homage to Magic the Gathering. Don't know if I'll keep these either.
A long bridge across the treetops leading to my modest treehouse. Check out the glowstone texture.
I do my farming and ranching in these square units. I have golden stalks of wheat ready for harvest. The cattle are angus, because I like the quality of their meat. My chickens are all little red hens. Why? Childhood trauma.
The dark, gloomy swamp. The dead gray coloration is an homage to Magic the Gathering (where swamps are the home of black magic). This variation of the swamps was voted on by the Texture Discussion community in the first poll of this thread, and I'm happy to say it's going to stay an official part of the pack!
The Nether. It looks like hell... which is what I was going for. The blue nether brick was inspired by Zombie Cleo's old painterly mix.
Ores! They look like ores... or so I'm told.
The Ender Dragon will eat your soul... and your body... and your mind... and your possessions... and EVERYTHING ELSE!!!
Many shiny items. I have the items 100% complete... unless you're reading this right after a release that includes new items.
Here's a sheep for absolutely no reason.
Thanks everyone. I look forward to seeing what you have to say.
As for swamps I've always preferred green colors to make it look alive, so I'm kinda biased on this one. But maybe with the gloomy version you could 'deaden' the colors a bit more with some greys rather than the deep purples that are there now. That would probably make me like the dead one over the more lively swamp.
The rest looks really nice. I especially like the faintly different colored stones in the cobblestone, it looks great
Anyway, I took the only advice I've gotten so far and I re-did the swamps. Here's what I've gotten so far:
(Please don't pay attention to the pig or squid. They're photobombing because I haven't re-textured them yet)
I grayed out the trees, while leaving the grass a nice dark green. I wanted to get the trees darker, but if I do the purple starts to reassert itself. I could use the swampfoliagecolor thing in Custom Colors, but I'm trying to avoid using special features if I don't absolutely have to.
Also, I see on person said that he/she has to have it right now in the poll, but didn't post anything. Not sure if I have my first diehard fan or if I'm being trolled.
Thank you! I'm honestly surprised anyone noticed the variations in the cobble. The stone brick does the same thing, although it's a bit more uniform. I feel that it breaks up the gray a bit, and seems cheerier than just the stark monochrome most packs use for their stone-related items.
Because of the way the swamp overlays colors, it turns an algae-green color. I think it brightens up the place while still looking uncomfortably icky.
You don't notice it as much in-game because it has a long animation cycle (90 frames, I believe). It's really obvious in still shots, I admit.
I tried to strike a balance between barely noticeable and not noticeable at all. I don't plan to tone it down either, as I've gotten really attached to it. Honestly, that cobble texture is probably the one I've spent the most time on.
I'm sorry to tell you, but it looks like hell. *CSI Miami scream*
I'm not sure. I don't have a whole lot left to finish, mostly mobs, so I was originally planning to just wait for it to be completed. Part of the reason for this preview is to see people's reactions. If a bunch of people really seemed to like it, I would release it sooner and update as I get things done. If the reaction wasn't particularly strong, I'd just keep going with it until I was 'finished' with it, and then release it at that time.
My friendly blueberries. Don't they look keen!
Yes, yes they are sticking their tongues out at you. And each other. And everyone else...
I prefer the mix of the two swamps, and the hard-coloured water looks great as well.
Wait...this is 16x16? It looks much better than most other 16x16 packs I've seen.
Actually, I had just finished watching Megamind when I designed those. Fun fact.
Wait... the librarian is male? How can you tell?
Actually, I designed the blueberries to be as gender-neutral as possible. I guess if people are still thinking they're male then I missed.
I do like the idea of making the librarian's pants brown, though, so I have changed it. Thanks for the feedback.
I think I'm going to end up going with the mix in post #3. It's my personal favorite of the three. As for the water... right now I'm leaning toward the hard coded version. I like it better, mainly because I don't want to be dependent on Custom Colors for my water color. A lot of it will depend on what happens with Custom Stuff. It changed in 2.3.2, so there's really no reason for me to go with the biome-compliant anymore.
Same design, but for this demonstration I'm using ordinary stone brick rather than the migmatite and slevia that I created with CS. Ergo, no lag.
Glad you like it.
The tag line is going to be "No, the name isn't ironic."
Thanks!
I think most people like the mixed version. The poll has a bias as I introduced that option after most of the voters had voted. I'm probably going with the hard-colored water, so I'm glad you like it.
Thank you!
Yea, a lot of artists don't seem to know how to work with the texture size restriction. I've seen a few that do it really well, but most of the 16x packs out there seem to use the size restriction as an excuse not to try hard. The ones that do put in effort usually rely on a motif or style rather than going for details and making things look natural. It's a shame because you can get really good results with 16x if you try. Fortunately, there are a few artists out there that can make it work. I hope to count myself among them.
* groan *
Actually, the original design was supposed to be an homage to the typical 'sexy librarian' look, with the white button-up blouse and black skirt. The skirt was changed to pants to be the gender-neutral option (as both genders now wear pants in western society), but you'll notice the shirt was left slightly open at the top. Having tested the brown... I'm not sure if I like it. I might have to go with something else.
* groan again *
I haven't included anything I've made with CS in the pics above. I didn't want to confuse people. As for the issues I was having, CubeX2 introduced 'simple' as a block type which fixed that issue.
People who are only here for the textures are wondering what the heck we're talking about. Sorry everyone.
Go for it. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Like I said, not trying.
These are the packs I personally love, and the artists I want to be associated with.
I'm of the opinion that anything above 32x ruins the pixilated look. I prefer 16x packs because it makes the feeling more uniform. Anything higher makes the player skins look low-res and ugly, and since I take some pride in having a good looking player skin this is important. I'd consider doing a 32x pack, but nothing higher.
To each his own though.
There are only a few more things that I intend to finish before I publish the pack. It's going to be a while before I get to them, though. Right now I'm getting ready for an appointment, after which I'm going to look into (finally) updating Stained Wood.
Thank you for saying so.
This is my first, and I've been working on it in my limited spare time for almost a year now. Yea... my spare time has been REALLY limited in the past year.
I've actually been doing texture and CG work for years, though. Mostly as a hobby, but also professionally for a small game company for a couple of years. I'm not a noob at this, even though it's my first Minecraft reskin.
Thank you.
I like the look of them, and I disagree with your assessment that they look like avatar alien things. No stripes, spots, or perfectly braided hair on my blueberries.
If I made them a different color would that help? How about multicolor with RandomMobs?
I have help.
I know the other part to your perfect biome colors....
Actually, I chose the name for much the same reason I chose my user name. When I bought Minecraft, I did so because I needed an easy creative release that I could tinker with without feeling pressured to make anything particularly spectacular. I needed this because my job and family life are both quite soul-crushing. This stress drives me to the brink of insanity, hence the name.
This texture pack has also been a great source of joy and stress relief over the last year for much the same reason. I don't have a lot of free time owing to the above stress, but when I have the time and energy to take a breather I love doing texturing. Tacking a huge project like skinning a normal video game would make for more stress, but a TP for MC seems to be just the right level for what I need. Hense, this texture pack has become my source of Sanity.
Way to keep it on the DL there buddy.