Nice to see you got this up here - just one less reason for me to bother with Planet Minecraft and their fail image server any more. And now I've got a chance to use all the words I want to use.
First - the GUI is much improved - thanks. I gather from what you've posted that you've got some eventual plan for it? It's still a bit too bare, IMO, though it's thankfully not blinding.
Regarding the white spots I mentioned over there - they don't actually exist in my versions of your pack, since I can get around well enough in photoshop to just edit them out. I guess it could be a good idea though to offer alternative textures without them, and I suspect that the 1.5 update is going to make that sort of stuff much easier to deal with. Or maybe it's just me, in which case, again, I already edited them out.
The only other thing that stands out to me as a bit of a problem is the ores, as I mentioned briefly over there. Don't get me wrong - overall, they look great. I just think they need to be a bit more sharply defined, and especially need to be sharper around the edges, with a bit more abrupt transition from the ore to the stone. Overall, they just look a bit hazy, and the edges fade too gradually into the stone color. They look terrific from a distance, since the blur resolves into smooth tones, but they sort of suffer up close, where they begin to lose that impression of stuff embedded in the stone.
That's probably something I notice though because I've run into the same problem when I've tried to do textures. There's a particular trick to getting a design with color transitions such that it shows up correctly from a distance AND still looks right up close - too far in one direction, and it ends up blurry and too far in the other and it ends up with distractingly obvious pixels. I never figured it out myself, but your textures are already better than mine ever were.
And, finally, if you mess with the ores, I think the iron needs to pick up a bit more of a reddish tone - maybe the same silvery tone for the main color and just shift the shading a bit? I'm not sure if that'd work, but it'd potentially be a way to keep that silvery tone without it looking quite so much like mother of pearl.
I like everything else that's there, and am eagerly following this one. And thanks for sharing it with us.
I got caught up in the whole brouhaha over the /b/ronies - mostly just liked to watch it happen because nerdrage amuses me. I didn't even much care if they were trolling or not - it was still worth it to see. But as it went on, I started to wonder if there really was something to the show, so, like so many others, I watched the first few episodes... then another.... then another.... then.... pretty quick I'd seen them all (up to Suited for Success at that point) and was looking forward to Friday.
I don't think it's quite as great as some make it out to be, but it's definitely better than I'd have any reason to expect it to be.
I'm still a bit more likely to admit to a fascination with Vocaloids/Utauloids, and especially Teto, than with MLP, and especially Fluttershy......
I don't normally measure games on graphics and sound, but man... first and second generation Pokemon makes my head ache. Third's definitely my favorite. For gameplay..... I like things about both FR/LG and R/S, and I don't think I could pick a single favorite. I guess if I could only play one, it'd have to be Emerald, but that's more just because it's like Ruby and Sapphire all rolled into one, and I probably like Hoenn just a bit more than Kanto. I'd really hate to just pick one though....
Pretty much from the time I got the game until.... sometime after the update that included the texture installer, whichever one that was - I used custom textures. Mostly stuff I made myself with a few things from other packs to fill in the gaps, all at 32x32 (I still think that's the best resolution for MC). After the Halloween update, I went through and added the new stuff so I could keep using my textures, until the update with the in-game texture pack selector screwed up the water. I had always set it up so that I used the default water, just because I like the motion of it, even though I don't care that much for the color. But the texture pack selector defaulted (I don't know if it still does) to whatever custom water texture was on the sheet, then rendered it entirely static. So I went back for a while to my earlier 16x16 customs, just so I could get the water right, but as updates kept coming and new stuff kept being added, I just couldn't be arsed to keep up. For a while there, I'd take each new sheet and edit in my textures for the cobble and the clay (the two things I dislike the most) but I finally just stopped even bothering. When it settles down a bit, I'll go back to playing with textures, but for now, I just use the defaults.
I played around a bit with creating worlds, specifically hunting for one with lots of snow so that I could test out the weather effects without having rain falling right next door to the snow. This was the best one I found.
Skyrim is going to suck balls.
Just head for about X: -300 and Z: -500 and you'll be in a winter wonderland. I have no idea how far it extends. Note though - it's almost all tundra. When you get out in the middle of it, there's not a single tree to be seen anywhere, so you might want to bring some wood with you. And it's not particularly epic, or at least not that I've seen yet. No floating islands or arches or cantilevers and not even much in the way of mountains. Just lots of snow and ice. And pumpkins, for some reason.....
Doesn't bother me much, but I have lots of worlds for lots of reasons. I created a bunch of new ones after the weather update just to find one with lots of rain and another one with a huge arctic biome so I could have snow. That was really the only problem I ran into - snow's a bit iffy if the biome isn't big enough, since it rains anywhere that isn't snow. It's distracting enough walking in and out of snow on the ground - standing in snowfall and looking a block away to rainfall, then snowfall again a few blocks past that just ruins the whole effect.
There is one and only one real point to Net Neutrality - to establish the precedent that the FCC can regulate the provision of internet content. That's it. They started with this particular issue because it's superficially beneficial to the consumer, but this issue isn't the point. The point is ultimately solely to establish regulatory power.
Yeah, they should remove it until they work out the problem with it. Then everyone would be a lot happier.
The only thing that would change is that instead of the forum being stuffed to the brim with people whining about framerates, it'd be stuffed to the brim with people whining because leaves don't decay.
I got my Friends of Mineral Town a few days ago (read: a week) and I'm still trying to get it all down, I guess.
I think I'm going to try to go for Elli.
EDIT:
Is there anyway to switch what I'm holding quickly?
Without having to start -> Rucksack and then get to the item?
Hold down L and press B and you'll cycle through your tools. Hold down L and press A and you'll cycle through your items.
It takes a bit to get things figured out at least enough to get by. There's a surprising amount of content and the characters aren't quite as predictable as one might expect. That's part of what I like about it.
Morrowind and Oblivion (and, hopefully, TESV)
GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas
Need for Speed Underground II, Most Wanted and Carbon
Portal
ReVolt
Front Mission
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III
Sim City 2000
Jet Set Radio Future
Super Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission
Galaxy Angel
The Incredible Machine 1 and 2
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2
Grim Fandango
Paper Mario
Yoshi's Island
Final Fantasy VI and VII
Pokemon-- pretty much everything from the third generation on
Harvest Moon and HM Friends of Mineral Town
Duke Nukem
Thief
Earthworm Jim
Lemmings
Carmageddon 2
Powerslide
and undoubtedly others I'm shamefully forgetting.....
I believe that governments should not be empowered to censor at all, ever, for any reason.
In the first place, it's irrational. In a practical legal system, a distinction must be made between that which has brought harm and that which might indirectly serve to bring harm. The former should be a crime while the latter should not. It's not the place of government to punish actions because they might, arguably, somehow lead to someone else doing something else that brings harm. That's simply ludicrous. If one brings harm to another, that should be punished. If one does not, there's nothing for which one should be punished.
In the second place, allowing censorship merely invites abuse. A government empowered to censor WILL, sooner or later, grant itself the power to censor that which might serve to limit, question, counter or in any other way undermine their own power and privilege. The mere precedent that they be allowed to censor at all provides all they need to incrementally gain the power to censor that which would threaten their corrupt power and wealth, and they will use it for that, sooner or later.
It's for precisely that reason that not only does the US Bill of Rights guarantee freedom of speech with NO provisos whatsoever, but (more to the point) the body of the Constitution itself does not grant ANY government agency the power to censor anything in any way or any form for any reason.
The first time through, working off of my experience with the first game, I went for Karen, since she was far and away the easiest to court (simply because she's available more and better hours). And I found out that in FoMT, that's not the case at all. There's no particular advantage to her, and the expected Karen disadvantages. And since I didn't yet have much of a grip on the game and had bunged other things up as well, I restarted it and went for Mary. Glasses are hawt. She's pleasant and very convenient and she likes mushrooms, which are easy enough to come by. And glasses are hawt.
The second time through, I went for Elli. She's a bit more difficult just because she's harder to catch up with while juggling farming and such, but there's something pleasant about stealing her away from the doctor. And I already spent a fair amount of effort on her grandmother, so that fit in well, though her little brother's a bit of a hassle.
Then the third time through, I went for Popuri. She's just adorable and I had to do it sooner or later. She's got this sweet and open sort of Sasami personality. And who doesn't like pink hair?
And that's the extent of my playthroughs on it. I actually still haven't played a Karen game, but Ann's next.
I love those games, though I'd probably not rave about them to any of my IRL friends.
I played the hell out of the original SNES game-- I can't even count how many times I played through it-- enough times that I married everyone more than once.
I sort of skipped over 2 and 3. I've got them both and have played 3 a bit and it seems fun enough, but the GBC sounds just set my teeth on edge.
64 is.... okay. I think it lost a bit in terms of gameplay. It just seemed.... incomplete to me. And I've never been very fond of 3d games with an isometric viewpoint-- I just find it a bit too hard to get around with a chase camera drifting along somewhere over my shoulder.
But then there's Friends of Mineral Town-- the pinnacle of them, in my opinion. It added so much, but without detracting from the gameplay. The characters are great, the gameplay is great, everything about it is great. I love the detail to the characters and the competition for the girls. And the girls are adorable and charming-- even Karen. The only thing I don't much care for about it is mining, and that only because it's about impossible to get down far enough to get the nice stuff without meta-gaming. Aside from that though-- just a great game.
Hell.... I might just replay it. I've been casting about for something to play and haven't come across anything new that's grabbed my attention. And I still haven't married Ann.....
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First - the GUI is much improved - thanks. I gather from what you've posted that you've got some eventual plan for it? It's still a bit too bare, IMO, though it's thankfully not blinding.
Regarding the white spots I mentioned over there - they don't actually exist in my versions of your pack, since I can get around well enough in photoshop to just edit them out. I guess it could be a good idea though to offer alternative textures without them, and I suspect that the 1.5 update is going to make that sort of stuff much easier to deal with. Or maybe it's just me, in which case, again, I already edited them out.
The only other thing that stands out to me as a bit of a problem is the ores, as I mentioned briefly over there. Don't get me wrong - overall, they look great. I just think they need to be a bit more sharply defined, and especially need to be sharper around the edges, with a bit more abrupt transition from the ore to the stone. Overall, they just look a bit hazy, and the edges fade too gradually into the stone color. They look terrific from a distance, since the blur resolves into smooth tones, but they sort of suffer up close, where they begin to lose that impression of stuff embedded in the stone.
That's probably something I notice though because I've run into the same problem when I've tried to do textures. There's a particular trick to getting a design with color transitions such that it shows up correctly from a distance AND still looks right up close - too far in one direction, and it ends up blurry and too far in the other and it ends up with distractingly obvious pixels. I never figured it out myself, but your textures are already better than mine ever were.
And, finally, if you mess with the ores, I think the iron needs to pick up a bit more of a reddish tone - maybe the same silvery tone for the main color and just shift the shading a bit? I'm not sure if that'd work, but it'd potentially be a way to keep that silvery tone without it looking quite so much like mother of pearl.
I like everything else that's there, and am eagerly following this one. And thanks for sharing it with us.
0
I don't think it's quite as great as some make it out to be, but it's definitely better than I'd have any reason to expect it to be.
I'm still a bit more likely to admit to a fascination with Vocaloids/Utauloids, and especially Teto, than with MLP, and especially Fluttershy......
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0
0
Just head for about X: -300 and Z: -500 and you'll be in a winter wonderland. I have no idea how far it extends. Note though - it's almost all tundra. When you get out in the middle of it, there's not a single tree to be seen anywhere, so you might want to bring some wood with you. And it's not particularly epic, or at least not that I've seen yet. No floating islands or arches or cantilevers and not even much in the way of mountains. Just lots of snow and ice. And pumpkins, for some reason.....
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0
0
The only thing that would change is that instead of the forum being stuffed to the brim with people whining about framerates, it'd be stuffed to the brim with people whining because leaves don't decay.
Again.
0
Hold down L and press B and you'll cycle through your tools. Hold down L and press A and you'll cycle through your items.
It takes a bit to get things figured out at least enough to get by. There's a surprising amount of content and the characters aren't quite as predictable as one might expect. That's part of what I like about it.
0
That said though, and specifically because of the way the thread is titled, I'd say Portal for best game and The Elder Scrolls for best series.
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GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas
Need for Speed Underground II, Most Wanted and Carbon
Portal
ReVolt
Front Mission
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III
Sim City 2000
Jet Set Radio Future
Super Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission
Galaxy Angel
The Incredible Machine 1 and 2
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2
Grim Fandango
Paper Mario
Yoshi's Island
Final Fantasy VI and VII
Pokemon-- pretty much everything from the third generation on
Harvest Moon and HM Friends of Mineral Town
Duke Nukem
Thief
Earthworm Jim
Lemmings
Carmageddon 2
Powerslide
and undoubtedly others I'm shamefully forgetting.....
0
In the first place, it's irrational. In a practical legal system, a distinction must be made between that which has brought harm and that which might indirectly serve to bring harm. The former should be a crime while the latter should not. It's not the place of government to punish actions because they might, arguably, somehow lead to someone else doing something else that brings harm. That's simply ludicrous. If one brings harm to another, that should be punished. If one does not, there's nothing for which one should be punished.
In the second place, allowing censorship merely invites abuse. A government empowered to censor WILL, sooner or later, grant itself the power to censor that which might serve to limit, question, counter or in any other way undermine their own power and privilege. The mere precedent that they be allowed to censor at all provides all they need to incrementally gain the power to censor that which would threaten their corrupt power and wealth, and they will use it for that, sooner or later.
It's for precisely that reason that not only does the US Bill of Rights guarantee freedom of speech with NO provisos whatsoever, but (more to the point) the body of the Constitution itself does not grant ANY government agency the power to censor anything in any way or any form for any reason.
Fat lot of good that did, but still......
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Well.....
The first time through, working off of my experience with the first game, I went for Karen, since she was far and away the easiest to court (simply because she's available more and better hours). And I found out that in FoMT, that's not the case at all. There's no particular advantage to her, and the expected Karen disadvantages. And since I didn't yet have much of a grip on the game and had bunged other things up as well, I restarted it and went for Mary. Glasses are hawt. She's pleasant and very convenient and she likes mushrooms, which are easy enough to come by. And glasses are hawt.
The second time through, I went for Elli. She's a bit more difficult just because she's harder to catch up with while juggling farming and such, but there's something pleasant about stealing her away from the doctor. And I already spent a fair amount of effort on her grandmother, so that fit in well, though her little brother's a bit of a hassle.
Then the third time through, I went for Popuri. She's just adorable and I had to do it sooner or later. She's got this sweet and open sort of Sasami personality. And who doesn't like pink hair?
And that's the extent of my playthroughs on it. I actually still haven't played a Karen game, but Ann's next.
0
0
I played the hell out of the original SNES game-- I can't even count how many times I played through it-- enough times that I married everyone more than once.
I sort of skipped over 2 and 3. I've got them both and have played 3 a bit and it seems fun enough, but the GBC sounds just set my teeth on edge.
64 is.... okay. I think it lost a bit in terms of gameplay. It just seemed.... incomplete to me. And I've never been very fond of 3d games with an isometric viewpoint-- I just find it a bit too hard to get around with a chase camera drifting along somewhere over my shoulder.
But then there's Friends of Mineral Town-- the pinnacle of them, in my opinion. It added so much, but without detracting from the gameplay. The characters are great, the gameplay is great, everything about it is great. I love the detail to the characters and the competition for the girls. And the girls are adorable and charming-- even Karen. The only thing I don't much care for about it is mining, and that only because it's about impossible to get down far enough to get the nice stuff without meta-gaming. Aside from that though-- just a great game.
Hell.... I might just replay it. I've been casting about for something to play and haven't come across anything new that's grabbed my attention. And I still haven't married Ann.....