I have noticed a trend in the some of the new packs lately and it is a trend that I do not like. For some reason it is suddenly popular to create ultra HD (256x and 512x) photorealistic packs. This, in and of itself, isn't a bad thing. However, it also seems to be a trend of photorealistic packs to completely ignore tiling. I have only seen two packs that fit this description and have good tiling and those are Synthetic Reality and Nature's Lust. Speaking from personal experiance I know that it is not that hard to make Ultra HD realistic textures that tile. So here is a bit of advice.
1) DO NOT use google images. This not only turned out looking weird but it is also illegal. Unless you have permission of the person who posted the image.
2) DO NOT use photographs that you have taken. Unless you are REALLY good with GIMP or Photoshop you will not be able to get the images to tile.
4) DO create the textures yourself. If you do this not only will you get exactly what you want the images will actually look better. This is because they were made specifically for a texture pack.
(this is probably going to end up in my pinned thread, but for now I want it here in the area people actually look at.)
Yes, I totally agree, there are some good realistic packs out there, but honestly, most of them are a blob of images from google that don't look good together whatsoever =\
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Yeah, that's mostly why I've never really been into realistic texture packs, HD cartoony ones are good though, especially Sphax which is one of my favorites. :smile.gif:
Yea, I stick to cartoony texture packs as well because they generally blend together without trying too hard ;3
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I find it a bit amusing when people try to present Minecraft as "Not Minecraft" by using shaders and realistic 128x+ packs. Honestly, while some of the LB Photo Realism shots are pretty nice, I think taping realistic textures to everything serves to simply boost how flat the world is. And above all, in a block game, you're never going to hide the fact that it's a block game. The fanciest graphics won't help at all.
Cartoon high-res packs are an entirely different story, though, and I love stylistic things like that (most of the reason why I've been getting into various different style of packs as of late, especially the stylistic fantasy ones like Thistle's, though that isn't a true HD pack.)
I find it a bit amusing when people try to present Minecraft as "Not Minecraft" by using shaders and realistic 128x+ packs. Honestly, while some of the LB Photo Realism shots are pretty nice, I think taping realistic textures to everything serves to simply boost how flat the world is. And above all, in a block game, you're never going to hide the fact that it's a block game. The fanciest graphics won't help at all.
Cartoon high-res packs are an entirely different story, though, and I love stylistic things like that (most of the reason why I've been getting into various different style of packs as of late, especially the stylistic fantasy ones like Thistle's, though that isn't a true HD pack.)
It is not about "hiding" the fact that they are blocks. It is about making the game not look like it was made in 1980.
It is not about "hiding" the fact that they are blocks. It is about making the game not look like it was made in 1980.
Guess it depends on the end user then. I've seen many suggest that Minecraft is not Minecraft by applying some shaders and texture packs, and the way they talked was to suggest that they were playing what could potentially be a different game, but they'd reassure the viewer that they're actually playing minecraft (which sounds silly when you actually read it). Likewise though, if your only intention for making a high-res pack is to make the game "not look like it's from the 80's" (though the 90's would be a closer match since high-color graphics were mostly unheard of in the 80s :tongue.gif:), then... well, that's perfectly ok, honestly!
I'm currently working on a 128 and yes it is quite difficult and slow work. I'm working off actual photos I've taken but a lot of work goes into correcting the edges for tiling. Sadly and disappointingly many other 128's don't do this and tiling is an issue across a majority of the textures. However creating a 128 texture from scratch is even more difficult if you wanted it to be photo-realistic.
I hope this doesn't sound to harsh, but that's some terrible advice you've got there. The best textures(not just for minecraft texture packs specifically) are generally the ones that are based on actual photos. If someone can't even get a texture to tile correctly, do you really think they'll do better when digitally creating a completely new texture(which is a process that includes that very same tiling part and more)?
Based...let me say it again
Based.
Not just the photo. There HAS to be some editing or else the photo will not tile. Personally I find it easier to tile something I have made from scratch than to tile a photo. I have done both.
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"Look, I don't care if your 8 or 20. If you can't take criticism or opinions, then get off the internet." -Stronghold257
Well, obviously you will have to edit it, but you usually have to do the same thing with any other textures as well, so I don't see any disadvantage to it.
I think that point is doing more harm than good by making people think they are "REALLY good" when they are not(necessarily).
Maybe I am completely insane or something. But when I make a texture I make it to tile from the start. I don't draw an image and then mess around with it to make it tile. With a photo you have to be very careful with lighting and camera angle and select very specific areas to take photos of. Then you have to edit the existing photo in order to make it tile properly. I am not saying this is a bad process. But it takes a lot of skill to pull of properly.
For example, I couldn't take a picture of the carpet in my living room as is because there are a lot of shadows that cast by things like furnature. I would have to bring in some extra lights and possibly move things around in order to remove those shadows. Tiling is not just getting seamless edges; It also has to do with the texture itself.
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"Look, I don't care if your 8 or 20. If you can't take criticism or opinions, then get off the internet." -Stronghold257
You raise some interesting points which I mostly agree with.
Regarding photo-realistic packs in general I think both the concept and execution of pretty much every "HD Realism" pack I've seen leaves a lot to be desired.
Firstly, there are now so many packs with these labels all over the forums, users seem to buy into them simply for the sake of the name. These packs are fast becoming the most popular Minecraft texture packs (based on texture pack rankings on sites such as PMC as well as thread popularity) yet from screenshots, videos and in-game experience, they simply don't look particularly good, flowing, atmospheric or easy on the eyes.
Secondly, actually playing with these packs installed is mostly an unpleasant experience for a few reasons: bad tiling, very dark textures due to detail and lack of anti-aliasing in Minecraft causing insane levels of grainyness. The list goes on. Although many textures on their own look very impressive, as a whole these packs simply don't work. For me personally, the general levels of extreme contrast due to the layers of detail on these packs makes for an uncomfortable visual experience that's more fuzzy than realistically pretty.
Thirdly, the whole idea of using realistic photographic style textures in a world of rigid blocky angles seems counter intuitive. No amount of talented texturing is ever going to make Minecraft realistic for me. In fact, the most realistic I've ever seen Minecraft look was when viewed from afar, with a decent sun/moon texture, appropriate smooth cloud cover and the water shader mod installed.
So in conclusion, I appeciate the time and effort it takes to make such a pack, and why the idea may appeal to a large audience, but I've yet to see a truly seemless and visually pleasant photorealistic/realism pack. On a more positive note: I'd really like to see a 256x pack which, instead of going for super fine detail which creates immense amounts of grainyness at distance, is much lighter, brighter and detailed in such a way which doesn't cause distance fuzzyness. I'm sure it's possible, it just needs to be crafted carefully and delicately. That or it needs to have a compulsory download of the GLSL DOF mod which helps to blur non targetted scenes.
On a technical note:
Tiling any sort of texture should be pretty easy for anyone with a bit of experience using Photoshop: Offset, clone stamp tool, brush tool, smudge tool plus a bit of masked gradients and it should be relatively easy to avoid visible joins.
I implore you to try out my synthetic reality texture pack before this judgement is final from you. I really think it can change your mind :smile.gif:
1) DO NOT use google images. This not only turned out looking weird but it is also illegal. Unless you have permission of the person who posted the image.
2) DO NOT use photographs that you have taken. Unless you are REALLY good with GIMP or Photoshop you will not be able to get the images to tile.
3) DO read tutorials. Here is a link to some tutorials that I have found very handy. http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/tutorials/best-texture-tutorials-photoshop/
4) DO create the textures yourself. If you do this not only will you get exactly what you want the images will actually look better. This is because they were made specifically for a texture pack.
(this is probably going to end up in my pinned thread, but for now I want it here in the area people actually look at.)
Yea, I have used it before, and there are some tiling issues unfortunately =(
Yea, I stick to cartoony texture packs as well because they generally blend together without trying too hard ;3
This was one of the packs I had in mind actually. I didn't want to point fingers though.
I need to get with drfrozen so we can get our pack finished and posted. Show up all the other new packs so to speak. :smile.gif:
Cartoon high-res packs are an entirely different story, though, and I love stylistic things like that (most of the reason why I've been getting into various different style of packs as of late, especially the stylistic fantasy ones like Thistle's, though that isn't a true HD pack.)
"sometimes, wizards are so awesome, it hurts"
I have used photos I've taken :tongue.gif:
Yeah, as soon as I get my 1.0 update out for Synthetic Reality, I'd love to continue work on the Wastelands pack :smile.gif:
It is not about "hiding" the fact that they are blocks. It is about making the game not look like it was made in 1980.
"sometimes, wizards are so awesome, it hurts"
Based...let me say it again
Based.
Not just the photo. There HAS to be some editing or else the photo will not tile. Personally I find it easier to tile something I have made from scratch than to tile a photo. I have done both.
Maybe I am completely insane or something. But when I make a texture I make it to tile from the start. I don't draw an image and then mess around with it to make it tile. With a photo you have to be very careful with lighting and camera angle and select very specific areas to take photos of. Then you have to edit the existing photo in order to make it tile properly. I am not saying this is a bad process. But it takes a lot of skill to pull of properly.
For example, I couldn't take a picture of the carpet in my living room as is because there are a lot of shadows that cast by things like furnature. I would have to bring in some extra lights and possibly move things around in order to remove those shadows. Tiling is not just getting seamless edges; It also has to do with the texture itself.
I implore you to try out my synthetic reality texture pack before this judgement is final from you. I really think it can change your mind :smile.gif: