The All-Inclusive Guide to Texturing: Everything you will ever need to know about making textures for Minecraft
Help Wanted!
I don't have a lot of time on my hands to fill out the empty sections, so I'm looking for experienced texture artists would would be willing to draft some of the blank sections below. If you think you have a firm grasp of one of the needed topics, create a guide and post it to this thread-- I will review all submissions for quality/grammar/style, etc, and add them to the guide if they are up to snuff.
This guide is meant to be a quick reference for the answers to any and all questions you may have about texturing, from the mundane to the complex. If you have any questions or feel that something could be added to make this guide more complete, please feel free to leave a comment.
For those of you who are new to the world of texture packs, the sections below detail what texture packs are and why you should consider making one.
What is a texture pack?
A texture pack is a zip file containing a series of special images that can be used by Minecraft to change the appearance of almost every aspect of the game, from blocks and water to weapons and mobs.
The core of a texture pack is an image file called the terrain.png. This file determines how the blocks that make up the majority of the Minecraft world look. Almost all texture packs you will find have edited the terrain.png. Some texture packs, however, only edit mobs or items, and are called 'Mob packs' and 'Item packs,' respectively.
Why make a texture pack?
There are many reasons to make a texture pack.
For most texture artists, the main reason is to replace the default look of Minecraft with a customized look. Texture packs can create any sort of atmosphere you can imagine, from fantasy to steampunk to post-apocalyptic. Texture packs can also be made to enhance the world of a custom map and give certain blocks the specific look needed for that map.
Sometimes an artist will make a texture pack in order to practice their artistic skills or to try out a new artistic technique. There are many packs that are made with a specific art style-- such as impressionism or pixel art-- to allow the artist to flex his/her creative muscles.
And last (but certainly not least), texture packs are often made just for fun. Watching your art come alive through Minecraft is both exhilarating and inspiring, regardless of skill level.
So if you're ready to try something new and exciting, pull up a chair and read on.
Before you can get started on editing the look of Minecraft to your liking, you need to understand a few basic things about the textures themselves.
As I'm sure you have already noticed, Minecraft has a very 'old school' look. Unlike most of today's video games, Minecraft's graphics are simplistic and pixelated. Let's take a look at why that is:
A side dirt texture, broken down into its pixels
Here is an example of a common minecraft block texture. As you can see, this block is 16 pixels wide by 16 pixels high. This is what is referred to as 16x resolution. A texture pack where all the block textures are 16 pixels wide is called a 16x pack. Here's what a 16x texture looks like at it's normal size:
A 16 pixel by 16 pixel block
The default 16x terrain
(256 pixels by 256 pixels)
Pretty tiny, right? The default minecraft textures are created from blocks with only 256 pixels each in order to reduce the amount of memory your computer needs to devote to running the game, allowing you to have nearly infinite worlds. With 16x textures, the game only has to render 256 pixels per block. This gives most operating systems a significant speed boost.
If, however, you are not a fan of the small space provided by 16x textures, it is possible to increase the size of the terrain image file in order to have more pixels per block to work with. Here is that same dirt block, only now its size has been increased by 200% so that it is 32 pixels wide instead of only 16 pixels wide:
32x side dirt
This increase in block dimension allows you to put much more detail into your textures. Here is an example of a detailed 32x side dirt block, taken from Vattic's Faithful pack.
Doubling the number of pixels makes a big difference
Because of the wide-spread desire to bring more detail into Minecraft textures, there are many different HD resolution packs. The defining characteristic of all HD packs is that their blocks are more than 16 pixels wide. The most common HD resolutions are 32x (200%), 64x (400%), 128x (800%), 256x (1600%), and 512x (3200%). Although it is possible to have blocks that are 43 pixels wide or 15 pixels wide, there are many downsides to increasing or decreasing the size of a block to unusual resolutions, which will be touched on later.
F.A.Q:
"How do I make an HD pack? Do I need a template?"
Although there are many templates available, the process of creating the base for an HD pack is so simple that there is no reason to rely on templates. Just follow these three easy steps:
Resize the image to 200% (for 32x), 400% (for 64x), 800% (128x), 1600% (256x), or 3200% (512x). Make sure the box that says "Preserve hard edges/nearest neighbor is checked! This will keep the image from becoming blurry. Also, do not attempt to resize beyond 3200%-- Minecraft cannot run textures larger than 512x.
"My gold blocks are on fire and the nether is water! What gives?"
You are attempting to use a non-16x pack without first downloading and running the HD patch.
"What is this 'HD patch' I keep hearing about?"
Minecraft is programmed to look in a very specific location for each of the textures to be used on the blocks. Resizing the terrain.png shifts the locations for these textures, so that minecraft end up pulling 'filler' textures from places it's not supposed to. That's why gold blocks look like they're on fire, pumpkins are riddled with pieces of portal, and the nether is turned into water. The HD patch is a small, easy-to-use program that fixes these bugs and makes your game look the way it's supposed to look.
"My pack is only 16x, but my custom water/lava doesn't show up!"
Any pack that edits the water/lava texture found on the terrain.png must use the HD patch in order to see that water within the game. Custom water/lava animation files also require the HD patch.
"Great! Now I'm going to go make a hyper-realistic 512x pack!"
Before you run off on your grand texturing adventure, keep in mind that the more pixels Minecraft has to load, the more memory it will take to play the game. The best advice here is to know your operating system. If you have a top-of-the-line, cutting edge super computer, you probably won't have any trouble using that 512x pack to your heart's content. If, on the other hand, you're still using that boxy desktop you got back in 1998, be aware that trying to run your 512x masterpiece may cause extreme lag and/or crash the game.
"I have a really slow computer. Should I try making each block only one color to reduce lag?"
No matter how many or how few colors you use in your texture pack, if the underlying blocks are still 16 pixels wide Minecraft will still have to load 256 pixels for each block. Or, in other words, how smooth or how grainy a texture pack is has no effect on the performance of the game. The only way to reduce the lag caused by the terrain.png is to resize it to less than 16x!
"Okay then, I'll reduce the terrain.png to 8x. But I really like having realistic water, so I'll make a 512x water animation!(How do I make water animations?)
Beware! Animations are even bigger memory hogs than the terrain.png!The best way to reduce lag is to have no animations.Barring that, make sure the resolution of your animations is no greater than the resolution of your pack, i.e. have 16x animations for a 16x pack to limit the amount of lag they cause.
The first hurdle all beginning texture pack makers have to overcome is actually finding the files they want to edit. For those new to the Minecraft world (or to computers in general) this may seem like a daunting task. But with the aid of a simple program and a few short steps, the process is actually ridiculously easy. Never fear! It will become routine in no time.
How to find the default textures:
-- Instructions for Windows --
(1)
Click 'start' on the menu bar, and then type 'run' in the search bar. Press enter.
(2)
Type '%appdata%' into the prompt that pops up.
(3)
Double click on the file labeled '.minecraft'.
(4)
Double click on the file labeled 'bin'.
(5) For this step you must have either 7-zip or Winrar.
If you don't already have either, you can download 7-zip for free here: http://www.7-zip.org/
You can also download Winrar, but you must either pay for it or fill out an offer first. 7-zip is much simpler to deal with, although both programs function the same way.
Right click on 'minecraft'. Then highlight 7-zip (or Winrar) and click on 'open archive'.
(6)
In the new screen that appears, scroll down until you find 'terrain.png'. Then simply drag and drop the file onto your desktop. From there, you can open it using whatever image editing program you wish. (What types of programs can I use to make a texture pack?)
-- Instructions for Mac --
(1)
Open a Finder window. Open the menu and click "Go" > "Go to folder"
(2)
Type "~/Library" and press "Go"
(3)
Find and double click "Application Support."
(4)
Find and double click "minecraft."
(5)
Find and double click "bin."
(6)
Find minecraft.jar and rename it to minecraft.zip.
(7)
Click 'use zip' when it asks you to decide between keeping the jar and using the zip.
(8)
Double click on the renamed file to open the folder. Scroll down until you find the file 'terrain.png.' Drag and drop this file onto your desktop, then open it with your image editing program of choice. (What types of programs can I use to make a texture pack?)
Now that you can access the default textures and edit them to your liking, the next challenge is packaging your texture pack. While it is entirely possible to re-insert your edited files back into the jar, if you want to post your pack for other people to download you need to package your textures into a downloadable zip file. You cannot use rar files for texture packs! The game cannot read the .rar extension. Your textures must be contained inside of a file ending in '.zip'.
WARNING:Do not extract the textures and then attempt to re-zip the file! This will destroy its ability to function as a texture pack. Simply use 7-zip or Winrar (for windows) to access the file without extracting. Mac users do not have to use a special program-- your machine can access the zip file automatically.
How to create a texture pack zip file
-- Instructions for Windows --
(1)
First you need to find the texture pack folder. The easiest way to do this is to start Minecraft, click on 'Mods and Texture packs', and then click on 'Open texture pack folder.'
You can also access it the same way you accessed the minecraft.jar earlier to find the terrain.png. Go to Start > 'run' > '%appdata% > .minecraft then click on the file named 'texture packs.'
(2)
Right click in the new window (make sure not to right click on a texture pack already in the folder!). Then go to 'new' and click on 'zip file.'
(3)
Rename the file with the name of your texture pack.
(4)
To insert textures into your new texture pack, right click on the zip file, go to '7-zip' (or Winrar), then click on 'open archive'. You can then drag and drop your textures into the new window that pops up.
-- Instructions for Mac --
(1)
Select all your texture pack files. Make sure that files that belong in folders (such as wolf skins in the 'mob' folder) are placed into the appropriately names folders.
(2)
Right click on the selected files, and then click "Compress (number of) files"
(3)
Rename the "Archive.zip" to the name of your pack.
(4)
Drag the pack into your "texturepacks" folder, in ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft.
"I have an idea for a texture pack, but I have no idea how to make one!"
Don't worry, you're not alone. We've all been there at one point or another. So take a deep breath, relax, and read over the following sections to see where to get started on your artistic journey.
++The Terrain.png++
[/anchor]
The picture below is an image file referred to as the terrain png, so called because it is used by the program running Minecraft to determine how the 3D environment of the game will look. Notice that the file extension is 'png'. The terrain image must always have this extension, or else it will not be rendered correctly by the game.
The Terrain png (re-sized for easy visibility)
The terrain png may seem hopelessly complex at first glance, but when broken down into it's basic parts it's really quite simple. Here is the terrain png with every textured square labeled. Each of these squares corresponds to a block texture found in-game, the names and uses of which are listed next to the block number below. Note that the red blocks indicate textures that are not currently in use.
Terrain.png with numbered blocks.
Click the button below to see the explanations of each of the textures!
Row 0:
00 = Grass top (see 'Biome Shading')
01 = Smooth stone
02 = Dirt
03 = Side-dirt. The grass fringe only appears the color it is here when graphics mode is set to 'fast'. On 'fancy' graphics, the sides of grass blocks are made from the side-dirt block overlaid with biome sidegrass (26).
04 = Wooden planks
05 = Doubled stone slab side. The side of a single stone slab takes on the texture of the top half of this block.
06 = Stone slab top
07 = Bricks
08 = Tnt side
09 = Tnt top
0A = Tnt bottom
0B = Spider web
0C = Red flower
0D = Yellow flower
0E = Portal animation place-holder *Appears to do nothing as of 1.9*
0F = Oak Sapling
Row I:
10 = Cobblestone
11 = Bedrock
12 = Sand
13 = Gravel
14 = Oak trunk
15 = Log top (appears for all types of tree trunks)
16 = Iron block
17 = Gold block
18 = Diamond block
19 = Emerald Block
1C = Red mushroom
1D = Brown mushroom
1E = Jungle tree sapling
1F = Fire animation placeholder *appears when HD patch is not used for 32x and above*
Row II:
20 = Gold ore
21 = Iron ore
22 = Coal ore
23 = Bookshelf
24 = Mossy cobble
25 = Obsidian
26 = Biome sidegrass (see 'Biome Shading')
27 = Long grass (see 'Biome Shading')
28 = *Not used
2B = Crafting box top
2C = Furnace front (un-lit)
2D = Furnace/dispenser side
2E = Dispenser front
2F = Fire animation placeholder *appears when HD patch is not used for 32x and above*
Row III:
30 = Sponge (only available in creative mode)
31 = Glass/glass panes
32 = Diamond ore
33 = Redstone ore
34 = Leaves (on fancy graphics)
35 = Leaves (on fast graphics-- no transparency to reduce lag)
36 = Stone brick
37 = Dead shrub
38 = Long grass 2
3B = Crafting box side 1
3C = Crafting box side 2
3D = Furnace front (lit)
3E = Furnace/dispenser top/bottom
3F = Pine sapling
Row IV:
40 = White wool
41 = Monster spawner
42 = Snow (used for solid snow blocks as well as the layer of snow covering other blocks)
43 = Ice
44 = Snowy side dirt (NOT biome shaded-- will always appear the same)
45 = Cactus top *The main body of the cactus (minus the spikes) must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge, or the texture will appear to 'overhang' the sides.
46 = Cactus side *The main body of the cactus (minus the spikes) must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge, or the texture will appear to 'overhang' the sides.
47 = Cactus bottom (invisible)
48 = Clay
49 = Reeds
4A = Noteblock/ Jukebox side
4B = Jukebox top
4C = Lily pad
4D = Mushroom biome sidedirt (NOT biome shaded)
4E = Mushroom biome grass (NOT biome shaded)
4F = Birch sapling
Row V:
50 = Torch *Must be at least 2 pixels wide (or equivalent-- 4px for 32x, 8px for 64x, etc). Flames are generated separately.
YW = Wooden door
YI = Iron door
53 = Ladder
54 = Trapdoor
55 = Iron bars
56 = Wet farmland
57 = Dry farmland
58/59/5A/5B/5C/5D/5E/5F = Growing wheat. Planted seeds take on the first texture in the sequence (58) and advanced through the textures over time until they are fully grown (5F).
Row VI:
60 = Lever *Must be at least 2 pixels wide (or equivalent-- 4px for 32x, 8px for 64x, etc)
63 = Redstone torch (On) *Must be at least 2 pixels wide (or equivalent-- 4px for 32x, 8px for 64x, etc)
64 = Mossy stone brick
65 = Cracked stone brick
66 = Top/bottom of pumpkin
67 = Netherrack
68 = Soulsand
69 = Glowstone
6A = Sticky piston face
6B = Regular Piston face
6C = Piston side
6D = Piston bottom
6E = Piston front (arm extends through the center)
6F = Growing pumpkin/melon vine. Extends up out of the ground as it goes-- unlike wheat, the texture itself does not change over time. (see 'Biome Shading')
Row VII:
70 = Curved minecart rail
71 = Black wook
72 = Dark gray wool
73 = Redstone torch (off) *Must be at least 2 pixels wide (or equivalent-- 4px for 32x, 8px for 64x, etc)
74 = Pine bark
75 = Birch bark
76 = Pumpkin side
77 = Pumpkin front (unlit)
78 = Pumpkin front (lit)
79 = Cake top *Must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge, or the texture will appear to 'overhang' the sides.
7A = Cake side *Must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge.
7B = Cake inside (visible after being eaten). *Must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge.
7C = Cake bottom *Must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge, or the texture will appear to 'overhang' the sides.
7D = Giant red mushroom cap (outer faces)
7E = Giant brown mushroom cap (outer faces)
7F = Fully grown pumpkin/melon vine. Attaches to the side of the pumpkin/melon. (see 'Biome Shading')
Row VIII:
80 = Minecart rails
81 = Red wool
82 = Pink wool
83 = Redstone repeater (unpowered)
84 = Pine needles (on fancy graphics)
85 = Pine needles (on fast graphics-- no transparency to reduce lag)
XBT = Bed top
88 = Melon side
89 = Melon top/bottom
8A = Cauldron, top (Rim)
8B = Cauldron, inside bottom/bottom
8C = Cake icon (as seen when held in your hand). Must be edited on the items png-- editing the texture here as no effect whatsoever.
8D = Giant mushroom stem
8E = Giant mushroom gills-- appears on the inside faces of the caps and inside the stem.
8F = Vines (see 'Biome Shading')
Row IX:
90 = Lapiz lazuli block
91 = Dark green wool
92 = Light green wool
93 = Redstone repeater (powered)
94 = Glass pane edge
95 = Bed foot
XBS = Bed side
98 = Bed head
99 = Jungle tree log
9A = Cauldron side
9B = Cauldron 'feet'
9C = Brewing stand base
9D = Brewing stand (left side used when potion is attached, right side when potion is not attached)
9E = Ender portal top (ender portal 'eye' inserted into center)
9F = Ender portal side
Row X:
A0 = Lapiz lazuli ore
A1 = Brown wool
A2 = Yellow wool
A3 = Booster rail (unpowered)
XRT = Redstone trail (glowing)-- 'shaded' with red, much like biome textures. Appears a brighter red when powered, although the exact shade of red is determined by how dark or light this texture is (white texture = brightest red, gray texture = duller red)
A6 = Enchanting table top
A7 = Dragon egg
A8/A9/AA = Growing cocoa pods. Growth progresses from right to left, starting with AA and ending with A8.
AB = Emerald Ore
AC = Tripwire hook. Must occupy the default area, otherwise there will be invisible segments in-game and/or your texture will be warped.
AD = Tripwire string. Careful! If you draw a single straight line it will look like a dashed line in-game.
AE = Ender portal 'eye' (inserted into portal block)
AF = White stone/Ender portal bottom
Row XI:
B0 = Sandstone top/bottom (applies to all types of sandstone)
B1 = Dark blue wool
B2 = Light blue wool
B3 = Booster rail (powered)
XRS = Redstone trail (non-glowing)-- NOT shaded with red. This texture overlaid on top of the glowing redstone trail (XRT), enabling redstone wires that have both glowing parts and non-glowing parts.
B6 = Enchanting table side
B7 = Enchanting table bottom
Row XII:
C0 = Sandstone side
C1 = Purple wool
C2 = Magenta wool
C3 = Detector rail
C4 = Jungle tree leaves (fancy graphics)
C5 = Jungle tree leaves (fast graphics)
C6 = Pine planks (made from pine logs)
C7 = Jungle planks (made from jungle logs)
WT = Water
Row XIII:
D0 = Sandstone bottom
D1 = Cyan wool
D2 = Orange wool
D3 = Glowstone lamp (off state)
D4 = Glowstone lamp (on state)
D5 = Circle stone
D6 = Birch planks (made from birch logs)
F0/F1/F2/F3/F4/F5/F6/F7/F8/F9 = Breaking animation. Progresses from left to right as the block is struck.
FA = Currently unknown
FB = Currently unknown
FC = Currently unknown
FD = Currently unknown
One of questions frequently asked by new texture pack artists is, "Where is the fence/stair/pressure plate texture, and how do I edit it?"
The answer to this question is two-fold:
First and foremost, there are no stand-alone textures for fences, stairs, half blocks, or pressure plates. These items are are made from derivative textures-- they have no separate file all to themselves, but instead are made from the texture of another block.
Let's use the texture for wooden planks as an example. As every Minecrafter knows, planks can be crafted into wooden stairs, wooden half-blocks, wooden pressure plates, and fences. As shown in the image below, the plank texture found on the terrain png is recycled to make each of these wooden items. They themselves do not have unique textures, but are rather pieced together from the plank texture, which is 'wrapped' around the model. Let's take a look:
Derivative textures in action
This principle also applies to cobble stairs/halfblocks, nether brick stairs/fences, and stone brick stairs/halfblocks, which take their textures from cobblestone, nether brick, and stone brick on the terrain png, respectively. Except for smooth stone slabs, every derivative item uses derivative textures. The image below shows this process for stone plates, buttons, and levers. As you can see from the image, the lever takes its base from the cobble used in its crafting recipe.
More derivative textures in action
Although it is not possible to directly edit the textures on these items, they can be indirectly edited by changing the texture from which they are made. To observe how the textures fold around the items, let's first take the wooden plank and make a 2px wide line down it's center:
With this red line serving as a guide, we are now able to observe exactly how the square textures are pieced together into complex 3D shapes:
From looking at the top image, it's clear that the center post of the fence is made from a 4px wide vertical strip taken from the center of the texture (this is true for nether brick fences as well). This means that in order to have a clean vertical fence post, you would need to have a 4px wide vertical wood grain texture running down the center of the planks. From looking at B, you can also see that each step of the stairs is 8px high-- in order to avoid having a joint between the planks land on or near the edge of the step, be sure to keep this 8px spacing in mind.
But fences and pressure plates are not the only items guilty of borrowing textures-- many blocks on the terrain png also share textures with each other, and some even reuse parts of their own textures to fill in their 3D models.
First let's take a look at an example of texture sharing between different blocks:
Furnaces and dispensers share sides and tops
As you can see from the image above, the furnace side texture and the furnace top texture are shared between the lit furnace, unlit furnace, and dispenser. This can sometimes cause the furnace or dispenser to appear strange if careful planning is not done in advance to ensure that the side/top texture is not too dissimilar from the furnace/dispenser texture.
Below is another example of this texture sharing between blocks:
More texture sharing
As you can see, the jukebox will always use the noteblock texture for its sides.
Another common question sometimes asked by first-time texture artists is, "Where do I find the texture for the side of the door?"
The answer to this is very similar to the one above for fences: the texture for the side of the door is found on the door itself. In the image below, you can see how the edge of the door appears to have hinges, an effect that is caused by a strip of the original texture being mapped onto the edge:
Part of the door texture is reused as the door edge
By drawing several multicolored lines on the edges of the door texture, we can map out exactly where this strip is taken from and how it is wrapped around the model of the door:
Areas where textures are reused
From this image you can see how a 16x by 3x wide rectangle is taken from the left side of the door and repeated end to end along the edge of the door. The opposite edge of the door is given the same treatment with the same strip of texture. Redstone repeaters, traps doors, and pistons also employ texture reuse to fill in 'missing' parts of their model.
Another block which reuses parts of its own texture is the piston. The arm of the piston takes its texture from the wooden part of the side texture, as shown in the image below.
Texture reuse on the piston arm
For more information on which blocks share/reuse which textures, take a look at the section on texture wrapping.
'Making Textures', 'Beyond the Terrain.png', and 'Advanced Topics' are contained within posts further down this page. Please click on the links in the table of contents to reach them.
Now that you understand all the technical aspects of how texture packs work, it's time to discuss how to go about actually making a texture pack. This section is meant to serve as a general guide for how to put pixels to paper, not as a set of step-by-step instructions on how to make each different kind of block or achieve a certain 'look'. Why? Because there are countless styles and techniques for making grass look like grass, and telling you to use one (or even a handful) would limit you from experimenting and finding new ways of making grass.
This section will, however, cover some of the basic artistic rules for shading, creating depth, choosing color, and using space (and pixels) effectively. It will also cover some of the issues specific to making texture art, such as the importance of tiling, and how to avoid the most common pitfalls.
One of the biggest issues all texture artists face is the concept of tiling. 'Tiling' refers to the appearance of your block textures when viewed in a large grouping-- i.e. what your cobblestone texture looks like when part of a large castle wall.
Oftentimes textures that look good as single blocks create distracting patterns when placed together into groups, which makes them unsuitable for large projects. These 'tiling issues' are notoriously hard to spot, and frequently even harder to get rid of. Luckily, there are a few tricks you can learn for how to anticipate tiling problems and eliminate them from your textures.
Below is a short guide to the various types of tiling errors that can occur and several methods for eliminating them. NOTE: These techniques only apply for blocks that would normally be found together in large groups, such as stone, dirt, cobble, sand, grass, leaves, etc. Blocks such as pumpkins and enchanting tables are not expected to tile well, because they are normally only used as single blocks rather than walls or floors.
Match-up Error
This type of error occurs when the lines or patterns in a texture (such as the cracks between cobblestones) do not match up from one side of the block to the other. Below is an example of a simple brick texture in which the lines between the bricks are drawn incorrectly and do not form whole bricks.
Outlined brick texture
At first glance you might think that this is a pretty good base for a brick texture. But when the block is copied and pasted into a 2x2 square, a match-up error appears:
Match-up error: The lines do not connect where they should
As you practice texturing you will learn to mentally trace the path of your patterns/cracks to make sure that everything connects where it should.
Always copy and paste your textures to check for tiling as you go along! Periodically tiling your textures as you work on them will save you a lot of trouble in the long run and help you to spot small tiling issues before they become big ones.
Pattern Error
Pattern errors occur when slight variations in the color, shading, or size of a texture create unwanted patterns when the block is tiled over a large area. An example would be a dark spot on a block that looks like a face from a distance. Pattern errors are not quite as dramatic as match-up errors, but they will severely decrease the appeal of your pack depending on how annoying the pattern is (no one wants a bunch of faces in their castle wall, for instance).
Below is an example of a 16x cobblestone texture that has a pattern error.
Cobblestone texture
At first glance this texture appears to be error-free. But once again, when the block is tiled a previously unseen pattern appears:
Example of a pattern error
The cobblestone circled is far larger than the others, and thus stands out from the texture, creating a visible pattern.
Again, the best way to spot tiling errors is to copy and paste your textures into a square.
Grid Error
Very similar to the pattern error, a grid error is caused when bands of lighter/darker areas cut through the texture (typically along the edges) creating a grid when tiled.
A stone texture
Left: Tiled, Right: Errors highlighted
When the texture is tiled, it become obvious that the strips of light and dark running through the texture form a grid. A method for fixing both pattern errors and grid errors are detailed below.
-- Perfect Tiling: A few tips --
Click the button below!
For blocks that do not have definite edges, use the following technique to isolate areas of bad tiling. NOTE: This method will not work for logs, cacti, or any texture where an edge of that texture must always be on the outside!
Tiling issues that occur at the corners or along the edges of the block tend to be very difficult to fix due to the fact that the edges have to mesh together. Below is a method for bringing those edge problems into the center of the block where they are much easier to get rid of.
First, divide the texture in half down the center and switch the two halves:
The result can be seen below. The two vertical edges have now been brought into the center.
Next, divide the texture in half again through the middle and switch the two halves:
And voila, the single large stone that caused the tiling problems demonstrated above is now in the center of the block where it can easily be broken into smaller stones.
For textures where the above method cannot be used, arrange copies of the target texture in the pattern shown to help simplify the editing process:
This arrangement allows you to see how all the edges connect, giving you the ability to modify the edges of the center texture to match the edges of the textures around it. Only edit two adjacent edges at once! If you try to do all four edges without re-copying the modified texture, you will be undoing all the corrections you made.
There are many other textures within Minecraft that can be edited with a texture pack. Although most artists concentrate on the terrain.png, these additional non-environmental textures can add a great deal of life and personality to the game.
++What are all these other files?++
[/anchor]
When accessing the jar file to extract the terrain.png, you may have noticed several folders at the top of the list. (How do I access the jar file?)
Many of these folders contain image files that can be edited with a texture pack. The image below shows the opened jar file as it appears for Windows. Every highlighted foldercontains files that you can access and edit. NOTE: Any file with a '.class' extension is a program file and cannot be changed with a texture pack.
Below is a list of the folders shown in the image above, complete with the files each folder contains and what visual aspects of the game those files edit.
bg.png = the achievement screen frame and buttons/icons (note: The background inside the frame is rendered automatically using the ore textures in your pack.)
icons.png = currently unused
chain_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the chain armor
chain_2.png = Leggings for the chain armor
cloth_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the leather armor
cloth_2.png = Leggings for the leather armor
diamond_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the diamond armor
diamond_2.png = Leggings for the diamond armor
gold_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the gold armor
gold_2.png = Leggings for the diamond armor
iron_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the iron armor
iron_2.png = Leggings for the diamond armor
power.png = glowing overlay for the 'charged' creeper after it has been struck by lightning
clouds.png = determines the color and shape of the clouds
light_normal.png = Currently unused
rain.png = determines the shape, color, and heaviness of the rain
snow.png = determines the shape, color, and heaviness of the snow
creative_inv (folder)= files used for the creative mode inventory screen
list_items.png = The main inventory and quickbar area (used for all tabs except 'survival inventory' and 'search'
search.png = The inventory and quickbar area (for use with the 'search' tab)
survival_inv.png = The inventory and quickbar area (for use with the 'survival inventory' tab.) Also includes slots for armor and a disposal square (bottom right corner)
alchemy.png = potion brewing screen
allitems.png = inventory tabs on creative mode
background.png = menu screen background (a single tiled image the same size as a terrain block)
book.png = Writable book background
container.png = chest screen
crafting.png = workbench screen
crash_logo.png = 'Minecraft' logo on the start screen
demo_bg =
enchant.png = enchanting table screen
furnace.png = furnace screen
gui.png = buttons, equip bar, and equip bar cursor
icons.png = health, hunger, armor, air, experience, boss health, server signal strength
inventory.png = survival and hardcore mode inventory screen
items.png = weapons, tools, 2-D items, armor icons
particles.png = currently unused
slot.png = buttons/icons for the world statistics page
trading.png = villager trading screen
trap.png = dispenser screen
unknown_pack.png = icon displayed for other texture packs without a pack portrait
arrows.png = texture for the in-game arrow model
boat.png = texture for the boat
book.png = texture for the enchanting book
cart.png = base texture for the all three types of minecarts
chest.png = wrapper for the small chest (see 'chest wrappers')
door.png = currently unused
enderchest.png = wrapper for the enderchest (indentical in size and shape to the small chest)
largechest.png = wrapper for the large chest (see 'chest wrappers')
sign.png = texture for the sign
xporb.png = base texture for the experience orbs
dial.png = display for the clock
explosion.png = explosion effect
foliagecolor.png = biome shader for leaves (see 'Biome Shading')
footprint.png = currently unused
glint.png = shimmering overlay for enchanted tools and the golden apple
grasscolor.png = biome shader for grass/tallgrass (see 'Biome Shading')
mapbg.png = background for the map, as seen when the map is viewed in-game
mapicons.png = cursors placed on the map to denote player location, etc.
particlefield.png = End portal texture
pumpkinblur.png = visual distortion seen when a pumpkin is in the helmet armor slot
shadow.png = shadow rendered beneath mobs and dropped items
tunnel.png = sky texture for the End
vignette.png = shadow around the edges of the first-person viewpoint
water.png = underwater 'haze'
watercolor.png = currently unused
moon.png = moon texture (used through minecraft version 1.8.1)
moon_phases.png = moon textures for each moon cycle (minecraft version 1.9+)
sun.png = sun texture
particles.png = smoke, bubbles, splash effect, etc
pack.png = portrait to represent the pack (seen when selecting a pack)
pack.txt = text file description of the pack (seen when selecting a pack)
[/anchor]
*Thanks to Gigfran_Enfys for help with this section
rain.png and snow.png
Rain (left), Snow (right)
The two images above are used by Minecraft to determine the appearance of falling rain and snow. Both will be turned upside down in-game.
The rain will move quickly downwards, and will create water splash particles on top of every block exposed to the rain. (See Particles for information on the splash effects). The snow will move slowly downwards and slightly to the right.
Both snow.png and rain.png support semi-transparency, which means that you can create rain drops and snowflakes that are partially clear.
The images for rain and snow are repeated in a pattern and arranged as shown below around the player:
Showing the actual pattern in game:
clouds.png
clouds.png is an image that modifies the appearance of the clouds seen within Minecraft. The pattern, color, and transparency can all be changed to achieve the effect you want. This means that you can have anything from smogy clouds to pink clouds (shown below).
Pink clouds, created by changing the color of clouds.png
If playing with your graphics mode set to 'fancy', the clouds will be blocky. If playing with your graphics mode set to 'fast', the clouds will be flat. You can even turn clouds off by making clouds.png totally transparent.
light_normal.png
The "light_normal.png" is currently not used in game.
*Many thanks to Estelyen for assisting with the Font section!
'Font', in the Minecraft world, refers to the appearance of all letters and numbers within the game, both in single-player and in multi-player. While the color of the font cannot be changed, it is possible to edit the basic shape of the font and even create HD fonts. When editing the font for a texture pack, it is advisable to increase the size of the font file (i.e. create an HD font) so that there is more pixel space available for smoother and/or more detailed letters.
How the magic works
So let's first take a look at how Minecraft determines its font. This is done by 2 files, the first one is the font.txt which resides in the root directory of the minecraft.jar, the other one (and the one you'll be working with if you want to create an HD font) is the default.png in the "font" folder.
The Font Files
default.png (resized for better viewing purposes): This file is what Minecraft will DISPLAY as its font.
font.txt: This file determines the order in which the letters and symbols have to be arranged in the default.png. In most cases, this file should NOT be edited.
Further explanation of font.txt:
Minecraft thinks of the letters as letters, but it actually DISPLAYS them as images (from the default.png). The font.txt is there so that Minecraft can assign each letter an image. To be more precise: if you type in the capital letter "A", Minecraft looks at the font.txt, which tells it that the capital letter "A" is the second symbol in the third row (the actual first row of the text file is not counted, as it begins with a "#" which means it is a code-comment). Minecraft then looks at the default.png and displays the image that it finds at that position (please note that the first TWO rows of the default.png are not counted either, they are for special symbols.
How do you create an HD font?
To create an HD font, simply open up minecraft.jar, go to the 'font' folder, and copy and paste default.png to your desktop. From there, simply open default.png in an image editing program of your choice. NOTE: You cannot use MS paint! The program you use to edit the font must be able to support transparency.
Next, you will need to enlarge default.png. The final size should be divisible by 16, so 256x256, 512x512, or 1024x1024 are good sizes to use. Make sure the box that says 'Preserve hard edges/nearest neighbor' is checked when you resize! This will keep the font from becoming blurry.
Editing the Font
To make your life easier, you should start by creating a new layer behind the font and filling it with a color. This will make the letters easier to see. You will also need to have a checkerboard grid in the background to serve as a guide for the borders of each of the letters. If you do not want to create a gridd yourself, simply copy and paste the grid below onto the background layer of your font. Be sure to resize it to match the size of your font first!
Each of the letters, numbers, and symbols must be contained within their square on the grid!
Now, you can select your font and type in the letters and symbols you need on a new layer. Make sure that this layer is completely transparent except for the letters. You have to arrange the letters exactly in the order they were in the original default.png. Every letter/number/symbol on the default.png should be white.
Now for the most crucial part: Minecraft looks at the default.png at predetermined places for its letters to display. It searches the "box" the letter is supposed to be in FROM LEFT TO RIGHT and displays everything that is in the box until it can find no more pixels. To clarify:
Example 1:
This is how your letters preferably should be spaced, aligned to the left side of their "box", but not touching it. Especially look at the number "1":
So a texture pack with its font spaced like this will display it like so:
(resized for better viewing purposes, so it won't be blurred like this in reality)
Example 2:
If you were to put the letters of your font smack in the middle of their boxes,
it would display a much farther gap to the left of every letter:
This is especially noticeable on slim letters like "i" or the number "1".
Example 3:
If you would align your letters EXACTLY to the left edge of their box,
Minecraft would squeeze the letters much tighter together:
So for the best results, align every letter of your font to the left of the box with a few pixels space to it. Also note that thin vertical letters like 'i' and 'l' should be closer to the left edge, since it looks better when they have less space around them.
Pro Tip!
Create a layer behind your font, and fill it with black. Then set the opacity to 1%. When you save your font as a png file, keep this layer visible. (Remember to turn off the background grid, however!). This nearly transparent black layer will cause minecraft to read every letter box as 'full', and force the game to put all the letters as close together as possible. If you are having problems with your letters being too far apart, use this trick!
Once you put every letter in its appropriate space, delete the background layer with the grid. If you are not using the trick above, make sure that the letters are on a completely transparent background, or else Minecraft will display the entire box for every letter, creating the same effect as in the second example above. Save this as the default.png in the "fonts" folder.
Enjoy your HD font!
(Note: The font used in this guide is called AvQest and can be downloaded here.)
"What about the items/blocks I see in my inventory and chests? How do I texture those?"
For most of the items in the game, their appearance in your inventory is determined by their texture on the terrain.png-- if it's a block you can place, its 3D image in the inventory/chest screen is preset and unchangeable. Items that are unchangeable include chests and most of the blocks on the terrain.png.
Other items, such as mob drops, food, weapons and tools, can be changed by editing their icon on the items.png image. You can see a copy of items.png here:
Like the terrain.png, which determines the blocks found in the environment of Minecraft, this image determines the appearance of items on the GUI screens (aka, inventory, chest, crafting screens). Also like the terrain.png, each item icon is confined to a square (16 by 16 pixels for the default size), as you can see below.
Here is a breakdown of all the icons on items.png:
Look up the item you wish to find by matching the numbers down and across
Click on the button below to see a break down of all the icons!
Across-Down
1-1 = Leather helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
1-2 = Leather armor icon (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
1-3 = Leather pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
1-4 = Leather boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
1-5 = Wooden sword
1-6 = Wooden shovel
1-7 = Wooden pickaxe
1-8 = Wooden ax
1-9 = Wooden hoe
1-G = Record "13"
2-1 = Chain helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
2-2 = Chain armor (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
2-3 = Chain pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
2-4 = Chain boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
2-5 = Stone sword
2-6 = Stone shovel
2-7 = Stone pickaxe
2-8 = Stone ax
2-9 = Stone hoe
2-G = Record "Cat"
3-1 = Iron helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
3-2 = Iron armor (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
3-3 = Iron pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
3-4 = Iron boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
3-5 = Iron sword
3-6 = Iron shovel
3-7 = Iron pickaxe
3-8 = Iron ax
3-9 = Iron hoe
3-G = Record "Blocks"
4-1 = Diamond helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
4-2 = Diamond armor (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
4-3 = Diamond pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
4-4 = Diamond boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
4-5 = Diamond sword
4-6 = Diamond shovel
4-7 = Diamond pickaxe
4-8 = Diamond ax
4-9 = Diamond hoe
4-G = Record "Chirp"
5-1 = Gold helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
5-2 = Gold armor (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
5-3 = Gold pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
5-4 = Gold boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
5-5 = Gold sword
5-6 = Gold shovel
5-7 = Gold pickaxe
5-8 = Gold ax
5-9 = Gold hoe
5-G = Record "Far"
6-1 = Flint and steel
6-2 = Bow (when not in use)
6-3 = Arrow (for the texture of arrows stuck in blocks, see arrows.png)
6-4 = Stick
6-5 = Fishing pole (when not in use)
6-6 = Fishing pole (when being used)
6-7 = Bow animation 1 (sees when drawing the bow)
6-8 = Bow animation 2 (seen when drawing the bow)
6-9 = Bow animation 3 (seen when drawing the bow)
6-G = Record "Mall"
7-1 = Flint
7-2 = Clay brick
7-3 = Quiver **Not used in minecraft**
7-4 = Compass base (needle rendered by game)
7-5 = Clock base (dial image determined by dial.png (see 'misc' for more information)
7-6 = Redstone repeator
7-G = Record "Mellohi"
8-1 = Coal/charcoal
8-2 = Iron bar
8-3 = Gold bar
8-4 = Diamond
8-5 = Empty bowl
8-6 = Porkchop (uncooked)
8-7 = Leather
8-9 = Minecart
8-A = Storage minecart
8-B = Powered minecart
8-G = Record "Stal"
B-1 = Apple
B-2 = Painting icon
B-3 = Sign icon
B-4 = Paper
B-5 = Bucket (empty)
B-6 = Fish (cooked)
B-7 = Steak (cooked)
B-8 = Chicken (cooked)
B-9 = Fermented spider eye
B-A = Splash potion bottle
B-B = Ruby **not used by minecraft**
B-C = Emerald
B-G = Record 11
C-1 = Golden apple
C-2 = Sugar cane
C-3 = Wood door
C-4 = Book
C-5 = Bucket (water)
C-6 = Rotten flesh
C-7 = Enderpearl
C-8 = Ghast tear
C-9 = Spider eye
C-A = Eye of ender
C-B = Bottle o' Enchanting
C-C = Book and quill (writable)
C-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
D-1 = Egg
D-2 = Bone
D-3 = Iron Door
D-4 = Map
D-5 = Bucket (lava)
D-6 = Cookie
D-7 = Blaze rod
D-8 = Gold nugget
D-9 = Empty bottle
D-A = Cauldron
D-B = Brewing stand
D-C = Written book
D-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
E-1 = Sugar
E-2 = Cake
E-3 = Bed
E-4 = Pumpkin seeds
E-5 = Bucket (milk)
E-6 = Shears
E-7 = Watermelon
E-8 = Netherwart
E-9 = Potion contents (grayscale- colored by game to match potion type)
E-A = Blaze powder
E-B = Magma cream
E-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
F-1 = Snowball
F-2 = Slime ball
F-3 = Fire ball
F-4 = Melon seeds
F-5 = Ink sac
F-6 = Red dye
F-7 = Green dye
F-8 = Cocoa beans
F-9 = Blue dye
F-A = Purple Dye
F-B = Cyan Dye
F-C = Light gray dye
F-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
G-1 = Head outline (seen over armor slots on the inventory screen)
G-2 = Torso outline (seen over armor slots on the inventory screen)
G-3 = Legs outline (seen over armor slots on the inventory screen)
G-4 = Feet outline (seen over armor slots on the inventory screen)
G-5 = Gray dye
G-6 = Pink Dye
G-7 = Lime Dye
G-8 = Yellow Dye
G-9 = Light blue dye
G-A = Magenta Dye
G-B = Orange Dye
G-C = Bonemeal
G-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
The 'book' file contained in the items folder is the image used to create the floating book found on top of enchantment tables within minecraft.
Here is the book in-game, with most of the parts labeled to give you an idea of where everything is located. See the template below for exact placement of the textures.
Below is a template for the book.png to assist you in editing the file.
--Book Template--
Click the button below!
Symbols Guide:
*All views are referenced from observing the book with the book open and facing you*
RIC - Right inside cover LIC - Left inside cover ROC - Right outside cover LOC - Left outside cover
SO - Spine outside (barely visible) SI - Spine inside RBE - Right bottom edge (of pages) LBE - Left bottom edge (of pages) RTE - Right top edge (of pages) LTE - Left top edge (of pages) LP - Left page (normally seen when the book is open and not flipping) RP - Right page (normally seen when the book is open and not flipping) LIP - Left inside page (only visible while book is flipping) RIP - Right inside page (only visible while book is flipping) RE - Right edge (of pages) LE - Left edge (of pages) X - Area not visible White arrow - Points to the outside edges of the book Black arrow - Points towards the 'top' of the book
Anyone who played Minecraft before the 1.8 remembers the abrupt- and, in some cases, artistically disrupting- modifications to the chest that came with the update. For any Minecraft version 1.8 and above, the chest texture visible in-game is not the texture on the terrain.png. Instead, there are now two new files inside the 'items' folder: chest.png and largechest.png.
Here is the large chest in-game, with the various parts labeled to give you a sense of where each texture is placed on the model. Note that the texture for the large chest is almost identical to the texture for the small chest-- the only difference between them is their horizontal length:
Large chest when closed
Large chest when open
Templates for both chest.png and largechest.png are given below. As the names suggest, chest.png is applied to a single chest, and largechest.png is applied to a double chest. There is no sharing of textures between these two files! Editing the small chest file will not effect how the large chest appears in-game, and vice-verse.
WARNING: The 1-pixel-thick horizontal strip at the top of the 'container' portion of both chests must exactly match the 1-pixel-thick strip at the bottom of the 'lid' portion of both chests! If these two regions do not match, the chest will flicker where the lid overlaps the container.
-- Chest Wrapper Templates --
Click the button below to see the templates!
Symbols Guide:
*All views are referenced from observing the chest head on*
F - Front
B - Back
L - Left side
R - Right side
T - Top
U - Underside
X - Area not rendered
White arrow - Points to the user when facing the chest head-on (on the horizontal plane)
Black arrow - Points towards the sky when facing the chest head-on (on the vertical plane)
[/anchor]
*Thanks to Gigfran_Enfys for help with this section
explosion.png
The image above is an animation strip for the explosions that appear in game, caused by creepers and TNT. The default image size is 32 by 32 pixels for each block, for a total size of 128x128. Like almost every other texture in the game, the size of explosion.png can be increased to create HD explosions.
The game will read the animation in the following order, with the image in each block being replaced by the next as the explosion progresses:
footprint.png
"footprint.png" is not currently used in game.
glint.png
This is the file that alters the "enchanted glow" seen over top of enchanted weapons, tools, and armor. It is 64 by 64 pixels.
In game it is tilted 45 degrees and turns semitransparent and purple. It cycles over and over, in the shown direction:
For beginning texture makers, mobs are one of the most frustrating parts of re-skinning Minecraft. Most of this difficultly stems from a lack of understanding of what, exactly, the different sections of the png are (if your first impression of a mob skin was that it looked like the poor thing had been flattened by a very violet steam roller, you are hardly alone) and how they are rendered in-game.
Below you will find the textures for every mob in the game, each of which has been broken down into its various bits and pieces and accompanied by an explanation of what those pieces are and how they fit together with the whole.
........................
Symbols Guide:
*All views are referenced from observing the mob head on*
F - Front
B - Back
L - Left side
R - Right side
T - Top
U - Underside
X - Area not rendered
White arrow - Points to the user when facing the mob head-on (on the horizontal plane)
Black arrow - Points towards the sky when facing the mob head-on (on the vertical plane)
-- Passive mobs --
Click the button below to see the mob textures!
Cow:
*Texture base is the same for the red cow found in mushroom biomes.*
Pig:
*Texture base is the same for a pig wearing a saddle.*
Wolf:
*Texture base is the same for angry and tame version-- add whatever details you wish to distinguish the two*
-- Hostile Mobs --
Click the button below to see the mob textures!
Zombie/Zombie Pigman:
*Texture base is the same for zombies, zombie pigmen, and the character skin*
NOTE: The secondary head layer is not normally used (and does not appear on the default png) but the game is capable of rendering it.
Skeleton:
*Capable of supporting binary transparency (similar to flowers, saplings, tall grass, etc).
NOTE: The secondary head layer is not normally used (and does not appear on the default png) but the game is capable of rendering it.
Spider:
NOTE: The glowing eyes of the spider are included in a separate png (entitled spider_eyes.png). This png MUST be the same size as the front part of the spider's head in order to render correctly!
Asking for other people to help write tutorials would definitely reduce my workload, but because this is also a project for a grade as well as a way to help the community I have to write everything myself. Doing otherwise would be plagiarism, except when using quotes. (and a quote cannot, obviously, take up an entire section)
Advice from people who have written tutorials, however, will certainly be incorporated. I plan to spam Scuttles and the guy who made the HD patch with PM's for interviews. :biggrin.gif:
Oh okay :tongue.gif:
Yeah, that makes sense.
That would also be a ton of work to cite and give credit and such.
Congratulations! If you've made it this far down the page, you're well on your way to becoming a successful texture artist. The sections below will cover what to do after completing a texture pack. Additionally, few of the more abstract concepts that factor into texture-making-- such as theme and style-- are also discussed in the following sections.
You could do all sorts of things with your newly created texture pack. You could chose to keep it for yourself and enjoy playing Minecraft with your own custom look, you could share it with your friends so that all of you can enjoy it together, or you could take the plunge and post it to a website that hosts Minecraft texture packs. Since you are reading this guide, it's safe to assume that you have either already decided that you want to post your pack, or you're on the fence about it. Here's a look at some of the pros and cons:
Reasons to post your pack:
+Others will be able to enjoy your artwork
+You will be able to receive feedback on your work
+Your fans-- and their support-- will help keep you motivated
+Community interaction will help you generate new ideas
Reasons to not post your pack:
+Sometimes packs simply do not do well, which can be disappointing
+You will be able to receive feedback on your work-
if you do not think you can handle the occasional bit of constructive
criticism, then perhaps posting your pack is not the right decision
for you
+Your fans will nag you for updates to your pack. :]
Ultimately the decision of whether or not to post your pack to a website is up to you. The lists above are simply meant to give you a rough idea of what to expect, both positive and negative.(Where can I post my pack?)
Title formatting
NOTICE: All packs posted to minecraftforum.net must adhere to the following format:
This section covers how to make an attention-grabbing and properly formatted title for your pack. Although the exact formatting details are specific to Minecraftforum.net, the general guidelines will apply no matter what website you chose to post your pack to.
Below are examples of two different titles for the same pack. The first title is an example of what NOT to do when choosing and formatting your own title; the second title is an example of what you should do when choosing and formatting your title:
Poorly Constructed Title:
Minecrafter12's Pack its really good! My first pack!
Issues with this title:
What resolution is it?
What version of Minecraft is it compatible with?
What's the style/idea/theme? Unless you are a relatively well-known artist, a title with simply your name doesn't mean anything to the audience, and it turns people away.
Poor grammar in the subtitle-- people tend to avoid packs that are full of spelling and grammatical errors.
'My first pack' is unnecessary. And most of the time, people hunting for packs actively avoid first-time packs.
Well-Constructed Title:
[16x](1.8.1)Jungle Adventure Pack(v0.3) Explore ancient ruins and misty forests!
Reasons this title works:
The pack resolution and Minecraft compatibility are clearly visible
The title describes the theme and makes the pack sound interesting
The pack version is listed after the title for fans to easily see if an update to the pack has been released
The subtitle hooks the audience and draws them into the thread, bringing them one step closer to downloading.
Thread format
Now that you've picked out a catchy and informative title for your pack, it's time to decide how to set up the presentation page for your pack. On some websites (such as minecraftforum.net) this presentation page will consist of the first post of a thread dedicated to your pack. The phrase 'OP', when used for texture packs, refers to the first post and all the information it contains about your pack.
Before you decide how to format your OP, you first need to pick out what sort of information you want it to contain. For minecraftforum.net (and many other sites), you must have at least one image of your pack. You can use either the terrain.png or a screenshot taken from the game, although the more images you have of your pack the more likely people are to want to download it.
Below is a list of the items your OP needs to contain at a bare minimum. Tips for how to arrange and present this information can be found below the list.
2) Upload your zip file to a media hosting site, such as dropbox or mediafire.
3) Copy the URL given to you by the media hosting site and paste it into your OP. Or, if you wish to create a hyperlink to your download, use the following code:
[url="download link URL"]Download my pack here[/url]
How to post images
1) Save your image with a .png or .jpeg extension to a place you can easily access, such as the desktop. Screenshots will already have a .png extension, and only need to be copied from the screenshot folder into an easily accessible location.
2) Go to an image hosting site such as tinypic, imgur, or photobucket and upload your image following the site's instructions.
3) Copy the URL given to you and paste it into your post using a pair of 'img' tags:
[img]your image URL[/img]
-- Sample OP Layout --
Click the button below!
Minecrafter12's Jungle adventure pack
(Screenshot to represent the whole of your pack)
--DOWNLOAD(pack version)--
Introduction:
This is where you should include any information you desire on what inspired you to make your pack, what the theme is/why you chose it, and any lore for your pack. Keep it relatively short! Any essays on your pack should be included at the end to help keep people from scrolling through your OP without reading it.
More screenshots:
Update log: *If long, use spoilers to hide the list. See next section for how to make spoilers*
11/24: Added mob skins
11/10: Finished the terrain.png
Fan screenshots/other info:
Any other information you want to include should go here.
License:
My pack is licensed under [insert license here].
You ARE allowed to _____ .
You are NOT allowed to ____ .
Credits:
Placeholders used with permission from User3's pack.
-Shovels from User1
-Dirt texture from User2
How you arrange the content of your OP is almost as almost as important as what is included in the OP. People browsing for texture packs will be drawn in by your intriguing and informative title, but to get them to download you have win them over with your OP. (How do I make a good title?)
Think of your thread as a sales pitch. You need to convince your readers to buy your product by showing off its best qualities; your OP needs to be organized in a way that lets them get to the meat of what they want to see without having to sift through a lot of unnecessary information.
Below is a list of frequently asked questions (and frequently committed errors) that will give you some tips on how to maximize the impact of your OP.
General Organization FAQ:
Where should I put my download link? Should I make people read my pack lore/look at all my screenshots first?
Your download link should be prominent and easy to find. If your readers are intrigued by your 'representative' screenshot, they will continue to scroll down the page to view the rest of the information on your OP. Beating them over the head with a wall of text will only make it harder to find the download link, which will cause them to leave your thread.
Look at all the videos fans have made of my pack! Should I show them off at the top of the OP?
No. People looking at your pack for the first time would rather glance through your screenshots in about 30 seconds rather than watch a 3 minute video. Including a wall of videos at the top of your OP also makes it more difficult to find the download link. Instead, have your videos at the bottom of your OP. People who are intrigued by your screenshots will scroll down to watch them. (If there are more than 2 videos, place them inside spoilers to save visual space. See below for how to make spoilers)
My city looks so beautiful at night! Let me fill my OP with night shots....
Stop right there. Including one or two night shots to show off the atmospheric quality of your pack is perfectly fine, but the bulk of your screenshots should be taken during the day. If people can't see what your pack looks like, they won't download it. Night shots in particular are notorious for obscuring the details of texture packs.
Do grammar and spelling matter for the OP?
Definitely. If your post is practically unreadable, people will likely leave before even looking at your screenshots. Frequent grammatical/spelling errors are a major turn-off because they make your post (and, by extension, your pack) look unprofessional and sloppily put together. If English is not your first language, or if your writing skills aren't the best, limit the amount of text on your OP.
Since people are likely to just skim my thread, should I use lots of large bold text to draw their attention?
Yes and no. The download link should be big and bold to make it easier to find, but if your entire OP is written in size 24 font and underlined then no part stands out more than any other. Additionally, overloading your OP with bright colors and strange fonts can hurt some people's eyes and cause them to leave your thread without looking at your screenshots or downloading your pack.
I'm really nervous that someone will steal my textures. Should I put my license at the top of the OP?
No. People want to see your screenshots/download link first-- your license will simply become visual static if placed at the very top. The same is true of placing it right above the download link. Your download link should not be obscured by either text or images! If people have to hunt for it, they are much more likely not to download.
Should I make one of these cool collages that have screenshots at funky angles?
Yes and no. A well-made collage-- one in which the textures in each screenshot are clearly visible and not obscured by extreme angles/overlapping images-- can go a long way towards making your thread look professional and enticing, which encourages people to download. On the other hand, a badly make collage can turn people away. To be safe, make sure to always include regular screenshots in your OP alongside your collage!
What are banners?
Banners are small images representing your pack that can be placed into people's signatures. They not only serve to advertise your pack, but they also provide a quick link to your OP. See below for how to create a banner that links back to your pack.
Should I create banners for my pack?
Definitely. Banners are the most effective means of grass-roots marketing. People who use your banner are effectively showing off your pack on whatever forum they are active in, since everyone on that forum can see your banner in their reply. The more people who use your banner, the more visible your pack will be.
What are some places that I can post my pack?
minecraftforum.net:Where you are right now. The texture pack section for this website has an excellent community and a large volume of community interaction. Expect a lot of feedback and constructive criticism. Packs are bumped when comments are added.
planetminecraft.com:This websites hosts a wide variety of Minecraft content in addition to texture packs. Packs are bumped to the top when updated (rather than when someone adds a comment), so you will see a spike in downloads after updating, but large lulls in between. Unfortunately, there is no real texture pack community to speak of here. Although you will receive a few comments, there is no real back-and-forth interplay of artists and fans.
Bukkit/Curse.com: Curse Client beta (found at dev.bukkit.org) will support any texture packs that do not require patching for one-click installation. All a user has to do is upload their texture pack to dev.bukkit.org, and it will appear in the Client. Donate links are allowed, and come with integrated Paypal support for an ad and virus-free download page. Additionally, any user who submits a texture pack that receives at least 1,000 downloads will also receive a free Premium subscription. However, because the Curse client is a one-click download system for easy updating, only packs that do not need MC patcher can be put here. That means no HD packs!
-- Useful Code --
To help enhance the overall impact of your OP, use the following types of code to create headings, condense information into spoilers, create hyperlinks, etc.
Click the button below to see different kinds of code you can use.
[anchor='WordOrNumber']Anchor[/anchor]
[goto=WordOrNumber]Go to 'Anchor'[/goto]
Add a quote
[quote]Add a quote[/quote]
You can combine different formats like this.
[b]You can [size="4"]combine[/size] [color='red']different formats[/color] like [i]this[/i][/b].
How to make a banner
As discussed above, banners are crucial to giving your pack the exposure it needs in order to gain fans and popularity. Here's how to make a banner for your pack:
Create an image that represents your pack. Be sure that the name of your pack is clearly visible. The image must be no more than 100 pixels tall by 728 pixels wide!
Upload the image to the internet using an image hosting site, such as tinypic or imagur.
Copy the image URL the site gives you, and paste the image into your OP using the following code, which generates an image that people can click on to get to your pack:
[url="Your pack URL"][img]Image URL[/img][/url]
Copy the code for your hyperlink image (formatted above) into a code box by pasting it in between two code tags. Simply replace '' with [].
The result is displayed below. Following the steps above displays your banner and a box with the code for your banner, which fans can easily copy and paste into their signatures.
Sure, I'd be very glad to answer a few questions, PM me whenever you want. :smile.gif:
Also, just a random thing I'd like to point out. I'd like to see some pixel art from you, as making minecraft textures is pixel art too. Maybe make a pixelartsy avatar for yourself, much like pretty much everyone else here in the texture packs section? :wink.gif:
I've already made tons of pixel art. Here are a few examples:
I don't really mean minecraft textures when I say pixel art, and you're using noise when making them, and REAL pixel art is made with no noise and a color scheme. :laugh.gif:
I didn't use noise on those textures.
EDIT: I know what pixel art is, Leo. Just because I don't do it all the time doesn't mean I'm not good at it. :smile.gif:
The cobblestone looks noisy, or at least it has a lot of different shades. Also, that's why I want to see some pixel art from you, I'm pretty sure you're good at it. :smile.gif:
Haha, I added a lot of different shades on purpose. I like it that way. :biggrin.gif:
The cobblestone was actually made while I was practicing pixel art-- it doesn't have an ounce of added noise, just a lot of very carefully selected shades of color. ^^
Haha, I added a lot of different shades on purpose. I like it that way. :biggrin.gif:
The cobblestone was actually made while I was practicing pixel art-- it doesn't have an ounce of added noise, just a lot of very carefully selected shades of color. ^^
...I have so much to learn T____T
But, I guess that's the purpose of this project! :biggrin.gif:
Haha, I added a lot of different shades on purpose. I like it that way. :biggrin.gif:The cobblestone was actually made while I was practicing pixel art-- it doesn't have an ounce of added noise, just a lot of very carefully selected shades of color. ^^
I shall worship you as a god if you finish this guide...
Wow, this is definately a great idea for a university assignment. I'm actually glad that you are taking your time to do this ( well you are graded on it ). I generally need help on shading (not a noob, but not sure where to shade, how much of it, etc..)
Although I do understand how the biome colouring works, etc. but I guess its your job to explain it.
Wow, this is definately a great idea for a university assignment. I'm actually glad that you are taking your time to do this ( well you are graded on it ). I generally need help on shading (not a noob, but not sure where to shade, how much of it, etc..)
Although I do understand how the biome colouring works, etc. but I guess its your job to explain it.
One more thing:
Please share what you know on biome coloring! You probably know something I don't. :biggrin.gif:
I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood
I have created over a thousand blades
Unknown to death, Nor known to life
Have withstood pain to create many weapons
Yet, those hands will never hold anything
So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works
How to make sure you properly format your pack. I've been trying to figure this out for ages. My pack never works. I just end up modding it in, which I hate to do. I use Gimp, idk if anyone here is an expert with that? As I understand, most of you pros use photoshop.
How to make sure you properly format your pack. I've been trying to figure this out for ages. My pack never works. I just end up modding it in, which I hate to do. I use Gimp, idk if anyone here is an expert with that? As I understand, most of you pros use photoshop.
Brilliant! If you need anything at all that fits into my broad range of random crap I know, feel free to pick my brain. I will most definitely keep an eye on this thread and help where I can.
Brilliant! If you need anything at all that fits into my broad range of random crap I know, feel free to pick my brain. I will most definitely keep an eye on this thread and help where I can.
I'd love to pick your brain on higher resolution textures and water/lava animations. :biggrin.gif:
Everything you will ever need to know about making textures for Minecraft
Introduction
Technical Basics
HD Resolutions
Locating/Extracting/Packaging Textures
Getting Started
The Terrain.png
Texture Wrapping
How the textures are put on the blocks
Derivative Textures
aka: How do I edit the fence?
Editing Programs
Making Textures
Setting up your workspace
The Basics of Shading
Tiling
Use of Color
Filters
Common Mistakes
...and how to avoid them.
Beyond the Terrain.png
What are all these other files?
Achievement
Armor
Art
Environment
Font
GUI
Items
Chest Wrappers
Misc
Biome Shading
Why are the grass/leaves gray?
Mobs
Terrain Files
Fire/Water/Lava/Portal Animations
Advanced Topics
Style
What is it, why you need it, how to use it
Choosing a Theme
and sticking with it
How to post your pack
How to market your pack
Welcome to the world of texture packs.
This guide is meant to be a quick reference for the answers to any and all questions you may have about texturing, from the mundane to the complex. If you have any questions or feel that something could be added to make this guide more complete, please feel free to leave a comment.
For those of you who are new to the world of texture packs, the sections below detail what texture packs are and why you should consider making one.
A texture pack is a zip file containing a series of special images that can be used by Minecraft to change the appearance of almost every aspect of the game, from blocks and water to weapons and mobs.
The core of a texture pack is an image file called the terrain.png. This file determines how the blocks that make up the majority of the Minecraft world look. Almost all texture packs you will find have edited the terrain.png. Some texture packs, however, only edit mobs or items, and are called 'Mob packs' and 'Item packs,' respectively.
There are many reasons to make a texture pack.
For most texture artists, the main reason is to replace the default look of Minecraft with a customized look. Texture packs can create any sort of atmosphere you can imagine, from fantasy to steampunk to post-apocalyptic. Texture packs can also be made to enhance the world of a custom map and give certain blocks the specific look needed for that map.
Sometimes an artist will make a texture pack in order to practice their artistic skills or to try out a new artistic technique. There are many packs that are made with a specific art style-- such as impressionism or pixel art-- to allow the artist to flex his/her creative muscles.
And last (but certainly not least), texture packs are often made just for fun. Watching your art come alive through Minecraft is both exhilarating and inspiring, regardless of skill level.
So if you're ready to try something new and exciting, pull up a chair and read on.
Back to Top
Before you can get started on editing the look of Minecraft to your liking, you need to understand a few basic things about the textures themselves.
As I'm sure you have already noticed, Minecraft has a very 'old school' look. Unlike most of today's video games, Minecraft's graphics are simplistic and pixelated. Let's take a look at why that is:
A side dirt texture, broken down into its pixels
Here is an example of a common minecraft block texture. As you can see, this block is 16 pixels wide by 16 pixels high. This is what is referred to as 16x resolution. A texture pack where all the block textures are 16 pixels wide is called a 16x pack. Here's what a 16x texture looks like at it's normal size:
A 16 pixel by 16 pixel block
The default 16x terrain
(256 pixels by 256 pixels)
Pretty tiny, right? The default minecraft textures are created from blocks with only 256 pixels each in order to reduce the amount of memory your computer needs to devote to running the game, allowing you to have nearly infinite worlds. With 16x textures, the game only has to render 256 pixels per block. This gives most operating systems a significant speed boost.
If, however, you are not a fan of the small space provided by 16x textures, it is possible to increase the size of the terrain image file in order to have more pixels per block to work with. Here is that same dirt block, only now its size has been increased by 200% so that it is 32 pixels wide instead of only 16 pixels wide:
32x side dirt
This increase in block dimension allows you to put much more detail into your textures. Here is an example of a detailed 32x side dirt block, taken from Vattic's Faithful pack.
Doubling the number of pixels makes a big difference
Because of the wide-spread desire to bring more detail into Minecraft textures, there are many different HD resolution packs. The defining characteristic of all HD packs is that their blocks are more than 16 pixels wide. The most common HD resolutions are 32x (200%), 64x (400%), 128x (800%), 256x (1600%), and 512x (3200%). Although it is possible to have blocks that are 43 pixels wide or 15 pixels wide, there are many downsides to increasing or decreasing the size of a block to unusual resolutions, which will be touched on later.
Back to Top
The first hurdle all beginning texture pack makers have to overcome is actually finding the files they want to edit. For those new to the Minecraft world (or to computers in general) this may seem like a daunting task. But with the aid of a simple program and a few short steps, the process is actually ridiculously easy. Never fear! It will become routine in no time.
-- Instructions for Windows --
(1)
Click 'start' on the menu bar, and then type 'run' in the search bar. Press enter.
(2)
Type '%appdata%' into the prompt that pops up.
(3)
Double click on the file labeled '.minecraft'.
(4)
Double click on the file labeled 'bin'.
(5)
For this step you must have either 7-zip or Winrar.
If you don't already have either, you can download 7-zip for free here: http://www.7-zip.org/
You can also download Winrar, but you must either pay for it or fill out an offer first. 7-zip is much simpler to deal with, although both programs function the same way.
Right click on 'minecraft'. Then highlight 7-zip (or Winrar) and click on 'open archive'.
(6)
In the new screen that appears, scroll down until you find 'terrain.png'. Then simply drag and drop the file onto your desktop. From there, you can open it using whatever image editing program you wish. (What types of programs can I use to make a texture pack?)
-- Instructions for Mac --
(1)
Open a Finder window. Open the menu and click "Go" > "Go to folder"
(2)
Type "~/Library" and press "Go"
(3)
Find and double click "Application Support."
(4)
Find and double click "minecraft."
(5)
Find and double click "bin."
(6)
Find minecraft.jar and rename it to minecraft.zip.
(7)
Click 'use zip' when it asks you to decide between keeping the jar and using the zip.
(8)
Double click on the renamed file to open the folder. Scroll down until you find the file 'terrain.png.' Drag and drop this file onto your desktop, then open it with your image editing program of choice. (What types of programs can I use to make a texture pack?)
Now that you can access the default textures and edit them to your liking, the next challenge is packaging your texture pack. While it is entirely possible to re-insert your edited files back into the jar, if you want to post your pack for other people to download you need to package your textures into a downloadable zip file. You cannot use rar files for texture packs! The game cannot read the .rar extension. Your textures must be contained inside of a file ending in '.zip'.
WARNING: Do not extract the textures and then attempt to re-zip the file! This will destroy its ability to function as a texture pack. Simply use 7-zip or Winrar (for windows) to access the file without extracting. Mac users do not have to use a special program-- your machine can access the zip file automatically.
-- Instructions for Windows --
(1)
First you need to find the texture pack folder. The easiest way to do this is to start Minecraft, click on 'Mods and Texture packs', and then click on 'Open texture pack folder.'
You can also access it the same way you accessed the minecraft.jar earlier to find the terrain.png. Go to Start > 'run' > '%appdata% > .minecraft then click on the file named 'texture packs.'
(2)
Right click in the new window (make sure not to right click on a texture pack already in the folder!). Then go to 'new' and click on 'zip file.'
(3)
Rename the file with the name of your texture pack.
(4)
To insert textures into your new texture pack, right click on the zip file, go to '7-zip' (or Winrar), then click on 'open archive'. You can then drag and drop your textures into the new window that pops up.
-- Instructions for Mac --
(1)
Select all your texture pack files. Make sure that files that belong in folders (such as wolf skins in the 'mob' folder) are placed into the appropriately names folders.
(2)
Right click on the selected files, and then click "Compress (number of) files"
(3)
Rename the "Archive.zip" to the name of your pack.
(4)
Drag the pack into your "texturepacks" folder, in ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft.
Back to Top
"I have an idea for a texture pack, but I have no idea how to make one!"
Don't worry, you're not alone. We've all been there at one point or another. So take a deep breath, relax, and read over the following sections to see where to get started on your artistic journey.
The picture below is an image file referred to as the terrain png, so called because it is used by the program running Minecraft to determine how the 3D environment of the game will look. Notice that the file extension is 'png'. The terrain image must always have this extension, or else it will not be rendered correctly by the game.
The Terrain png
(re-sized for easy visibility)
The terrain png may seem hopelessly complex at first glance, but when broken down into it's basic parts it's really quite simple. Here is the terrain png with every textured square labeled. Each of these squares corresponds to a block texture found in-game, the names and uses of which are listed next to the block number below. Note that the red blocks indicate textures that are not currently in use.
Terrain.png with numbered blocks.
Click the button below to see the explanations of each of the textures!
Row 0:
00 = Grass top (see 'Biome Shading')
01 = Smooth stone
02 = Dirt
03 = Side-dirt. The grass fringe only appears the color it is here when graphics mode is set to 'fast'. On 'fancy' graphics, the sides of grass blocks are made from the side-dirt block overlaid with biome sidegrass (26).
04 = Wooden planks
05 = Doubled stone slab side. The side of a single stone slab takes on the texture of the top half of this block.
06 = Stone slab top
07 = Bricks
08 = Tnt side
09 = Tnt top
0A = Tnt bottom
0B = Spider web
0C = Red flower
0D = Yellow flower
0E = Portal animation place-holder *Appears to do nothing as of 1.9*
0F = Oak Sapling
Row I:
10 = Cobblestone
11 = Bedrock
12 = Sand
13 = Gravel
14 = Oak trunk
15 = Log top (appears for all types of tree trunks)
16 = Iron block
17 = Gold block
18 = Diamond block
19 = Emerald Block
1C = Red mushroom
1D = Brown mushroom
1E = Jungle tree sapling
1F = Fire animation placeholder *appears when HD patch is not used for 32x and above*
Row II:
20 = Gold ore
21 = Iron ore
22 = Coal ore
23 = Bookshelf
24 = Mossy cobble
25 = Obsidian
26 = Biome sidegrass (see 'Biome Shading')
27 = Long grass (see 'Biome Shading')
28 = *Not used
2B = Crafting box top
2C = Furnace front (un-lit)
2D = Furnace/dispenser side
2E = Dispenser front
2F = Fire animation placeholder *appears when HD patch is not used for 32x and above*
Row III:
30 = Sponge (only available in creative mode)
31 = Glass/glass panes
32 = Diamond ore
33 = Redstone ore
34 = Leaves (on fancy graphics)
35 = Leaves (on fast graphics-- no transparency to reduce lag)
36 = Stone brick
37 = Dead shrub
38 = Long grass 2
3B = Crafting box side 1
3C = Crafting box side 2
3D = Furnace front (lit)
3E = Furnace/dispenser top/bottom
3F = Pine sapling
Row IV:
40 = White wool
41 = Monster spawner
42 = Snow (used for solid snow blocks as well as the layer of snow covering other blocks)
43 = Ice
44 = Snowy side dirt (NOT biome shaded-- will always appear the same)
45 = Cactus top *The main body of the cactus (minus the spikes) must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge, or the texture will appear to 'overhang' the sides.
46 = Cactus side *The main body of the cactus (minus the spikes) must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge, or the texture will appear to 'overhang' the sides.
47 = Cactus bottom (invisible)
48 = Clay
49 = Reeds
4A = Noteblock/ Jukebox side
4B = Jukebox top
4C = Lily pad
4D = Mushroom biome sidedirt (NOT biome shaded)
4E = Mushroom biome grass (NOT biome shaded)
4F = Birch sapling
Row V:
50 = Torch *Must be at least 2 pixels wide (or equivalent-- 4px for 32x, 8px for 64x, etc). Flames are generated separately.
YW = Wooden door
YI = Iron door
53 = Ladder
54 = Trapdoor
55 = Iron bars
56 = Wet farmland
57 = Dry farmland
58/59/5A/5B/5C/5D/5E/5F = Growing wheat. Planted seeds take on the first texture in the sequence (58) and advanced through the textures over time until they are fully grown (5F).
Row VI:
60 = Lever *Must be at least 2 pixels wide (or equivalent-- 4px for 32x, 8px for 64x, etc)
63 = Redstone torch (On) *Must be at least 2 pixels wide (or equivalent-- 4px for 32x, 8px for 64x, etc)
64 = Mossy stone brick
65 = Cracked stone brick
66 = Top/bottom of pumpkin
67 = Netherrack
68 = Soulsand
69 = Glowstone
6A = Sticky piston face
6B = Regular Piston face
6C = Piston side
6D = Piston bottom
6E = Piston front (arm extends through the center)
6F = Growing pumpkin/melon vine. Extends up out of the ground as it goes-- unlike wheat, the texture itself does not change over time. (see 'Biome Shading')
Row VII:
70 = Curved minecart rail
71 = Black wook
72 = Dark gray wool
73 = Redstone torch (off) *Must be at least 2 pixels wide (or equivalent-- 4px for 32x, 8px for 64x, etc)
74 = Pine bark
75 = Birch bark
76 = Pumpkin side
77 = Pumpkin front (unlit)
78 = Pumpkin front (lit)
79 = Cake top *Must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge, or the texture will appear to 'overhang' the sides.
7A = Cake side *Must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge.
7B = Cake inside (visible after being eaten). *Must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge.
7C = Cake bottom *Must always end exactly 1 pixel (or equivalent) away from each edge, or the texture will appear to 'overhang' the sides.
7D = Giant red mushroom cap (outer faces)
7E = Giant brown mushroom cap (outer faces)
7F = Fully grown pumpkin/melon vine. Attaches to the side of the pumpkin/melon. (see 'Biome Shading')
Row VIII:
80 = Minecart rails
81 = Red wool
82 = Pink wool
83 = Redstone repeater (unpowered)
84 = Pine needles (on fancy graphics)
85 = Pine needles (on fast graphics-- no transparency to reduce lag)
XBT = Bed top
88 = Melon side
89 = Melon top/bottom
8A = Cauldron, top (Rim)
8B = Cauldron, inside bottom/bottom
8C = Cake icon (as seen when held in your hand). Must be edited on the items png-- editing the texture here as no effect whatsoever.
8D = Giant mushroom stem
8E = Giant mushroom gills-- appears on the inside faces of the caps and inside the stem.
8F = Vines (see 'Biome Shading')
Row IX:
90 = Lapiz lazuli block
91 = Dark green wool
92 = Light green wool
93 = Redstone repeater (powered)
94 = Glass pane edge
95 = Bed foot
XBS = Bed side
98 = Bed head
99 = Jungle tree log
9A = Cauldron side
9B = Cauldron 'feet'
9C = Brewing stand base
9D = Brewing stand (left side used when potion is attached, right side when potion is not attached)
9E = Ender portal top (ender portal 'eye' inserted into center)
9F = Ender portal side
Row X:
A0 = Lapiz lazuli ore
A1 = Brown wool
A2 = Yellow wool
A3 = Booster rail (unpowered)
XRT = Redstone trail (glowing)-- 'shaded' with red, much like biome textures. Appears a brighter red when powered, although the exact shade of red is determined by how dark or light this texture is (white texture = brightest red, gray texture = duller red)
A6 = Enchanting table top
A7 = Dragon egg
A8/A9/AA = Growing cocoa pods. Growth progresses from right to left, starting with AA and ending with A8.
AB = Emerald Ore
AC = Tripwire hook. Must occupy the default area, otherwise there will be invisible segments in-game and/or your texture will be warped.
AD = Tripwire string. Careful! If you draw a single straight line it will look like a dashed line in-game.
AE = Ender portal 'eye' (inserted into portal block)
AF = White stone/Ender portal bottom
Row XI:
B0 = Sandstone top/bottom (applies to all types of sandstone)
B1 = Dark blue wool
B2 = Light blue wool
B3 = Booster rail (powered)
XRS = Redstone trail (non-glowing)-- NOT shaded with red. This texture overlaid on top of the glowing redstone trail (XRT), enabling redstone wires that have both glowing parts and non-glowing parts.
B6 = Enchanting table side
B7 = Enchanting table bottom
Row XII:
C0 = Sandstone side
C1 = Purple wool
C2 = Magenta wool
C3 = Detector rail
C4 = Jungle tree leaves (fancy graphics)
C5 = Jungle tree leaves (fast graphics)
C6 = Pine planks (made from pine logs)
C7 = Jungle planks (made from jungle logs)
WT = Water
Row XIII:
D0 = Sandstone bottom
D1 = Cyan wool
D2 = Orange wool
D3 = Glowstone lamp (off state)
D4 = Glowstone lamp (on state)
D5 = Circle stone
D6 = Birch planks (made from birch logs)
Row XIV:
E0 = Nether brick
E1 = Light gray wool
E2/E3/E4 = Growing nether wort.
E5 = Hieroglyphic Sandstone
E6 = Smooth Sandstone
LA = Lava
Row XV:
F0/F1/F2/F3/F4/F5/F6/F7/F8/F9 = Breaking animation. Progresses from left to right as the block is struck.
FA = Currently unknown
FB = Currently unknown
FC = Currently unknown
FD = Currently unknown
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One of questions frequently asked by new texture pack artists is, "Where is the fence/stair/pressure plate texture, and how do I edit it?"
The answer to this question is two-fold:
First and foremost, there are no stand-alone textures for fences, stairs, half blocks, or pressure plates. These items are are made from derivative textures-- they have no separate file all to themselves, but instead are made from the texture of another block.
Let's use the texture for wooden planks as an example. As every Minecrafter knows, planks can be crafted into wooden stairs, wooden half-blocks, wooden pressure plates, and fences. As shown in the image below, the plank texture found on the terrain png is recycled to make each of these wooden items. They themselves do not have unique textures, but are rather pieced together from the plank texture, which is 'wrapped' around the model. Let's take a look:
Derivative textures in action
This principle also applies to cobble stairs/halfblocks, nether brick stairs/fences, and stone brick stairs/halfblocks, which take their textures from cobblestone, nether brick, and stone brick on the terrain png, respectively. Except for smooth stone slabs, every derivative item uses derivative textures. The image below shows this process for stone plates, buttons, and levers. As you can see from the image, the lever takes its base from the cobble used in its crafting recipe.
More derivative textures in action
Although it is not possible to directly edit the textures on these items, they can be indirectly edited by changing the texture from which they are made. To observe how the textures fold around the items, let's first take the wooden plank and make a 2px wide line down it's center:
With this red line serving as a guide, we are now able to observe exactly how the square textures are pieced together into complex 3D shapes:
From looking at the top image, it's clear that the center post of the fence is made from a 4px wide vertical strip taken from the center of the texture (this is true for nether brick fences as well). This means that in order to have a clean vertical fence post, you would need to have a 4px wide vertical wood grain texture running down the center of the planks. From looking at B, you can also see that each step of the stairs is 8px high-- in order to avoid having a joint between the planks land on or near the edge of the step, be sure to keep this 8px spacing in mind.
But fences and pressure plates are not the only items guilty of borrowing textures-- many blocks on the terrain png also share textures with each other, and some even reuse parts of their own textures to fill in their 3D models.
First let's take a look at an example of texture sharing between different blocks:
Furnaces and dispensers share sides and tops
As you can see from the image above, the furnace side texture and the furnace top texture are shared between the lit furnace, unlit furnace, and dispenser. This can sometimes cause the furnace or dispenser to appear strange if careful planning is not done in advance to ensure that the side/top texture is not too dissimilar from the furnace/dispenser texture.
Below is another example of this texture sharing between blocks:
More texture sharing
As you can see, the jukebox will always use the noteblock texture for its sides.
Another common question sometimes asked by first-time texture artists is, "Where do I find the texture for the side of the door?"
The answer to this is very similar to the one above for fences: the texture for the side of the door is found on the door itself. In the image below, you can see how the edge of the door appears to have hinges, an effect that is caused by a strip of the original texture being mapped onto the edge:
Part of the door texture is reused as the door edge
By drawing several multicolored lines on the edges of the door texture, we can map out exactly where this strip is taken from and how it is wrapped around the model of the door:
Areas where textures are reused
From this image you can see how a 16x by 3x wide rectangle is taken from the left side of the door and repeated end to end along the edge of the door. The opposite edge of the door is given the same treatment with the same strip of texture. Redstone repeaters, traps doors, and pistons also employ texture reuse to fill in 'missing' parts of their model.
Another block which reuses parts of its own texture is the piston. The arm of the piston takes its texture from the wooden part of the side texture, as shown in the image below.
Texture reuse on the piston arm
For more information on which blocks share/reuse which textures, take a look at the section on texture wrapping.
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Now that you understand all the technical aspects of how texture packs work, it's time to discuss how to go about actually making a texture pack. This section is meant to serve as a general guide for how to put pixels to paper, not as a set of step-by-step instructions on how to make each different kind of block or achieve a certain 'look'. Why? Because there are countless styles and techniques for making grass look like grass, and telling you to use one (or even a handful) would limit you from experimenting and finding new ways of making grass.
This section will, however, cover some of the basic artistic rules for shading, creating depth, choosing color, and using space (and pixels) effectively. It will also cover some of the issues specific to making texture art, such as the importance of tiling, and how to avoid the most common pitfalls.
Let's get started.
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One of the biggest issues all texture artists face is the concept of tiling. 'Tiling' refers to the appearance of your block textures when viewed in a large grouping-- i.e. what your cobblestone texture looks like when part of a large castle wall.
Oftentimes textures that look good as single blocks create distracting patterns when placed together into groups, which makes them unsuitable for large projects. These 'tiling issues' are notoriously hard to spot, and frequently even harder to get rid of. Luckily, there are a few tricks you can learn for how to anticipate tiling problems and eliminate them from your textures.
Below is a short guide to the various types of tiling errors that can occur and several methods for eliminating them. NOTE: These techniques only apply for blocks that would normally be found together in large groups, such as stone, dirt, cobble, sand, grass, leaves, etc. Blocks such as pumpkins and enchanting tables are not expected to tile well, because they are normally only used as single blocks rather than walls or floors.
This type of error occurs when the lines or patterns in a texture (such as the cracks between cobblestones) do not match up from one side of the block to the other. Below is an example of a simple brick texture in which the lines between the bricks are drawn incorrectly and do not form whole bricks.
Outlined brick texture
At first glance you might think that this is a pretty good base for a brick texture. But when the block is copied and pasted into a 2x2 square, a match-up error appears:
Match-up error: The lines do not connect where they should
As you practice texturing you will learn to mentally trace the path of your patterns/cracks to make sure that everything connects where it should.
Always copy and paste your textures to check for tiling as you go along! Periodically tiling your textures as you work on them will save you a lot of trouble in the long run and help you to spot small tiling issues before they become big ones.
Pattern errors occur when slight variations in the color, shading, or size of a texture create unwanted patterns when the block is tiled over a large area. An example would be a dark spot on a block that looks like a face from a distance. Pattern errors are not quite as dramatic as match-up errors, but they will severely decrease the appeal of your pack depending on how annoying the pattern is (no one wants a bunch of faces in their castle wall, for instance).
Below is an example of a 16x cobblestone texture that has a pattern error.
Cobblestone texture
At first glance this texture appears to be error-free. But once again, when the block is tiled a previously unseen pattern appears:
Example of a pattern error
The cobblestone circled is far larger than the others, and thus stands out from the texture, creating a visible pattern.
Again, the best way to spot tiling errors is to copy and paste your textures into a square.
Very similar to the pattern error, a grid error is caused when bands of lighter/darker areas cut through the texture (typically along the edges) creating a grid when tiled.
A stone texture
Left: Tiled, Right: Errors highlighted
When the texture is tiled, it become obvious that the strips of light and dark running through the texture form a grid. A method for fixing both pattern errors and grid errors are detailed below.
Click the button below!
For blocks that do not have definite edges, use the following technique to isolate areas of bad tiling. NOTE: This method will not work for logs, cacti, or any texture where an edge of that texture must always be on the outside!
Tiling issues that occur at the corners or along the edges of the block tend to be very difficult to fix due to the fact that the edges have to mesh together. Below is a method for bringing those edge problems into the center of the block where they are much easier to get rid of.
First, divide the texture in half down the center and switch the two halves:
The result can be seen below. The two vertical edges have now been brought into the center.
Next, divide the texture in half again through the middle and switch the two halves:
And voila, the single large stone that caused the tiling problems demonstrated above is now in the center of the block where it can easily be broken into smaller stones.
For textures where the above method cannot be used, arrange copies of the target texture in the pattern shown to help simplify the editing process:
This arrangement allows you to see how all the edges connect, giving you the ability to modify the edges of the center texture to match the edges of the textures around it. Only edit two adjacent edges at once! If you try to do all four edges without re-copying the modified texture, you will be undoing all the corrections you made.
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There are many other textures within Minecraft that can be edited with a texture pack. Although most artists concentrate on the terrain.png, these additional non-environmental textures can add a great deal of life and personality to the game.
When accessing the jar file to extract the terrain.png, you may have noticed several folders at the top of the list. (How do I access the jar file?)
Many of these folders contain image files that can be edited with a texture pack. The image below shows the opened jar file as it appears for Windows. Every highlighted foldercontains files that you can access and edit. NOTE: Any file with a '.class' extension is a program file and cannot be changed with a texture pack.
Below is a list of the folders shown in the image above, complete with the files each folder contains and what visual aspects of the game those files edit.
Click the button below!
Achievement
(See the 'achievement' section for further information)
bg.png = the achievement screen frame and buttons/icons (note: The background inside the frame is rendered automatically using the ore textures in your pack.)
icons.png = currently unused
Armor
(See the 'Armor' section for further information)
chain_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the chain armor
chain_2.png = Leggings for the chain armor
cloth_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the leather armor
cloth_2.png = Leggings for the leather armor
diamond_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the diamond armor
diamond_2.png = Leggings for the diamond armor
gold_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the gold armor
gold_2.png = Leggings for the diamond armor
iron_1.png = helmet (both first and secondary layers), torso, arms, and boots for the iron armor
iron_2.png = Leggings for the diamond armor
power.png = glowing overlay for the 'charged' creeper after it has been struck by lightning
Art
(See the 'Art' section for more information)
kz.png = The art file, containing all the paintings and the painting background.
Environment
(See the 'Environment' section for more information)
clouds.png = determines the color and shape of the clouds
light_normal.png = Currently unused
rain.png = determines the shape, color, and heaviness of the rain
snow.png = determines the shape, color, and heaviness of the snow
Font
(See the 'Font' section for more information)
default.png = in-game font
alternate.png = font for enchanting tables
GUI
(See the 'GUI' section for more information)
creative_inv (folder)= files used for the creative mode inventory screen
allitems.png = inventory tabs on creative mode
background.png = menu screen background (a single tiled image the same size as a terrain block)
book.png = Writable book background
container.png = chest screen
crafting.png = workbench screen
crash_logo.png = 'Minecraft' logo on the start screen
demo_bg =
enchant.png = enchanting table screen
furnace.png = furnace screen
gui.png = buttons, equip bar, and equip bar cursor
icons.png = health, hunger, armor, air, experience, boss health, server signal strength
inventory.png = survival and hardcore mode inventory screen
items.png = weapons, tools, 2-D items, armor icons
particles.png = currently unused
slot.png = buttons/icons for the world statistics page
trading.png = villager trading screen
trap.png = dispenser screen
unknown_pack.png = icon displayed for other texture packs without a pack portrait
Items
(See the 'Items' section for more information)
arrows.png = texture for the in-game arrow model
boat.png = texture for the boat
book.png = texture for the enchanting book
cart.png = base texture for the all three types of minecarts
chest.png = wrapper for the small chest (see 'chest wrappers')
door.png = currently unused
enderchest.png = wrapper for the enderchest (indentical in size and shape to the small chest)
largechest.png = wrapper for the large chest (see 'chest wrappers')
sign.png = texture for the sign
xporb.png = base texture for the experience orbs
Misc
(See the 'Misc' section for more information)
dial.png = display for the clock
explosion.png = explosion effect
foliagecolor.png = biome shader for leaves (see 'Biome Shading')
footprint.png = currently unused
glint.png = shimmering overlay for enchanted tools and the golden apple
grasscolor.png = biome shader for grass/tallgrass (see 'Biome Shading')
mapbg.png = background for the map, as seen when the map is viewed in-game
mapicons.png = cursors placed on the map to denote player location, etc.
particlefield.png = End portal texture
pumpkinblur.png = visual distortion seen when a pumpkin is in the helmet armor slot
shadow.png = shadow rendered beneath mobs and dropped items
tunnel.png = sky texture for the End
vignette.png = shadow around the edges of the first-person viewpoint
water.png = underwater 'haze'
watercolor.png = currently unused
Mob
(See the 'mobs' section for more information)
cat_siamese.png = siamese cat skin
cat_red.png = tabby cat skin
cat_black.png = black cat skin
cavespider.png = cave spider skin
char.png = Character skin (determines the appearance of the player when offline)
chicken.png = chicken skin
cow.png = cow skin
creeper.png = creeper skin
enderman.png = enderman skin
enderman_eyes.png = glowing overlay for the enderman
fire.png = blaze skin
ghast.png = ghast skin
lava.png = magma cube skin
ozelot.png = ocelot (jungle cat) skin
pig.png = pig skin
pigman.png = currently unused
pigzombie.png = zombie pigman skin
redcow.png = mooshroom skin
saddle.png = the saddle overlay, which is placed over top of the pig skin when a pig is saddled
sheep.png = sheep skin (sheared)
sheep_fur.png = sheep fur texture
silverfish.png = silverfish skin
skeleton.png = skeleton skin
slime.png = slime skin
snowman.png = snow golem skin
spider.png = spider skin
spider_eyes.png = glowing overlay for both the spider and cave spider skins
squid.png = squid skin
villager.png = currently unused
villager_golem.png = iron golem skin
wolf.png = wolf skin
wolf_angry.png = angered wolf skin
wolf_tame.png = tamed wolf skin
zombie.png = zombie skin
Enderdragon:
(See the 'Terrain' section for more information)
moon.png = moon texture (used through minecraft version 1.8.1)
moon_phases.png = moon textures for each moon cycle (minecraft version 1.9+)
sun.png = sun texture
Other Files (outside of a folder)
(See the 'Other Files' section for more information)
particles.png = smoke, bubbles, splash effect, etc
pack.png = portrait to represent the pack (seen when selecting a pack)
pack.txt = text file description of the pack (seen when selecting a pack)
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*Thanks to Gigfran_Enfys for help with this section
Rain (left), Snow (right)
The two images above are used by Minecraft to determine the appearance of falling rain and snow. Both will be turned upside down in-game.
The rain will move quickly downwards, and will create water splash particles on top of every block exposed to the rain. (See Particles for information on the splash effects). The snow will move slowly downwards and slightly to the right.
Both snow.png and rain.png support semi-transparency, which means that you can create rain drops and snowflakes that are partially clear.
The images for rain and snow are repeated in a pattern and arranged as shown below around the player:
clouds.png is an image that modifies the appearance of the clouds seen within Minecraft. The pattern, color, and transparency can all be changed to achieve the effect you want. This means that you can have anything from smogy clouds to pink clouds (shown below).
Pink clouds, created by changing the color of clouds.png
If playing with your graphics mode set to 'fancy', the clouds will be blocky. If playing with your graphics mode set to 'fast', the clouds will be flat. You can even turn clouds off by making clouds.png totally transparent.
The "light_normal.png" is currently not used in game.
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*Many thanks to Estelyen for assisting with the Font section!
'Font', in the Minecraft world, refers to the appearance of all letters and numbers within the game, both in single-player and in multi-player. While the color of the font cannot be changed, it is possible to edit the basic shape of the font and even create HD fonts. When editing the font for a texture pack, it is advisable to increase the size of the font file (i.e. create an HD font) so that there is more pixel space available for smoother and/or more detailed letters.
How the magic works
The Font Files
How do you create an HD font?
Next, you will need to enlarge default.png. The final size should be divisible by 16, so 256x256, 512x512, or 1024x1024 are good sizes to use. Make sure the box that says 'Preserve hard edges/nearest neighbor' is checked when you resize! This will keep the font from becoming blurry.
To make your life easier, you should start by creating a new layer behind the font and filling it with a color. This will make the letters easier to see. You will also need to have a checkerboard grid in the background to serve as a guide for the borders of each of the letters. If you do not want to create a gridd yourself, simply copy and paste the grid below onto the background layer of your font. Be sure to resize it to match the size of your font first!
Each of the letters, numbers, and symbols must be contained within their square on the grid!
Now, you can select your font and type in the letters and symbols you need on a new layer. Make sure that this layer is completely transparent except for the letters. You have to arrange the letters exactly in the order they were in the original default.png. Every letter/number/symbol on the default.png should be white.
Now for the most crucial part: Minecraft looks at the default.png at predetermined places for its letters to display. It searches the "box" the letter is supposed to be in FROM LEFT TO RIGHT and displays everything that is in the box until it can find no more pixels. To clarify:
Example 1:
This is how your letters preferably should be spaced, aligned to the left side of their "box", but not touching it. Especially look at the number "1":
So a texture pack with its font spaced like this will display it like so:
(resized for better viewing purposes, so it won't be blurred like this in reality)
If you were to put the letters of your font smack in the middle of their boxes,
it would display a much farther gap to the left of every letter:
This is especially noticeable on slim letters like "i" or the number "1".
If you would align your letters EXACTLY to the left edge of their box,
Minecraft would squeeze the letters much tighter together:
So for the best results, align every letter of your font to the left of the box with a few pixels space to it. Also note that thin vertical letters like 'i' and 'l' should be closer to the left edge, since it looks better when they have less space around them.
Once you put every letter in its appropriate space, delete the background layer with the grid. If you are not using the trick above, make sure that the letters are on a completely transparent background, or else Minecraft will display the entire box for every letter, creating the same effect as in the second example above. Save this as the default.png in the "fonts" folder.
Enjoy your HD font!
(Note: The font used in this guide is called AvQest and can be downloaded here.)
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"What about the items/blocks I see in my inventory and chests? How do I texture those?"
For most of the items in the game, their appearance in your inventory is determined by their texture on the terrain.png-- if it's a block you can place, its 3D image in the inventory/chest screen is preset and unchangeable. Items that are unchangeable include chests and most of the blocks on the terrain.png.
Other items, such as mob drops, food, weapons and tools, can be changed by editing their icon on the items.png image. You can see a copy of items.png here:
Like the terrain.png, which determines the blocks found in the environment of Minecraft, this image determines the appearance of items on the GUI screens (aka, inventory, chest, crafting screens). Also like the terrain.png, each item icon is confined to a square (16 by 16 pixels for the default size), as you can see below.
Here is a breakdown of all the icons on items.png:
Look up the item you wish to find by matching the numbers down and across
Click on the button below to see a break down of all the icons!
Across-Down
1-1 = Leather helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
1-2 = Leather armor icon (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
1-3 = Leather pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
1-4 = Leather boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
1-5 = Wooden sword
1-6 = Wooden shovel
1-7 = Wooden pickaxe
1-8 = Wooden ax
1-9 = Wooden hoe
1-G = Record "13"
2-1 = Chain helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
2-2 = Chain armor (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
2-3 = Chain pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
2-4 = Chain boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
2-5 = Stone sword
2-6 = Stone shovel
2-7 = Stone pickaxe
2-8 = Stone ax
2-9 = Stone hoe
2-G = Record "Cat"
3-1 = Iron helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
3-2 = Iron armor (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
3-3 = Iron pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
3-4 = Iron boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
3-5 = Iron sword
3-6 = Iron shovel
3-7 = Iron pickaxe
3-8 = Iron ax
3-9 = Iron hoe
3-G = Record "Blocks"
4-1 = Diamond helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
4-2 = Diamond armor (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
4-3 = Diamond pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
4-4 = Diamond boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
4-5 = Diamond sword
4-6 = Diamond shovel
4-7 = Diamond pickaxe
4-8 = Diamond ax
4-9 = Diamond hoe
4-G = Record "Chirp"
5-1 = Gold helmet (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
5-2 = Gold armor (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
5-3 = Gold pants (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
5-4 = Gold boots (armor texture when worn is determined by the files in the 'Armor' folder)
5-5 = Gold sword
5-6 = Gold shovel
5-7 = Gold pickaxe
5-8 = Gold ax
5-9 = Gold hoe
5-G = Record "Far"
6-1 = Flint and steel
6-2 = Bow (when not in use)
6-3 = Arrow (for the texture of arrows stuck in blocks, see arrows.png)
6-4 = Stick
6-5 = Fishing pole (when not in use)
6-6 = Fishing pole (when being used)
6-7 = Bow animation 1 (sees when drawing the bow)
6-8 = Bow animation 2 (seen when drawing the bow)
6-9 = Bow animation 3 (seen when drawing the bow)
6-G = Record "Mall"
7-1 = Flint
7-2 = Clay brick
7-3 = Quiver **Not used in minecraft**
7-4 = Compass base (needle rendered by game)
7-5 = Clock base (dial image determined by dial.png (see 'misc' for more information)
7-6 = Redstone repeator
7-G = Record "Mellohi"
8-1 = Coal/charcoal
8-2 = Iron bar
8-3 = Gold bar
8-4 = Diamond
8-5 = Empty bowl
8-6 = Porkchop (uncooked)
8-7 = Leather
8-9 = Minecart
8-A = Storage minecart
8-B = Powered minecart
8-G = Record "Stal"
9-1 = String
9-2 = Feather
9-3 = Gunpowder
9-4 = Redstone dust
9-5 = Mushroom stew
9-6 = Porkchop (cooked)
9-7 = Saddle
9-9 = Boat
9-G = Record "Strad"
A-1 = Seeds
A-2 = Wheat
A-3 = Bread
A-4 = Clay
A-5 = Glowstone dust
A-6 = Raw fish
A-7 = Steak (uncooked)
A-8 = Chicken (uncooked)
A-9 = Glistering melon
A-A = Spawn egg
A-B = Spawn egg spots (egg accent color)
A-G = Record "Ward"
B-1 = Apple
B-2 = Painting icon
B-3 = Sign icon
B-4 = Paper
B-5 = Bucket (empty)
B-6 = Fish (cooked)
B-7 = Steak (cooked)
B-8 = Chicken (cooked)
B-9 = Fermented spider eye
B-A = Splash potion bottle
B-B = Ruby **not used by minecraft**
B-C = Emerald
B-G = Record 11
C-1 = Golden apple
C-2 = Sugar cane
C-3 = Wood door
C-4 = Book
C-5 = Bucket (water)
C-6 = Rotten flesh
C-7 = Enderpearl
C-8 = Ghast tear
C-9 = Spider eye
C-A = Eye of ender
C-B = Bottle o' Enchanting
C-C = Book and quill (writable)
C-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
D-1 = Egg
D-2 = Bone
D-3 = Iron Door
D-4 = Map
D-5 = Bucket (lava)
D-6 = Cookie
D-7 = Blaze rod
D-8 = Gold nugget
D-9 = Empty bottle
D-A = Cauldron
D-B = Brewing stand
D-C = Written book
D-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
E-1 = Sugar
E-2 = Cake
E-3 = Bed
E-4 = Pumpkin seeds
E-5 = Bucket (milk)
E-6 = Shears
E-7 = Watermelon
E-8 = Netherwart
E-9 = Potion contents (grayscale- colored by game to match potion type)
E-A = Blaze powder
E-B = Magma cream
E-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
F-1 = Snowball
F-2 = Slime ball
F-3 = Fire ball
F-4 = Melon seeds
F-5 = Ink sac
F-6 = Red dye
F-7 = Green dye
F-8 = Cocoa beans
F-9 = Blue dye
F-A = Purple Dye
F-B = Cyan Dye
F-C = Light gray dye
F-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
G-1 = Head outline (seen over armor slots on the inventory screen)
G-2 = Torso outline (seen over armor slots on the inventory screen)
G-3 = Legs outline (seen over armor slots on the inventory screen)
G-4 = Feet outline (seen over armor slots on the inventory screen)
G-5 = Gray dye
G-6 = Pink Dye
G-7 = Lime Dye
G-8 = Yellow Dye
G-9 = Light blue dye
G-A = Magenta Dye
G-B = Orange Dye
G-C = Bonemeal
G-G = Record **not used by minecraft**
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The 'book' file contained in the items folder is the image used to create the floating book found on top of enchantment tables within minecraft.
Here is the book in-game, with most of the parts labeled to give you an idea of where everything is located. See the template below for exact placement of the textures.
Below is a template for the book.png to assist you in editing the file.
Click the button below!
Symbols Guide:
*All views are referenced from observing the book with the book open and facing you*
RIC - Right inside cover
LIC - Left inside cover
ROC - Right outside cover
LOC - Left outside cover
SO - Spine outside (barely visible)
SI - Spine inside
RBE - Right bottom edge (of pages)
LBE - Left bottom edge (of pages)
RTE - Right top edge (of pages)
LTE - Left top edge (of pages)
LP - Left page (normally seen when the book is open and not flipping)
RP - Right page (normally seen when the book is open and not flipping)
LIP - Left inside page (only visible while book is flipping)
RIP - Right inside page (only visible while book is flipping)
RE - Right edge (of pages)
LE - Left edge (of pages)
X - Area not visible
White arrow - Points to the outside edges of the book
Black arrow - Points towards the 'top' of the book
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Anyone who played Minecraft before the 1.8 remembers the abrupt- and, in some cases, artistically disrupting- modifications to the chest that came with the update. For any Minecraft version 1.8 and above, the chest texture visible in-game is not the texture on the terrain.png. Instead, there are now two new files inside the 'items' folder: chest.png and largechest.png.
Here is the large chest in-game, with the various parts labeled to give you a sense of where each texture is placed on the model. Note that the texture for the large chest is almost identical to the texture for the small chest-- the only difference between them is their horizontal length:
Large chest when closed
Large chest when open
Templates for both chest.png and largechest.png are given below. As the names suggest, chest.png is applied to a single chest, and largechest.png is applied to a double chest. There is no sharing of textures between these two files! Editing the small chest file will not effect how the large chest appears in-game, and vice-verse.
Click the button below to see the templates!
Symbols Guide:
*All views are referenced from observing the chest head on*
F - Front
B - Back
L - Left side
R - Right side
T - Top
U - Underside
X - Area not rendered
White arrow - Points to the user when facing the chest head-on (on the horizontal plane)
Black arrow - Points towards the sky when facing the chest head-on (on the vertical plane)
Largechest.png (Large Chest)
*Thanks to Gigfran_Enfys for help with this section
The image above is an animation strip for the explosions that appear in game, caused by creepers and TNT. The default image size is 32 by 32 pixels for each block, for a total size of 128x128. Like almost every other texture in the game, the size of explosion.png can be increased to create HD explosions.
The game will read the animation in the following order, with the image in each block being replaced by the next as the explosion progresses:
footprint.png
"footprint.png" is not currently used in game.
This is the file that alters the "enchanted glow" seen over top of enchanted weapons, tools, and armor. It is 64 by 64 pixels.
In game it is tilted 45 degrees and turns semitransparent and purple. It cycles over and over, in the shown direction:
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For beginning texture makers, mobs are one of the most frustrating parts of re-skinning Minecraft. Most of this difficultly stems from a lack of understanding of what, exactly, the different sections of the png are (if your first impression of a mob skin was that it looked like the poor thing had been flattened by a very violet steam roller, you are hardly alone) and how they are rendered in-game.
Below you will find the textures for every mob in the game, each of which has been broken down into its various bits and pieces and accompanied by an explanation of what those pieces are and how they fit together with the whole.
Symbols Guide:
*All views are referenced from observing the mob head on*
F - Front
B - Back
L - Left side
R - Right side
T - Top
U - Underside
X - Area not rendered
White arrow - Points to the user when facing the mob head-on (on the horizontal plane)
Black arrow - Points towards the sky when facing the mob head-on (on the vertical plane)
-- Passive mobs --
Click the button below to see the mob textures!
Cow:
*Texture base is the same for the red cow found in mushroom biomes.*
Pig:
*Texture base is the same for a pig wearing a saddle.*
Wolf:
*Texture base is the same for angry and tame version-- add whatever details you wish to distinguish the two*
-- Hostile Mobs --
Click the button below to see the mob textures!
Zombie/Zombie Pigman:
*Texture base is the same for zombies, zombie pigmen, and the character skin*
NOTE: The secondary head layer is not normally used (and does not appear on the default png) but the game is capable of rendering it.
Skeleton:
*Capable of supporting binary transparency (similar to flowers, saplings, tall grass, etc).
NOTE: The secondary head layer is not normally used (and does not appear on the default png) but the game is capable of rendering it.
Spider:
NOTE: The glowing eyes of the spider are included in a separate png (entitled spider_eyes.png). This png MUST be the same size as the front part of the spider's head in order to render correctly!
Other mobs coming soon!
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Oh okay :tongue.gif:
Yeah, that makes sense.
That would also be a ton of work to cite and give credit and such.
Congratulations! If you've made it this far down the page, you're well on your way to becoming a successful texture artist. The sections below will cover what to do after completing a texture pack. Additionally, few of the more abstract concepts that factor into texture-making-- such as theme and style-- are also discussed in the following sections.
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You could do all sorts of things with your newly created texture pack. You could chose to keep it for yourself and enjoy playing Minecraft with your own custom look, you could share it with your friends so that all of you can enjoy it together, or you could take the plunge and post it to a website that hosts Minecraft texture packs. Since you are reading this guide, it's safe to assume that you have either already decided that you want to post your pack, or you're on the fence about it. Here's a look at some of the pros and cons:
Reasons to post your pack:
Reasons to not post your pack:
Ultimately the decision of whether or not to post your pack to a website is up to you. The lists above are simply meant to give you a rough idea of what to expect, both positive and negative.(Where can I post my pack?)
NOTICE: All packs posted to minecraftforum.net must adhere to the following format:
This section covers how to make an attention-grabbing and properly formatted title for your pack. Although the exact formatting details are specific to Minecraftforum.net, the general guidelines will apply no matter what website you chose to post your pack to.
Below are examples of two different titles for the same pack. The first title is an example of what NOT to do when choosing and formatting your own title; the second title is an example of what you should do when choosing and formatting your title:
Now that you've picked out a catchy and informative title for your pack, it's time to decide how to set up the presentation page for your pack. On some websites (such as minecraftforum.net) this presentation page will consist of the first post of a thread dedicated to your pack. The phrase 'OP', when used for texture packs, refers to the first post and all the information it contains about your pack.
Before you decide how to format your OP, you first need to pick out what sort of information you want it to contain. For minecraftforum.net (and many other sites), you must have at least one image of your pack. You can use either the terrain.png or a screenshot taken from the game, although the more images you have of your pack the more likely people are to want to download it.
Below is a list of the items your OP needs to contain at a bare minimum. Tips for how to arrange and present this information can be found below the list.
OP Requirements:
Keep in mind that the items on the list above are only the bare minimum for what your OP needs to contain.
Other things you could include:
Click the button below!
Minecrafter12's Jungle adventure pack
(Screenshot to represent the whole of your pack)
--DOWNLOAD(pack version)--
Introduction:
This is where you should include any information you desire on what inspired you to make your pack, what the theme is/why you chose it, and any lore for your pack. Keep it relatively short! Any essays on your pack should be included at the end to help keep people from scrolling through your OP without reading it.
More screenshots:
Update log:
*If long, use spoilers to hide the list. See next section for how to make spoilers*
11/24: Added mob skins
11/10: Finished the terrain.png
Fan screenshots/other info:
Any other information you want to include should go here.
License:
My pack is licensed under [insert license here].
You ARE allowed to _____ .
You are NOT allowed to ____ .
Credits:
Placeholders used with permission from User3's pack.
-Shovels from User1
-Dirt texture from User2
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How you arrange the content of your OP is almost as almost as important as what is included in the OP. People browsing for texture packs will be drawn in by your intriguing and informative title, but to get them to download you have win them over with your OP. (How do I make a good title?)
Think of your thread as a sales pitch. You need to convince your readers to buy your product by showing off its best qualities; your OP needs to be organized in a way that lets them get to the meat of what they want to see without having to sift through a lot of unnecessary information.
Below is a list of frequently asked questions (and frequently committed errors) that will give you some tips on how to maximize the impact of your OP.
planetminecraft.com:This websites hosts a wide variety of Minecraft content in addition to texture packs. Packs are bumped to the top when updated (rather than when someone adds a comment), so you will see a spike in downloads after updating, but large lulls in between. Unfortunately, there is no real texture pack community to speak of here. Although you will receive a few comments, there is no real back-and-forth interplay of artists and fans.
Bukkit/Curse.com: Curse Client beta (found at dev.bukkit.org) will support any texture packs that do not require patching for one-click installation. All a user has to do is upload their texture pack to dev.bukkit.org, and it will appear in the Client. Donate links are allowed, and come with integrated Paypal support for an ad and virus-free download page. Additionally, any user who submits a texture pack that receives at least 1,000 downloads will also receive a free Premium subscription. However, because the Curse client is a one-click download system for easy updating, only packs that do not need MC patcher can be put here. That means no HD packs!
To help enhance the overall impact of your OP, use the following types of code to create headings, condense information into spoilers, create hyperlinks, etc.
Click the button below to see different kinds of code you can use.
Bold
Underlined
Italics
Strike-throughBig letters
Bigger Letters
Gigantic Letters (Use sparingly)
Colored text
Hyperlink
(Image hyperlink)
Anchor
Go to 'Anchor'
You can combine different formats like this.
As discussed above, banners are crucial to giving your pack the exposure it needs in order to gain fans and popularity. Here's how to make a banner for your pack:
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Certainly. If you would be willing to answer a few questions above and beyond what is included in your tutorial I would be much obliged. :smile.gif:
Answered above. ^^ I ninja'd you.
I've already made tons of pixel art. Here are a few examples:
Cool beans, steelfeathers. Cool beans.
DEAL WITH IT.
I didn't use noise on those textures.
EDIT: I know what pixel art is, Leo. Just because I don't do it all the time doesn't mean I'm not good at it. :smile.gif:
Haha, I added a lot of different shades on purpose. I like it that way. :biggrin.gif:
The cobblestone was actually made while I was practicing pixel art-- it doesn't have an ounce of added noise, just a lot of very carefully selected shades of color. ^^
...I have so much to learn T____T
But, I guess that's the purpose of this project! :biggrin.gif:
Although I do understand how the biome colouring works, etc. but I guess its your job to explain it.
One more thing:
Please share what you know on biome coloring! You probably know something I don't. :biggrin.gif:
I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood
I have created over a thousand blades
Unknown to death, Nor known to life
Have withstood pain to create many weapons
Yet, those hands will never hold anything
So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works
Minecraft Gaming!
Already on the list. :biggrin.gif:
But thanks for the suggestion.
I'd love to pick your brain on higher resolution textures and water/lava animations. :biggrin.gif: