Minecraft

[Jadzia]

I don't know if viruses can be embedded in a png.

I did think that 4.4MB was quite big for a png, but I'm guessing that the 8-bit alpha channel is not being compressed, as that would account for 4MB. The remaining 0.4MB sounds reasonable for a 24-bit png that size.

[Robert Maxwell]

Well, people shouldn't distribute texture packs in an executable form, anyway. Should always be a ZIP file as that's what Minecraft is compatible with. I think some might distribute as .exe files, which of course could do anything.

[Owain Taggart]

That's true, Jadzia, although they are distributed by zip files. People are saying though that they're getting piggybacked. Don't know the logistics of that though. I have Noscript installed and didn't see anything malicious, though some are reporting of ads hijacking buttons.

[judge alba]

how do i make a portal? is is just an arch of 7 obsidean blocks? and how do i switch it on?

[Robert Maxwell]

It must be made of obsidian with a central opening of 3 blocks high by 2 blocks wide. This means the full frame must be 5 blocks high and 4 blocks wide. And yes, you have to do the whole frame--not an arch. You can literally cut the corners, though, and that will work.

Ignite it with flint and steel.

[judge alba]

ah thanks done a 2x1 opening probaly why nothing happened, back to harvesting lava

[Owain Taggart]

Well guys, looks like the texture pack I've been using has been discontinued by the author. Shame as it was such a nice one. He says he won't be doing anymore texture work.

I had downloaded another one at the same time which gave a similar look I was going for, but found wasn't as good. It's still good, mind you especially when it comes to wood and cobblestone but I found the trees and grass lacked something. I might still use it since I rather have something I can count on being updated though. Comments?





Or you know, there's something to be said about simplicity. I LOVE the look of this:





It's a simple cel-shaded texture pack and I think it's beautiful in its simplicity:

http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewto...081e54e210faac

Ironically, I feel it has better depth than most texturepacks. The light seems to reflect better on it when looked on from a distance.

[Robert Maxwell]

Owain probably hates me now. I tried to clear some tree bits with fire and wound up igniting the whole forest, including my oak and birch groves, and it pounded the server so hard it kept kicking him off.

Sorry, man! You should be able to get back on now. I bounced the server and all.

[Cutter John]

Dude! You should know by now to never take fire near anything made of wood in this game! Stuff spreads like, well like wildfire.

Just built my first peaked roof. Hmmm, I wonder how fire-resistant stair blocks are, since they're pretty tough to break. Time to go out in the desert and do another test...

Owain - Aww, sucks about your old texture. To be honest though, I don't let that sort of thing stop me. After I update my game, if I have to I just snag a different updated texture pack, cut out any new graphical items from it I need and paste it into my current texture set and carry on.

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, at least you have a witness who saw it happen, Robert :P With you burning down your boat and now this, you're looking like a pyromaniac Quick! Someone hide the matches!


Well Cutter, I know. It just seems like an awefully lot of work just for a texture pack. Robert and I are enjoying the simplicity out of the cell-shaded texture pack.

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, the cel-shaded pack is pretty nice, I like how clear and crisp it makes everything.

Something about the HD packs always looks "fakey" to me. Nothing can hide the general blockiness of Minecraft, so anything that accents and works with it tends to fit better, I think.

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, for me, it feels a bit like a retro videogame world like Mario World or Hyrule, in 3D, so in a way, it feels more epic than something that's trying to be realistic and exact. I feel it fits the playful nature of the game in ways that other texture packs don't. It's feature complete too, and you can tell a lot of work went into it compared to simply finding textures on the internet. In fact, I'd be happy if this became the Minecraft default, though I doubt it would happen, but I do feel it fits better than even the default minecraft textures.

[Cutter John]

Yeah Owain, I guess it is overly fiddly. But I'm an odd old bird. I like to tweek and play around with things. But when I get it the way I like it, I get very grumpy if I have to change it.

I'm no expert, but I've always been artistically inclined, so if there is anything I can help anyone with graphics wise, feel free to drop me a note.

[judge alba]

just done my portal and it looks pretty cool do i need to make another one in the nether or will there be one there for me to get back?

oh also when adding a texture pack do i just put the file into the texture folder or do i unzip it first?

will need to get round to posting some screenshots soon got three houses almost complete plus some roads connecting them with bridges and a nice collection of mines.

[Cutter John]

Judge - Nope, just walk on in. Just be sure you keep your flint and steel with you in case you need to relight it on the other side. Be ready to dodge, and whatever you do, don't attack a Pigman.

I don't bother unzipping anything. I just use WinRAR to open the texture pack and the minecraft.jar file, then just drag and drop the texturepack files into the game jar.